I am calling to order this hearing.

This is a public hearing of the committee of the whole of the council of the District of Columbia.

I'm Phil Mendelssohn, Chair of the Council and Chair of the Committee of the All.

Today is Wednesday, May 6, 2026.

The time is 10 34 in the morning.

We actually had a hearing before this.

And did I say today is May 6th?

The time is 10 34 in the morning.

We are in room 412, the Johnny Wilson Building.

This hearing is being recorded and will be available on the council's website, www.dccouncil.gov.

The subject of this hearing today is consideration of the mayor's proposed budget for the Department of Buildings, the Commission on Arts and Humanities, the Office of Zoning, and the Office of Planning.

And we'll hear testimony in that order.

I think we have something close to 90 witnesses total between the four agencies.

I believe this is the sixth hearing that the committee of the whole has had on the mayor's proposed budget.

We will have a hearing tomorrow on the Office of State Superintendent for Education, and we will have a hearing next week, May 13th, on all of the legislation that the mayor submitted for the council's consideration related to the budget.

So on April 14th, the mayor submitted the proposed budget for fiscal year 2027.

Accompanying that legislation was also a proposed revised budget for the current fiscal year, FY26, also a budget support act, also a federal portion budget request act.

So all of those measures, plus I think there's an emergency version of one of them.

It will be the subject of next Wednesday, May 13th hearing.

There'll be a lot of witnesses, it will be an all-day affair.

But today, as I said, we will begin first with the Department of Buildings.

The um council is required under the Home Rule Act to vote within 70 days on the budget.

So first reading will be 56 days, which I believe is June 9th, and the second vote will be two weeks later.

The Budget Support Act will get first reading on June 9th.

Second reading will be sometime after, but probably not the 23rd of June.

Because we have so many witnesses, I ask that uh witnesses be mindful of the clock, and there are clocks everywhere.

If you're testifying online, there's a clock on the screen.

If you're in the in route this room 412, there are a few clocks that you can see.

So please uh stay to the time.

Uh Susanna Lumier, senior staff attorney at legal aid.

Uh Valerie Jablo, who's just listed as a public witness.

Liz Devaros, who's president and CEO of the DC Building Industry Association.

Chuck Elkins, who's an ANC commissioner, I believe ANC3D.

Martin Holmes.

Uh David Meloff.

Bianca P.

Michael Arias, who's a member of the public policy committee of the DC Association of Realtors.

Patrick Cothern, who's a policy attorney with Children's Law Center.

Andrea Chatman, who's community organizer with Empower DC.

And if this person is virtual, Damiana Dendi.

Otherwise, well, then I'll call you at the next panel.

So I did not take careful notes.

Let's see.

Um is it Lumier?

Please proceed.

Good morning, Chairman Mendelssohn.

My name is Susanna Lumier.

I'm a senior staff attorney in the housing unit at Legal Aid DC and a DC resident.

Legal AIDS DC housing unit represents low-income renters against eviction and in securing health and safe healthy and safe housing.

We often see landlords allowing housing to fall into disrepair, then failing to correct housing code violations even after the Department of Buildings has done an inspection and cited them.

Our client community feels the impact of inadequate enforcement acutely, primarily through unsafe and unhealthy living conditions that go unabated for too long.

We are urging the council to first maintain the current level of funding to the strategic enforcement division.

Second, ensure that the Department of Buildings is spending down its nuisance abatement fund on abating violations, and third, to fund the Proactive Inspection Act of 2023.

The council should maintain the current level of funding to the strategic enforcement division.

The mayor's proposed budget reduces funding in the amount of 327,000 327,000 and reduces full-time equivalents by three.

This is a step in the wrong direction.

While DOB has steadily been increasing the amount of inspections it conducts and violations it issues, less of these violations are being abated in proportion.

According to DOB's public dashboard, on average, 33% of violations were abated within 30 days in 2025, and only 31% in 90 days.

Second, we're asking the council to ensure that DOB spends down its nuisance abatement fund to abate housing code violations.

Given the number of unabated violations, there should be plenty of opportunity, but in fiscal year 2025, over 4 million in funds went unused.

And of the 6,274,551 in expenditures, only a million five hundred and ninety-two was spent directly on abatements.

Because the funds are consistently going unused from year to year, the budget and expenditures from prior years for the fund should be reviewed to determine whether the budget should be increased.

Third, the committee should fully fund the Proactive Inspection Program Act of 2023, which is subject to appropriations.

The unfunded cost is 1.2 million and 8.5 over the financial plan.

The act relies on data and health-related risk factors to target properties most likely to have poor housing conditions for frequent inspection and an added benefit is that the funding includes staff and two attorneys to enforce code violations.

Thank you for this opportunity to testify.

Thank you for your testimony.

Valerie Chablo, who's online.

Yes, thank you.

My name is Valerie Jablow, and since 1991, I have lived on Capitol Hill.

As other neighbors are, I'm concerned about the growing use of residential properties here for commercial activities because it is tax fraud committed against DC and deprives residents of the residential neighborhood that we expect and are entitled to by law.

It creates unsafe conditions in a dense neighborhood of connected row houses due to lack of inspection and lawful protections for commercial operations.

It deprives local commercial properties of needed revenue in our neighborhood of robust business presence.

It makes a mockery of local commercial enterprises that follow law and it endangers Capitol Hill's historic residential fabric, which is explicitly protected by law against such abuse.

Since 2024, residents have repeatedly documented for you and other city leaders more than 50 Capitol Hill residential properties used illegally for commercial purposes.

Most are close to the capital in an area specifically protected from such abuse.

DOB's director has said that at the behest of the mayor, DOB will not enforce the law in part due to budget constraints.

To further get around the law, some owners rent out a baseball department of a residential property otherwise used for commercial purposes and then say the property's use is residential when it clearly is not.

Thus, I want to propose legislation that can protect DC residents and save money, details of which are in my written testimony.

One, require buyers of residences to sign a document stating that they will use the property primarily as a residence and ensure that there is an enforcement mechanism.

This would be a piece of paper that would be signed by buyers at closing.

Real estate agents would not enforce it, only ensure their customers sign it.

The enforcement part would be mentioned on that paper and contained within another proposed piece of legislation, which is two, add a complaint mechanism and referral system for commercial abuse of residential properties.

Residents right now have no way to report commercial abuse of residential properties to DOB outside of multiple appeals that are often unanswered and untracked.

And DOB has made clear it has no appetite for such an effort or for litigation around it.

The proposed legislation demands that DOB diligently collect all such complaints and importantly referral complaints to the DC Attorney General and the Office of Tax and Revenue for investigation and possible prosecution.

Three, at a punitive property tax category for residential properties abused thusly, like the vacant and blighted categories currently used.

Levying commercial taxes on a residential property would entirely defeat the purpose of protecting a residential property as residential.

Instead, DC can create a punitive tax category that would, like the vacant and blighted categories, deter commercial abuse.

Finally, I want to let you know that DOB recently reached out to me to see if I could attend an OAH hearing.

I reported to DOB legal construction at a Capitol property, but there was apparently never a tiding inspection by DOB.

Incredibly, to pursue this case, DOB may be may need my pictures and my testimony before an OAH judge.

All of this highlights why you need to enact legislation such as what I have proposed to protect DC residents and get around budgetary and other impediments that prevent DOB doing its job.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Chablow.

And I do have your statement.

Good morning, Chairman Mendelson and staff.

My name is Liz de Barros.

I'm the CEO of the District of Columbia Building Industry Association.

I'm also a Ward 7 resident, and I want to testify on all three agencies this morning.

The budget challenges that we face are not cyclical or short term.

There's structural conditioning conditions with lasting implications for the district's fiscal position.

To protect our tax base, we support a budget that invites investment to return to DC, strengthens core systems, removes barriers to housing and development, and delivers services reliably.

To that end, we have four priority areas regarding the agencies before us today.

The downtown conversions and zoning relief.

We strongly support the district's commitment to downtown conversions in the office to anything program, expanding eligibility to non-residential uses and removing the first source requirement will significantly increase participation.

These projects also often face unique structural challenges and constraints that require zoning relief and timing is everything.

We urge the Office of Zoning to prioritize these reviews.

We are also relieved to see that the upcoming hearing for the three BZA nominees, the current inability to meet quorum has caused significant delays for our members.

Two, the funding vacant to vibrant, we deeply appreciate your strong leadership, Chairman Mendelssohn, with the vacant to vibrant working group, which led to the act, and specifically our urge the council to fund the permanent tax reclassification process within that law.

Currently, there is no permanent framework to ensure the buildings undergoing conversions are taxed at the correct uh rate during construction rather than the higher commercial or vacant rates.

Funding this section will provide a predictable pathway for developers to align Department of Buildings and the OCFO on what actually constitutes a building permit for the complex projects.

Two more points in uh the BSA subtitle for the building code infraction fines extends the CPI adjustment fine structure to 2006 zoning regulations backdated to 218.

We asked the committee to ensure that the legislative language explicitly protects previously issued and settled fines from being affected by this backdating.

Lastly, DCBA supports meaningful reduction of corporate filing fees and corporate certificate of occupancy fees.

However, we ask that the fee revenue be reinvested into fixing the systemic data errors our members face daily when DOB system uh pulls inconsistent data from sister agencies that can delay uh certificate of occupancy for months.

We need better uh interagency data coordination to stop these avoidable project delays.

Uh an investment climate in the district depends on uh a regulatory environment that is agile uh as the uh market uh it governs, and we stand ready to work with you to assure that codes and zoning align with uh district's uh rewired economy.

So thank you for the opportunity.

Uh thank you, Mr.

Barros.

And I would really like a copy of your statement.

Yes, it should be submitted if it's not already.

Okay.

Um I don't think we have it yet.

Uh Chuck Elkins, who's online.

Uh good morning, Mr.

Chairman.

I'd like to talk today about enforcement, and my testimony draws on my 25 years at the Federal Environmental Protection Agency, where I was writing regulations and designing enforcement programs.

The most important thing I learned about enforcement there was this.

A regulation that is not enforced is worse than no regulation at all.

When enforcement is weak, good actors comply, but bad actors do not, and the bad actors laugh at all of us on their way to the back.

This is exactly what is happening at the Department of Buildings today.

The DOB has become a paper tiger, and the bad actors know it.

Here's what is needed to fix it, in my view.

Require DOB to hire a structural engineer who will spend half time reviewing permits and half time inspecting actual structural operations at construction sites.

Require a general contractor uh to take responsibility for what happens at each construction site where structural changes are involved, something we don't do now.

Hire more inspectors and hire more judges at the Office of Administrative Hearings to process cases of violation more quickly.

The Office of Administrative Hearings is the strait of hormouse.

In this analogy, DOB inspectors are upstream of the Office of Administrative Hearings, and the tenants and others who are seeking relief are downstream of OEH.

When OEH cannot process cases fast enough, the entire system backs up, and the consequences for bad actors, which are supposed to motivate voluntary compliance.

If they come at all, they come too late.

I've been digging into DOB's own public numbers to get a good idea of the real size of this problem.

Since DOB opened its doors, it has issued over 53,000 housing code violations that remain unfixed, unabated today.

53,000.

Right now, 12,500 housing code cases sit at OEH waiting for a final order.

42 million dollars in penalties is at stake.

Another 20 million dollars has made it through OEH and received a judgment and still hasn't been paid.

62 million dollars in uncollected housing fines, 54,000 unabated violations, years waiting for a judgment and a hoped for repair.

Does that sound like a functioning enforcement program?

Or does it sound like a program that incentivizes noncompliance?

People may say this is the problem with just a few actors, but looking at the data from DOB, 600 landlords have 25 or more open violations each.

These 600 landlords alone account for more than half of the 80,000 open violations in the DOB database.

The council faces a stark choice.

Do nothing is not an option.

Either fund a robust uh enforcement program, uh, or be honest with the public that we don't have an effective enforcement program.

Instead, we have unintentionally created a racket, one that benefits the very people who are supposed to be regulated.

I know it's a tight budget year, but 42 million dollars in OEH is uh backlog would fund an awful lot of uh resources at DOB and OEH.

Uh a good first step would be for all of us, including Director Hanlon to come to grips with the undeniable fact that we have a very serious problem that needs to be fixed, and your recent committee's report on illegal construction shows this to be the case, and we now need to act.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Uh thank you, Commissioner.

Uh Martin Holmes, I believe, is not here.

Uh David Maloff, who's online.

Good morning.

Mr.

Mendelssohn.

I am David Malloff, past president of the DC Federation of Citizens Associations.

I'm here again today for both DOB and HPRB HPO, if you'll allow it, sir.

Regarding DOB, the council should carefully monitor DOB's recent actions in its review and changes to the DC Construction Code, which as it stands is operating on a 2017 release, several years overdue.

Now DOB is making opaque, but should be more transparent as the mayor has disbanded CCCB, the Board of Experts tasked with the oversight of construction code changes.

In fact, the Office of Attorney General had to step up and review the construction code that has been Jerry built over the years, resulting in an incredible 650 comments apparently on 500 pages of proposed amendments to the construction code, which after three years, the public has yet to see even a glimpse of.

Why did OAG do this costly exercise?

Because DOB and its code are broken likely beyond repair from a legal perspective.

During this code review, DOB and the council should reinstate the neighbor notification program as it was under DCA DCRA in full to protect unwitting and at risk of budding neighbors confronting dangerous construction next door.

At the very least, from a resident's perspective, property rights as well as appeal prior to permitting of dangerous proposed adjacent construction must be reinstated in full during this rulemaking.

The council and the code must make it clear that incumbent residents have review and technical objection rights within reasonable time limits prior to DOB permitting.

For the full council committee, I ask you again to support my immediate uh call for an internal review of all aspects of the Department of Buildings positively broken residential permitting and inspections for DC construction code section 3307 projects that are deemed dangerous.

I received my fourth neighbor notification now in three years, and uh under the nonsensical rules that were implemented uh three years ago, and the permit recently issued, and the official files reveal a process still broken in myriad ways, which we can get into if you're interested, sir.

In situations like the collapse and death at 1133, 1113 V Street, and the collapse at uh 1835 H Street.

The agency must be held to independent arm's length after action reviews, which it has not been held to yet.

The council should repeal, however, uh the well-intended as it was, uh DC Law 2637, the review of agency action clarification act of 2025 that became effective uh last September.

Uh we are spending too much money of dwindling taxpayer funds, paying city lawyers to defend blindly, almost mindlessly, DOB's other government uh and other government agencies, Malfeasans, as is clearly demonstrated in my two OAH orders that I hold that.

Mr.

Maloff, I need to back to the agency.

Mr.

Maloff, you need to wrap it up.

Thank you.

Uh I have uh three recommendations regarding HPRB and HPO, and sir, I'm very grateful for your oversight of the city.

Thank you.

Uh thank you, and I do have your written statement.

Uh Bianca P.

I believe is not here.

Uh Michael Arias.

Good morning, Mr.

Chairman.

Um, I submitted my testimony this morning.

If you do not have a copy, I'll be glad to give that to you.

Uh, we're printing it, I think.

So please proceed.

Good morning, Mr.

Chairman and staff.

My name is Michael Arias, and I'm a member of the public policy committee for the DC Association of Realtors or DCAR.

I'm also a ward to resident and principal and managing partner at Capital Brokers Group, where I specialize in commercial, retail, and office properties.

DCAR is a district state association of realtors and serves as the premier voice of real estate in DC.

Our mission is to advocate and protect and promote the interest of our approximately 2800 members and their clients, who live and work in every ward of our city.

Through our advocacy, we represent real estate professionals, small housing providers, property managers, homeowners, and renters.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify today and for your long-standing partnership.

Mr.

Chairman, I want to thank you for your again long-standing partnership with our association, including as you worked on the Vacant to Vibrant Amendment Act.

As you know, over the last few months, an issue arose with the legislation's requirement that properties that are for sale be registered as vacant and request an exemption or face potentially immediate enforcement.

In addition, to receive an exemption, properties that are for sale must be listed on the MLS, which leaves out many properties that are legitimately for sale.

The unintended outcome of this policy was that properties legitimately for sale frequently saw a vacant property sticker placed on their property in the middle of a sale.

What is even worse?

The risk of the higher property taxes put the sale and future occupancy of those properties at significant risk.

Unfortunately, that meant it was harder and slower for owners to put their properties back into productive use.

Since we raised these issues, we were happy to welcome Keith Parsons from DOB to our public policy committee meeting and have had very productive conversations both with your team and with people from DOB.

We are grateful and after we raised our concerns, the Department of Buildings quickly updated its initial inspection process for vacant properties with a clear for sale signage to provide notice before enforcement.

We also appreciate your team working with the department on a potential legislative fix.

DCAR looks forward to continuing to work with you to ensure we have a vacant property system that encourages the sale and occupancy of vacant properties, which we know was always the intent.

Finally, as it relates to the Department of Buildings budget, we want to ensure that the proposed small reductions in permit processing and third-party inspections will not will not slow the construction and renovation of district properties.

As you know, delays in regulatory requirements can already be a significant challenge for developers trying to achieve our housing production goals.

The district's housing market has already been weakened with reduced investment in new housing and decline in the quantity and value of existing property sales.

As a result, we cannot afford any new delays in permitting or inspections, and we need at bare minimum to maintain our investment in homeownership, housing production, and housing preservation across the budget.

Thank you, Mr.

Chairman.

I would happy answer any of your questions.

Patrick Cuthern, who I believe is online with the Children's Law Center.

Good morning, Chairperson Mendelson and members of the committee.

My name is Patrick Conther, and I am a policy attorney at Children's Law Center.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify today regarding the budget for the Department of Buildings.

For the families we serve, housing code enforcement is how unsafe conditions are remedied, how pests get removed, leaks get fixed, and unsafe electrical conditions may stay.

Children in school, parents miss work, families face preventable health crisis and instability.

My written testimony, which I also may assume as it can.

We'll go into more detail on all of CLC's recommendations for the Department of Buildings.

However, today I would like to focus on our request to expand the nuisance abandonment fund to 75 million dollars.

This dollar amount is also requested by the Fair Budget Coalition and our advocacy for greater use of the nuisance of payment fund echoes what others have said this morning.

The nuisance abatement fund is DOB's most effective tool because it produces the outcome that families need.

Repairs.

When a landlord refuses to fix serious code violations or cannot fix those violations, DOB can use this fund to do the work directly and then recover the cost from the owner, whether by payment or through a lien.

But the fund is not currently scaled to match the real volume, severity of hazardous conditions and occupied housing.

The mayor's proposed budget makes only a limited adjustment by aligning the fund with projected collections.

That does not solve the core problems' experience, which is that after even repeated complaints and citations, dangerous conditions can linger for months before the district has an opportunity to do anything if anything is done.

District lacks a sufficiently scaled reliable mechanism to get the work done quickly when an owner will not act.

Direct abandonment is outcome-focused.

It fixes the violation.

For a family living with mold, leaks, pests, or unsafe wiring.

The key question is not whether a citation was issued or an inspection was conducted, but whether the hazard was corrected.

We urge the council to expand the nuisance abatement fund.

And if a one-year scale is not feasible, we encourage the council to still move decisively towards that target through a multi-year plan.

To ensure that this investment translates into repairs, we recommend pairing new funding with uh a direction to instruct department buildings to develop clear guard guardrails that prioritize life safety hazards and addressing serious health threats in occupied housing.

This is a smart use of public dollars, it pays for repairs, includes a built-in cost recovery mechanism through lien authority, and can reduce future costs that the district's residents would otherwise bear, including avoidable emergencies care, school absences, and family instability.

Thank you for this opportunity to testify.

Happy to answer any questions.

Thank you, Mr.

Cutherin, and you will submit your statement.

Yes.

Good morning, Chairman Middleton and staff.

My name is Andrea Chapman.

I'm a community organizer at Empower DC, a citywide community organizing group working to preserve affordable housing and prevent the displacement of low-income black and brown residents.

We are also proud members of the Fair Budget Coalition.

During our outreach and resident meetings, residents across the city continue to identify unsafe housing conditions as a key cause of displacement and affordable housing loss.

Residents are forced out of their homes in search of more livable conditions only to find similar or worse conditions.

And Power DC's tenant power campaign is focused on addressing these issues, including through a stronger inspections and enforcement process that leads to the repairs tenants deserve.

As the council considers priorities for the fiscal year 2027 budget, I would like to highlight some of our key recommendations for better ensuring and preserving safe, healthy housing for DC residents.

My colleague Farrah will add some other recommendations when it's her turn.

But first, I'd like to discuss mold inspections.

Last December, Empower DC alerted the council that the Department of Energy and Environment was ending mold inspections, leaving the city with no mechanism to address this serious and common life safety issue.

While DOB can cite for root causes of mold like flooding, we regularly meet tenants whose health remains at risk because only part of the issue is being addressed.

At Cascade Park, award A property where Empower DC recently began organizing, residents reported holes in insufficient ceiling of windows, allowing rain support directly into some people's homes for almost a year.

While DOB inspected and cited the leaks on the property and the leak was eventually fixed, the mold continues unabated.

DOB should be able to inspect for mold and then cite the landlord for a housing code violation.

Empower DC repeats our request for mold inspections to officially be moved under DOB and funded at one million dollars.

This is a relatively small investment that will directly improve DC renters and quality of life.

I would also like to discuss the Department of Buildings' proactive inspections and enforcement program.

A key issue we see at Empower DC, our landlords who repeatedly violate the housing code, fail to pay fines and make repairs, and continue receiving financing to operate other properties in the city, all while pursuing some of the highest numbers of eviction.

At Cascade Park, for example, FARIA management pursued over 30 evictions despite owing $77,111 in fines to DOB.

Residents are dealing with those issues I described earlier, including mold.

And through our tenants' meetings with our partners at DC Jobs with Justice, we learned that other FARIA properties are dealing with the same issues.

The council passed the Proactive Inspections Program Act of 2023 to create a more targeted proactive inspections process, but it has been chronically underfunded.

I'll end here that DC has a deficit of over 33,000 housing units in DC.

As you know, housing is an ecosystem and enforcing the housing code is a critical piece of not just landlord tenant contract, but also preserving affordable housing and preventing displacement.

So we urge you to make these relatively small but meaningful investment in DOB to better better protect residents' health and well-being and preserve affordable housing.

Thank you, Chairman Nelson.

Uh thank you, Ms.

Chapman, and I do have a copy of your statement.

Because we have a lot of witnesses, I'm limiting how much I have in terms of questions.

Some of your testimony, though I am going to uh ask of the director.

I do want to ask Mr.

Arius, um, so the reason we would have uh created an exemption on the vacant uh the vacant uh property that it has to be listed on the MLS is that's a very objective criteria criterion.

Um, you note leaves out many properties that are legitimately for sale.

Uh say more, because w if if someone is selling their house, it's to their advantage to be on the MLS unless they are going, they have a um that they know of uh a purchaser right away.

Uh that's correct, Mr.

Chairman.

I think it's just a matter of nuanced.

With reference to our statements, um it um uh it can increase inventory artificially.

So, I don't understand what you mean.

You it can increase inventory.

What's the yeah?

Well, there are properties that are um should be noted as vacant and rightfully so.

But in our case, there's been some complaints regarding properties that weren't actually vacant.

They the homeowner was simply trying to flip it, trying to get it ready for sale.

Um, and when that happened, a sticker was was received.

Sure, but why would they not list it if they're selling it, why would it not be on the MLS?

It would be.

That was uh one of the one of the things it seems we're working on is to having the restriction removed as a um as a registration tactic within DOB.

All right, now I'm getting more confused.

So, my understanding is that if a property is vacant and if a property is being sold and the owner has moved out, it's vacant, the properties that are vacant are going to be classified as vacant.

But is it vacant?

Does it deserve a 5% sticker when they're really not vacant?

When they when they're trying to sell the house, agent.

So if a property is being sold and the homeowner or property owner has moved out, it is vacant.

Now we have an exception from the vacant property classification.

If it's being sold, yeah.

And I believe that what the law says is that in dish of it being sold is that it's listed on the MLS to multi-whatever it is, listing service.

Um, you're objecting to that, saying that uh that leaves out properties that are legitimately for sale.

I'm trying to understand that.

What properties would be for sale that are not on the MLS?

Sure.

Um, actually, I'd like to refer to my colleague.

