Good morning.

I am Ward for Councilmember Janice Swiss George, Chair of the Committee on Facilities.

It is 9 48 a.m.

on Thursday, May 7th.

And we are holding this budget oversight hearing for the Department of General Services and the Department of Parks and Recreation via hybrid format with government witnesses testifying here in person in room 500 of the John A.

Wilson building and council members joining via Zoom and in person.

This hearing is for the government witnesses only as public witnesses for DGS and DPR testified on April 27th.

And witnesses have continued to upload their testimony to the hearing management system.

This hearing is being broadcast on the council uh website as well as Janice Ward 4.com backslash live.

All testimony and prehearing documents that have been submitted are available now on the council's hearing management system.

As a reminder for public witnesses watching, the deadline to submit written testimony for the record for DGS and DPR is Monday, May 11th.

Written testimony can be submitted either by uploading the testimony to the council's hearing management system or emailing facilities at DC Council.gov.

The work of the Department of General Services and the Department of Parks and Recreation.

Their portfolios are growing and costs are rising.

That is the central issue we have to work through today.

I want to acknowledge the people who do the daily work at DGS and DPR.

They maintain more than 840 municipal properties, 80 recreation centers, 36 pools and aquatic centers, and 244 park sites.

They served 2.24 million visitors to recreation centers in fiscal year 25 alone.

None of what follow, none of what follows takes that work for granted.

And so we're going to discuss priorities, impacts, and potential areas of restoration by the council, as the agencies see necessary.

For DGS, I just want to know what these numbers mean in practice, how many fewer work orders, how many fewer cleanings, what locations lose security coverage, and how the agency plans to monitor whether these cuts shorten the useful life of our buildings and equipment.

One out of the 60 million in federal matching grants for energy work.

The district has spent 3 million because we have not put up the local match.

We're going to determine if this is this gap is a policy choice.

For DPR, I want clear answers on which programs end, which sites lose hours, and which positions are eliminated, and how DPR plans to absorb the new programming requirements without pulling funds from existing youth services.

After this hearing, I hope the public and my colleagues with a clear will have a clear understanding of what these budgets fund, what they no longer fund, and what the agencies need to actually meet their obligations to district residents and the demands of so many as well.

And so we must not let budget cut costs uh nail cut costs even more in the years to come.

And so hopefully uh we will be able to work through how we can not only meet the obligations of district residents, employees, and visitors, uh, but the real goals of the agencies and what they want to do to make our district better.

And so with that, we will start with the budget oversight hearing for the Department of General Services.

Joining us uh from DGS is the Director, uh Delane O'Hunter, who's the Depart Director of Department of General Services, Osay Hedley, who is our deputy director of construction services division, and Jen Croft, who is associate director of the sustainability and energy division.

Um, if you all would please raise your right hands.

Do you swear or affirm under pillow perjury that the testimony you are about to give to the committee on facilities is the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.

I do.

Thank you all so much.

Um, Director Hunter, you may begin your testimony.

Good morning, Councilmember Lewis George and committee members.

My name is Delane O'Hunter, and I'm proud to serve as the director of the DC Department of General Services.

First, I want to acknowledge the dedicated public servants that I am proud to call my colleagues at DGS.

And I want to thank Mayor Mario Bowser, our city administrator, Kevin Donahue, and the assistant city administrator, Dr.

Christopher Rodriguez, for support of the agency's mission.

Today I'm joined by Osay Hedley, Deputy Director of Capital Construction, and Jen Croft, our associate Director of the Sustainability and Energy management Division.

Mayor Bowser's proposed FY27 budget entitled Grow DC was formulated with three key considerations in mind.

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

We're 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 the federal workforce reductions have introduced new pressures on our economy and commercial corridors.

That being said, it is important to be clear.

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

And DGS, of course, plays a critical role in managing our finances through strategic investments and safeguards that protect our inventory.

My testimony today will focus on three areas and is accompanied by a very short PowerPoint presentation.

First, I will outline the FY26 operating budget and how funds are allocated across our divisions.

Second, I will explain how the mayor's proposed FY27 budget builds on the strong results achieved in FY26.

And finally, I will highlight our strategic stewardship of taxpayer resources and the outcomes we are delivering in energy management, leasing, and security, as well as critical investments we are making in capital fleet purchases, small capital projects, and preventative maintenance.

First, I'd like to begin with an overview of the FY26 DGS operating budget.

The DGS budget supports the operations of nearly every agency in district government.

If we think of the agency's FY26 operating budget as a single dollar, the largest portion, 36 cents, supports lease and rental payments.

These funds cover leases for district facilities used by multiple agencies, and our presence in these buildings is a stabilizing factor for the community and often serves as an economic catalyst for private sector development.

The facility management division or FMD accounts for 20 cents of every DGS operating dollar in FY26.

These funds support the maintenance of more than 850 municipal properties and cover essential services such as landscaping, janitorial, playground and equipment repairs and replacements, emergency repairs, elevator upkeep, and much more.

Utilities comprise another 20 cents of our operating dollar.

DGS manages electricity, water, waste, natural gas, and steam costs for many district agencies.