Dear Neighbors, As we gather to spend Thanksgiving with family, friends, and loved ones, I am writing to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving and share some helpful reminders ahead of the holiday. I am deeply grateful for our Ward 4 community. During the holiday season, I see first-hand how our community mobilizes to care for our neighbors in need. From turkey giveaways and clothing drives to hosting free Thanksgiving meals, so many Ward 4 residents are giving back to our community this time of year. Thank you to every neighbor finding ways to serve others during the holiday season. I

Dear Neighbors, This week’s newsletter includes new legislation to protect tenants, reflections from our Ward 4 Faith Leaders Breakfast, an update on car break-ins, the newly-designated Xi Omega Way, our Ward 4 Turkey Giveaway and Celebrate Petworth Festival on Saturday, our final Petworth/Uptown Farmers Markets for the season, the latest on leaf collection, and plenty of other local events and resources. Let’s get into it all below. The Doing Right by DC Tenants Act In Ward 4 and across DC, far too many tenants face unsafe and undignified housing conditions in their apartment buildings. Right now, there is nothing to

Today Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George and five other Councilmembers introduced legislation to protect tenants from landlords who neglect housing conditions and building safety. The Do Right by DC Tenants Amendment Act of 2023 would prevent any individual or business from obtaining a new basic business license or building permit if anyone in the ownership structure has received more than five Class 1 or Class 2 housing code violations in a 12-month period. “For too long, a small group of landlords has been able to profit by buying up rental properties in DC and then charging high rents while

Dear Neighbors, Happy Veterans Day! This week I’m sharing key updates on Grant Circle, Council action, our Ward 4 Thanksgiving Turkey Giveaway, leaf collection, modified city services, the start of bus zone enforcement next week, public safety, ANC vacancies, local events, and much more! DDOT’s Draft Safety Plan for Grant Circle This week DDOT unveiled the initial design for its proposed traffic safety plan for Grant Circle in Petworth. Grant Circle is a community hub and one of the greatest resources we have in Ward 4, but it is unsafe for families due to dangerous driving, constant near-misses, and frequent

Dear Neighbors, As we head into the weekend, take a moment to catch up on our collective work to improve public safety, important city services, key deadlines, upcoming Ward 4 events, and local news: Comprehensive Public Safety There is no more urgent priority than addressing the rise in crime and violence in our city and the fear and pain it causes in our communities. To turn the tide, we need to confront the reality that the issues we are facing are driven not by one specific agency’s failures — but by our whole government falling short of what it needs

Dear Neighbors, As we kick off Halloween weekend, the start of leaf collection, and another busy week ahead, I want to share these important updates about our community and city services. Ward 4 Public Safety Updates On Thursday, our community experienced another terrifying incident, when sounds of gunfire on the 6400 block of 5th Street NW caused our nearby schools to go into lockdown and kept neighbors inside their homes while MPD set up a perimeter to secure the area. The case is being actively investigated, but here is what we know so far: an armed individual in a nearby

DC Residents Would Determine Which News Outlets Receive Funding Using News Coupons They Can Allocate to the Outlets of Their Choice Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George introduced legislation to create a first-in-the-nation program to fund local news. After years of declining revenue, painful layoffs, and discontinuations, the bill would provide a stable source of funding for local journalism that is decided by the public. “Strong journalism is indispensable for a healthy democracy and an accountable government, but local news is being shuttered by layoffs. This bill would create a stable funding source for local reporting so it can continue

Dear Neighbors, This was a jam-packed week on the Council and in Ward 4! We have a new DC School Connect program serving Riggs Park students, a new building for Friendship Ideal in Lamond, public safety walks and meetings, Council hearings on DPR, DOB, and trash issues, a preview of leaf collection, an early roundup of Halloween events in Ward 4, and surveys on the proposed rehabilitation of Rock Creek Golf Course, Upshur’s modernization, and the proposed redevelopment of the Chevy Chase Civic Core Site. Find it all below! Filling a Transit Gap for Riggs Park Students A few years ago, Ward 4 Education Alliance had its members travel to school alongside

Dear Neighbors, There is a lot to catch up on this week, including our work to improve school conditions, public safety updates, new smart LED streetlights being installed in Ward 4, updates on curbside composting, temporary trail and park closures, and Down in the Reeds festival on Saturday. Check it all out below! New Smart Streetlights Coming to Ward 4 Did you know that DC is currently converting 100% of its streetlights on streets, sidewalks, and trails to improved, sustainable LED technology that is remotely monitored and controlled? The DC Smart Street Lighting Project is now underway in Ward 4

Dear Neighbors, It has been a whirlwind of a week! Only seven days ago, we were able to secure funds that will increase DC residents’ SNAP benefits in less than three months. We also had two critical hearings on bills to address dangerous driving and fake license tags, as well as a hearing on DC’s troubled 911 call center operations. And just today, we had an amazing Ward 4 Senior Jubilee event to celebrate and share resources with our senior citizens. And tomorrow is the annual Open Street Georgia Avenue festival — so make the most of of all the