Would you mind following up now?

No, no.

If he's testifying later, we'll get him.

Is he on?

He's not testifying?

No.

Uh well, um actually, he's not a witness, but he's also not at this panel.

Uh, so maybe this just can be explained to me um subsequent to the hearing.

Certainly.

Alright, we'll leave it there.

I don't have any other questions for you.

I appreciate those of you who are in person and those of you who have not given us statements.

Please do that.

Because that's helpful.

Those of you online, thank you for your testimony as well.

Damiana Dendi.

Farah Fossey, Community Development Director at Empowered DC.

Tom Donahue, who's uh commissioner with ANC 8A.

Jan Baker, President of the 2M Tenants Association.

Ms.

Dendi, you're up.

Good morning, Chairman Mildison.

My name is Damiana Dendi.

I'm a tenant organizer with DC Jobs Justice, and I've been organizing for over 10 years.

The Department of Buildings, DOB, has been has a crucial role in assisting tenants who are forced to live with poor conditions due to landlord negligence or unwillingness to abate code violations.

DOB carries out uh inspections of rental units and properties when residents have nowhere else to turn in terms of enforcement of housing law and building code in DC.

Despite the effectiveness of DOB in citing landlords for a code violations, that is oftentimes the end of the road.

When DOB cites a violation, the report is uh of the violation is sent to the owner.

And um this happened last week.

I accompanied DOB on a full property inspection of a four-unit building, which resulted in 40 citations adding up to 46,022 in fines in one inspection.

The last time this landlord was due to appear in court for eviction proceedings that he brought against his own tenants, he failed to show up.

I worry that while these residents live with their families and units with life-threatening conditions.

Giant holes in ceilings and walls, potential for a second carbon monoxide leak, which the first time almost took the lives of one entire family, rat infestations, ceilings completely dampened by water infiltration after just a little bit of precipitation.

I fear their lives will be completely um will be shortened during this process.

In the meantime, the landlord sits on the property regularly putting it up for sale but removing it from the market.

Instead of investing in that property and ensuring livable conditions for the tenants, the landlord seems to be focused on a potential sale in search of profit of this property.

This is just one example of what can happen when residents are dealing with an absentee landlord and are faced with a DOB that has no teeth for impactful enforcement.

This has been happening since I started organizing 10 years ago.

Right now, the violations are that DOB is sitting on is up to 81,762,567 in unpaid fines since 2018.

This reflects 82,646 code violations and 17 over 17,000 units across the city.

And in just one year, um this or sorry, this year from January to the present day, landlords owe 17 million dollars in unpaid fines.

The district has the ability to take serious action to hold property owners accountable and ensure that DC residents are safe in their homes.

DOB should be able to place liens on properties when landlords and property managers are in violation of the law.

It should be our first priority to ensure the safety of residents in rental housing.

Um if DOB is permitted to make these emergency repairs, that um residents will be safe safer and healthier, and I'm recommending that DOB receive the $75 million in funding for issue abatements that was mentioned from the Fair Budget Coalition and past um testimonies, and um my testimony should be in front of you, so I have more, but I will stop there.

Uh thank you, Ms.

Dendi.

I do have your statement.

Uh thank you.

Um Ms.

Fossey.

Good morning, Chairman Mendelssohn.

My name is Darah Fawcett, community development Director at Empower DC.

Through an access to justice grant, Empower DC does direct outreach to DC residents at risk of displacement.

We can never reach all the people in need, so we target our outreach inwards 5, 7, and 8 to neighborhoods and properties with a high number of evictions, unsafe and unhealthy housing conditions, and properties with federal and local subsidies that could be put at risk due to the housing conditions or mismanagement.

Through this work, last year we went out to Betting Park apartments.

The property was on our access to justice list because of a high number of evictions, and we prioritized it due to the project-based Section A contract.

It's a red flag when there's this many evictions at a subsidized property.

It could indicate mismanagement, meaning the management company isn't doing recertifications or poor housing conditions, which can lead to HUD stopping payment.

We found that ferry management did not properly recertify some low-income residents and did not fill subsidized units, leading to non-payment of HUD rent on over 40 apartments.

There were very serious housing code violations.

I've been doing this work in DC for over 20 years, and I was shocked at some of the housing code violations.

I knew there was a real problem that they're going on for too long.

Our access to justice work in DOB's nuisance abatement fund played a critical role in what I believe will be the successful preservation of this affordable housing.

Proactive inspections, inspections and citing for mold are critical, but we know the worst actors don't fear enforcement.

Even after repeated citations and fines, they don't repair health and safety violations.

Through the nuisance abatement fund, DOB can make the repairs and charge the owner.

Empower DC recommends that this year the nuisance abatement fund is funded at at least 15 million dollars and then can ramp up to that 75 million amount.

It's currently just used for small repairs like cutting grass.

If it's increased, DOB can make critical health and safety repairs like restoring heat and hot water.

And last year at Betting Park, DOB did exactly that.

It took too long though because DOB does not have a robust process for doing these repairs.

That repair, though, was critical.

It let the property stabilize, it gave people hot water.

Unfortunately, because of the length of time it took, the HAP contract, the Section 8 contract, was abated, meaning those payments stopped.

The residents in the new management company, Metro Management Group, are working to get that contract reinstated.

I believe they will be successful, and I believe that the nuisance abatement fund will have played a critical role in that.

Through the new when the nuisance abatement fund is used, the landlord is charged for the repair through a lien on the property.

Liens, unlike DOB fines, have a high rate of collection, and the money comes back to the nuisance abatement fund, making a revolving fund with its own income source.

This is an existing tool which DC can use better.

We also encourage the council to pass the lien act, which would allow DOB to place a lien on a property when serious, clearly documented violations are not corrected, putting additional funds into the nuisance abatement fund.

We collectively know the warning signs for troubled properties and can prioritize limited funds.

Investing in this fund and use ensuring funds are used strategically and maintaining access to justice to ensure direct support for residents, our efficient and targeted approaches to affordable housing preservation and ensuring DC residents' health and safety.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Fosse.

Tom Donahue, Commissioner Donahue.

Chairman Mendelssohn, my name is Tom Donahue.

I'm the ANC Commissioner for Single Member District 8A01.

For many of us, especially at the start of a term, being a new commissioner is like trying to find your way through a dense fog without a compass.

We are thrust into high high stakes resident crisis without a clear map of the agency's internal structure.

So one of the budgetary territory requests I'm requesting is I suggest that the DOB budget include a funding for a ward level introductory summit at the start of each AC term.

These smaller meetings between ward representatives and their respective commissioners would build the necessary support to ensure we aren't introducing ours or to ensure we are introducing ourselves for the first time while a building is literally on fire.

I can't begin to describe and appreciate the work that DOB has done, especially our Ward 8 representatives.

The danger of this fog is best illustrated by the crisis at 1508, 150 1507, 1509, and 1511 19th Street.

This building was a structural and social nightmare.

Two thirds of it was condemned, yet squatters were rentless relentless.

They had open pathways through interior walls, creating a pathway that allowed them to move into the rest of the building.

Their conditions I witnessed were shocking.

The building a stunk of neglect, yet because it still had the basics, heating and water, it remained occupied.

I spent much of my time in the first year chasing these breaches, documenting where squatters entered and reporting them.

My best success didn't come from a portal, it came from the direct communication with the property manager and the property owner.

By having my feet on the ground and meeting with the owners personally, I sent a clear message.

The tragedy of this of inaction is best personified by row houses across the street at 1902, 1904, 1980, or excuse me, 1502, 1504, 1506, and 1508 19th Street.

Despite my repeated checks, squatters breached these properties and let three unoccupied homes on fire twice within seven months.

At 95 years old, she was extracted by firefighters twice in seven months.

After the second fire, unhoused her again.

She passed away just one month later.

She was never able to return to her home after the sex the second fire.

Crews were literally in the process of fixing it when she passed.

You're over your time, so you need to conclude.

Thank you.

I've uh also submitted some supplemental uh testimony with my original testimony as well.

Yes, I have your statement with the core budgetary stress points and suggestions.

Yes, thank you.

Thank you.

Um Jan Baker.

Good morning.

I will be submitting my testimony after this.

Good morning, counsel, and thank you for the opportunity to testify this morning.

My name is Jan Baker, president of the two M apartments in Ward 6 and have been the president for four years, but I'm also representing other tenants' associations and presidents because we are the ones who quarterback a lot of the work that needs to be done in between DOB, talking to the council, talking to ANC, and we don't get the credit for it.

I'm asking today for the council to fully fund the whether it's 15 to 475 million dollars in the DOB's nuisance abatement fund so that the agency has the power to make repairs even when landlords refuse to do so.

We need the council to make this a revolving fund so DOB can make critical repairs and then assess landlords so money goes back into the fund.

However, the DOB needs to spend down that fund annually.

When I asked the director of strategic court um code enforcement, what happens to the funds, he said we use it or lose it.

Those are used or lose the dollars.

When our heat went out in January for eight days in 17 degree weather, that would have been an opportune time to spend the money.

Secondly, mold inspections are a huge issue.

DC currently lacks a process for inspecting and citing mole in rental housing.

Mold exposure can create serious health issues like asthma.

I have personally had to help tenants who complained of headaches and breathing problems, making them take time off to go to work and kids missing school, ultimately being diagnosed with asthma due to mold.

The department of buildings said that they could inspect and enforce mold if they receive funding in the next budget.

Mold inspection should be officially moved from DOB and put from the DO moved under DOB and properly funded at about a million dollars.

However, I'm not here to just ask for more money for the DOB without the processes, checks and balances to enforce properly.

Being a tenant association president is a full-time unpaid job and a change agent with invisible labor.

I and our board spend so much time chasing down the DOB to follow up and enforce issues.

It is exhausting.

Fully fund uh I'd like the uh the DOB to be fully funded for the department um for the enforcement program at two million to improve bad housing conditions and hold slum lords accountable.

Please use the money to be creative and in inspections.

Late night hours and weekends is not a major innovation.

Other cities are doing it doing it, it can be done.

Working people do not have the time to continuously take off from work, especially when they work shift work and they don't work from home for inspections that may or may not happen, especially when the DOB takes forever to enforce.

So the least the DOB could do is make things easier for their tenants.

Thank you.

I remember touring your building with you uh after uh previous hearing, and you'll submit your statement.

I do not have any questions for you.

Thank you all for your testimony.

Uh Jiselle Powell, who's a member of Empower DC.

Nathan Hunter, Chuck Yelkin is already called.

So Shonda Rice.

Um Arthur Slade, who's vice president asked me.

County Gilliam, who is president of AFGE Local 2725.

Good morning.

Grand Rising, DC Council.

My name is Joshelle Powell, and I'm a War 7 resident, and I have lived in the 28th Street neighborhood for six years now.

I am here as a member of Empower DC to support our tenant power campaign for better housing conditions.

I am here to urge the council to fully fund the Department of Buildings inspections and enforcement program to better ensure residents are able to live in healthy and safe conditions.

First, I asked the council to increase funding for Department of Buildings to hire and train more inspectors and to properly fund its proactive inspections and enforcement program.

I have lived in buildings that have faulty wiring, cracked foundations, electric, excuse me, electric fires, damaged rooftops, and have seen how these major issues have gone ignored affect the health and well-being of residents.

At performance oversight, I shared that in July of 2023, my mother moved into a building following an $87 million renovation and grand reopening that was supposed to have included major updates and repairs.

A month later, I lost my mother to carbon monoxide poisoning in her apartment, coming from the heat and AC conditioning union.

The landlord never disclosed any existing violations to us, and these conditions eventually cost my mother her life.

We can't keep letting residents slip through the cracks.

I've experienced the effects of inhaling mold for a substantial amount of time.

It has caused my son and I to experience breathing issues.

I asked the council to move mold inspections under DOB so that they can inspect and cite for mold.

I also asked for mold inspections to be funded at a million dollars.

We cannot continue living a strong process.

We cannot continue living without a strong process to address one of the most common conditions issues DC residents face.

DOB's inspection and enforcement process needs to be fully funded for inspections of new and old buildings.

We need inspections of OSHA.

We need inspectors of with OSHA 30 certifications to inspect new and upgraded buildings and ensure they are safe.

I encourage you to dedicate the necessary funding to DOB so the city can intervene and hold landlords accountable to the housing code.

Thank you for allowing me to testify, and I'm available for any questions.

Thank you, Ms.

Powell.

I do have your statement.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Nathan Hunter.

Good morning, Chairman Minnesota and Council members.

My name is Nathan Hunter, and I am a ward six resident.

I am here today as a member of Empower DC and as a part of Empire DC's tenant power campaign.

Every year I testify before the council and highlight the same unsafe housing conditions that continue to threaten our health.

We moved three times in the past three years in search of better living conditions.

First, we were at Benning Courts in Ward 7.

But after management continued to ignore our issues, including flooding, we moved to Capitol Vista Apartments in Ward 6.

We thought we were moving into a safer home for our family.

Our son lived on the property too.

We were soon to we were soon to discover that conditions at Capitol Vista were the same, if not worse than at our previous home.

The property manager for Capital Vista Fire Management owes over 97,000 in fines.

One of the key issues at Capital Vista is mold.

Our son who lives on the property is experiencing flooding in his unit.

And our neighbor who moved onto the property through a permanent supportive housing program called New Endeavors, has also had several leaks and mold in her apartment.

You could smell it when you walk in the unit.

This is impacting the health of her and her pets.

We helped her schedule an inspection with DOB, and while they pointed out the causes of the mold, including the flooding in her unit, nothing was really done to address the mold.

DC needs to stay DC needs a steady process to inspect and enforce mold.

We stand by Power with DC and ask for one million to go into mold inspections and enforcement under DOB.

Like at Capitol Vista, landlords and management companies still fail to fix things because they know that even when they are cited by the city for housing code violations, they are unlikely to face any real penalties besides a fine.

This leaves us languishing in severe conditions and causes displacement.

My wife and I had to leave our community at Capital Vista where our son lives and moved a third time.

We now live in Ward 8, but our neighbors are still dealing with some emergency conditions at Capitol Vista.

This cycle must stop.

We asked the council to put 15 million in DOB's nuisance basement abatement fund so the agency can do more repairs even when landlords refuse and then build a landlord later.

Friar management has continued to violate housing code with no real consequences while our health gets worse.

And then tenants are blamed for property conditions.

They say people are behind on their rent, but we paid our rent on time and still nothing has changed.

Not to mention Friday is breaking DC right to organize law by retaliating against residents who organize to hold them accountable.

They threatened tenants with eviction and barred tenant organizers from the building, such as myself.

Housing conditions are serious and lead to displacement.

My wife and I have been displaced three times because of bad housing conditions.

We are still here and we refuse to be displaced anymore because landlords refuse to do their jobs.

So I asked the council how will you protect residents?

Thank you for your considering my recommendations for this year's budget, and I am available for questions.

Thank you, Mr.

Hunter.

And I have your statement.

Good morning, Chairperson Mendelson and members of the committee.

My name is Arthur Slade, Vice President of Ask Me Local 2743, representing employees at the Department of Buildings.

I'd like to follow up on testimony that I provided the performance oversight hearing on February 12, 2026, regarding three outstanding critical issues regarding employee safety.

The first one is a rodent infestation that persists and continues, and I followed up with your office on an email on March 31st, I believe, that you should have attached with my testimony.

We're asking for funding the DGS to fully eradicate the rodent infestation, which is currently persisting to date.

The second issue is going to be the workplace safety of the employees because there was an incident that I mentioned on the performance oversight hearing regarding an October 25th incident where a beam failed in an undisclosed location almost luckily, no employee was there at the space that could have caused serious litigation problems for the District of Columbia.

And third, a classification audit to ensure that the additional duties that the members of ASME Local 2743 in accordance with the worker working conditions portion of the CBA are properly classified and compensated for those additional duties.

I also want to bring forth at this moment to the committee and lobby for your support for the FM the paid family leave budget to remain in place, specifically the 320 hours that are designated for employees and not the reduction or the scope of those classifications, excluding grandparents and siblings.

There are several members within the local who are DC residents that take care of the elderly citizens that is an aging population in the District of Columbia.

And in closing, we also want to ask the committee for its support in refunding the 70 million that was allocated for the workforce investment fund, as well as the 127 million that's for the FY27 investment fund.

And that aggregate total is 197 million dollars for compensation, not only for compensation for union members, for non-collectively bargained members as well.

Thank you for this opportunity to testify, and I'm available for any questions at this time.

And Mr.

Gilliam.

Good morning, Chair Person Mills and the members of the community of the whole.

My name is County Gillian, President of Acty Local 2725.

I represent district government employees across multiple agencies, including employees with the Department of Buildings.

I want to be clear about what is happening in this budget.

The fiscal year 2027 proposal removes 127 million dollars in fund of funding for future pay increases tied to collective bargaining and workforce compensation.

That is not a technical adjustment.

It is a policy decision that directly impacts worker families across the city, including employees responsible for building safety, code enforcement, and protecting residents from dangerous conditions.

We continue to hear from the executive that there's not enough money.

However, that claim is excuse me.

However, that claim becomes difficult to reconcile when discussing the Department of Buildings.

DOB is a revenue generating agency through permits, licensing, inspections, and enforcement actions.

One area that deserves a media review is the continued reduction and settlement of notice of infraction penalties through the Office of Administrative Hearings.

Contractors and violators are routinely allowed to settle fines for reduced amounts rather than paying the full penalties issued by DOB inspectors.

That weakness enforcement undermines deterrence, impacts public safety, and reduces revenue that could otherwise support agency operations and workforce investment.

If DOB and other DC government agencies were permitted to fully realize the revenue generated through its enforcement authority, the district would not be claiming the budget is in a precarious position while simultaneously removing 127 million dollars from worker compensation.

The employees within the Department of Buildings are directly connected to public safety.

Our members inspect construction sites, enforce housing and building codes, identify dangerous conditions, and enter unsafe environments throughout the city to protect residents before tragedies occur.

At the same time, we are seeing continued growth in the management supervisory service position throughout district government, including deputy directors, associate directors, and chiefs of staff, while frontline employees are being told there's no funding available for conversation.

That is not efficient and it is not sustainable.

During the mayor's uh budget presentation, she stated that DC is not broke and that the district has approximately $2 billion in reserves.

There's also uh approximately $1 billion in locally generated tax revenue removed by congressional action.

If those funds remain within district accounts, they should be leveraged and earmarked against the district reserves to offset the removal of the 127 million dollars in worker compensation funding.

At the end of the day, the question is simple.

If the district has the resources, why are the workers who protect the safety of this city being asked to absorb the impact?

AC Local 2725 respectfully request that the council restore the 127 million dollars in funding for worker conversation, conduct oversight into the notes of infraction settlement practices through the office of administrative hearings, and to ensure that frontline DOB personnel were adequately staff and support it.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

I'm gonna be able to answer any questions.

Thank you, all of you, for your testimony.

Uh I'm trying not to ask too many questions because there's so many witnesses.

Uh, but I do want to say this.

Uh so Mr.

Gilliam, you mentioned uh possible funds that are available, the billion dollars that Congress didn't let us spend last year.

Uh, that money has been accounted for and is incorporated in the budget.

What happened was that Congress uh through the continuing resolution forced us to spend at FY24 levels, the difference being about a billion dollars.

Uh we, the council, we found a way of working around that to the tune of about 600 million dollars.

Uh that did mean that the last fiscal year there were some um measures undertaken by the mayor to freeze hiring, and as well between the mayor and the council, we deferred some spending, and that's how we took care of the billion dollars.

Congress never actually took the billion, they just simply gave it denied us authority to spend it.

And uh the film when the fiscal year ended, the that which was not spent just fell to the bottom line and is part of what is before us now.

So it's not like there's a pot of a billion dollars sitting out there.

It's all been incorporated, subsumed into the budget.

Uh with regard to uh the testimony from both you and Mr.

Slade regarding the workforce investment account.

Um, so the mayor sent down a budget that's balanced.

Uh, in order to fund anything, we have to cut in order to then have money available to fund.

I did have a conversation with me yesterday, we with my staff yesterday about the workforce investment account and whether we could restore any funding in there.

So I never make any uh guarantees or commitments of what we're gonna be able to do until we get to the point where we're voting on the budget, which will be June 9th, but we are looking at whether we can put some dollars into the workforce investment account, realizing that there are um several major contracts.

I think firefighters uh and comp one and two are two of the major contracts, and then there are a lot of um lesser contracts.

When I say lesser, I mean small units.

Um, so we're trying to see if we can put some money back into the workforce investment account.

Uh, the one other uh issue I wanted to bring up, Mr.

Gilliam, a little bit of a disadvantage because I don't have a copy of your written statement.

But um, Mr.

Slade, you talked about the rodent infestation.

Could you say more?

That's at 1150 or 1104 Fourth Street, am I right?

Yes, across the street from uh the CFO's building.

Yeah, because it's adjacent.

I think Safeway is in uh the space and maybe that the party from Safeway is coming through DLCP and going up to DOB.

And I know DGS has limited DGS's control of the rodent infestation, but it's a problem and it's persisting.

And the members uh I've sent photographs to the council uh specifically Councilmember Nodeau, and I attached photographs of the rodents in traps, in cubicles, and rodent fecal matter in window seals.

So we would just ask that, you know, no employee wants to come to a workplace and be in the workplace and have a rodent, a deceased rodent in their desk.

I can understand.

That is Department of Health who takes care of rodent infestation.

I'm just going off the information that they provided when we did a request for information with the director.

So that was the information that was provided that DGS controls the site and the scheduling for treatment to ensure that rodents' activity is removed.

And then as a result of some of the uh some of the emails that were forwarded to the council, the Department of Buildings' response was just to remove the traps so that there wouldn't be any evidence of rodents activity within the building, but there's still fecal matter surrounding the cubicle areas and then the willow sales.

Yeah.

Alright, that's pretty disgusting.

Um thank you for your testimony.

I don't have any other questions for you all.

Uh continuing uh Shining Shi, who's with the Save Chinatown Solidarity Network, Peter Yang.

Uh how Chen.

Please sit down.

Are there just who's that?

Okay.

Should I just do the three?

Yeah.

I think we'll stop there and hear from you all.

So uh whatever order you want to go in, and I understand uh I guess Miss Shi you'll be translating.

Yes.

Uh so uh whatever order you want to go in.

Okay, I can go first.

Um good morning uh chairman.

Uh I'm an organizer with uh with and the founder of Save Chinatown Solidarity Network.

Uh we are a grassroots organization that is fighting to keep the long-term residents and businesses of uh DC's Chinatown in place.

Uh so we are here to spotlight the emergency needs around elevators safety enforcement, um, and along with the Fair Budget Coalition and Empower DC asking for the expansion of funding uh of the nuisance abatement fund to at least 15 million.

Uh you may have heard of Museum Square, uh, 10-story apartment building uh in downtown DC housing dozens of black and Chinese senior citizens, uh, most of which have uh severe illnesses, mobility, and other health issues.

Um there's been a protracted displacement campaign that the landlord has been carrying out at the building since 2013.

For two months, uh, from the end of November 2025 through Christmas, New Year's, all the way to the end of January, all five elevators uh at the property were uh out of order.

I have personally worked with this building uh since 2015 and spent almost eight of these years working as a tenant organizer supporting residents all across DC dealing with a myriad of issues.

The failures at play here are absolutely unforgivable.

I I witnessed, you know, eighty ninety-year-old residents struggling to help each other carry water, other other groceries up endless flights of stairs, up um eight, nine flights of stairs, which prompted us to organize um mutual aid support and delivering and buying groceries.

One particular wheelchair bound resident uh was completely trapped in his unit for for the whole of the two months.

Uh, unable to leave his apartment during the holidays, missing doctor's appointments, time was with family.

Um, he became sullen, depressed.

Um, and what happened to him?

After the elevators came back online, he had to move.

He was displaced from his home of 30 years.

Um, this two-month outage came after over six years of repeated breakages, um, many of which were not sighted because of weaknesses in the property maintenance code.

Um, and even with repeated uh violations, they're allowed to deal uh Bush, the landlord are allowed to continue on without ever making um adequate repairs.

At this point, this level of neglect constitutes abuse.

Year after year.

