Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.
The Committee of the Whole of the Council of the District of Columbia, chaired by Phil Mendelson, held a public hearing on Friday, October 2, 2026, from 10:27 AM to approximately 2:30 PM (with a recess from 11:48 AM to 1:41 PM) in Room 412 of the John A. Wilson Building. The hearing covered nine legislative measures: three street naming designations, four public alley or street closures, and two transfers of jurisdiction from the National Park Service to the District. The record will remain open until 5:00 PM on October 16, 2026.
We will start in just a minute. 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 am Phil Mendelssohn, Chair of the Council and Chair of the Committee of the Whole. Today is Friday, October Second, two thousand twenty-six, the time is ten twenty-seven in the morning. This hearing is being held in room four twelve of the John A. Wilson building. The subject of this hearing is nine legislative measures. So the measures under consideration are Bill twenty-six dash five eighty-nine entitled entitled William Brockenberry Way Designation Act of Twenty Twenty-S which was introduced by Councilmember Traon White on December twenty-ninth, two thousand twenty-five. The next measure is Bill 26-601, which is entitled Closing of a Portion of a Public Alley in Square 762, SO23-01974 Act of 2026. The stated purpose of this bill is to order the closing of a dead-end portion of the existing public alley system in Square 762, which is near 2nd Street and Pennsylvania Avenue Southeast to facilitate the consolidation of four existing lots and the expansion and renovation of the historic building to house the Conservative Partnership Institute. The next measure is Bill 26-642, which is entitled Closing of Portions of a Public Alley in Square 571, SO 25-01939 Act of 2026. This bill was introduced by Councilmember Charles Allen on March 27, 2026. And the stated purpose of this bill is to order the closing of portions of the public alley system in square 571, which is near 2nd and E Streets Northwest to facilitate the redevelopment of the property with permanent supportive housing and a congregate shelter owned by the community for creative nonviolence. I neglected to state that the previous bill, Bill 26-601, was introduced on February 23rd, 2026 by me at the request of Mayor Bowser. The next measure is Bill 26-689, which is entitled The Closing of a Portion of a Public Alley in Square 785, SO 21-03369 Act of 2026. This bill was introduced by me at the request of Mayor Bowser on May 11th of this year. And the stated purpose of this bill is to order the closing of an unimproved alley by budding lots 844, 27, 28, 29, and 30 in square 785, 131 square feet of which would revert to lot 28, and 130 square feet of which would revert to lot 844. This uh portion of the unimproved alley abuts a residential dwellings. The uh next measure is uh Bill. The next measure is Bill 26-722, which is entitled Closing of the Unimproved Portion of 35th Street Northwest abutting squares 1178 and 1179, SO 26-01008 act of 2026. And related to this measure is the just introduced PR 26-805, which is entitled Transfer of Jurisdiction of Portions of Square 1177, 1178, and 1179, and a portion of 35th Street Northwest, SO 26-01542. Approval resolution of 2026. So there is that uh proposed resolution 26-805 and the bill 26-772. Uh, the stated purpose of the bill is to order the closing of the unimproved portion of bill of 35th Street Northwest, abutting squares 1178 and 1179, extending from under the Francis Scott Key Bridge between Water Street Northwest and the Potomac River. And the stated purpose of the transfer of jurisdiction is to approve the transfer of jurisdiction to the National Park Service from the National Park Service to the District of Columbia to advance the triparty agreement for the transfer and disposition of parcels along Potomac River between Georgetown University, the National Park Service, and the district to complete a decade-long effort to realize expanded non-motorized boating activities along the Potomac River in Georgetown. The next measure is PR 26-544, which is entitled The Transfer of Jurisdiction over a portion of lot 1008 in square 1299 being a portion of Reservation 357 SO 25-01882 approval resolution of 2026. And the stated purpose is to approve the transfer of jurisdiction over a portion of lot 1008 and square 1299 near Wisconsin Avenue and Whitehaven Street Northwest from the United States Department of the Interior National Park Service to the district to facilitate the private redevelopment of a vacant office building into a multifamily residential building to allow for ingress and egress from the building. And the last measure uh that is subject to today's hearing is PR-20 uh PR 26-581, which is entitled Transfer of Jurisdiction over a portion of Reservation 360 and Reservation 639. SO 25-01393 approval resolution of 2026. This was introduced by me at the request of the mayor on March 18th of this year, and the stated purpose is to approve the transfer of jurisdiction of approximately 22,000 square feet of land comprising a portion of reservation 360 and reservation 639. Which, if I remember correctly, is in um what is known as Rock Creek Park from the Department of Interior National Park Service to the district to facilitate improvements associated with Francis Park, Francis Pool, Francis Dog Park, and an athletic field at John Francis Education Campus. Not quite sure why these titles of these measures have to be written so boringly, but they are and I have to go through all of that. Um the record in this matter will close in two weeks. That is, it will close at 5 p.m. on October 16th, 2026. And what does that mean? That means that if anyone wishes to supplement their testimony or submit written testimony where they didn't uh or anyone else who wishes to submit anything, we're required to file a record of a hearing, and we have to have a deadline to do so, which is not to say that thereafter we won't consider anything that's submitted, but for purposes of the record, 5 p.m. October 16th, 2026. Um we've organized the witness list uh by measure, so I'll be calling witnesses according to that order, which is I believe the same order that I read everything. Uh we've been joined by Councilmember Traeon White. Do you have uh opening statement, Councilmember? Yes, Chairman. Yes, Chairman, I do, and I'll be brief. Um good morning, Chairman and thank you for calling this important hearing today.