Well, good afternoon, everyone.

I'm Wendell Felder, and I have the pleasure of serving as the Ward 7 Councilmember as well as the Chair of the Subcommittee on Local Business Development.

Today is Monday, September the 28th, and we are here in room 412 of the John A.

Wilson building, as well as on the Zoom virtual platform.

The time is 105, and I'm now calling today's public oversight round table of the subcommittee on local business developmental order.

I want to begin by acknowledging my colleagues who are here with us today.

Thank you, Councilwoman Bones, for being here.

I also want to acknowledge all of the residents who are here in person as well as those who are tuning in with us virtually.

Today we will hear from representatives of the Washington Commanders, the RFK Campus Project Management Office about the status of the Community Benefits Agreement, the Community Benefits Oversight Committee, and the broader community commitments established under the Robert F.

Kennedy Campus Redevelopment Amendment Act of 2025.

The redevelopment of the RFK campus represents a once-in-a-lifetime investment in our city, and particularly in the communities surrounding this site with an investment of this magnitude comes with a responsibility to ensure that the people who have lived, worked, raised families, and built businesses in these communities are not simply impacted by this redevelopment, but meaningful benefits come from it.

That is why the community benefits agreement is so important, and that is why we are here today.

The CBA must turn the promises surrounding this project into real measurable investments for our communities, whether that is through jobs, workforce development, opportunities for small and local businesses, youth programming, public safety, housing stability, and other community priorities.

But we all know that an investment is only as strong as this implementation.

That is why the community benefits oversight committee is equally important.

This hearing is important because we want and need clear answers about the CBA, the status and structure of the CBOC, how community benefits will be implemented, how progress will be measured and reported, and who will be accountable when commitments are not met.

This is not simply about checking boxes or producing reports.

It is about making sure that as billions of dollars of development occurs at the RFK campus, the surrounding communities see and experience tangible benefits from that investment.

The CBA establishes the commitments.

The CBOC provides the accountability, and both communities deserve, or rather, our communities deserve both.

Thank you again, Director, or thank you, Director Hanlon and uh Meta for being here with us today, and I look forward to today's discussion.

Uh but before we start, um I would like to swear in you and anyone else from your team who will be providing testimonies today.

Uh

please raise your right hand and repeat after me.

Do you swear under penalty or perjury that the testimony you are about to provide to the subcommittee on local business development will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

I do.

Uh thank you.

Uh now we will turn over to our witness for opening remarks.

Let's start first with our government witnesses or witness, uh, Director Hamlin.

Thank you, Councilmember, and good to see you and Councilmember Bonds.

Good afternoon, and uh Councilmember uh Felder and Councilmember Bonds and members of the subcommittee.

Thank you for the opportunity to participate in today's round table on the status of the community benefits agreement and the community benefits oversight committee.

My name is Brian Hanlin, and I serve as both the director of the DC Department of Buildings and the project executive of the RFK Project Management Office or the PMO.

In this role, I am responsible for overseeing the coordination, execution, and delivery of one of the most ambitious projects in the district's history.

Before discussing the CBA and CEBOC in greater detail, I would like to provide an overview of progress to date.

Describe what is presently happening on the stadium site and what is to come in the near future.

The stadium project is currently moving forward on schedule with an anticipated delivery of the stadium and support infrastructure before the 2030 NFL season kicks off.

Last Thursday, we observed a critical milestone as Mayor Bowser transmitted the final version of the RFK campus master plan to the district's council.

This document is a blueprint for defining how the campus looks, how its buildings are used, how park and open space is represented, as well as clarifying a host of other items that are intended to make this campus an organic neighborhood for residents and visitors.

The

master plan reflects the input of over 1,200 DC residents, and it's more than that actually, whose contributions are essential to ensure the stadium reflects our identity as Washingtonians.

The Council is holding a formal public hearing on the finalized master plan on September 30th, with a goal of voting on the proposed zoning and design guidelines before the end of the year.

As the council reviews the master plan, the stadium project steadily marches forward.

The commanders have recently released visual renderings that show an incredibly unique, versatile interior that is adapted to host upwards of 200 events per year.

We have conducted numerous reviews to ensure that the project complies with environmental and traffic standards.

We have worked with our district government partners and WAMATA to develop transit recommendations to ensure that attendees going to football games can seamlessly access the stadium on game day.

The completion of demolition of the old RFK stadium is anticipated anticipated by the end of next month.

And we anticipate that by the beginning of next year, construction on the stadium will begin in a meaningful

way.

The community benefits agreement and the community benefits oversight committee are critical elements of this process as they advance the economic and workforce development initiatives that are so critical to what the stadium represents.

As part of the RFK Redevelopment Act, the commanders agree to provide at least 50 million in community benefit investment over 30 years.

The allocation and timing for those investments were detailed in the Community Benefits Agreement, or the CBA, that was executed this past December.

The CBA is an important mechanism in the stadium's construction, advancing local workforce development, advancing public safety efforts, and providing support to small businesses within the district.

Keeping construction on schedule and delivering the stadium on time is integral to delivering many of the community benefits under the CBA.

The RFK legislation and CBA also provide for the creation of a nine-member community benefits oversight committee, or CEBOC, to monitor the implementation of the agreement.

Appointments to the CEBOC are divided among the mayor, council chairman, and relevant ward council members.

It is our understanding that appointment-based deliberations have progressed and that announcements on the constitution of the CBOC will be made shortly.

In my role as project executive of the RFK PMO, we will engage with the CBOC where its work intersects with the construction of the stadium and associated infrastructure, as well as monitoring the progress of the community benefits commitments that are part of the RFK legislation.

We will keep all stakeholders apprised of developments on the RF, our RFK.dc.gov website.

And I would like to thank the subcommittee for the opportunity to appear before you today and for your enduring partnership as we advance this historic effort.