Residents from not just Museum Square, but black, brown, and immigrant communities across the city, uh city, excuse me, uh share with you uh stories that point to the same conclusion.

The housing code enforcement architecture is faulty, it's violent, and it's disproportionately harming and displacing people of color, the poor, and the working class.

Um so our demands are clear.

We support uh and advocate for the passage of the lean act to more effectively hold these bad uh repeated uh repeated bad bad actors accountable.

We are asking you to fund uh great uh fund the nuisance abatement act that will allow DC to step in and fix uh elevator issues in particular.

Um we should strengthen the property maintenance code around elevator regulation and uh fund more DOB elevator inspections, and um we also support um DOB siting for uh and regulating around mold.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And the two with you, do they wish to speak?

Um, you ghen fool man, ting with sang Xia.

Shen Tai Chen Fu.

Uh D C Sun Yan.

Uh, oh, Shangsia.

Um my name is Hao Chen.

I've been living at Museum Square for 15 years.

Um the landlords are not fixing the elevators on purpose.

It's keep breaking at once.

Um what's uh the LEUs is uh your hand, you can don't jungle that issue.

I am 69 years old.

Um and when the elevators break, I have a really hard time climbing the stairs.

I am asking for the DC government to step in and make uh and to fix the elevators.

Thank you.

So we hear from Mr.

Yang.

Oh, they talk uh uh Yang Shin Zhang.

He's virtual, right?

Who's that?

Oh my gosh.

Um, I'm here to talk about the elevators and um the maintenance at the building.

Yeah, how you would hold on to the girl.

Um I I have two I have a broken foot and um it's been incredibly difficult to deal with this with the broken elevators.

Yeah.

So you can see and the pushy.

Impossible for for me, and that's a lot of suffering, and we need to so much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

What is Mr.

Lynn's name again?

Uh uh, why men are the way it is.

Got it.

But thank you for your testimony.

I'm sorry that these conditions persist.

Uh because I remember you all testifying before.

So thank you for your testimony.

I will bring it up with the director.

Jeremy Sherman, who is chair of ANC 1A.

Kimberly Bender, who's executive director of AIA DC.

Jared Powell, who's president of Historic Anacoste Black Association.

Shafiqwa Pasha.

Dave Shawitney.

Terry Ecker.

Daniel O'Brien, who's with a Zero Waste Volunteer with Sierra Club.

Some of every other four people so far who are online, just in case it sounds like nobody's here.

Cheryl Woodland.

Shay Pasha.

And uh Alufunque Adua.

That's all the public witnesses before we get to the executive.

Good morning, Council Chairman.

Before you start, hold on.

Ordinarily, what I do is I go through the list all over again, but since you're here in person, now that you go first.

So why don't you proceed?

Thank you.

Good morning, Council Chairman and staff.

My name is Ulu Funk Funkedou, and I'm a resident of Ward 3.

I'm here today because DC needs to protect renters' health and safety in the next year's budget.

I urge the council to fully fund DOB's inspections and enforcement program to better ensure residents are not living with unhealthy and unsafe housing conditions.

This issue not only affected my health physical and mental, it led me to being displaced in order to live what is left of my life without being constantly hospitalized.

The terrible, unsafe and unsanitary and quite frankly, unlivable housing habitability conditions are well documented with DOB and the DC Superior Court.

With frustration and exhaustion, I left my home of over six years when no help or support seemed forthcoming from DOB.

My health took a nose drive, and the medical team questioned if my living situation had a role to play in my deteriorating health.

The house had lead, mold, and other unsafe conditions that led to the owner being cited for about a hundred thousand US dollars in different violations and infractions.

Inspections occurred, Mata's rates to the Office of Administrative Hearing, yet no action on actual abatement.

A funny thing happened just two days ago when an inspection that was carried out around September 2025 only got an attempted follow up after almost eight months of the inspection and six months after I moved out.

It is clear that DOB needs help getting on top of the city's housing crisis, and that is why I'm asking the council to fund DOB with one $1 million so they can take on the responsibility of uh mold inspection as part of their housing inspection.

The DOEE no longer does this.

This will support training for the inspectors to identify and cite for mold.

Two, 15 million dollars in a nuisance abatement fund to help with emergency housing repairs.

I lived for months with a defective bathroom backtop that meant that I took showers in the same putrid water that did not drain out.

Had DOB gotten this money, they would have got to the repairs and had it done, then build the landlord instead of the unending inspections and citations that went nowhere.

Three, proactive inspector inspections should be carried out by DOB, especially on old buildings that were built before codes to avoid untenable and potentially unenforceable codes violations.

That's why that's why there are so many repeat offender landlords in DC.

Why should tenants be hearing other tenants in their own apartments using the bathroom, hearing the trickle of P and flushing if codes had been enforced to meet the standards?

Many older buildings have no soundproofing, very thin walls between apartments.

I am weary making certain phone calls or having certain conversations inside my own home because I'm afraid that my personally identifiable information can be heard by my neighbors just as I clearly can hear theirs.

I think you have the rest of my.

I actually don't think I have your statement.

It's it's there.

Oh yes, I have.

Yes.

So I'm just, you know, tired of this constant, you know, displacement, and that's why you know I'm here physically to testify.

Thank you for your time.

Yes, thank you.

Morning.

My name is Jeremy Sherman, Columbia Heights.

Today on behalf of the entire AOA.

Back in 2024, we formed working group for council.

Tell the story according to the across the district properties.

That is actually a remarkable tackled vacancy more unanimously.

But right now, gather dust because we fail to find us to that we need more legal.

Ask us for full funding.

That means funding the strategic of the vacant building maintenance plan registration review process.

We need more administrative citation.

Um, all outside of DOB's direct purview, but are among some of the other powerful tools in this law.

I urge all council members to find dedicated funding for the vacant property receivership program and direct foreclosure authority for tax delinquent class three and four properties under OAG and for OTR to implement tiered escalating tax rates for class three and four properties.

These are the kinds of interventions that we can finally break the cycle of speculative holding and chronic long-term vacancy.

Without them, the properties that have sat empty for eight, 10, twelve years will keep sitting empty.

I understand it's a difficult budget year.

I'm not asking for everything all at once, but I do urge uh you, Mr.

Chairman, and the committee to find funding to move key pieces of that powerful legislation forward.

Thank you very much for the opportunity to testify, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you, Commissioner Sherman.

Kimberly Bender, who I believe is virtual.

Thank you, Chairman Mendelssohn.

I'm glad to be here today and have the opportunity to testify on behalf of the board of directors of the Washington chapter of the American Institute of Architects, known as AIADC, where I've recently become the Executive Director.

AIADC represents around 2200 members in Washington, DC, and it's the fifth largest AIA chapter in the country.

I'm pleased to have this opportunity to offer AIADC's perspective on the DC DOB.

Over the past several years, my predecessor Mary Fitch testified several times on the topic of streamlining the building permit process, a process that we have believed to be burdensome and that was hampering the district's economic development and housing affordability efforts.

Studies have shown that making the development process less complicated will have an immediate impact on housing.

Director Hanlon and his staff have made great strides on this issue, significantly improving its customer interface, whether through in-person, excuse me, communication.

We believe there's even more DOB can achieve on this front.

Along with hurdles from federal agencies and public review of zoning adjustments, obtaining a building permit from the DC Department of Buildings is often time consuming and can present unanticipated delays.

Coordination among agencies such as DOEE, DC Water, and DDOT still needs a lot of work.

Permitting delays and regulatory uncertainty have broad negative consequences, impacting both homeowners pursuing modest improved projects that would deliver new developments, including housing to our city.

We fully support any budgetary appropriation that could fund specific reforms within DOB to improve review timelines and consistency and streamline the building review process.

I look forward to working directly with Director Hanlin to find ways our members can provide guidance on this issue and contribute to the success of the DOB.

Thank you for this opportunity to testify, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you, Ms.

Bender.

So you're no longer the HIREC mansion.

I'm here, district architecture.

Just completing the process.

So we now, any day now.

Okay, I'll sit in on the edge of my seat.

Jared Powell.

President of HABA.

Yes.

Good afternoon, Chairman Middlesense and members of the council.

My name is Jared Powell, representing the historic Anacosia Block Association.

I'm known as HABA.

I'm here today to advocate for the full funding of the Vacant to Vibrant Amendment Act and the FY27 budget.

This is a yes and scenario.

The Department of Buildings needs TEET to enforce need a funded directive use.

It is fiscally irresponsible to limit a lack of units while a bandaminiums are allowed to decay in one of DC's most significant neighborhoods.

These are not just liabilities, they are untapped assets for workforce housing.

Full funding for the vacant to vibrant act would empower the DOB to finally resolve many intractable properties that have sat vacant for decades.

We are specifically highlighting 1227 Maple View Place Southeast with an OTR balance of 3,116,640.

1225 Mapleview Place Southeast with an OTR balance of 1,167,814.

2266 Mountain View Place Southeast, where absent homes with an assessment of 1,025,692.

1420 W Street Southeast, sitting directly across from the historic Frederick Douglass House with a balance of 167,490.

As a core component of full funding, HABA recommends a specific mechanism to transfer select properties, including those identified above, to the Law Enfant Trust.

The trust is a reliable community partner.

It is a proven entity that understands the unique requirements of our historic wood frame architecture.

Transfer of select properties protects the integrity of historic anacosia by ensuring that as the district creates workforce housing, we do so by protecting the historic character and fabric of the neighborhood rather than replacing it with generic construction.

Directing funding to the trust to rehabilitate these structures is fiscally smart.

It is a better use of public funds than the status quo as it removes the red flags that stifle business investment and restores a tax base immediately.

Vacant properties continue to degrade community development and act as a warning signs for business investment.

By funding both the enforcement and the execution, the district can both support our existing local businesses and encourage new ones, replacing blight and stagnation with foot traffic traffic and activation.

Thank you, Mr.

Powell.

Or possibly Shay Pasha, I believe is not here.

Nick Weinberg, I think is not here.

Daisha Whitney, I think is not here.

I believe is not here.

Terry Acker, I think is not here.

Yes, great.

Thank you.

Chairman Mendelssohn, thank you for the opportunity to testify at the committee of whole budget here uh budget oversight hearing on the Department of Buildings.

My name is Dan O'Brien, and I'm a member of the Sierra Club, District of Columbia chapters zero waste committee.

We represent three quarters here in the we appreciate the deal be having a good question.

We have construction collect track data.

We emphasize that scene D waste represents roughly one quarter of the district's waste stream, and that compliance with the 50% reuse recycling requirements in the green and residential construction codes is essential to achieving the district's 80% diversion goal and reducing climate and environmental justice harms.

For the 2027 Capital Project, the IT systems modernization initiative was completed with this initiative.

Does the proposed FY donated staff time or role specifically focused on C strengthening effective opportunity to districts?

Depreciate any progress action plans for all new organizations, but in coordination with other agencies for Maryland and Virginia.

The proposed 2070 to start up or maintain the composting program.

Furthermore, we want to bring the codes coordinate and kill the pending building code update, as other people mentioned.

These involved approximately 2,000 hours of time devoted by member advisory groups.

Seers have now the last code update.

We do not believe that this is a realistic timeline if the mayor intends to start from scratch.

Quickly turning briefly to the food policy.

I'm going to cut you off because you're over your time.

You're a minute over your time.

Thank you so much.

I do have your written statement.

Thank you.

Um, Cheryl Woodland, I don't know.

Is she here?

Um that's just for uh witnesses.

If Cheryl Um, let me still hear I am familiar with the houses in Historic Anakosky, the fifth underway right now.

Uh, you recommend that these properties be transferred to them.

Have you talked to LaFont Trust about this?

Yes, um, and they're actually in support, and they've submitted testimony as well on money, but um they are it's full support of the vacant vibrant full funding, and we've also spoken to them about potentially receiving properties, as well as um their concerns that in order for them to do the rehabilitation work for them.

Yes, they very if funding are not committed to.

Thank you very much.

When you're ready, thank you for waiting.

Thank you, Chairman.

Good afternoon, Chairman Mendelssohn and Council members and staff.

I'm Brian Hanlin, Director of the Department of Buildings or DOB, and I'm pleased to appear before you today to discuss Mayor Mural Bowser's proposed fiscal year twenty twenty-seven budget.

Strategic Enforcement Administrator Keith Parsons, who is to my right, and our Chief of Staff, Alex Cross, directly to my left.

Our agency is primarily responsible for regulating the built environment in the District of Columbia.

A task which we accomplish through property inspections, reviewing plans, issuing project permits, and ensuring compliance with applicable building codes and zoning regulations.

DOB inspects diverse construction projects, apartment buildings, and vacant properties to ensure that DC residents have safe and habitable living environments.

Our mantra is to keep the district's built environment safe to keep it green and to keep it moving forward.

We accomplish this mission under the leadership of Mayor Bowser and Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, Nina Albert, and in partnership with our sister agencies, the council, ANCs, and other stakeholders.

Despite difficult economic headwinds, DOB will continue to operate as it has throughout my tenure with adaptability and agility.

As we work towards the final year of the mayor's administration, I join her in running through the tape, finishing strong on the commitments to deliver lasting results for district residents.

I want to thank Mayor Bowser for her strong leadership and steadfast support for our agency throughout her administration, and I thank the council for its collaboration.

Mayor Bowser's proposed 2027 budget, GROW DC, was formulated with three key considerations in mind.

How to drive growth in our economy to fund the services and programs residents count on, how to keep families in DC and attract new residents, and how to create a business environment that draws new investment and creates jobs.

We are navigating a pivotal moment that demands a more deliberate approach to growth.

The federal dollars that once expanded our programs in unprecedented ways have been exhausted, and federal workforce reductions have introduced new pressures on our economy and commercial corridors.

And that being said, it's important to be clear DC is still growing.

Revenues have slowed, but the city maintains a strong financial foundation on which we can build by making the kinds of strategic and targeted decisions that will allow DC to continue growing while delivering the high quality services our residents depend upon.

The GROW DC agenda will advance the district's economic resurgence through tangible investment in downtown, a renewed focus on sports, entertainment and technology, and further efforts to reduce barriers to business growth in the district.

Our fast track fit outs program and permit relief programs for office conversions are just two examples of how we have invested in process improvement and strategic initiatives to reduce friction, simplify our processes, and invest in the district's economic development.

In addition to streamlining services for residents and businesses, DOB plays a central role in advancing projects that anchor the district's economic future.

DOB is at the forefront of increasing permitting speed and regulatory efficiency through our work with Monumental Sports and Entertainment or MSE on the Capital One Transformation Project and, of course, the Washington Commanders on the RFK campus redevelopment project.

The mayor's FY27 operating budget for DOB is approximately $65 million, which reflects a 2.6% increase from FY26.

Under my tenure, abating property violations has been a focus of DOB, with the agency tracking abatement of a record number of violations in FY24 and nearly matching that number again in FY25.

We tracked over 17,000 abated housing code violations last fiscal year, with nearly 1,000 of those done by DOB's abatement team and abatement contractors.

These continued investments in inspections and property maintenance allow us to hold problematic landlords accountable for not maintaining their properties in safe and habitable conditions.

This past year, we conducted a targeted operation comprising 1,328 inspections across 81 properties associated with SAMRES Julian, and this identified over 2,000 violations and over 2 million in fines.

These violations were later used by the Attorney General to file a first of its kind civil lawsuit under the RECO Act to dismantle the Rasjulians network of unsafe and neglected rental properties.

We conducted another targeted effort of 275 inspections across 15 properties associated with Petra development and identified nearly 500 violations, which Petro Development is now actively working to resolve under our oversight.

The magnitude of these enforcement activities reflects the tireless work performed by our inspectors and underscores our commitment to improving compliance and prioritizing the safety of tenants in the district.

We continue to engage with industry professionals, environmental stakeholders, and sister agencies to encourage sustainable building technologies and practices to help meet the mayor's climate goals.

For example, we are working on code updates that will increase the energy efficiency of new commercial and larger multifamily buildings in the district, current standards.

And finally, our work helps keep the district moving by minimizing red tape and improving customer experiences.

For example, our instant permits program now allows residents to quickly obtain building permits for common home improvement projects in a single interaction, including most solar panel installations.

In the Budget Support Act, we have proposed reducing permit fees for even more office conversions, as well as reducing certificate of occupancy fees, lowering key cost barriers to economic development.

As I mentioned earlier, DOB has a leading role in overseeing the development of two transformational projects.

The revitalization of Capital One Arena and the generational redevelopment of the RFK campus.

At Capital One, our successful collaboration with Monumental Sports and Entertainment has enabled the timely delivery of improvements to the arena.

We efficiently issued 84 permits and conducted 110 inspections at the arena site, all in a complex, time-sensitive operating environment.

We ensure that fans could safely access the arena and any construction-related disruptions were minimized.

At RFK, we continue to develop to collaborate closely with the commanders on permitting strategies that allow us to meet our announced timeline.

We have already issued six permits ahead of schedule and have conducted an inspection of the stadium complex.

We have also participated in several meetings with the community, ensuring that their vision is inscribed in the stadium right down to its foundation.

We are also making several capital improvements to our information technology infrastructure that will enhance DOB's capacity to engage our customers and promote efficient nimble operations.

We are modernizing our digital archive, allowing the public to intuitively access permits, certificates of occupancy, notices of infraction, and other property records.

We are streamlining communication with the Office of Administrative Hearings by launching an integrated legal case management system, reducing administrative delays, and allowing us to achieve abatements more quickly.

We are also launching a unified customer relation management platform through Salesforce, which will centralize customer interactions, standardize how customer requests are received and resolved, and improve visibility into request statuses and resolution timelines.

Our investing in artificial intelligence tools and training to enhance our staff's productivity and prepare them to use these tools both ethically and effectively.

As Mayor Bowser's administration enters its final year, I am proud of what DOB has built, not just in permits issued or violations abated, but in the culture of this agency.

We are more responsive, more transparent, and more accountable than we were when this administration began.

The proposed FY27 budget allows us to sustain that momentum, continuing to hold negligent landlords accountable, supporting the transformative projects at RFK and Capital One Arena, modernizing our technology, and reducing the friction that stands between a good idea and a building permit.

Our work regulating the built environment is at its core economic development work.

Every permit we process, every inspection we complete, and every code we update contributes to a safer, greener, and more vibrant standard we have set through the final day administration and beyond.

Interesting statement for a couple reasons.

One of them is you say very little about your budget, other than the fact that uh I guess it's adequate.

Uh you say that it's uh I can't find it right now, roughly 2.6%.

2.6, yeah.

Percent increase.

You're one of the few agencies that's seeing an increase.

Um you say very little about your budget in your statement.

But then also uh I don't want to get too critical here, and sometimes I can go down that path.

But your your statement, which includes uh, let's see, DOB is at the forefront of increasing permitting speed and regulatory efficiency, underscores our commitment to improving compliance and prioritizing the safety of tenants, minimizes red tape and improving customer experiences.

I'm reminded of what Commissioner Elkins said that I forget how you put this that um sixty-two million dollars in uncollected housing fines, fifty-four thousand unabated violations, years waiting for a judgment and a hope-for repair.

Does that sound like a functioning enforcement program?

But I'll come back to that.

So let me uh ask you some questions.

Umspectors are budgeted for fiscal year 2027.

Uh, we have 40 uh housing code inspectors uh budgeted for FY27.

40 housing code inspectors.

That's actual inspectors, not support staff.

Actual inspectors.

Keith, can you um just ensure that that's all inspectors?

I'm also gonna ask you to break it down, so be prepared for that.

Well, what we can do certainly is provide a table that identifies um by division department role and who's in management who's actually out in the field.

We can provide for you.

Uh I'm gonna say yes.

Um please do provide a table, but I still for the record for the public to hear would like to go over this.

Sure.

Yes, it is in fact uh 40 housing code inspectors.

Okay, but now you'll we'll give you a breakdown so you can see the whole thing.

But you also have other inspectors like vacant property inspectors and construction inspectors.

Yes, sir.

How many?

Uh in illegal construction, we have eight illegal construction inspections budgeted for FY27 and vacant and blighted property inspectors.

We have eight uh also budgeted for FY27.

That's it.

We have 22 construction budget.

Alex, you want to expound?

Sure.

In addition to those already mentioned, we also have six third-party inspection oversight uh inspectors, as well as 22 construction inspections uh inspectors that are budgeted, 40 housing code, eight illegal construction, eight vacant, six third party oversight, and twenty-two construction, yes.

That's eighty-four, total of eighty-four.

Eighty-four budgeted, yes.

I have in my memory uh something like a hundred and six is what we budgeted a couple years ago.

Have we gone down in the number of inspectors budgeted?

I do not have that in my memory, but Alex.

Yes, so we have 84 inspectors budgeted.

We also have and managers in total, we have ninety-four.

But the way we make sure to ensure a proper count as we separate the managers from the inspectors, so 94 total.

That's still less than 106, which may be an inaccurate memory, but I thought we got up that high.

I I'm sorry, I don't I don't recall that number from a couple years ago.

Okay.

Um but the budget does call for like one or two fewer than uh an FY26 in terms of the budget.

Yeah, I don't I don't have an exact um tracking for that.

We do have we have done some realignment of positions.

That may be what we're talking about here where we're uh taking people whose roles are more accurately described in another area and just re-doing some realignment.

Um I think it might be, I mean, it there's a lot of detail in here, and I think maybe we can provide a much more robust kind of spreadsheet with everything on it.

I have a note here, you will provide a robust table.

Robust, um of these positions, how many well there's uh the the budget for building inspection program, which I assume is all of these positions, is being increased $397,000 for fiscal year 2027.

Yeah, what's that increase for?

Well, I sort of alluded to that a moment ago.

It's really an accounting exercise.

Um every year we go through all of our FTEs, and um we look at, you know, where are they assigned?

And we will maybe do some tidying up to make sure that the the budget actually more accurately reflects where the work is being done.

So as an example, um with three employees, uh one in third party inspections, one from vacant and blighted, and one from fleet management, and they're removed because they're actually most of what they do is actually associated with building inspections.

And there's some overlap, of course, as there always is in the agency, but they uh we're just um basically putting them where they're actually doing the work.

Would it be I don't like to answer my own questions?

Would it be accurate to say the $397,000 increase is um right size in salaries?

No, I think it's it's really um if if you look at the overall budget, it was it was it it subtracted from one area and put it into another just to reflect where the work is actually happening so it wasn't a net increase uh for salaries.

And Alex, if you want to expound, right?

The only net increase was fifty-nine thousand, and that was for step increases that the staff get annually.

So now of the um these different positions, these ninety-four positions, how many of them are currently vacant?

So you have 40 housing code inspectors.

How many are vacant?

We have five vacants right now.

You have eight illegal construction inspectors.

How many are vacant?

Uh one eight vacant property inspectors.

How many are vacant?

One.

Six third party oversight.

How many are vacant?

Two-two construction inspectors.

How many are vacant?

Uh ten.

Would elevator come under construction inspectors?

That's a property inspections.

Yeah, you're right.

Um I believe those are under the third party inspections program.

So the third party oversight folks to six include your elevator inspectors?

I believe so, yes.

Where you have two vacancies.

That's correct.

I want to ask you a question related to federal grant funding.

The fiscal year 2027 budget includes 1.599 million dollars.

I don't know why it can't be 1.6, 1.599 million dollars in federal grant funds to implement the 2024 construction codes.

So the uh construction codes advisory board is dissolved.

DOB is taking network in-house.

I've heard some testimony that's skeptical of this exercise.

My understanding is that the um this grant, federal grant, is to support the work of updating the construction codes.

The budget chapter notes that the grant will pay for eight FTEs.

What, if any locally funded FTs will be dedicated to supporting the implementation of the 2024 construction codes?

So I'll say um, and I actually want to expound a bit on this, but we we have three dedicated FTEs that are wholly focused on the development of the construction code, and they those three are locally funded?

They're locally funded, right?

Keep going.

Um we have a number of other people that also assist in the uh in the formation of the of the code.

And I just want to say, because it did come up earlier that the dissolution of the construction codes coordinating board did not dissolve our need for continued industry input.

What it really did, and that that board, which was entirely volunteer driven, um, and that included people at DOB who had other jobs.

What we've done is we've realigned the effort so there's a much more focused um uh endeavor here, which is why we believe it's gonna result in a much faster code adoption cycle and one that will get us aligned with our jurisdictional neighbors in Maryland or Virginia.

