Well, good morning, everyone.

I'm Wendell Felder, and I have the pleasure of serving as the Ward 7 Council member and the chair of the subcommittee on local business development.

Today is Monday, October the 26th, and we are meeting in room 412 of the John A.

Wilson building and virtually via Zoom.

It is now 1005 a.m.

And I'm calling this public hearing of the subcommittee on local business development to order.

I

also want to welcome all of the residents who are joining us both in person and virtually.

Today we will hear testimony from public and government witnesses on two pieces of legislation.

Bill 26-0102, the expanding access to public recording and the Buddha Act of 2025, and Bill 26-041, the Business Improvement District Modernization Amendment Act of 2026.

Although these bills are address different issues, both speak to an important responsibility of our government, understanding the needs of our communities, evaluating how existing systems are working, and identifying practical ways to improve the district for residents, businesses, workers, and visitors.

Let me begin with the legislation concerning public restroom access.

Whether you are a district resident visiting Fort DuPont Park for a live jazz festival, a visitor exploring downtown DC for the first time, or a commuter starting your day, access to public restrooms is a basic need that can have a significant impact on your experience in the city.

Yet finding an accessible public restroom is not always easy, particularly in areas where residents and visitors gather for recreation, work, shopping, and other daily activities.

This bill would establish a grant fund to help business improvement districts and main streets provide a maintained fee, gender-neutral public restroom.

It would also require the district department of parks and recreation to include at least one public restroom in all new substantially renovated parks that are one acre or larger.

Today I look forward to hearing from residents and government agencies about where restroom access is most needed, how these provisions could be implemented, and what resources and operational considerations we must address to ensure these facilities are accessible, well maintained, and sustainable over time.

Through my bid tours, I've seen the work firsthand and heard about the challenges of sustaining it.

First, the bill gives uh business gives established bids more time to plan and deliver.

Strengthening a commercial corridor takes substained effort.

Attracting businesses, improving public spaces, and building partnership often requires commitments that extend beyond a five-year renewal cycle by allowing 10-year renewal terms after the initial five-year renewal.

Annual reporting would continue, and renewal would still require a plan and a public hearing.

That benefit is greater operational stability alongside continued public accountability.

Second, the bill creates a more consistent and predictable approach to adjusting bid assessments.

The cost of staffing, maintenance, equipment, and other essential services change over time.

Bids need the ability to respond to those costs if they are going to maintain the services their community rely on.

The bill will replace differing bids, specific limits with a common authority to increase assessments once annually by up to 5%.

This would give bids a clear framework for budgeting and help property owners anticipate the limits on potential increases.

That authority will also be tied to compliance with annual reporting requirements, connecting financial flexibility with a responsibility to explain how resources are used.

Third, the bill updates assessment provisions to better reflect the properties and community bids serve.

As our commercial corridors evolve into places where more people both live and work, the framework supporting bids services must be able to respond.

The bill will expand the ability to assess certain non-exempt residential properties.

The purpose is to help sustain services such as cleaner sidewalks, maintain public spaces, and neighborhood programming that benefit a broader community.

It also provides a reduced assessment calculation for income restricted affordable housing units covered by the new assessment authority that recognizes the importance of supporting neighborhood services while accounting for affordability.

For condominium properties, the bill would allow condominium associations boards to participate to join a bid and clarify how those properties are counted during the process.

These changes would make participation more workable for buildings with many separately owned units.

Fourth, the bid addresses a practical obstacle to calculation calculating assessments.

While the Office of Tax and Revenue Records are insufficient to establish net rentable square footage, the bill would allow the use of recognized alternative sources subject to the standard in this legislation.

The benefit is a more workable basis for calculating assessments when the necessary records are incomplete.

Reliable property information helps bids administer their assessments to help property owners understand the basis for their changes.

Fifth, the bill brings additional residents and local business perspective into bid governance.

Bid decisions shape the daily experience of the people who live and operate businesses within their boundaries.

A resident may identify a public space need that affects neighborhood life.

A certified business enterprise might bring firsthand knowledge of the challenges facing a local business or the opportunities to connect district businesses with bid contrasts.

Requiring a resident and a representative of a CBE operating within the bid to serve on this board would give those perspectives a regular place in decision making.

That participation can help boards identify needs earlier, strengthen community relationships, and develop services that reflect the people and businesses they serve.

I welcome testimony on how to make these seats meaningful and work across our different bids.

Finally, the bill strengthens annual reporting and makes that information easier for the public to access.

These are related provisions, but each serve a distinct purpose.

Now I want to be clear.

What I want to see is a gap, or rather, what I do see is a gap in how we demonstrate their value.

There is no single place that brings together the story of what bids accomplish across the district.

We have 13 bids doing amazing work and producing individual reports.

So strengthening the existing annual reporting requirement will help show what that work achieves, how it advances each bid's goal, and what it adds up to collectively.

The bill identifies categories that help to tell that story, cleanliness and public spaces, public safety, and hospitality, business and economic vitality, small and local business support, community engagement, and governance and financial stewardship.

More consistent information can help bids demonstrate the reach of their services, communicate their needs, and show stakeholders what their assessments make possible.

It can also help the district identify opportunities for stronger partnerships and support.

Each bid would select measures appropriate to its own services, goals, sources and data available.

The framework would recognize differences among bids and allow substantially equivalent information they already collect to satisfy reporting requirements.

The bill also recognizes that neighborhood conditions can be affected by forcing beyond a biz control, understanding that context is essential to interpreting the information fairly.