So it's rather than uh taking our eye off the ball, it's actually the move is to is to refocus and actually apply a lot of dedicated effort.

Um the eight positions that are grant uh that that would be grant funded are are um we're in the process of uh seeking them.

In seeking them, what is seeking mean?

Does that mean hiring?

It's a hiring process, yes, sir.

I feel like giving you a hard time.

So you hire some people and you seek other people?

Well, we seek everyone, but uh this this is uh through grant funding, and we already have the uh dedicated FTEs in-house that are through local funding.

So you'll have a total of eleven who are focused on this.

Yeah, in a variety of different uh efforts, and I don't Alex, do you want to expound on any of this?

We're good.

Yeah, um so the grant funding is that one point five nine nine million in one year.

No, it's over multiple years.

How many?

It's like three.

I yeah, I want to say it's in 2030, it expires.

So it's FY 20 FY26 or FY27.

So the grant is through uh 2023.

The total amount of the grant is five point four million dollars.

We have we had three positions uh that were grant funded this year, as the grant, you know, every year you get more, it's not all at once, and then in FY27, there's five more for the total of eight.

So three this year, FY26, five FY27 for a total of eight in FY27, 28, 29.

When you say through 2030, is that calendar year or fiscal year?

Calendar year.

Pardon me, it's through February 28th, 2033.

Through February 28th, 2020 2033?

Yes.

The grant also includes the um the standing up of inspectors and planner viewers for the Green Energy Codes as well.

That's why it goes farther than just the building codes, which we're gonna be providing, we're gonna be regulating uh promulgating at the end of next year.

What is it standing up?

So the grant was for is going to be standing up an additional uh inspectors and plan reviewers for the green energy codes as well, and so it supports both the creation of the building codes as well as the regulation of them.

So the three this year, the five next year, they're all focused on the construction codes.

You mentioned that the grant also covers additional inspectors related to the green energy, but is that in FY27, or is that in the later years?

We can get back to you with the years they're coming on board, the detailed uh detailed table.

Okay.

Um, but I'm trying to get a sense of how much resources are available for just the construction codes.

And it sounds like it's three FTEs next year.

It will be eight FTEs totally, three this year and twenty-six, and then we're getting five more next year.

And that's all construction code, right?

In fiscal year 2026, the department had a capital budget, or maybe I should say has a capital budget of 2.8 million dollars.

What is that money being spent on?

Um, well, it's for a variety of IT upgrades.

Um I'm happy to list them here or some of them here if you like.

Um we can also provide a list and a kind of a forecasted schedule of um how we'll be working to put these in place.

Would you like me to mention a few?

Mention a few and then provide the list.

So um project docs, which is a kind of central repository for uploading documents and for exchange back and forth between customers.

We're in the process of improving that.

Um e-records, uh, a number of system improvements to improve integrating a GIS and some AI user interface just to make it easier to use.

Um we're actually putting together a plan review, an AI-driven plan review pilot to see how that does and if it enables uh uh kind of faster turnaround times and a sharper focus.

Um we are getting underway with a strategic IT assessment, which is looking at all of our platforms, the internal and external uh customer facing platforms to look for how do we um uh you know improve, discard, optimize all of it.

Um as I said earlier, I think in my testimony, we're transitioning away from uh uh somewhat uh clunky uh uh customer relation management system to CRM, which is through Salesforce.

Uh, we're in the process of kind of beta testing that now and and getting it to adopted by the agency, scout improvements, uh better user interface, and actually lower uh operating costs.

Um looking at an e-prosecutor platform, which is an integrated database uh tracker that will improve our communications with the Office of Administrative Hearings, and then a series of uh kind of digital marketplace tools um that include Tertius and Certify and Wall Check and uh things of that sort.

Um, and I could go on and I'm happy to provide an exhibit that identifies all of them, what their function is and basically how they roll out across the next couple of fiscal years, okay.

So you'll provide the detail.

Uh in the proposed fiscal year 2027 capital budget.

Now that was you were answering 26.

Twenty-six, correct.

Yep.

For pro for FY27, the mayor's proposing a capital budget uh of 2.5 million.

What will you be spending that money on?

So similarly, I mean we have a variety of um continued upgrades.

Um we're um, you know, we're piloting the plan review for AI and we'll be kind of expanding that.

Um we'll continue to fund our our CRM transition to Salesforce, which I think during twenty-seven will be kind of fully adopted by the agency.

Um also uh improvements, continued improvements to e-records and e-prosecutors.

So it's it's basically some of the things that I mentioned in twenty-six, and as we move through into this next fiscal year, we'll be finalizing uh the refinement and launching of those platforms.

Is this funding adequate for what you need for these upgrades?

It's it's proving to be.

Um we are uh I think managing our expenditure well and um going to yield some significant improvements.

Do you um and you or Alex, do you want to expound?

I agree.

I want to say that was loquacious, but it did make the point.

Um you'll provide a detailed list for that.

Yep.

Um is it that DOB managed to get additional money when other agencies were cut?

Did you submit enhancement requests?

Alex.

We did not submit enhancement requests.

Um what we did receive was what's called operating impact of capital, which is the required maintenance and operating for capital projects.

But we did not submit an enhancement request per se.

I'm not sure it completely understood that.

Um so you did not submit any enhancement requests.

Correct.

Um you said you received operating cost of capital.

The impact of capital.

Yeah, when we institute a uh capital improvement, there is often an ongoing operating uh cost impact.

Correct.

And if you received it, who'd you receive it from?

The mayor or CFO?

Sorry, in the mayor's budget, it was provided, but in the mayor's budgeting process, the the operating impact of capital is something that I guess wouldn't be required to be given if capital projects are capital monies given in prior years.

So we're not creating a capital asset and then not taking care of it or running it.

So again, was this CFO or mayor in the budget formulation?

I say CFO because I know that this is something I've heard them talking about operating cost of capital, and I've heard the CFO say that that's something that's got to be budgeted.

Uh I remember from budget chapters in the past where it often will list with a project operating cost of capital.

That all seems to be coming from the CFO, but um what I'm I think I'm hearing you say is the mayor.

So the mayor says to you what's the operating cost of capital, and then you provide a document explaining the operating cost of capital?

We go through a process and review, yes.

At the mayor's request.

And her team, yes.

The schedule A for the fiscal year shows fifty-four vacancies, only two vacancies less than fiscal year 2026.

Uh give me a second.

What is the department doing to recruit vacant positions?

So it sounds like you the schedule A for next year is very similar in terms of vacancies as the current year.

The goal isn't the goal to fill all the vacancies.

We are and and I mean I I would say that we uh remain in a very active recruiting posture.

Um it's a we've our our HR team, which is uh was strengthened this past year and which is ably led by uh uh Roadie Zemwe um has I think been successful at helping us recruit and um and uh get some qualified and quality candidates on board.

Um it's just something that we're always in that posture.

We uh have had a number of uh recruiting events that have yielded success.

Um we uh for instance recently had an inspector uh interest event and we got three new folks from that.

Um right now we have actively uh six positions that are posted and then two that are going through the pipeline with uh DCHR.

Um so that's I think 16 total that are posted.

You want to expound, Alex?

Yeah, we have sixteen inspector positions posted right now uh on uh the careers.dc.gov website, actively in recruitment, and we have two additional that we'll be posting um shortly once we get them through the DCHR uh process, well looking at uh my earlier question about vacant uh positions, you had I think 19 vacant inspector positions.

And you just listed 18, so that's pretty close.

But uh if you have 54 vacancies, that's on the FY27 schedule A.

Um I could ask how many vacancies do you have right now in the 54 total?

And we can we can get you an exhibit that shows the number and where they are, you know where.

Okay, but how many vacancies do you have right now?

I believe um that we have right now fifty-four vacancies that listed for FY27.

No, how many do you have right now?

Not listed for 27, but today.

We have 54 right now.

And what percentage is that of your total?

I don't know, roughly I won't guess.

Let's say 15.

I just guessed.

14.4.

14.4.

What's that 14.4?

Now I hate to ask leading questions, but is some of that because of the hiring freeze last year?

Well, I think last year's recruiting um schedule was impacted by the freeze.

We actually had queued up, I think it was 13 to 15 inspectors that had signed and were coming on board.

And then the we we had to say goodbye to that because of the the freeze, and it was just an unfortunate event.

Um, as we continue to do, we look at you know, ways to be creative about attracting um, you know, really highly qualified candidates, and sometimes that means uh, you know, in the past we've we've admitted people in and then given them a year plus to to get their certifications in place.

Uh we're actually looking now at maybe recruiting at an even lower level, uh, and so that they can start off with a real kind of starter position and get trained, and and so we're gonna continue to try to be creative about how we um recruit and hopefully retain folks, uh and it's just an ongoing effort for us.

How much do you collect from the vacant property registration fee?

It's somewhat de minimis, it's uh it's about I think fifty thousand a year, and it's a fee that as we looked internally at our operations, it it actually, if you did the math, it costs more to administrate than it does in terms of bringing it in.

And why is that?

Why uh why does it cost more to administrate?

Or why is it so small?

Um it's historically been um small.

I mean I'm not sure it's inappropriate, but Keith, please expound.

Well, the total universe chairman, of course, is only the um properties that are vacant at any one time, which is uh about four thousand.

So the ceiling on the fee is not particularly high.

As for why it uh costs a lot to administer is it's a very individually small fee, and every time uh it comes in we have to do paperwork, we gotta invoice it, we gotta update our systems, and uh all of those have transaction costs, and and somebody has to do that.

I assume there's a low compliance rate.

Uh it depends on uh your definition of low, but uh, you know, there let's just say there are 4,000 uh vacant properties.

Of the 4,000, roughly how many are paying the registration fee.

I don't know that, but if um if 4,000 paid all of their uh, that's data we'll have to dig up and get to you.

We'll we'll get that to you.

Yeah, it would it would max out at like a million dollars if it was perfect.

If it was perfect compliance for 4,000, it'd be a million dollars.

So that's the ceiling.

So it's like 25 dollars, two.

250.

250.

Uh it went up to 350 under vacant to vibrant, but it was 250 during the time periods we'd be talking about today.

Okay, 4,000 times 250 equals a million.

Correct.

Okay.

And we're getting 50,000.

Uh I that's my definition of all.

I see.

Well, we would have to, I mean, it probably deserves a little bit of study here, but my guess is is that the that the vast majority of vacant properties have are don't have people that are going to proactively report them as vacant.

That doesn't surprise me.

So we have to go after them in other ways, yeah.

Sure.

Um, sure.

I'm just thinking if it's a million dollars, 10% of a million dollars would be 100,000.

You think it's bringing in about 50,000, that means about 5% compliance rate.

Um, so why is the fee being reappealed in the budget support act?

Because it's so costly and it costs more to administer than we're bringing in.

I I think it's it's really, yeah, and I and I would say that um you know the the folks that are actually following through to register are I would say they're good faith actors, and this just becomes a an administrative step that doesn't necessarily yield a lot of value and just adds friction to them.

It's the it's the folks that are not compliant that we we uh we would we want to we we need to hit them in different ways.

Keith, did you want to expound?

Uh yes, Director.

So the other thing I would sort of add when you're thinking about uh the impact of this fee, Mr.

Chairman, is um the really powerful hook on vacant properties is the tax classification change.

And so we find that the strategic way to uh bring these properties into compliance or to end up sending them to tax sale where they're cycled through to another owner who will hopefully be in compliance is to make sure that we're focusing on the uh change in the tax class.

Because that's going to be a much larger it's gonna be a much larger amount of money.

Um it's sort of automatically administered by OTR, they have to send the bills every year regardless of what they are.

So it's not an additional administrative burden for us to try to chase another fee, and uh it tends to work when the people come to us and want to uh bring a property back in compliance, it's usually because of the tax bill, it's not because of the fee.

Because the tax bill goes from 85 cents per 100 if it's residential to $5 per $100.

For commercial, I think it's $161 to $5.

Correct.

Um, we've heard from the DC Association of Realtors that listed residential properties, that no, we've heard from the association of realtors that listed real residential properties have been targeted with vacant property stickers by DOB inspectors before the listing exemption timeline ends.

There's a little bit of testimony to that uh earlier today.

What is the department doing about uh that to address the issue?

Well, I um forgive me, yeah.

I actually recently became aware of this, and as soon as we became aware of it, um, you know, most people that are listing their property are acting in good faith, and um there is a process they have to go through to register their property as vacant, but there can be a lag, and so rather than have one of our inspectors go out and pop a sticker on the door, we just think it makes sense.

So we've actually got a bit of a process improvement we um put in play really in the last almost week.

Um, so I think we fixed the problem.

So let me let me just walk through if you like what what we're gonna do here uh to make the process better.

So if if an inspector is out there and sees a property that's clearly for sale and has a sign, it again is vacant, but instead of applying the sticker, um the inspector takes note of the contact information on the sign, and then they actually reach out to the realtor.

Uh and then they communicate with the realtor who can provide all the you know all the kind of notice paperwork by email, informs the realtor that there is a an exemption process that they have to go through.

They've got uh 90 days um uh it will be reclassed in 90 days if they do not do that.

And um, in a if uh we so it's really just a process of kind of working with folks so it it uh it's not an annoyance.

Do they have to pay the registration fee?

Um before we we repeal it, would they have to pay the registration fee?

They they would.

Uh yeah.

So I put my house up for sale and I have to pay 250 dollars, but you're planning on getting rid of that, but at the moment I'd have to pay 250 dollars and then apply for an exemption.

Correct.

Is any legislation necessary in this area?

Um I I don't think so other than uh um eliminating the fee, and then we've we've handled the rest through a process improvement.

I mean, I think it makes sense that uh if an inspector goes out and it looks like the property is being sold that rather than slap a sticker on the property, you reach out to the realtor.

That's why we're doing it.

Now the budget support act also contains a subtitles that reduces fees for certificates of occupancy.

Why?

I would say um, that's one of those additional fees that just adds a bit more cost when you've got people that are making improvements to a property um and they're investing in Washington, DC, to build a business or or uh you know, a building, we look at that and we think it's actually um beneficial to reduce that what I think of as cost friction.

Um we want to encourage people to fee.

Um well, for just as an example, if it was a hundred thousand square foot uh building, there'd be a fee of around $700, and the flat fee that we're proposing is I think um don't laugh, $36.30.

Um, but it's it's a flat fee.

So let me just say in the last couple years, I have not heard a single complaint about the fee for our certificate of occupancy.

But I've heard a whole lot of complaints about how long it takes.

So what are you doing about that?

Well, um as we do with everything internal to our operations, we continue to look at um every step to improve communications.

Um and I you know, I'd say overall, um, there is a there's a wide range, um, and what folks hear generally is is the negative end of the chatter, and we actually lean into listening to that because it gives us a lot of clues of where we need to make improvements and fixes.

And I'll admit, I'll be the first to admit that we continue to have work to do, but I'm also really proud of what we've been able to accomplish in the last three years.

Um, and when an owner and their architect and their uh their expediter are actually um uh providing us great documents and um and by the way, we're we're also working on making sure that that checklist that um goes through plan review and for frankly all the way through C of O is much clearer.

We think it's gonna yield results and speed things up so that there's greater clarity of the process.

But there are folks that um sale through the system, and then there are folks that don't, and there are contributing factors to that that I'm not sure um I can really you know elucidate here.

Um, but there's a range of things, some of it's communication.

So somebody comes in, especially somebody who doesn't regularly go to the Department of Buildings and they think they've provided everything they need, and they don't understand what they need to provide.

That's communication.

And I think that's an area where you know we it's a never-ending kind of discipline that we have to continue to reinforce to uh to make you know clarity is huge, and and when we communicate proactively, when we do so in a way that um understands that there may be things that are on the customer side of the ledger in terms of responsibility, but we end up owning the narrative anyway.

So we coach our folks to um to actually be proactive and and to communicate, and it's an it's an ongoing effort to keep that discipline going.

I'm not quite getting why it's so difficult, uh, especially if you have a written checklist.

Well, I think what I'd need to do, and I'm not trying to dodge the answer, but it's difficult for me to answer a question absent the example that's being cited.

And so um what I would want to do is um, and you know, look, um uh we we did a lot of interaction with um AIA DC uh with Mary Fitch when she was president, and of course I'm looking forward to working with Miss Bender, um, to continue to look for things that we need to do better.

Um, and so what I would prefer to do is to have an example that we can uh basically do a um uh you know kind of decipher where the problems were and if they were in our agency or in different agency or um and that that's that for me is more helpful because then we can get at the root cause of the issue.

Yeah, but can't you ask your own people for that?

So ask Inspector Smith um what are reasons for to delay in your processing um permit uh permit applications.

He or she can tell you, of course, you know, that uh when Mendelson came in, Mendelssohn was missing uh the check, if that's what it is, or Mendelssohn brought a check when a credit card is faster.

Well, you can make your own list of where things are getting hung up, and then.

I agree.

I think you're right that we and and that is also part of our continuous process improvement discipline is to speak internally to our our teams to make sure that um we're understanding and aware of the challenge points, but in order to be able to diagnose, in my opinion, I need to do it in a sense almost on a case-by-case basis so we can begin to look for behavioral patterns and things where there's maybe cracks in the system, and that's kind of how we that's how we have uh been doing things the last several years.

So again, I have not heard any complaints about the C of O fee, but I have heard complaints about how long it takes.

Um can you provide data on the length of time between application and providing a C of O?

I certainly can.

And we we've got um, you know, I think a fairly good data set that can break it down, so sure we can we can provide.

Okay, so you'll follow up with that.

Um, I think that is part of the C of O application process getting a clean hand certificate.

I think that is um no, not not not for the C of O.

It's it's if you're doing a home occupancy permit and you've got a uh you're running a business.

But Alex, do you want to?

Yeah.

So clean hands is if you're operating a business.

But not to get the C of O.

No, C of O is just to occupy the building.

Or the space.

Uh so we received quite a bit of testimony today about um increasing money in the nuisance abatement fund.

What's your reaction to that?

Well, I mean, I think I have several reactions, and one is um that we have found it to be an effective tool for us to be able to um when an owner is unresponsive to get out there and take care of stuff, and that our our collection rate on that um has uh been uh I don't know the exact percentage, but we we tend to collect more on those liens than we do in other ways through fines of infractions.

Um I think that uh you know the the the formation of a budget requires a lot of uh consideration of everything.

Well, I did not my question was not why isn't it in the budget?

Um my question is sort of agnostic on whether the money's there.

It's just simply what's your reaction to people saying that there should be an additional million or an additional 15 million.

Well, that's what I was trying to get to, actually, Chairman.

That uh I you know, I I think let me just say that I I think I heard upwards of in one case 75 million.

Um I'm not sure where that number comes from.

I do think that you know, as an agency, we are uh regulatory and not right now built to manage uh that type of volume.

So we have to really look at that.

75 million, but uh Empowered DC recommends that the nuisance abatement fund be funded at fifteen million dollars.

How much how much are we funding it?

Like five million?

Oh, it's it's less than that.

It's like I think it's been in two Keith.

You want to?

Uh yeah, so the amount directed to direct abatement has been uh between one and two million in the past few years.

So that would be a a very large increase the last couple of years is one to two million how much is in the FY27 budget for abatement it'll be one point two million point two.

So Mr.

Parsons' answer was the last few years it's been one to two million that's when we wrote down one dash two and Mr.

Cross you're you're saying for FY27 just put instead of a dash put a decimal point one point two.

Correct.

Okay so fifteen million would be roughly 15 times could you handle that?

To be frank I'd need to take a look at what does it take administratively to do that volume and determine whether or not there's an operational or a fiscal impact I can't answer right now because it's not a number that I've previously considered.

So I don't know that we could do this but if we doubled it it sounds from 1.2 to 2.4 that sounds like something you could handle.

I my gut feeling is yes but I I definitely would want to just take a quick pause and see whether or not it's gonna monkey wrench anything internally in terms of administrating it.

Well yeah but uh like some properties uh you're not really able to do much because it costs too much of an exhaust fund so just one property could maybe use a good chunk yeah we've had a couple in the past that have used a sizable chunk so legal aid testified given the number of unabated violations there should be ample opportunity for DOB to spend down the nuisance abatement fund on direct abatements to improve living conditions for tenants yet in FY2025 over four million dollars in funds went unused more importantly of the six million two hundred and seventy four thousand five hundred and fifty one dollars in expenditures for FY 2025 only one million ninety thousand five hundred and ninety two dollars was spent on direct abatements similarly in FY24 of the six million two hundred and thirty seven thousand two hundred and ninety one dollars in expenditures only one point five one five point five three six was spent on abatements I'm assuming those larger numbers is because this is a special purpose fund that has a carryover balance yeah there's some detail in there that we would have to break out for you but the the the fund is funding an apparatus to manage the work so there's a lot of administrative stuff in there there's personnel that are doing things so those other costs are embedded within the numbers that they're looking at the actual uh fund that is targeted towards properties is what we were just talking about which is the one point two million number plus or minus so how much of the fund are you expending every year 100% or a lesser amount I think it's pretty close to a hundred percent um Keith can you or Alex can you uh well you also have a your AFO here.

Yeah and you so for FY25 um under the nuisance abatement fund the total budget was um approved budget was six point seven million and uh out of that six point two almost six point three was spent but the fund also supported some uh FTs in addition to the nice uh abatement contents.

I didn't hear all that.

So you said six six over six million dollars, but some of that's supporting FTEs.

Yes.

And you're saying that most of it was expended.

Yes.

Six point three, almost sixty point three million was a spend.

Uh but my question was of the roughly 1.2 million that's actually for abatement, how much was spent?

So the 1.2 million abatement budget is for FY27 for FY25.

Um direct abatement.

Okay.

So for the abatement, we spent 1.1 million in FY25.

1.1 million.

1.1 million, FY25.

And you're on track this year to spend.

Um because we had some enhancement in FY26, the budget is 2.3 million.

So it has to be um the whole amount would be probably um spent.

I didn't hear that last part.

So 2.3 million is the FY26 budget.

Uh it would just cause some enhancement.

So the whole amount will probably be spent.

What's left over?

Okay.

I have a few more questions, but I'll let council member Felder go.

Uh thank you, Mr.

Chairman.

Uh Director Hanlin and members of your team is always a pleasure to see each and every one of you.

Uh during last year's uh budget cycle, we were able to fund um we were rather we were at we were able to fund through the BZ B SA Support Act uh abatement of properties on Just Street.

Uh and I just want to thank you and your team uh for the outstanding work.

Uh I did want to find out a little bit more about how those funds were spent.

Um with that.

Director, could you share which programs and or division those funds were allocated to?

Um, sure, I may I may ask uh Alex and or and you to shed light on that.

They have the detail.

Okay.

They were put in our housing rehabilitation fund or program, sorry, not fund.

Okay.

Uh and can you share more about what types of rehabilitation is funded from the housing rehabilitation program?

So we have abatements that are funded out of that.

For example, Just Street, where we knew we needed to go in and take down uh a wall that was blocking the gas meters to allow the gas to be turned back on for the residents.

Uh that's an example of what we do out of the housing rehabilitation fund.

Thank you.

And can you share how much of the one million dollars that was allocated to Just Street was spent?

Almost 2800.

So there's 250,000 that was in last year's budget and 750 this year.

750,000 this year.

For the just tree project overall, I believe it was around sixty thousand dollars that it came out to be uh necessary to take down that wall.

Okay.

So it's about seven hundred thousand remaining.

Uh I have to do the math.

Okay.

Okay.

Well, I noticed the decrease in the housing rehabilitation program uh in your FY 2027 budget.

Um, can you speak to what was driving that decrease?

So in FY26, we received multiple enhancements we received uh from the mayor and from the council, and um those were one-time enhancements.

So they're going away.

Okay.

And on average, do you spend all of the funding in your housing rehabilitation program fund?

Fund.

Did you say all council member?

Yes, like the funds that are allocated for that program.

About 90%.

90%.

Okay.

And have you ever needed additional funds?

Not in my memory.

No.

Okay.

Um, next I'll shift my questions to vacant and blighted properties.

Uh Ward 7, as you know, Director, has the highest number of vacant and blighted properties in the district.

Uh, and this issue directly impacts neighborhood safety, economic development, quality of life.

That's why I was concerned to see a slight funding decrease to the vacant and blighted property program.

Uh Director, my question is why is this program seeing um a reduction despite persistent needs in the community and communities like Ward 7?

Okay.

So that that slight reduction was a um a building, it was a was a position that we moved from that fund to to another.

It was more of a right sizing the um the Schedule A.

So it wasn't an actual reduction in the program, right?

Just an FTE that was shifted.

Okay.

Uh now, according to DLB's dashboard, there are currently 617 vacant properties while 41 blighted properties in ward seven.

Again, as I say earlier, these numbers are significantly higher than any other ward.

Uh, my question is what is your process uh for updating your dashboard?

Well, uh um I'm gonna probably ask Keith to expound on the mechanics of updating the dashboard.

Um, the the vast majority of um properties that are on our dashboard are actually populated through uh complaints that we receive from maybe ANC commissioners or or neighbors.

Um but in terms of the updates, it's uh um we have a um pretty focused team on making sure that our data is uh which I encourage everybody to go look at.

It's uh DOB.dc.gov.

There's a public dashboard uh tab, and um Keith is very proud of it, and I'll let him expound on the answer.

Uh thank you, Director.

So uh the dashboard up updates automatically every day at around 10 or 11.

Um, and so if the team has completed the uh back office work to document a vacant property sufficient that the data team scripts will pick it up, then it will be processed through to the dashboard, and any changes uh will reflect since you know the the vacant property dashboard can tell if it's vacant or blighted or exempt or if we've inspected it recently.

So all those things should refresh uh in the morning each day.

Thank you for that.

And could you speak to uh what proactive efforts are underway to identify non-compliant property owners?

Um yeah, we have certainly a proactive inspections program for um rental property.

If is that what you're referring to?

Yes, yes, and and so that's we have a um an algorithm framework that enables us to look at um you know the time since the last inspection, the age of the facility, the number of open infractions, um, some of the efforts from this past year that I referred to in my testimony, we're actually using a uh what I would call a kind of a risk uh based framework for deciding how we deploy our enforcement assets, and we've had some success in doing that by going after some uh landlords that are on the bad actor side of the spectrum, and um so it's uh it's an array of of uh tools to use our our internal resources as effectively as possible.

And I'll ask Keith if he would like to expound on um anything on the the algorithm or our proactive program, uh the only thing I'd add, Director, is that uh the volume for fiscal 25 for proactive inspections was around 22,000, uh which is almost uh equal in size to the volume for complaint-based inspections for the same period.

Oh, thank you for that.

Uh given that ward seven has the highest number of vacant and blighted properties, uh, could you speak to how your agency is allocating inspector and enforcement resources to reflect our reality?

Well, we um we deploy them based on where we receive complaints, and when we're talking about vacant and blighted, uh again, the the vast majority in the high 90 percent is probably coming to us from a neighbor or from an ANC commissioner or a council member or their staff, and occasionally it's one of us driving around and calling it in.

But um, but it's it's largely reflected by that, and um, and I'd say uh go ahead, Alex.

And I also want to add that over the past two years as FY25 and FY26 to date, we have uh abated uh 550 properties, which is 30 and 34 percent of uh sorry, 550 properties in Ward 7, which accounts for 34 percent of all of aided properties in the district, as well as we've spent uh 33 percent of all of our all the abatement funds expended so far have been in ward seven.

So we are putting the majority of our abatements that were done, and the majority of what we're spending is in ward seven.

And I and I would say that we're grateful for people being eyes and ears in the community and calling things in so we can go out and take care of it.

I appreciate that.

I think uh it will be helpful if you can give me um a list of how many violations have been abated and or uh have gone on unabated rather than ward seven that will be helpful.

Of course.

The mayor's proposed budget uh varies in economic development projects across ward seven, you have Fletcher Johnson, you have Hill East, and of course uh you have continued investments and uh RFK.

Uh my question to you, Director, is how is your agency coordinating with the executive and other agencies to ensure that vacant and blighted property enforcement supports broader uh ward seven economic development goals?

Well, I I'd say that um in a number of different ways, um, and one example is where we've met with people that may represent a main street program, and where they've got a kind of concentrate and interest of concentrated properties that may be uh vacant or lying fallow, and so we do have a lot of engagement where our ward-based, we've got um uh community liaisons that do a lot of interface with the community, and they're um you know, I think they're really effective so that we can um listen to and respond to specific complaints that come from uh whatever ward we may be speaking with, and um I would say I you know I would welcome the opportunity to continue to you know communicate with you and other council members on how do we continue to improve that communication process and really improve the the alignment of um kind of developing a much more thriving economically resilient and safe and habitable city.

I have a number of more questions, but it looks like you're saved by the bill.

Uh so with that, Mr.

Chairman, uh the floor is yours.

Thank you, Director.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Mr.

Hanlon, um I'm going over some of the testimony earlier.

Empowered DC repeats our request for mold inspections to be officially moved under DOB and funded at 1 million dollars.

What's your reaction?

Well, I think we I think we have submitted a um a fiscal impact to OBPM uh that's a little bit over a million, but roughly a million, and uh identifies a couple of staff positions.

Um, we are ready to move forward uh should that funding uh uh be provided.

Can you provide us a copy of what you submitted?

Um yes, sir.

I believe.

I'm told you already have.

Um our mold inspection is still being done by DOE right now, because um there was testimony at some point that it was being discontinued.

I would I just need to check in with uh the director at DOEE and see what their current state is.

I can't speak for them.

Um what's your response to the testimony from AFSME about persistent rodent infestation at your building on 4th Street?

But say um a couple of things, and one is we appreciate their input um when we um field complaints of any sort uh from our our team at at uh at our headquarters, uh we we respond uh immediately.

And when it comes to um rodent issues, a couple of things.

One is um when we receive a complaint, um we you know speak to our landlord and we make sure that the department of general services is aware of it.

Um there's generally some sort of um abatement activity that follows.

Um this building has been going through and is now I think done with uh several years of renovations, which created a lot of um a lot of activity and movement as floors were demolished and and then uh kind of rebuilt.

Um I think it's actually uh subsided somewhat and um I do encourage folks to one thing we can all do is to not keep food at our desks and in our drawers because that can be an attractor.

So I'm not sure I'm completely liking that answer.

Um testified that there's persistent rodent infestation, and it seems to me that the um that management has a duty to like eradicate that, um, and I get about food and so forth, but that's like what they can all do as opposed to are we going to get it eradicated, and we'll continue to work with our landlord to conduct eradication programs or step it up, maybe we can look at that, of course.

Um I think you were present when there was testimony about um Museum Square.

Yes, sir.

Uh I mean that's just horrible.

That um the there was no elevator service for a 10-story apartment building for two months.

Now, my recollection, because we may have talked about this before, may have been other issues with elevators elsewhere.

It takes time to order parts, but uh this has been a persistent, this has been a chronic problem at Museum Square, and it sounds like Museum Square, the owners are trying to make it as unpleasant for tenants, which says to me that you should be stepping up inspections, and in addition, you should be doing everything you can to make sure that they have the parts that they need, they're getting the parts now for the breakdown that's going to occur in August.

It's um, well, let me try to address that now.

One, um, we do have I I think an active inspection presence in the building when we field complaints, we do inspect and we cite for condition when we see it.

My understanding is that right now I think there are two elevators that are in working order.

I can't speak to how long they have been in working order.

I and I do acknowledge that the building is is uh uh it's I don't know what its occupancy rate is now.

I think it's um it's certainly not um empty.

There are people that live there, but it's there's a lot of vacant units.

Um, well, is it okay?

You don't have to agree with my characterization, but is it okay for a landlord to constructively evict its tenants?

Of course not.

And and so we and should the government be complicit in that?

No.

So if they have five elevators and we know that they keep breaking down, shouldn't we be insisting they get all five operable, not just two?

Well, um the code, I think, requires one to be operable in a building.

Um I'm not saying that's so what do we do when there's zero for two months?

That's a um that's a problem I I'd have to unpack for you.

Keith, would you like to expound on that?

Uh certainly, Director.

So to get us up to date on the facts on the ground of Museum Square, uh, did check with management yesterday.

Two of the elevators are operable.

One of them is broken.

Uh we cited that one when we inspected in March.

The other two are being decommissioned permanently.

They did pull the decommissioning permit, and it still needs to be inspected and closed out.

But you know, presumably if those inspections pass, those ones will never be uh repaired again and arguably aren't needed due to the uh lower population of the building.

But I mean the larger picture is uh when we heard about this issue.

Uh we issued a correction order, the uh property management did fix the elevators.

Um it obviously took a long time uh for reasons we've discussed, but uh having the two elevators running is uh a eventual uh success, understandably limited by other factors.

I'm not feeling that at all.

Why?

The um tenants testified that one of them is stopping at every floor, it's not working right, and I believe this issue has come up at previous hearings regarding Museum Square.

So it sounds to me like it's just a matter of time between before those two aren't working.

So instead of I mean, I'm I'm maybe being a little exaggerating here, but to allow them to decommission two so that there are only three that can break down, and based on apparently their track record, the three will break down.

I don't think that's acceptable.

I'm not quite saying that right.

They need to have enough operat enough elevators operating so that as they break down, there's still some elevators that are operating, and it sounds like they're not the two that are operating aren't operating properly.

It sounds like the history is that they will all break down again.

And I think the department needs to be more proactive in making sure that those elevators are working.

This is a 10-story building, and none of the opera none of the elevators were operating for two months, and it takes a long time to get the parts well uh one thing I would say is to encourage uh the tenants to reach out to us if they see the elevator stopping at every floor or any condition that well, you heard that testimony today.

Yes, and I'll be happy to order some uh follow-up inspections based on the testifying.

But they don't they don't need to wait to come here uh they can call us up.

Uh we will go out, we will cite it if we observe uh that condition.

Um I'm not I'm not aware of authority that will would allow us to force them to order parts in advance or anything like that, but I I understand what you're saying, Chairman, about being proactive and you know, we're uh monitoring this situation and we'll continue to follow up.

I appreciate that.

I think being as aggressive as the department can be, given the history of this property, and especially with regard to the elevators, given that it is 10 stories that I think that's um in order.

Um Sierra Club testified about zero waste.

I think you heard that.

I did.

And what is your response?

Um, well, one, I'm uh, you know, the the the deconstruction industry is um this one might uh it has really grown in the last decade or so.

I believe the um old RFK stadium had about 95% or so of its material repurposed into uh industry.

Uh a lot of the concrete was crushed and is on site, steel was taken out, and they're all basically recycled.

So we support the the practice wholeheartedly.

And I do think there's a lot of room for education and for um kind of better practices at the smaller contractor level because that I think that's where the industry may struggle.

Um how the agency plays a role in that is a different question, and our ability to uh to be able to kind of monitor and track the percentages of materials that are removed and recycled on any given project is is right now limited by the resources that we have.

So it would be something that if we were gonna take a look at it, I'd have to take a good hard look at what would it take to do it.

Um support the idea and I think that um there may be other mechanisms outside of the department where we can encourage small contractors to actually uh you know take their materials, and there are aspects of that that I see in play.

Uh community forklift and organizations like that that will receive materials, but it's a I think it's a bigger than DOB issue, and and I'd be willing to uh you know work with folks to see you know how do we get the word out more more effectively.

Uh my last question, then I'll turn to uh Councilmember Parker.

Valerie Cableau testified about this uh problem with um party houses on Capitol Hill.

I don't think she used that term, and I know you know what I'm talking about.

I do, but she said this, and I'm reading her testimony.

Finally, I want to let you know the DOB recently reached out to me to see if I could attend an OAH hearing.

I reported to DOB illegal construction at a Capitol Hill property, but there was apparently never a timely inspection by the Department of Buildings.

Incredibly to pursue this case, DOB may need my pictures and my testimony before an OEH judge.

I'm not aware of that property and be willing to take a look at it.

Keith, you look like you're wanting to jump in.

Uh yeah, we can reach out and figure out which property Ms.

Jablow is talking about and look at the case.

Um I mean we try to rely on our inspector's evidence uh primarily in OEH hearings.

It sounds like this would have been a special case if we asked uh complainant for evidence, but it happens, it's not something that's sort of um outside the realm of possibility.

But we can we can reach out and figure out what she's uh asking about.

Okay, it's concerning to me because um DOB should be able to rely on itself rather than relying on residents to support enforcement.

Let me turn to Councilmember Parker.

Thank you, Chairman.

Um I know we have a long list of witnesses and uh testimonies to come, so I'm gonna try and be as efficient as possible.

I know there's been a lot of discussion on enforcement, but if I could just add my voice to it um with the reductions we see in the budget, it doesn't seem as though the agency is wanting or seeming to ramp up enforcement when in fact that seems to be what isn't needed.

Uh generally speaking, before I pivot, uh how does the agency plan to address the unabated violations in light of reductions in the enforcement budget in particular?

Keith.

Uh thank you for the question, council member.

Um so our budget is more the same than reduced.

If you're talking about the um reduction in the nuisance abatement fund, that's uh from one-time funding that's lapsing.

It seems like there's a 327,000 reduction in strategic code enforcement.

And it's my understanding this includes code enforcement, civil infractions, fine assessments, and I believe an answer earlier today suggested um there are a number of vacancies all towed 16 inspector positions posted.

You're actively recruiting two, and there's 54 vacant positions if I'm not mistaken.

So the 300,000, I believe, is um, and and Alex can correct me if I'm wrong on this, but I believe this is right sizing uh the schedule A.

These are folks that weren't working in my shop, they're just under there in the schedule A and we're moved to where they're actually working.

Is that correct?

Right.

Okay.

So with the budget, can you just generally speak to how the agency plans to ramp up enforcement?

I will tell you I hear I wouldn't necessarily say routinely, but I regularly hear from residents and neighbors in ward five that just feels as though the process is performative and there isn't much uh enforcement, whether it's about a legal construction, whether it's about blighted properties, you name it.

And so uh I caught the tail end of the chairman's discussion, but generally, how are you all thinking of approaching this in the next fiscal year?

So uh part of it will be uh ramping up hiring and filling our existing vacancies.

So the you know, that's not increasing the budget, but it's going to increase the impact of the budget when uh we fill those positions.

Uh beyond that, it'll be about uh using our data and smartly prioritizing where we put our resources.

Uh I do hope to have some new folks coming in this month that are going to help me uh do increased work there.

So we're hoping to get more resources within the budget we have and deploy them more effectively.

Okay, I'm gonna turn to abatements.

Uh, in your testimony, you noted that the department uh tracked over 17,000 abated housing co-violations last fiscal year with nearly 1,000 done by the abatement team and contractors.

What is the current balance for the nuisance abatement fund?

If you have that um the current balance is 1.7 million.

1.7 million?

Yes, but after covering the proposed FY27 budget, it will be 465,000.

And uh how much of that is for like direct abatement, or is all of that for direct abatement expenses?

So the fund itself, it pays for uh some uh FTs and also for direct abatement, but um so it is added to the project revenue, so one million is hit aside for abatement from the SPR fund.

Got it.

So just make sure I have it.

1.7 million is the current balance, roughly, and you have 465,000 budgeted for the next fiscal year.

After covering next physical year, we will have 465,000.

I got it.

I got it.

Um and how do you determine what properties or what sort of violations qualify for use of this fund?

Like, you know, Keith may expound on this, but we you know we have a bit of a triage process, and so we um we need to allow property owners the chance to respond to a complaint.

So that's kind of in play no matter what, but we kind of start with safety and habitability.

Um, and so if there's a you know, we're gonna we're gonna focus our attention on issues that that really touch on um some sort of safety issue or again habitability.

Um, there are uh kind of a next tier that's kind of easily systematic systematizable abatements, it might be smoke detectors and things like that that we know we can work with um the fire department and and just you know actually create a process for replacing those, and then I'd say lastly, um when you've got a completely absentee or non-responsive landlord, and there's you know a lot of the issues that happen there is you might have a blighted condition that needs to be secured, or you may have a large amount of overgrowth in their yard or trash accumulation, and we'll we'll take care of that.

But it's kind of a triage, and um we have a team of people that are out in the field, we've got managers in-house, and there's communication that enables us to be able to pinpoint how to approach everything, and I'll ask Keith if he wants to um add to that.

Uh no, I think you covered it, Director.

Okay.

Is there a breakdown of the type of violations that are abated and/or is the is the information around the funds used public that people can see which type of violations are being abated?

Yeah, I think so.

We've got you know, there are there are classifications of violations.

I'll ask Keith to jump in and shed more light on that.

Um we do have on the public dashboard under the performance tab.

There is a um abatements uh tracker.

This is a page that has a lot of uh little month by month numbers zigzagging up and down.

I'm happy to um, you know, show you exactly where it is.

Uh that shows the number of abatements, uh, and it's limited to the abatements that are done during about, or excuse me, that are done from the nuisance abatement fund and from uh that team's work.

That does not tell you exactly what precise thing they are abating, but it does uh it does show you what that particular team is d is doing, right?

That's the 1,000 that they're gonna be able to do.

What you're getting at is there is a level of ambiguity around the fund.

I asked my team to dig into this.

So for fiscal year 25, it appears there was a beginning balance and the nuisance abatement fund of 3.3 million dollars, revenue of about $7 million, and expenditures of $6.2 million.

It should have left a balance of $4 million that was on use, and there was a fund balance sweep of 1.1 million that reduced the fiscal year 26 beginning funding balance.

Um out of all of that money, only 1.9 million was actually spent on direct abatements.

So we're talking many millions of dollars, not much of it going to direct abatements.

Uh meanwhile, there were 26,000 complaint-based violations issued in fiscal year 25.

Now, I don't have enough time here, and I'm happy to follow up, but what I'm hearing you all say is that um the majority of these expenses are going towards direct abatements, and it is publicly accessible for us to see how the funds are being used.

And just to shed a little more light on the numbers, so there's also 550 FTEs that are funded out of the new abatement fund, and out of that, so some of those are support staff, but out of that are also our abatement team.

So when you talk about the direct abatement, the 1.9 million or so, that's for our contractors who go out and do like the heavy stuff, but we also have an abatement team of approximately 15 to 20.

Uh, essentially paying six to one for contractors versus the money going to to the direct abatement.

So if I'm looking at here, and this is a couple of years ago, I would love for a breakdown of the current year.

I think what would be helpful I'm sorry, I didn't interrupt.

I think what would be helpful is if we actually sit down and walk through um the size of the team, how they're deployed on a daily basis, the stuff that they do, and and like our abatement team is is tends to be the kind of low-hanging fruit, so to speak, stuff.

So they're gonna go out and they're gonna deal with um overgrowth and trash and things like that that are kind of a lower lift item, and there's an awful lot of that that occurs.

So our team is is frankly very busy.

Um, and I would invite you to come meet them one day, because they're pretty great.

Um, then I would say that the uh the the one point nine, one point two, whatever number we're talking about, that's for targeted stuff where it's uh it it it's gonna fall into we have to go out and actually correct a condition that requires calling a contractor to do it, where we have a vendor on call that will get out there and do it.

And it's it's it's I think the numbers are roughly reflective of the ratio of the kinds of complaints that come in and how we have to spend our resources.

Okay, I'll leave it there for the sake of time, but I I for the committee's sake, I definitely think this is an area that we should probe more.

Um it strikes me as curious that you're saying the line share of that fund is going to FTEs or contractors versus the intended purpose, which is abatements.

Uh, but for the record, I I would I plan to follow up and would like.

I did want to I'm sorry, I just want to clarify the the a number of those people, a large number that that money is funding, are actually doing abatements.

They're actually in the field doing it.

So it's not that we've got a bunch of people in-house that are administering the the fund.

They're actually, you know, every day they're out in the field doing stuff.

Okay.

So I'm assuming this one million figure doesn't fully capture uh the value of those contractors' work.

I think that's a great way to put it, and that we would um in if we sit down and we go through this, we can we can show you again like the the ratio of kind of low-level abatements and what our teams, our DOB personnel are doing, and and then also the stuff that is being done by vendors and break it apart.

Okay, I'll leave it there for the second time.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So you offered to brief uh councilmember Parker, but maybe you could put in writing um how the fund is being used, either in FY26 or in FY25, how it actually was used, uh 50 FTEs, how many of them are actually out there doing abatement, how much went to contracts?

Make that be useful.

Break it down for us.

Yes.

So I added that to the list of things you're gonna get back to us on data on how long it takes to issue C of O's.

This is not gonna be complete list.

Uh provide a list of your um how you're using your capital budget in FY26 and how you propose to use it in FY27, um detail on your federal grant, and a robust table on your inspectors, and that may not be a complete list.

And when you do provide it, make sure you say robust table.

I almost use the word several times more today, but I held back because I I knew you'd tease me if I did.

Correct.

Thank you.

Thank you all for your testimony, and I'm gonna turn now to the commission on arts and humanities and begin by thanking everyone for their patience.

Thank you, Chairman.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you.

So the deal here is the same as it's been, which is I will call witnesses until the table is filled.

Some people are testifying virtually.

Antonio Malik.

Is he here?

Uh Paris McKinney.

Uh Monica Jahan Bose.

Shannara Gabriel, who's their executive artistic director at Theater Alliance?

Uh Robin Bell.

I got three people at the table.

Are you any of you the people I just called?

Yeah, Mr.

Molly.

Uh Dirk Keaton, who's treasurer with DC Zinefest.

So she's here in person?

Okay.

Okay.

This is the gauge online.

And Dirk is not here.

Alright, I'll stop there.

Uh if when if Shannara walks in, somebody tell her to go to the table.

Um Antonio Malik.

Oh, I also, there are clocks everywhere.

So if you look on the table, you'll see a clock.

I think underneath me is a clock.

Uh three minutes, please.

Um, thank you, Chair Mendelssohn and members of the committee for this opportunity to comment on the value of the DC Commission on the arts and humanities and humanities DC to students, schools, and young people in Washington DC.

My name is Antonio Malik, and I am a sophomore at Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School, and I participated in the Voices of Justice DC under the Constitution Project as a student in Dr.

Shalina Warren's constitutional law class.

Through Humanities DC's support, financial support, my classmates and I were able to explore DC history, constitutional rights, and the meaning of justice in our own city.

The Voices of Justice Project gave students the opportunity to learn beyond the regular classroom.

We did not just read about history or the constitution.

We studied issues that connect directly to our lives and communities.

We examined constitutional questions connected to policing, courts, DC statehood, representation, and the rights of people in Washington, DC.

We then turned what we learned into documentaries and exhibit panels that could teach others.

This project was important to me because it gave us students a chance to use our voices.

Sometimes young people are not included in conversations about law, justice, history, or public policy, even though these issues affect us directly.

Through this project, we were able to research, create, speak, and share our ideas with our school community.

It helped me understand that history is not something that happened in the past.

History connects to what is happening now, and students can help tell those stories.

Humanities DC support made this work feel real and important.

Because of this support, our work is not just an assignment that stayed in the classroom.

It became something that was shared publicly during our Bill of Rights Day debut and our Black History Month event.

Students, staff, and community members were able to engage with our documents, documentaries, and exhibit panels.

That made me feel proud because our work had a purpose beyond just a grade.

Voices of justice has a high was a high priority for us because it helped students see themselves as historians, advocates, and leaders.

It also helped us understand DC in a deeper way.

As a Dunbar as a student at Dunbar High School, a school with such an important legacy, it matters that we have opportunities to study our city, ask hard questions, and use our voices to discuss justice.

We can have not accomplished this without the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities in Humanities DC.

So I am testifying today to ask you to fully fund the commissions on arts and humanities as part of the FY 2027 budget.

Programs like Humanities DC gives young people the opportunity to learn, create, and tell the stories of Washington DC in a time when local history and community voices need to be protected.

This funding helps make sure students like me can continue learning from our city and contributing to it.

Thank you for this opportunity to testify today in support of DCCAH and Humanities DC.

And thank you for your attention.

Thank you, Chairman Mendelson, and members of the committee, for this opportunity to comment on the value of the DC Commission on the arts and humanities, humanities DC to students and communities in Washington DC.

My name is Pierce McKinney.

I'm a sophomore at Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School, and I participated in the Voices of Justice DC under the Constitution Project as a student and the editor of my class's documentary in Dr.

Shalina Warren's constitutional law class.

Humanities DC helped support this project, which gave students the opportunity to study DC history, constitutional rights, and issues of justice that connect to our lives.

Through voices of justice, my classmates and I learned that history is not just something we memorize.

It is something we can question, analyze, and share with others.

We studied constitutional rights and DC history, then created documentaries and exhibit panels to help others understand what we learn.

Our project focused on questions about rights, power, representation, and justice in Washington, DC.

This project mattered because it allows students to be part of a bigger conversation.

We were not just listening to adults talk about history or justice.

We were able to research, create, and present our own understanding.

That helped me see that students have important voices and their art perspectives should be included when people talk about the future of our city.

The support for humanities DC made a difference because it helped turn our classroom learning into a public project.

We share our work during our Bill of Rights today debut on December 15th and again during our Black History Monthly on February 5th.

Those events allow other students, teachers, and community members to learn from our work.

It also helped us feel that we were that we that what we created matter.

Voices of justice was important to use because it connected school, history, law, and community.

It helped us better understand DC and the Constitution, but it also helped us understand ourselves as young people.

We can speak up about issues that matter.

At Dunbar High School, where there's already a strong history of leadership, this project gave us another way to continue that legacy.

We cannot have accomplished this without the DC Commissions on the Arts and Humanities of Humanities DC.

I'm testifying today to actually fully fund the commissions on art and humanities as part of the FY 2027 budget.

Funding for Humanities DC supports projects that allow students and communities to tell local stories.

It helps make sure that DC's history, culture, and voices are not forgotten or ignored.

Students need opportunities like this because they help us learn who we are, where we come from, and how we can make a difference.

Thank you for this opportunity to testify today in support of DCCAH and Humanities DC, and thank you for listening to Student Voices.

Thank you, Ms.

McKinney.

Monica Bose.

Yes, thank you, Chairman Mendelssohn.

Microphone.

Microphone.

Oh, my.

Thank you, Chairman Mendelssohn.

My name is Monica Jahan Bose, and I'm here to testify, comment on behalf of artists as myself who want to see the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities fully funded and not have a 15% reduction in the budget.

I am a visual artist who has lived in Ward 1 for 26 years.

My work spans painting, performance, public art, and film, has been featured across DC in 13 states and nine countries.

My decade-long storytelling with Tsaris project works with community members in DC and in my ancestral village in Bangladesh to illuminate climate, gender, racial, and economic injustice through co-created art installations and performances.

For the last 12 years, I have received significant grants from DCCAH to support my work, including the Arts and Humanities Fellowship Program, the Projects, Events and Festivals Grant, and the Public Art Building Communities Grant.

These grants have been essential in allowing me to continue to live in DC as an artist and present my work here, engaging thousands of people.

I'm very concerned about the proposed cuts to the CAH budget.

This year I received less funding from CAH than past years, and it has been very difficult to sustain my work.

If funding is further cut next year, it will have a devastating effect on my work and the community of DC residents who find joy and healing from being part of my collaborative work.

The funds I receive are funneled into the DC creative economy directly and used to engage huge numbers of DC residents from across the city.

I use grant funds to pay for studio expenses, art materials, and to hire community members, other artists, and small DC businesses, most of whom are BIPOC businesses to help me create and document the work.

Community members from all wards of DC join my workshops and public art projects and are paid stipends for their time.

All my exhibitions and events are free and accessible to seniors and people of all incomes and abilities.

Most of the CH funds that I receive are actually spent in DC for my art expenses, including stipends, fees for photographers, videographers, designers, curators, assistants, ASL interpreters, social media managers, and collaborating artists, printing signs, equipment purchase and rental, and art supplies.

I implore the council to keep CH's funding at robust levels and rescind the cap.

The arts are vital to DC's identity and give so much sustenance to its residents.

The grants from CAH are lifeline artists in the city.

If CH funding is reduced, many of us will have to abandon our work or move out of DC.

I want to thank you for your um for allowing me to testify.

Okay, keep texting your uh Robin Bell, who I believe is online.

Yes, come here.

Please proceed.

DC Council.

Umfortunately, I'm unable to be there in person, and it's my family and I are currently mourning the loss of my father.

He was a proud native Washingtonian and a talented musician who played the bassoon in many esteemed organizations in Washington, DC, including the Capital City Symphony and the DC Gogo Symphony.

These organizations have directly benefited from the support of the DC Commission of Arts and Humanities.

So this is an organization that's very close to us and has supported uh many musicians and artists throughout the the city.

As a visual artist, I've also been fortunate to benefit from the Commission's grant program.

This support has allowed me to stay in DC, expand my work, and this work has garnered both national and international recognition.

What we do as cultural workers connects us.

Every dollar that's invested returns to the city tenfold.

In these uncertain times, we need support.

We need more support, not less.

Any cuts to the current budget harm the very fabric of our society, which we strengthen through the connect, which we strengthen and connect through our craft.

These from these funds we receive go directly to keep an artist employed and living in Washington, DC.

When these funds are reduced or eliminated, people leave.

Funding the arts is not a luxury.

It is essential.

It contextualizes the challenges we face, visualizes solutions, and brings people together.

It is essential that we fully fund the DC Commission of Arts and Humanities.

It's critical we do not cap the fund in the 2027 budget.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you, Mr.

Bell.

I believe Dirk Keaton is not here.

Uh Leah Gage, who's online?

Miss Gage, are you unmuting yourself?

Looks like she's frozen.

Can you hear me okay?

Can you hear me now?

I can hear you.

Okay.

Okay.

So thank you, Chairman, and members of the committee.

This opportunity to comment on the value of the DC Commission on the Arts of New Webs to the Greater DC community as dedicated humanities practitioners in our city.

My name is Leah Gage, and I am a Ward 4 resident, a parent of the DC Public Tools Public School student, and I'm testifying today as the community grants manager on behalf of humanities DC.

DC's, or we are DC's Humanities Council, one of 56 state and territorial councils charged with documenting and showcasing the stories of our residents that to ensure that our unique local culture is preserved and amplified.

In my capacity at Humanities DC, I support our CAH funded community grants program, which already this year has awarded nearly 570,000 to support 41 local community heritage projects.

And we will provide an additional 300,000 more later this spring.

Each of our grantees is a nexus, connecting with dozens, if not hundreds or thousands of residents across the city to engage in our city's history, encouraging attendance and cultural events, and amplifying untold DC stories.

This year, especially, grants teas carried out projects that meaningfully engage our city's young people.

Projects like Dunbar High School Students, high school's voices of justice project, which you already heard about from Antonio and Parapris, life pieces to masterpieces, writing workshops for youth and their families, young playwrights theater podcast series produced by Area High School students, Asian American leads projects, Shout Mouse Press and 826 DC, all of these are some of youth focused projects that humanities DC supports.

And in a year where we've heard so much about the need for high-quality programs to engage our city's young people, we ask you to remember that investing in public humanities yields such programs and provides young people the access to education found outside of traditional classroom settings and sets them up for economic success.

We know that public humanities works gives meaning and voice to the residents of our city who are hungry to tell their stories and document their histories.

That hunger was on full display this year with a record-breaking 336 grant applications we received in our first cycle, and up from 303 last year, I'm sorry, across the entire cycle.

Although we were only able to fund 16% of those in our first cycle, our community-driven grant process engaged 80 plus community members to review, discuss, and provide constructive feedback on all of them.

And while most state humanities councils use an internal process, our publicly driven humanities grant making process is made possible through our partnership with the Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

Over this past year, as cultural institutions saw historic federal funding cuts and scrutiny for their vital work.

The Commission on the Arts and Humanities has remained steadfast in its support of us and the vibrant cultural community of DC.

We understand this is a challenging budget year and that you're facing many difficult decisions, but in this year, especially was outside forces threatened to mute DC's unique voices and stories.

I testified today to urge you to restore funding to the Commission on the Arts and Humanities to the FY2026 budget levels so that we may continue partnering together to support community-based nonprofits, youth-serving organizations, independent practitioners, and others whose public humanities programs and projects in every neighborhood and board are indispensable.

Thank you for this opportunity to comment, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

I do not have any questions for any of you, but I do appreciate your testimony, and I have your written statements, so that's helpful.

So you all are excused.

Let me turn to the next group of witnesses.

She's the Executive Director of Humanities DC.

And Lois Number, who is Director of Grant Making Programs at Humanities DC.

Is she here?

Sheldon Scott.

First, Ms.

Madrano, good afternoon.

You've been here all day.

In fact, most of you have been here all day.

Thank you.

Well, thank you, and I'm pleased to come back.

I come back every year in support of the Arts Commission.

Uh thank you, Chairman Mendelssohn.

My name is Rebecca Madrano, and I'm the co-founder and executive director of Grupo de Artistas Latinoamericanos Galo Theater.

Galo is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year with a track record of artistic excellence and service to the community.

Since building its permanent home in Tivoli, Gala has helped to revitalize Columbia Heights, brought diverse sectors of the community together to share art across economic, social and cultural barriers, educated low-income youth in a year-round free after school program and served 8,000 students from every ward in the student in the city through our field trip.

We provided jobs to hundreds of underemployed Latinx artists and technicians and attracted national and international visitors.

The impact of the arts on the economy is well known.

Our patrons park, shop, and eat in restaurants in Columbia Heights, generating critical tax revenues for the city.

We are very grateful to the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities for many years of support and valuable partnership.

But now we face new challenges, including the rising cost of living for employees, increased cost of materials, a surge in crime on the street, and the presence of ice in our community.

Yet because of a quirk in the legislation which was passed by the council putting a cap on dedicated revenue streams for the arts, the commission now faces a 14% cut to their budget, resulting in nearly $7 million cut to arts organizations and programs.

I speak not only for DALA, but for all of my theater and arts colleagues here today.

Drastic cuts like this to the arts budget will mean organizations will have to fire critical staff and reduce programming, which ultimately harms the economic well-being of the city as tax revenues will fall.

When Gala opened in Columbia Heights in 2025, there were only four restaurants.

Now they're over 65, and owners have reported that when our season is up and running, they experience an 8% increase in revenue.

If our CH funds are reduced, there will be, we will be without, as is proposed on the current budget.

We will have to let go at least two of our 10 full-time employees, and we are already at a very skeleton staff.

In addition, we'll have to pause our free year-round after school program, which serves 100 youth, most of whom have no place to go after school.

As immigrant children of single parents, GAR is the only place they feel safe right now, especially with the immigration crackdown.

In addition, we learned as of last year, and these are statistics through OST after school through the school system, 20% of our students are experiencing homelessness, and 80% are economically disadvantaged.

Just a few days ago, I found a group of them huddled under the marquee, and I asked what was wrong, and they said they were afraid to leave the program because they were being recruited by gangs on the street.

Where will these students go if we have to cancel this program due to lack of funds for teaching artists and administrators?

We are proposing that each of the committees with jurisdiction over these areas of impact.

Arts and schools is with the committee of the whole, public safety with the judiciary and economic development with human services contribute to a one-time bridge funding to help close the 7 million gap.

I just also learned that there is a fund that could be drawn on by the Arts Commission, which can be authorized by the council.

They're they have six point, I think over six million dollars in their reserve in their funds that could be with permission of council, I understand, used to help meet this.

I'm probably not using the right language, Chairman, for where those funds are, but uh that is our understanding, and we're hope that they could possibly be authorized to cover part of this $7 million gap.

Thank you so much.

The Arts are an integral part of the city, and I would hate to see what the city would be like without this arts community.

Thank you.

Sure, you don't know what fund that is.

All right, well, when he comes to Testify, I'll ask him.

Aaron knows what fund that is.

Okay.

Thank you.

Jenny, what's the name of the fund?

It's the fund balance.

They have a fund balance.

Sorry.

I knew I was missing away.

Yeah, I think the mayor swept that, but um, we'll get to that.

Uh, Miss Mia Mia Hira.

Hi.

Oh, I'm gonna go.

Hello, good afternoon.

Chairman Mendelssohn.

Can everybody hear me?

Yes.

My name is Nancy Miahira, and I'm the Director of arts and cultural Programs at Georgetown Heritage.

Our mission is to celebrate and elevate the history, heritage, arts, and culture of Georgetown.

Our work enhances the neighborhood experience for DC residents, students, and visitors drawn to one of the city's most historic communities.

I speak today from the perspective of a growing and new arts program in its first year, now gaining momentum as a recipient of two fiscal twenty six DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Grants, general operating support, and projects, events, or festivals.

I also bring experience from my previous role with the Georgetown Business Improvement District, where I produce the Georgetown Glow Light Art Festival, which attracted tens of thousands of visitors annually.

Georgetown's arts and culture ecosystem has become a powerful driver of both community life and economic activity.

Artists are drawn here for visibility and opportunity while residents and visitors come to engage, explore, and spend.

In 2025, Georgetown welcomed more than 13 million visitors approaching pre-pandemic levels.

As a commercial and cultural hub, Georgetown contributes significantly to the district's economy through tourism, tax revenue, and institutional anchors such as Georgetown University and Duke Ellington School of the Arts.

At Georgetown Heritage, we are building an arts program that reflects this unique mix, partnering with the Georgetown bid, schools, galleries, performers, and residents to create programming that benefits both the neighborhood and the city.

In just our first year, we have already demonstrated meaningful impact.

Our Make Music Day, Fete de la Musique Event, we partner with the French Embassy, featured 105 musicians and brought an estimated 45,000 people to Georgetown in a single day.

Our first call for artists earlier this year drew more than 80 submissions, with one third coming from DC based artists showing strong local demands and engagement, and we plan to apply for the public art building communities grant with some of those artists in fiscal 27.

The proposed fiscal 27 reduction to general operating support funding down to 2.9 million would force either a 15% cut across all grantees or a reduction in the number of funded organizations.

Either outcome would significantly affect programming, staffing, and organizational stability.

And in addition, for the project's events for festivals funding, the proposed 58,000 reduction threatens the viability of performance and community events across the district.

So many events.

These are not just cultural offerings, they are economic drivers and sources of employment for artists and creatives.

The ripple effects will be spelt citywide.

There will be fewer paid opportunities for artists, fewer festivals and performances for residents, and a decline in the cultural vitality that makes neighborhoods vibrant and attractive.

Reduced arts activity also weakens economic development as businesses and investors are less likely to commit to areas that lack cultural energy and identity.

Cuts to general operating support and PEF will make it significantly harder for organizations like us to provide opportunities to artists while contributing to the district's economic growth.

These reductions will reverberate across the arts ecosystem, particularly for organizations still recovering from the pandemic.

Many will face difficult choices, scaling back programs, reducing staff, or losing access to funding altogether.

And individual artists are especially vulnerable.

Without sustained support, many will be forced to leave the district in search of more affordable places to live and work.

The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities plays a critical role in supporting the local living culture of this city, well beyond the national mall.

These proposed cuts will be felt across all eight wards, and I urge you to preserve this funding and sustain the creative community that makes Washington, DC a vibrant and distinctive place, and one that I've called home for over 40 years.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Rebecca Artero.

I'm award for resident and the executive director of humanities DC.

We're DC Humanities Council, one of the 56 state and territorial councils charged with documenting and showcasing the stories of our residents to ensure that our unique local culture is preserved and amplified.

I'm here today to testify in strong support of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and to highlight the urgent need for a more flexible and fully funded cultural budget.

The humanities in DC are currently at a breaking point.

Humanities DC has just weathered a year of compounding cuts from both local and federal sources.

This has resulted in the loss of 26% of our total staff to 2.5 FTEs, and a significant reduction in our ability to work with our community.

We're making these cuts at the exact at the exact moment when interest is highest.

We've received 336 applications this year, a 20% increase, and a record for our organization.

As you know, our health as a pass-through grantee is linked to the structural health of CAH.

With that in mind, and because we believe that they do good work, we respectfully urge the council to take the following actions.

One, fund CAH at the FY26 level.

I ask that the council restore the proposed $6 million cut to the FY27 budget.

Two, protect access to the arts and humanities fund balance.

Thank you for protecting these funds in the past.

I believe that may have happened.

Please continue to do so and allow CAH to maintain access to this balance.

These funds are the safety net that allows for consistent programming even during economic downturns.

Three, remove the 2% growth cap.

The current cap on the amount CA the amount CH's budget can increase decouples the cultural funding from the growth of the city, regardless of tax revenue growth.

We ask that this cap be removed to allow the arts and humanities to grow in tandem with DC's economy.

And then number four, grant operational flexibility.

For this year, we asked that the council to allow the commission more freedom regarding the statutory percentages they must allocate to specific grant types like ours.

Currently, these mandates limit the commission's ability to protect core operations or pass throughs like humanities DCs when the overall budget is cut.

We're acutely aware of the difficult fiscal trade-offs of the council must weigh in a challenging budget year.

However, at this moment, when external pressures are actively seeking to diminish local cultural expression, and the district's invest the district's investment must be as unwavering as the dedication of the independent practitioners, youth serving organizations, and grassroots nonprofits we support.

Restoring the commission to the FY 2026 funding levels is more than a fiscal request.

It is a necessary defense of the diverse neighborhood-based work that occurs in every ward.

Our residents and nearly 100 volunteers that have already demonstrated a record-breaking commitment to this work.

We now ask the council to match this dedication and ensure that our city's unique voices are never silenced.

I greatly appreciate your time and consideration in this matter.

Thank you very much.

Lois Numbhart, I believe, is not here.

No, she submitted hers in writing.

Sheldon Scott.

Good afternoon.

Thank you, Chairman Mendelson.

My name is Sheldon Scott, and I'm a war-run resident.

I'm a full-time artist living and working in the district, and in the nearly two decades I've been working in my city, I've been able to establish both a visual arts and a theater arts practice that has allowed me to create works in relationship with some of the most esteemed institutions in the world.

These opportunities were afforded to me within the container that I have come to regard as one of the most important and viable global creative capitals, my beloved Washington DC.

My first theatrical expression came in the form of an open mic at the acclaimed Speakeasy DC, which later became story district, ultimately leading me to writing, producing, and starring in multiple productions during the run of the Capitol Fringe Theater Festival, building pathways to the Kennedy Center, where I was the last social impact resident, and Willie Mammoth Theater, where I am currently serving as the Connectivity Artists and Residents.

My visual arts practice was born at the Emerge Art Fear right here in Washington, DC.

This opportunity led me to working with the Washington Project for the Arts, Transformer Gallery, where I currently sit on the board, and Housie On Art Labs.

This foundation to my practice had afforded exhibitions, programs, and partnerships from Los Angeles to London, while being included in the permanent collections at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Augin Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans, the private collection of JP Morgan Chase, the National Museum at Duke University, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture, as well as the DC Art Bank.

In addition, I've been an artist resident at the Aspen Institute, the Headland Centers for the Arts, and receive awards to include the America for the Arts Best Public Art Prize and being the first performance artist to become an Outwind Boucher for Portrait competition finalist.

I'm also a DC Art and Humanities Fellowship Program Grant Recipient.

This ecosystem is represented and managed by my visual arts gallery, Connor Smith, and by my literary representation at William Morris Enterprise.

The preceding listings of actions and acknowledgments were all touched by the investments this city has made in its creative communities.

An investment with both direct and indirect returns, both quantitative and qualitative, that are measurably make the city worth of its designation as a true global capital.

We are very aware of the practice of austerity.

We're also enlightened to the fact that arts and culture line items are investments, not expenditures.

Cities all around the world have put this into practice and have proven this is a successful strategy.

As the city braces itself with the economic pressure, I am imploring the council to keep ever present in their mind that resourcing our asset bills value.

And that when the economic tide shift, that one of the strongest tools and the road to rebuilding not be left out of the spoils, please remove the cap and continue to invest in infrastructure, like a museum dedicated to the exhibition and promotion of works made by DC artists, which we do not have.

Baltimore does, and continue to bust us the global capital of both now in the future.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Mr.

Scott.

I don't think I have questions for any of you, but I don't know if you all are going to stick around.

When the um the uh chair and the executive director come to testify in the agency fiscal officer, I'm gonna run them through some numbers to understand uh what's going on.

Um, my uh understanding is that the uh revenues, the uh so the good news, which is old news, is that the commission on arts and humanities funding is tied to our sales tax, so it's no longer just what the council feels like, but there is a um a percentage of the sales tax.

But if the sales tax goes down or it doesn't grow as fast, then that means that the revenues that the commission will get goes down or doesn't grow as fast.

Uh several have testified about the cap.

Um I understand the frustration with the cap, but I don't think it's applicable to this year.

I think that the revenues uh either went down or they didn't go as much as hitting up against the cap.

It appears to me that what happened was that the mayor simply took money out of the fund, out of the um uh the fund balance that the commission had.

And uh, in order for the council to restore it, it means that we have to find money from someplace else.

And for better or worse, you all are competing with, let's see, housing vouchers, with the healthcare alliance, with the access to justice initiative, with the um uh child care subsidy, the pay equity fund, it's a long list, uh, pay raises for collective bargaining agreements, which is zero in the budget.

Um, and so it's gonna be tough.

But I welcome the testimony because uh I think um if anybody from the executive is listening, they need to hear what the arts community is saying about the impact on them.

Um, I believe, I don't say I won't say I believe.

Um we are we have been for uh years on a per capita basis, the highest uh government funded arts in the country.

There's no state that comes close to us, and so even with the reduction, we're still the highest.

That's a good thing.

But I totally get that um arts organizations, uh you need to have some stability in your planning and in your budgeting.

And um when numbers go down, it's uh really hard.

So your testimony is helpful, and we're gonna see what we can do.

And um I'm welcoming the rest of the testimonies that's gonna come.

And I'm just hoping that the executive is hearing some of this.

So I don't have questions to you.

Can I say one thing about public safety?

Isn't that a big priority for our city?

Isn't there money somewhere in the public safety?

Public safety to us is related to arts.

You you take away the arts, you're making the city less safe.

I totally understand the mayor zeroed out funding for the violence interrupters program.

The mayor cut the attorney general's office by 10 million dollars maybe and would require the firing of 50 some employees and the attorney general.

That's all public safety.

Yesterday we had a long debate about the curfew where several members argued that we need to put millions dollars more into programming for youth at the department of recreation.

There's a lot of competition.

Yeah, okay.

I appreciate what you said.

Uh I mean, um, you spoke about the uh kids hovering in the doorway and talking about um avoiding gangs.

Well I didn't know that so many were homeless.

They that's statistics from the school system about it is so.

Mr.

Chair, I do have so we're not trying to be depressing here.

Oh, sorry.

One question about uh the comment in relationship to the cap.

Um, as my understanding, I understand that right now that you are correct that we won't be feeling that direct impact so far, depending on like the sales revenue.

But I think what's concerning is that the expiration of the cap once things return, is um where we will feel that the most.

I think what happens is if the city does only upswing and we all have to imagine that at one day things will get better.

We want to make sure that right now we lay the groundwork for the arts and culture to be able to participate in the spoils that'll come in that now.

So I want to make sure that that's my clarifying point.

Not particularly now, but making sure that the expiration, which I understand has to happen legislatively, like making sure that that cap does not prevent us being able to participate in the spoil in the future.

Okay, but it does remind me, which isn't what you were saying.

Uh I think that the commission has to look at um being more strategic with its funding, strategic prioritizing, and um what what is what what approach to their um spending their dollars can they take that is the most helpful to the arts community?

I'll leave it at that.

Thank you all for your testimony.

Thank you.

Uh Mark Eisenberg, who's executive director of the Washington Bach Consort.

That's me.

I'm Mark Eisenberg, executive director of the Washington Bach Consort.

Don't start yet.

Don't start yet.

I'm calling a number of people.

Gotcha.

Uh Rebecca Lichtenberg.

Mark Chalfant.

Uh Jenny Billfield.

I know she would out, but she's here.

Okay, we'll see.

Uh Paul Tetro sent me a text this morning saying he wouldn't make it.

Uh Ricky Marion with the Washington Ballet.

Ryan Merkel, Senior Director of Development, Shakespeare Theater.

William Tompkins, board member of Mosaic Theater.

Um Carla Francisca Tapia Lobos, Lily Siegel, Mr.

Wing.

All right, we will stop there.

Mr.

Eisenberg.

I'm still Mark from the consort.

Um I started working as an arts administrator in DC 35 years ago.

And I'm here today out of concern for the budget of the DC Commission on Arts and Humanities.

We arts administrators greatly appreciate the heroic efforts of the council chair and council members to get our funding via sales tax.

This funding is critical to the survival of our city's arts organizations and our individual artists.

Since DC isn't yet a state, the commission is our city, county, and state funding all rolled into one.

As a result of the changing political landscape in our country, arts organizations are in a funding crisis.

I understand why it's unrealistic at this time to expect an increase to the commission's funding.

But I hope you'll understand that it's essential that the council at least maintain the current level of funding to the commission.

I want to talk about my organization's education programs as an example of where commission funds go.

The Washington Ball Consort is one of the nation's premier Baroque Orchestras.

We're an all-professional chorus and orchestra.

As our executive director for the last 17 years, each year I've given testimony here to this committee and talked about the consorts growing educational program to DC public school students.

This past year, those programs were cut significantly.

The mission of the consort's award-winning Bach to school program is to make classical music more accessible to DC public school students through engaging instructive programs that combine live musical performance with multimedia stage production.

In years past, students took field trips to the Atlas Performing Arts Center on H Street, York and Congress Heights, and Citar Arts Center in Adams Morgan to see our three different programs.

This year we had to drastically reduce two of the three programs as a result of funding cuts.

The one program we kept went from a field trip into our musicians visiting each school's cafeteria or gym, compromising the quality of the students' experience by not being at a professional venue.

Thirty-six schools signed up to participate.

We were able to afford going to nine.

We turned away 27 schools from having a live classical music experience.

Our future success relies on consistent funding from year to year, particularly through general operating support grants.

Significant fluctuations in budget and grant size from year to year make it increasingly challenging for organizations to thrive and grow.

We believe the arts are at the center of a ripple effect of good things from improving neighborhoods to helping educate our children.

The arts are a significant economic driver across sectors and across the city.

Please prioritize our industry's well-being as it is a critical component to what makes living in DC special.

I urge you to maintain funding during this time of crisis.

Thanks.

Rebecca Lichtenberg.

Good afternoon.

I'm Rebecca Andy Lichtenberg.

I'm a Ward 4 resident and the executive director of Studio Theater.

Thank you, Mr.

Chairman, for your time and also being such a regular attendee at so many theaters across the city.

Support from the DC Commission is a critical source of funding for the arts organization in the city.

The general operating support grants sustain our operations and we rely on them to be a consistent source of funding in contrast to ticket sales, which are incredibly volatile, and other sources of support, such as foundation and corporate, which are declining.

I wanted to comment on the fact that Mr.

Chairman, as you mentioned, DC does have some of the highest per capita investment per person in the country, but I think it's worth noting that that's in contrast to a lot of places where folks are getting both city and state support and also where there's significant corporate dollars, right?

The DC government is the main industry in town, and so we're not getting that corporate support, which I think makes the funding from the DC Commission that much more important, even if it is higher than you know what other places are getting per capita.

Specifically at Studio Theater, last fiscal year, the general operating support that we received from the commission helped us serve over 40,000 audience members that came from all eight wards of the district, as well as bringing people in to the city from out of state.

That was with 46 weeks of programming that we put on.

The grant helped us sustain our workforce training program where we provide full-time employment with benefits to 11 early career professionals.

It also helped us maintain our facility so that we could host 60 events from other organizations, plus 78 performances of Washington Improv Theater.

In addition, we serve hundreds of DC public students and charter school students through our Matinee program at no cost to the schools.

All of the events and performances that are put on by us and all of the other grantees of that commission support the economic vitality of the city by increasing visitors, jobs, spending on parking and restaurants, our performances connect communities and increase safety by activating spaces and neighborhoods, and also the work that we all do improves the health and quality of life for district residents, making DC a more desirable place to live.

And we know that all of those align with the core priorities of the city leadership.

And yet, we are seeing a decreasing investment in the DC Commission and the arts in our city.

We supported tying the DCCAH's budget to a percentage of the sales tax, which when that was done in 2019, because we believed it would be a steady investment in the arts that would keep pace with the economy.

Of course, we knew there would be variations year to year as those tax revenues increased or decreased.

However, what we didn't understand is that the commission was going to, sorry, that the council was going to be able to change the percentage of the sales tax.

So originally that sales tax was 5%, then it was reduced to 4.6%, and now it's been reduced to 4.2%.

Plus, there's been this cap put on it, so that when there's growth, we're not going to see the full benefit of that growth.

We are faced with a 14% decrease in the agency's budget, which represents a disproportionate reduction compared to other areas of the budget and one of the largest agency cuts in the budget.

And those cuts are following last year's cuts that reduced uh the grant budget uh by another 15%.

The impact is not just a smaller budget at a moment when the arts field is incredibly precarious, but it's a system that's increasingly unreliable and unpredictable.

Despite success on many fronts at studio, we have larger audiences than before the pandemic, and we've had a lot of growth in individual giving.

We are facing a structural deficit like so many other theaters and arts organizations in the city.

It's an uphill battle.

Um, and every time that our DC commission support is decreased, that gap is widened, and that threatens our ability to deliver our programming and to employ staff and artists.

So I would join my colleagues in urging the council to consider three things.

Number one, give the agency full control over their budget so that they can determine where the greatest needs are and allocate funds accordingly.

Number two, to allow the commission to utilize the fund balance, which would immediately increase available grants dollars.

I understand that that $6 million has been taken and would have to come from somewhere else in the budget, but that's a very small dollar amount that would be impactful to the funds of the commission and is just very small in relation to the city's overall budget.

And then I would ask that we return to the original intention of the sales tax allocation and that it go back to the 5% as it as it was originally set at, and that the cap is removed, so that we are seeing at minimum a consistent amount of funding year over year in terms of the percentage of the sales tax, and that we're able to see that full growth.

Right now we have a DC commission that has reduced flexibility, disproportionately declining dollars for a sector with growing need and an unpredictability from year to year.

This is a punishing predicament for a small but mighty industry that generates far-reaching positive impact for the city.

In order to sustain the incredible arts ecosystem that we have developed, we need consistent public investment.

Please restore that investment through your support of the DCCAH.

Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you.

Give me just a second, I want to talk to my staff.

Sorry about that.

Mr.

Chowfang, who's online?

Uh, yes, I am.

Good afternoon, Mr.

Chairman, uh, fellow council members and uh colleagues.

Um, I lead Washington Improv Theater as the artistic and executive director.

WIT is a nonprofit advancing the art of improvisation in the district for 28 years.

Every year, uh, WIT helps thousands of Washingtonians become instant playwrights, actors, and collaborative co-directors.

Over three decades, through the joyful collaborative art of improv, thousands of DNB residents have found creative expression, community as well as spouses, life partners, and in the words of one student, a part of me I did not realize had been lost.

On stage in our classroom and in corporate training rooms throughout the district, it is our mission and privilege to foster the powerful human energies of connection, play, and laughter in these challenging and dark times.

The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities has been a crucial support and partner in our work.

I want to basically plus one everything that Mr.

Eisenberg and Ms.

Andberg uh had to offer in their testimony.

Um, also a huge shout out to Rebecca and the entire team at Studio Theater.

They are uh essentially our creative landlords as we extend our residency there, and um, they're a magnificent group of artists and collaborators.

I'm here today to basically add my voice to the course uh uh urging the council to recommit to the arts, to lift the cap that's been imposed by the mayor, to uh basically reset the sales tax percentage at 5% and just cement a solid commitment from this council uh and from this government to value what the arts brings to this city.

Um there are more artists and arts organizations seeking funding from the commission each year.

Expenses and the cost of living are increasing each year.

And if the council continues to impose the mayor's cap on the commission's budget, then the commission's ability to support the arts in DC will be diminished each year instead of growing.

Uh this needs to stop.

The council intentionally created that dedicated funding mechanism to grant the commission stability and to allow it to grow alongside the city's economy.

So we've got to do that again loudly and clearly by removing the budget cap imposed by the mayor.

We all understand how the economy works, and when the economy is down, we will understand that the commission's budget is down.

That makes a lot more sense when it's connected when it's when it's tethered together with the city's fate.

Um, but when it's just being sliced up the way it has been uh ever since it was created and given away to other priorities, it's painful.

It's hard to make this work in the city.

Um I also want to mention the large capital grant program.

Um I've testified previously about what a transformational time this is for Washington Improv Theater.

Um we've signed a lease.

We're on our way to a new home in NOMA, where we'll have year-round performances, classes, and community programming all under one roof.

Uh we sought project funding for this move through the Large Capital Grant Program this year, and we were not awarded.

Um three amazing organizations were awarded, um, but only three out of over 20 applicants could receive funding.

Um I want to note that a fourth organization could have been awarded funding through this program had one million dollars of the large capital grants budget not been preallocated or earmarked for two organizations for the wishes of this council.

So I am now forced to share how frustrating and disappointing it is to see the democratic panel-led process at the commission undermined by lobbying, flop, and connections.

I believe strongly that a system requiring arts organizations to back channel for funding is flawed and distorted.

The message this is sending is that we should adapt to this kind of system.

The rest of my testimony you have in writing.

Um I will yield the rest of my time.

Uh, thank you so much for listening to you today.

Uh thank you, Mr.

Chow Fan.

Uh Jenny, um, I will call Jenny Billfield who I saw Kim back in.

The next panel.

She left again.

I'll call her with the next panel.

Um, Ricky Marion, who's online.

Thank you, Chairman Mendelson, for the opportunity to testify today.

My name is Ricky Marion.

I'm the director of development at the Washington Ballet, one of the district's leading performing arts organizations and a longstanding recipient of Commission for the Arts and Humanities General Operating Support.

I'm here to ask the council to protect general operating funding in the FY27 budget.

The Commission for Arts and Humanities is one of our most significant and reliable funders, and the prospect of seeing that partnership diminished is deeply concerning.

The Washington Ballet serves tens of thousands of DC residents each year through performances, community programming, and arts education, reaching students across all eight wards.

The Commission for the Arts and Humanities General Operating Support is not supplemental funding for us.

It's really foundational.

It supports the core operations that allow us to plan seasons, retain professional dancers, and deliver programming that is reliable and accessible to DC communities.

The proposed 2.9 million reduction in general operating would force the Commission for Arts and Humanities to choose between cutting every grantee's award by 15% or eliminating organizations from the program entirely.

Either outcome is damaging.

A 15% cut to our general operating award would require us to reduce programming, scale back community engagement, or make difficult staffing decisions.

The majority of our staff are DC residents.

Additionally, investments in the arts has an economic multiplier effect.

Nationally, arts attendees spend an average of $38.46 per person beyond the cost of admission.

And in a city like DC with its restaurants, hotels, and tourism infrastructure, that figure is almost certainly higher.

As a ward three organization, we are part of a community of general operating grantees that receive nearly 1.9 million in FY25.

Under a uniform 15% reduction, Ward 3 organizations would lose an estimated 287,000, and that loss would be felt across the district as our programming reaches residents in every ward.

The proposed cuts represent less than 0.006% of the district's total FY27 local operating budget.

And the council has tools available to prevent this harm, authorizing the Commission for the Arts and Humanities to draw on its fund balance to stabilize the FY27 budget and removing the 102% cap that structurally prevents the Commission for Arts and Humanities from absorbing revenue declines the way other agencies can.

The Washington Ballet asked the council to take both steps.

The arts are not a luxury amenity, they are a civic infrastructure that serves residents in every ward, employs DC artists, and sustains the cultural identity that makes DC a great place to live.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Marion.

Ryan Merkel.

Yes, thank you.

My name is Ryan Merkel, and I'm representing the Shakespeare Theater Company where I serve as the Senior Director of Development.

I'm also a very proud Ward 2 resident.

And I'm here to oppose the proposed cuts to the DCCAH budget, those cuts that will directly impact jobs, young people, our local economy, and perhaps more importantly, the morale and vitality of our city.

The mayor's proposed budget reduces DCCH funding by approximately 14.5%, which is not just trimming overhead.

This will result in a reduction of more than 5.3 million in community grants and subsidies.

DCCH is a very highly impactful organization funding more than 220 organizations that's resulting in 4.27 million audience engagements.

All those numbers could potentially decrease by 15%.

All for a reduction of.005, yep, three zeros, 5.7 in the local funding of the local funding operating budget.

That's a huge loss for DC without a lot of savings.

And that loss is economic and emotional.

When people go and see a show, they don't just buy a ticket, they buy dinner, they buy a drink beforehand, they pay for parking, they pay for the metro.

They hired the kid down the street to be a babysitter.

Our audience data shows that when people buy a ticket, they spend almost $40 dollars additionally in the local economy.

That's pumping money directly into downtown Washington, D.C.

It's not a coincidence that the restaurant scene on 14th Street thrives around studio theater, and that arena stage was a catalyst for development at the wharf.

And you know who spends even more money when they buy a ticket?

Tourists.

At STC, we are putting heads in beds.

Our upcoming production of a fellow has ticket sales from 46 states and territories.

600 people are coming down from New York to see this show.

65% of our subscribers do not live in the district, which means that more than 6,200 people come in to see a show more than six times six times or more a year, and they're spending their time and money in Washington.

Arts organizations fuel the economies in the neighborhood around them, and we know that we are pumping millions of dollars into pen quarter.

If you want to see downtown revitalization, that's us.

Cutting arts funding does not save money, it reduces economic activity.

And beyond economic figures, it builds community.

60, I'm sorry, 89% of respondents to a study done by Americans for the arts report that their local arts venues and activities are a source of pride.

72% of respondents said that the arts provide shared experiences with people of different races, ethnicities, ages, beliefs, and identities.

At a time of record low approval rating for pretty much everything, arts are extremely popular.

These are things your constituents want.

It's potentially even things your constituents need.

We frequently hear in our lobby, wow, I really needed that, as people walk out of a show.

DC's in a tough spot right now.

We're stressed out, we're burned out.

The arts are a cure.

When you're feeling sick, you don't cut funding to the doctor.

DC arts and culture organizations are still recovering from COVID.

We're seeing access to federal grants drop, and as my colleague here mentioned, corporate support is slipping fast.

My colleagues and I asked that you restore DCCH's funding balance, that you allow the agency greater flexibility and control over how their budget is allocated between programs, and you revisit the existing tax structure.

As has been referenced many times, it is the 102% growth cap is handicapping us.

And most of all, do not cut funding.

We are a great investment.

My colleagues and I work hard to support this city.

We put dollars into our communities' economies, we put heads in beds, we put smiles on the faces of D.C.

students and comfort in the hearts of our neighbors who desperately need it.

DC needs what our theaters create.

Thank you very much for hearing my testimony.

Thank you, Mr.

Merkel.

William Tompkins.

Good afternoon, Chairman Mendelson, and thank you also for being a regular attendee at theaters throughout Washington.

We greatly appreciate your personal support.

I am Bill Tompkins, a current board member and the former board president of the Mosaic Theater Company of DC.

I would like to highlight three reasons why it is important to restore and strengthen FY27 budget funding for the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

First, arts organizations play an essential role in building a strong economy and creating vibrant neighborhoods.

We also create jobs for artists and offer education programming and training that builds career pipelines.

And of course, we pay payroll taxes and generate sales throughout the entertainment, adjacent restaurants and bars before and after performances.

And it's even bigger than that.

Fundamentally, even at Mosaic alone, are 120 performances, 10,500 theatergoers every year, and acclaimed educational programming, help make D.C.

the kind of place where people want to live, work, and visit, as is mentioned earlier.

A recent report from Theater Washington found that one dollar of every public funding generates $2.78 of spending.

And it found that DC theaters spend over 40% of their revenue on staff and artist compensation.

That's money that's directly invested back into our local economy.

For a mosaic, it's even higher, it's 50%.

As I talked to theaters in other cities where the local government has reduced investment in the arts, they share cautionary tolls about the number of theaters that have had to close.

One theater director recently shared that theater closures have led to, quote, the depression of downtown districts in the city, and we know we don't want that to happen here.

Second, the arts sector is in need, and government support is essential.

The Commission on Arts and Humanities funding was already reduced last year, and many of us have seen cuts to or elimination from federal funding.

The broader economic uncertainty also puts fundraising and earned revenue at risk.

We've also seen increases in production costs with more cuts, the art sector is truly at risk.

This is especially true for mission-driven mid-sized theaters like Mosaic that are committed to working across all eight wards, by the way, keeping ticket prices low, offering free programming, providing arts education, and addressing disparities in arts access.

And cuts would have direct impacts on the artists and staffing we employ.

For example, this year, Mosaic has hired over 125 DC based artists.

That's 93% of the artists we've hired in the area.

Third, we are telling stories and creating connections that inspire, educate, build empathy, strengthen social fabric, and reduce isolation.

For example, after a recent mosaic performance, a local high school student shared, I've had a really hard year, and this play hit me in a soft spot where I didn't know I had any more.

I'm so grateful for this performance.

And at Mosaic, we have a special focus on plays and musicals that celebrate DC history and culture, like our upcoming production, our world premiere set in DC, featuring GoGo Music, which builds community pride.

We also work with more than 60 schools, senior centers, community organizers, and other nonprofits each year to increase access to the arts while generating awareness and support for organizations working on community issues like education, public safety, and the environment.

Thank you again, and I urge you to restore and strengthen FY27 funding for the DC Commission on the Arts and the Humanities.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Tompkins.

Carla Lobos.

Yes.

Good afternoon, Chairman Mendelssohn and members of the Committee of the Home.

My name is Fran Tapia.

I am a Columbia Heights DC-based performing artist and educator, a Latina immigrant, twice Helen Hayes Award winner, and a 2025 recipient of support from the DC Commission of the Arts and Humanities.

This year, my work was nominated for five Helen Hayes Awards by Theatre Washington's panel of 50 volunteer judges, all members of the public and our city's community.

The Helen Hayes Awards are the most prominent awards for professional theater achievement in the region, and in this context, they underscore the impact DC artists are making in the city.

I am here as an individual artist whose livelihood, artistic freedom, and ability to contribute to the city are directly shaped by your budget decisions.

The proposed FY27 budget includes a more than 14% reduction to DCCAH, decreasing grant-making capacity in the upcoming fiscal year, and this is not simply a reduction, it is a destabilization of an already strained cultural ecosystem.

These funds are crucial at a time when making a life in the arts has become increasingly difficult due not only to funding cuts but also to rising restrictions and everyday conditions that affect how we leave, create, and even what themes we are able to safely speak about in our work for our communities.

As an individual artist, I am already experiencing the effects, fewer opportunities and growing uncertainty that make it difficult to plan, create, and sustain a life in DC.

For many of us, this funding is not supplemental, it is foundational.

It is what allows us to remain in this city and continue telling the stories of its people.

I recognize the broader budget constraints, but the arts are not separate from the city's priorities.

They actively advance them by building community, supporting economic activity, and strengthening neighborhoods.

If artists cannot afford to stay in DC, DC cannot afford to call itself a cultural capital.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Yes, thank you, Chairperson.

My name is Lily Siegel.

I'm executive director of Hamiltonian Artists, a nineteen year old visual arts nonprofit here in the district.

Thank you for hearing our testimonies today.

Just like you, we envision a DC celebrated as a vibrant center for contemporary art where well resourced emerging artists in every community can commune experiment and flourish.

To protect this shared vision, you must allow CAH to use the fund balance amount, remove the cap, and reinstate the original 5% sales tax allocation.

Six years ago, a CAH projects, events, and festivals grant gave us our first public funding, making us eligible for general general operating support the following year.

That signal of the city's belief in us helped raise money from other sources.

A 20-foot LED truck screens commissioned video work as it drives through all four quadrants and all eight wards, activating the city's roadways and reimagining public infrastructure as a cultural space.

Art is bringing new business and building community directly because of the dollars you have allocated to CAH.

It is working.

Since my time is limited, I'll leave you with one example of what this looks like for a single artist.

One of our artist fellows arrived in DC her first year after immigrating, knowing no one except her partner.

By joining our cohort, she found instant community and the resources to establish herself here.

In just four years, she has built relationships with other important CAH-funded organizations like the Krieger Museum, the Nicholson Project, and the Folger Library.

She has had a child, a new DC resident, and will begin teaching at American University in the fall.

Together, we kept an artist in DC and helped her put down roots.

We are ready to keep doing this work.

We just need you to help make it possible.

Thank you.

Trying to understand what's going on.

So I'm feeling very frustrated, and that's always the wrong thing to confess.

So a number of you and probably all of you have testified about the value of the arts.

I totally get it.

And so that's point one of my frustration is that the mayor talks about economic development.

She talks about growth.

This is a growth budget.

And I totally get it that arts, especially arts organizations that attract a lot of customers like theaters or museums, that that's there's a whole lot of uh collateral economic activity that seems to be missing from the mayor's thinking.

And that's very frustrating to me.

And we've seen this over and over again, which kind of leads me to another point, which is maybe I've been around too long, but I remember in 2018, 2019, which was the first year that I had oversight over the arts.

Uh, what I saw was a subordinate agency of the mayor that was enormously frustrating to arts organizations, and some of you remember this, and probably most of you have forgotten it, but there was a there was a turmoil with the executive director.

There were several executive directors.

The first executive director that I dealt with, uh, and that's not Angie Gates, um, was somebody who was um profoundly underwhelming when she testified before the council and clearly was not connected to what the arts community was needing or feeling.

So that then led to us trying to figure out how we could fix this.

Well, we created dedicated funding.

Now, dedicated funding can go up or down because it's tied to the sales tax, uh, it can go up or down.

Um, but we created the dedicated funding.

We also made the commission independent, and some of you remember that then that was a fight.

Uh, just to remind some of you, uh, it was as stupid as uh the mayor literally locking the arts commission out of the art bank, among other things.

Uh so I have pushed for the independence of the commission, but any of you that have watched hearings over the last five years or six years, know that I've been very frustrated with the leadership of the commission.

Yes, I'll just say that, uh, because I don't see that there has been any real thought of strategy with regard to how to promote, support, expand, support the arts community.

I just haven't seen it.

So a couple years ago, I asked, this was as we came out of the pandemic.

What is the arts commission doing to help with revitalizing our city, our downtown after the pandemic, when you know the theaters were largely dark or whatever, and museums were closed and everything had been shut down, and there really wasn't an answer.

Yes, there were words, but there wasn't really an answer to any kind of a strategy.

I know that the commission wasn't working with the downtown bid or any of the bids on a collective strategy.

Um, I know that the um commission wasn't thinking about, well, we'll look at organizations that are especially struggling financially, and we will prioritize some funding or GOS money that way.

There was none of that thinking at all.

So that's been kind of frustrating.

The mayor has shown her commitment, and I say that sarcastically toward the arts by finding ways to just sort of niggle away at how much money is available.

So uh put that cap, which is kind of irrelevant right now because revenues are not going up, so the cap doesn't get affected.

Uh she put the cap in.

She did reduce the percentage of sales tax that goes to the commission.

And this year in the budget, she, this is my word stole, I think her word would be swept, the fund balance from the commission, which is roughly six million dollars.

And that's really the pain that you all are testifying to.

Although, what I'm articulating is frustration beyond that, because I don't see that the commission, meaning the staff, um, and maybe even meaning the commission chair, has ever really thought strategically about what can be done so that we end up with uh some vision of where we want arts to be.

Just as an example, and I mentioned this with the nominees because some of you may have been here at the very beginning at nine o'clock when I had a hearing on four nominees to the commission for reappointment.

Um I mean, I've never seen, I I've heard lots of talk about um diversity, and in fact, this is also part of my memory, uh, my unfortunate memory, is that uh the approach toward diversity was to cut funding to large organizations because they have access to a lot of wealthy people and they're predominantly white, and so we'll cut the funding there, which is just destabilizing large organizations.

Um, but what I've not seen, for example, is uh that grants are tied to uh some how do I want to put this principle of we want to see diversity on the board, or we want to see if it's a theater, we want to see diversity on the stage, or maybe that we want to see uh programs that promote uh uh do I want to say diversity with customers?

Maybe I want to say that we reach out to different communities like um uh at-risk school students, uh that they will be brought in as audiences or as uh visitors, whatever.

I've never seen any grants tied that way.

I've heard talk about capacity building, but I haven't seen that either, and I mentioned that because of Mr.

Chowfon's testimony.

I will take responsibility for earmarking funding last year because I didn't see the commission helping two organizations that I understood were struggling, struggling financially.

Now, I mean, everybody is tight, but um I don't see the commission uh looking at it that way.

I said to the nominees this morning, uh do you look at grants and uh as, for example, what percentage of the organization's budget?

No.

Uh do you look at grants in terms of how many customers or economic activity they generate?

No.

Um actually, in the last couple of years, what's been clear to me is that the primary principle with grants from the arts commission is let's find more grantees.

Well, the pie is only so big, and you can't keep cutting the slices smaller and smaller, and now the pie's gotten smaller, so that the slices have gotten even smaller.

A couple years ago, probably three years ago, four years ago, uh, I had a fight with the leadership of the commission because the proposed budget they had was going to create, I don't know, six or eight people in the executive office of the executive director.

I might be exaggerating slightly, but I think top heavy when the need is for grants managers who actually process grants and get the grants out quickly.

So these are the kinds of struggles that I have seen with regard to the arts commission.

Well, um, and I have another note here.

The auditor, this was at my request, I think it was at my request that the DC auditor looked at the grant making and found the grants were being given to non-DC residents or non-DC entities.

The commission, of course, pushed back and said all of that was not true, but then changed her grant making process so that it no longer would be true.

I think that the commission could be far more strategic, and uh strategic in terms of how the dollars are spent so that it helps the arts community.

Um I have another another example here, which is tying grant funding to large organizations to I'll use the word mentoring smaller organizations.

Did a theater shares a stage, maybe even does it to a group that um uh I want to bring in the diversity uh concept again that a theater shares its stage that way, or um, I'm not sure.

I have more to complete that sentence.

Uh last year I saw that one organization, arts organization was their grant was cut by I think 80%.

That just makes no sense to me.

It's so clear that every organization needs stability in their grants.

Not this up and down, or an 80% cut.

I had a fight with the commission three, four years ago when I said you can't give a grant more than 50% of an organization's budget.

That was a big fight.

I had to make a compromise that any organization over 250,000, I think it was, you can't give a grant greater than 50% of its budget.

That's just crazy that you would fund an organization at 90% of their budget.

I think there was one that was like that high.

Then they're so completely dependent on the government.

I don't see the capacity building, but that was a fight with the commission.

So somebody testified, maybe several testified, give the agency control over their own budget, make uh council mandated fixed program allocations constrain the agency's ability to respond to shifting needs, but I don't want a top heavy staff.

I want to see more grants makers maybe, but not a top heavy staff.

I don't want to see organizations fund at 90% of their budget.

I don't want to see the kind of instability in the grant making.

Yes, I would like to see some emphasis on diversity, like we are we will incentivize you to diversify your board or your acting company or your visitors, or as I said before, strategies for um actually using the arts to promote uh academic economic activity.

I'm beginning to repeat myself, but I um just wanted to put that out there.

Um and then there was this testimony about ward three organization.

Um I know that was an issue in the past that actually came from uh Washington Ballet.

I know the ballet has um they have a presence at the Ark.

Their uh Levine School has a presence at the Ark, and yet in that debate about a couple years ago about these um white rich organizations, Levine was award-three organization, Washington Valley's award three organization, completely ignoring that they're active elsewhere in the city.

So yeah, I'm from I share your frustration, and um I just don't know, I just don't know um what to do since we made the commission independent to try to get the commission to be more thoughtful and strategic in terms of how they're doing their grant making.

Sorry, using you all to unload.

Thank you all for your testimony.

Did Jenny Billfield come back in?

Sorry, yeah.

Yes, Shannara, why don't you come up?

Um, Dwayne Glenn, Elizabeth Denkova, who's artistic director at Spooky Action Theater, Terry Ecker, I'm going too quickly, uh Robert Barton, the executive director of more than our crimes.

You are Leale Lippard or Lippard.

George Worrell, executive direct, founder, executive director, My Voice Media, Charity Blackwell.

Amy Austin, president and CEO of Theater Washington.

Got four people there.

So I think Dwayne or D.

Wayne Glenn is not here.

Uh Elizabeth Tinkova.

Please proceed.

Turn your microphone on.

Oh, hello, hello.

Do I need to turn it on?

There we go.

Uh, you can probably tell that this is my first such meeting in my capacity as both artistic director of Spooky action theater and a two-time individual grantee for the arts and Humanities Fellowship.

I uh want to support my colleagues in expressing our investment in the importance of arts funding for so many organizations in our ecosystem.

Spooky Action Theater, which is a general operating support, annual grantee, and a two-time capital projects grant award winner is a 21 performing arts small theater organization in Northwest DC.

The focus of our work is new play and musical development from across the globe, and we offer an artistic home to a diverse community of artists and audience members, with a special focus as one of the few immigrant-led organizations in the DMV area on supporting the work of immigrant art makers.

You've already heard from my colleagues at the studio theater and the U Street, Logan Circle, and Yupon Circle Corridor, Northwest DC, is a testament to the importance of arts organizations for a thriving community.

For decades, large organizations like the studio theater, where I got my start as an artistic apprentice many years ago.

And spook and small theaters like Spooky Action have attracted, have contributed to the economic and cultural development of our community.

Housed for over 15 years at the Universalist National Memorial Church.

Spooky Action Theater welcomes 2,500 audience members and about 150 artists.

By the way, those numbers have grown exponentially over the last couple of years.

Post-show surveys show that about 50% of our audiences come from the neighborhood and choose to live in the neighborhood because of its artistic activity.

And then other audiences come from surrounding areas.

Small theaters like Spooky Action are an essential launch pad for emerging artists in our community.

We have some of the most nationally renowned arts programs with Howard University, Catholic University, and Georgetown, and small theaters like Spooky Action partner with those universities to give emerging artists their professional debuts, which is essential to attracting those artists to stay and live in the DC theater community.

So the artists that get trained at the professional small theater level go on to work at Wooly Mammoth Studio Arena Stage and even on Broadway.

Small theaters like Spooky Action are particularly vulnerable to the financial pressures of this economy, with about 22% of our general operating budget coming from the commission.

The cut, as has been discussed, would be catastrophic to many arts organizations, even as attendance numbers seem to be soaring across the board.

So we want to encourage the commission to reconsider the reallocation of sales tax to back to 5% to reconsider the CAP and ultimately to support and stabilize our arts economy, which clearly generates both significant economic impact, supports the livelihood of vulnerable artists, especially immigrant artists, as you saw in Fran Tapia's testimony, and also ultimately contributes to the health and safety of our community.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Chairman Mendelssohn.

Microphone.

Thank you, Chairman Mendelssohn.

I'm Shannara Gabrielle.

I'm the executive artistic director of Theatre Alliance, DC's home for bold justice-driven theater, rooted for nearly 25 years in the communities most directly affected by the decisions that are made right here in this room.

I want to begin by thanking the council and you for your hard work on building and sustaining a city under real pressure.

These are not easy decisions, and I do not take lightly the weight of what you're being asked to balance.

I'm here because I believe that you all want to get it right, and I want to help make the case for where the arts fit into this picture.

The proposed FY27 budget cuts DCCAH by more than 14%, with nearly six million taken directly from grants to artists and organizations.

This is not just a number.

This is organizations suffering, artists relocating, and neighbors' neighborhoods losing anchors that took decades to build.

This mayor's budget simultaneously allocates 14 million dollars to the unproven vitality and technology ecosystems funds, which funnel money to the top and which have no demonstrated return for residents.

I want to be direct.

If this city wants to attract tech companies and innovative businesses to DC, the arts are not competition for that investment.

We are the precondition for it.

Research on innovation and economic geography is unambiguous.

Cities with strong arts ecosystems generate higher rates of patents, new firm formation, and high tech employment.

Artists and creative workers signal and sustain the kind of environment where innovative businesses choose to locate and where their talent chooses to stay.

The arts create sticky communities.

They are what make people choose DC over any other option.

They are economic anchors, not amend amenities.

And when people sit together in a theater, something measurable happens.

Their heartbeats synchronize, their attentions align, and strangers become a community.

No other kind of economic investment produces that.

The arts are not competing with economic development.

We are what makes it last.

The arts funding structure is also eroding.

And I raise this not to assign blame, but because it is reversible.

The dedicated sales tax allocation has been reduced.

The fund balance has gone unspent.

The 102% cap prevents recovery even when revenue improves.

So we're asking for three specific actions.

Ensure that DCCAH has access to the fund balance, restore the 5% dedicated sales tax allocation, and remove the cap.

And third, this budget cuts $6 million in direct grants to artists and communities while investing 14 million in business attraction strategies that DC's own fiscal analysts confirm have no demonstrated ROI for DC residents.

The arts deliver that return.

Hold all economic development investments to the same standard and fund the arts.

That's what works.

DC works when people work together across ward lines, across income, across differences.

That doesn't happen by accidents.

It is a choice to disinvest from infrastructure that supports exactly what you say you want to build and to abandon the things that make the city worth fighting for.

The arts are more than a line item in this budget.

The arts are central tenet of a thriving civic society.

That is what the city we all want to build.

I hope we can do that together.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you for your testimony.

Let me see.

I think Carrie Acker is not here.

Robert Barton is not here.

Lowly is not here.

George World is not here.

Charity Blackwell.

Hello, I'm here.

Greetings and thank you for the opportunity to testify.

My name is Charity Blackwell.

I am the chief of culture and arts for DC Scores, and I'm a proud Ward 5 residents.

I'm honored to speak to you today on behalf of DC Scores.

You know anything about our program?

We serve more than 300 3,500 young people across 68 DC public and public charter schools through soccer, poetry, service learning, at no cost at all for families or schools.

We are a legacy of the 1994 World Cup, and for 30 years we've been showing up for our young people across the city.

Our program builds poet athletes, young people committed to the physical, emotional, and social well-being.

They use their voices to express themselves, lead in their communities, and speak up against injustices.

And they understand, more importantly, that their voices matter.

We want to thank you, Chairman Mendelson and the DC Council for your continued support for the arts in DC.

We believe that access to arts is essential for our young people, and the support of the commission is critical to sustaining this work.

That funding directly supports our poetry program.

It allows us to deliver weekly writing spaces, expand into weekend programming for young people who want to go deeper and bring in professional teaching artists to work alongside our students.

As an artist myself, I've seen how powerful that moment is for a young person and real when they realize how their voice carries weight.

Because of this support, our poet athletes have what they need pens, notebooks, skilled coaches, and access to some of the best poets in the city.

More importantly, they have a space to process what they're carrying to speak on what matters to them the most each year through the Arts and Humanities Education Project.

DC Scores hosts the largest youth poetry slam in the city.

This past November, thousands of youth uh took the stage at Howard University How University's Crampton Oratorium.

It shared original work about their lives, their families, their fears, their hopes in their future.

One of the moments that state would be the most this year was pride.

The pride in DC, our young people naming where they're from, claiming it, and standing in it as leaders who are shaping what comes next.

We are already seeing the impact.

Kayla Nelson, the DC alumn DC Scores alumni and freshman at Coolidge Early Academy Coolidge College Academy, was recently named 2026 DC Poet Youth Poet Laureate.

Caleb was first found her poetry through DC Scores in 2022.

And at just 11 years old, she won the SHINE Award for best individual performance, and she's been building her voice since.

Clearly, hence she is the DCU poet laureate.

She says simply, poetry has made me believe that I had a stronger voice than I thought I did, and now she's using that voice to uplift others across the district.

To close, I'd like to share an excerpt from a poem from one of our poet athletes, Carter from Barnard Elementary School.

The poem is titled I Am Hip Hop, which recently featured in Mad Skills Grammy Winning Spoken Word, our album.

Is that okay?

Can I spit this poem for you real quick?

We're out of time and uh what you do the poem.

Thank you, Council.

Thank you, Kate New Middles.

I know you won't hear this here though.

I am hip hop.

I make other people want to dance.

My dad from the Boogie Down Bronx, my mom from the home of Go-Go, I bet you know where that is.

Hip hop and go-go are like brothers and sisters, peanut butter and jelly, like tribe called Quest, Ham and Eggs.

When I dance, I feel good like James Brown.

Whatever music is playing, I break out in song.

Hip hop cannot be held in, and I can't either.

I am a producer.

I make beats instead of eating.

I am graffiti artist.

When I was in kindergarten, I drew on the wall when I was at first grade.

I drew on the nightstand.

I was hip hop before I knew hip hop was.

Thank you, Mendelson.

Appreciate that.

Oh thank you.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

You're not the one who wrote the poem though.

Amy Austin.

I delivered it though.

It's just the presentation.

Thank you.

It's all the delivery.

It's awesome.

Yes.

Thank you, Chairman Mendelson.

I am president and CEO of Theater Washington.

Our mission is to support, strengthen, and recognize and celebrate our city's theater community.

We do through through key programs taking care of Theater Week, Theater Work, and the Helen Hayes Awards, as well as our up to date website that includes information on shows, database of productions, plus ongoing advocacy and training.

So on behalf of the theater industry, I am writing to, I am here to urge the council to support a stronger, more flexible funding framework for the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities in the upcoming budget cycle.

So as you've heard, we're asking for your support in four critical areas.

Increase funding for DCCH, restore DCCH's access to the fund balance, work with the agency to review the legislative funding structure on an annual basis, revisit the dedicated tax structure so it can be better provide long-term stability.

Arts organizations across the district are navigating rising costs, capital needs, and broader economic uncertainty.

This is exactly when stable flexible funding tools matter most.

As our Theater Washington's recent impact work shows, public investment in our region's theaters generates measurable return with area theaters producing an average operating budget ROI of $2.78 for every dollar in government support.

Washington, D.C.'s arts organizations are advancing the district's core priorities by supporting community safety, by contributing to economic growth and downtown revitalization, increasing the understanding of a neighborhood's shared cultural identity, strengthening education and workforce pathways through creative and technical training, and improving health and quality of life by fostering connection and reducing isolation.

This is an important moment to invest in a system in sustaining a system that is already under increasing strain.

We have the impending closure of the Kennedy Center, which will disrupt a major anchor institution for artists and audience alike in DC.

Coverage of the arts continues to decline in both local and national media, which is reducing our visibility and access.

Public investment is the stabilizing force that needs to remain constant.

Ensuring the strength of DCCH at this moment is essential to maintaining a functioning and resilient artistic landscape in the district.

And as you've heard today, it's an incredible, it's an incredible place that we have that has this many strong arts organizations.

So thank you for your leadership and your consideration.

Thank you, Ms.

Austin.

I do not have questions for any of you.

I kind of talked myself out on the last group.

Thank you all.

We'll see.

Megan Kelly, Director of Foundations and Strategic Investments National Building Museum.

Gloria Hightower with Friends of Carter Baron.

Tendani Mpulabusi.

I think that's gonna be it.

Oops, right there.

You are gonna be welcome for the program.

All right, Miss Kelly, you're up.

Okay.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify today.

My name is Megan Kelly, and I am the Director of Foundations at the National Building Museum.

I am also a Ward 6 resident and a parent raising my young daughter here in DC.

I want my family to feel safe in our neighborhoods and have access to the arts and cultural opportunities that make this city such a vibrant place to grow up.

I am here to underscore the immediate consequences of the proposed cuts to the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

For institutions like the National Building Museum, this is not marginal.

It directly impacts the people, programs, and partnerships that serve DC residents and support youth engagement, public safety, and neighborhood vitality.

General operating support funds, what few other sources will, staff, operations, and the infrastructure that makes consistent public programming possible.

Through engaging exhibitions and regular family programming, we bring positive family-centered activity to Chinatown and Gallery Place neighborhoods, areas that are facing ongoing challenges, especially with the upcoming closure of the Capital One Arena.

Weekly events, bilingual storytelling, and hands-on programs help foster safety, belonging, and community presence.

Here's just one example of the direct impact this funding has.

The funding enables us to implement free field trips to D.C.

students in Title I schools, including bus transportation, which removes one of the biggest barriers to access.

Thanks to this funding, last year we served over 3,500 DC Title I students.

For many, this is their first experience in a museum for cultural institutions.

These hands-on learning opportunities build curiosity and connection while also ensuring young people have safe, structured, and enriching environments during the school day.

Looking ahead, we are preparing to launch new teen and out-of-school time programs that offered structured, supervised engagement during critical hours.

However, these are exactly the kinds of programs that become difficult, if not impossible, to launch when core operating support is reduced.

If these cuts move forward, we will be forced to make difficult decisions.

That will mean fewer out-of-school programs, fewer free access opportunities, reduced neighborhood programming, and ultimately serving fewer DC youth.

At a time when the city is focused on public safety, youth engagement, and downtown revitalization, this is the wrong direction.

I urge the council to reverse these cuts to the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and provide bridge funding to address this unintended shortfall.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Ms.

Kelly.

Tommy Taylor.

Yes.

Chairman Mendelson, thank you for the opportunity to testify today, and I want to thank you for your valuable leadership over the years as well.

My name is Tommy Taylor Jr.

I'm a DC native, one of the few that are left.

I was born and raised in Ward 7 and now a homeowner in Ward 8.

I am a multi-hyphen artist, a national actor, comedian, producing multiple showdown shows here in D.C.

every month, filmmaker and founder of Taylor Creative, an award-winning DC-based CBE focused on visual storytelling, strategic marketing, and community impact through media.

Now over the several, the past several years, the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and Humanities DC have been very instrumental in my personal journey through several grants, support, and their belief in my work, not only allowing me to grow as an artist, but allowing my art to create pathways for others in my community.

My current documentary, The Special Ways, highlights district residents with intellectual disabilities.

Individuals who are often overlooked yet are actively shaping the culture and fabric of our city in very meaningful ways.

That through this project, I've not only been able to tell these powerful stories, I've been able to hire local creatives, including those with intellectual disabilities, helping build careers and confidence in youth and adults who deserve access to these opportunities.

The local investment through the Commission on the Arts and Humanities and Humanities D.C.

And I want to be clear that without the support, this story and many others like them would not be told.

Because they benefit all of us, because we are the stories that define this great city.

At the core of this for me is really opportunity and exposure.

Without opportunity, there is no growth.

Without exposure, there's no expansion of ideas.

And without investment in our creatives, our city risks losing the very voices that define it.

And we can't afford to lose more opportunities away from DC residents because when we invest in opportunity, we invest in the future of our city.

Personally, I've been able to be on the HBO, ABC, Amazon Prime, and I've had the opportunity to go to bigger markets, but I've chosen to stay here because what we have here in DC is very special.

We have talent, culture, history, and people that deserve to be seen and heard.

My personal mission has been to create a bridge connecting local talent, especially for underrepresented communities, to national opportunities.

Now we often talk about preserving culture, but culture doesn't preserve itself.

It requires intentional investment.

I respectfully urge the council to restore funding for the DC Commission of Arts and Humanities because I know y'all got it.

And we need it, as arts are a vital pathway to so many things in the city, including safety, mental health, wellness, careers, and revenue generation.

And as you mentioned earlier, Mr.

Mendelson, continued improvement is always needed, but we can't ignore the work that is being done currently is invaluable and quite literally and tangibly improving the lives of our community.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Taylor.

I'd like to begin my testimony by first thanking you, Chairman, for holding this hearing, but also I'd like to extend my thanks to Aaron for his leadership of the commission.

As a grantee of the commission going back to the days of Fenty, I've seen the difference that his leadership has made as the head of the commission.

My name is Mazmutafa, and I'm the founding executive director of Words Beats and Life, a Washington, D.C.

based arts and humanities organization that has served this city for more than two decades through arts education, workforce development, public programming, cultural diplomacy, and community engagement rooted in hip hop culture.

I'm here today because the arts community in Washington, D.C.

continues to face structural instability that makes it increasingly difficult for organizations, artists, culture workers, and culture workers to serve, plan, and grow.

First, we need the district government to stop reallocating unspent arts dollars away from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities at the end of the fiscal year.

At least as far back as the Fenty administration, unspent funds were used to provide secondary GOS grants that help stabilize organizations at the end of the fiscal year.

That approach recognized the reality that arts organizations operate with limited reserves and narrow margins.

Organizations build annual budgets, hire staff, reserve venues, and launch programs based on commitments made by the city.

When dedicated arts dollars are redirected away, it creates layoffs, cancellations of programs, unpaid vendors, and instability across the culture sector.

For the small and midsized organizations serving young people, seniors, working class communities, and communities east of the river, these decisions can determine whether programs survive from one year to the next.

Second, the council must fully honor the arts community's 5% allocation.

The creative sector is not a luxury, it's infrastructure.

It supports economic development, tourism, education, violence prevention, mental health, and neighborhood vitality.

If the law says the arts should receive 5%, then the arts should receive 5%.

Not only during strong budget years, not after reductions and transfers.

The law should mean what it says.

Third, I urge the council to allow the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities to provide sponsorship support.

Right now, organizations that receive general operating support are restricted from accessing festival and special event support, even when they are producing large-scale productions and events that generate economic activity and bring thousands of residents and visitors together.

The district already uses sponsorship systems, funding through entities like Events DC, but these resources are often concentrated among the city's largest events.

Expanding sponsorship authority through the commission would help more community-based organizations scale events, improve accessibility, increase artistic compensation, and strengthen public programming across the district.

Finally, the council should stop limiting eligibility for arts funding based on support organizations receive from other DC government agencies.

Arts organizations today are not operating in isolation, they're supporting workforce development, youth development, mental health, public safety, education, and community wellness.

Organizations should not be penalized because multiple agencies recognize the value of their work.

Cross-agency partnerships should be viewed as evidence of effectiveness and public impact, not a justification for reducing arts support.

Last two paragraphs.

They need stable policy, predictable investments, and funding structures that allow them to grow instead of constantly fighting to survive.

And I'll skip my last paragraph just to say, as a witness and as a grantee, I've seen my own organization under the leadership of Aaron and previous heads of the commission grow pre-COVID from a budget of just under 500,000 to just under 2 million this year.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you each of you for your testimony.

Ms.

Kelly, I'm not sure why I'm asking this of you, and I didn't ask it of others.

How much general operating support has the National Building Museum gotten for this year?

And how does it compare with last year?

Um I don't I I believe last year was around 160,000, and then this year it's I think 143,000.

So it's less.

Yes.

And you don't know what it would be for FY27.

That's right.

Yeah, we just submitted the application yesterday.

Um I'm guessing that even though the difference between what did you say, 1160 and 143 is 17,000, it's still that makes a difference in your budgeting?

Uh yeah, I I don't know if that small difference does, but um the previous years we were receiving around I think 180 to 200, especially with these enhancements that would come at the end of the year that we haven't received in the past two to three years.

Um, and I I think that that instability does affect our planning because we're just not sure if it will continue to go down each year, or if it will just fluctuate by like fifteen thousand dollars, that that's fine, but the you know, continuous decline year over year um stresses us out with stability and planning for the future.

Does the commission ever impose does the commission ever impose conditions on the grant?

Like you have to diversify this way or do something with uh who your patrons are.

Do you ever get those kinds of conditions?

I'm trying to remember for the general operating um when we do applications and we report those questions we need to answer.

I'm not sure how it's viewed on the other side and how much they weigh it, um, but we are asked of those questions.

Um for the other more restricted um funding, there is I think more restrictive questions on how many people we serve um with the money.

So, for example, the field trip grant is a is a separate grant um opportunity that does have more of those numbers that we need to directly report and re relate to the money.

Uh thank you.

Mr.

Ms Mutafa, Mustafa, Mitafa.

There's no ask.

Muchas.

Okay, sorry about that.

No problem.

Um I didn't understand what you were saying about uh sponsorship.

So one of the things uh two years ago we were able to apply for sponsorship to support an event, and then I'm I'm under the impression that when the fact that the commission was was making sponsorship dollars available uh was presented before this committee, that was raised as a concern, and they were not allowed to do that anymore.

Part of what I'm suggesting is that for a group like us, or or like many of my colleagues who've been here today to do things the way the current grant structure is set up, the folks that talked about projects and special events, that's one category.

If you receive GOS, you're not actually able to apply for that.

We do three festivals a year, and we had the commission as a lead sponsor for an inaugural festival we did two years ago on the national mall, but that is off the table as a as an option.

So I was suggesting that with the funds that go unallocated to grant awards based on the recommendations of the committees, that that fund balance that we've been talking about all day, that they have greater flexibility.