Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George and five other Councilmembers introduced the Green New Deal for Housing Act to revolutionize how the District produces and preserves affordable housing by creating sustainable, climate-neutral social housing. Social housing is publicly-owned, mixed-income housing that generates deeper affordability by reinvesting rent payments in lowering costs for tenants and establishing more social housing across the city. “Social housing is the critical missing piece in confronting our severe affordable housing crisis,” said Councilmember Lewis George. “By putting the profits and the power in the hands of people, we can generate more of the affordable housing that

This piece originally appeared in Petworth News under Councilmember’s Corner. Growing up in Ward 4, my neighborhood block was like a village.  I knew the name of all of my neighbors, and our families looked after each other. All the other children on my block were considered my cousins – whether we were related or not – and we all went to the same school together. Our neighborhoods were places where working-class families could afford to live. My neighbor three doors down was a WMATA bus driver. Across the street, my history teacher. At my home, my mother supported our

Dear Neighbors, Happy Friday! This weekend we are honoring Earth Day with no less than eight community cleanups across Ward 4 – find the one nearest to you and join. On Saturday, we also have a great community health fair in Petworth, a huge spring celebration and egg hunt at the Parks at Walter Reed, and the grand re-opening of Midtown Youth Academy on Georgia Avenue. I’m also excited to share that I am hiring to expand our team, so please spread the word. And in this first section, I report on changes made to the budget in the committee markup process and lay

I’m excited to share that we are expanding our Council team serving Ward 4 by hiring an Administrative Assistant and an additional Constituent Services Coordinator. You would be joining a dedicated, supportive, values-driven team working in a rewarding, fast-paced environment at the DC Council and our Ward 4 community. Check out detailed information for each position at the links below: Please consider applying or helping me recruit a great person for each position by sharing these openings with people who would make a good match! All applicants must submit a DC 2000 form (DC Government Employment Application) and may attach

Dear Neighbors, As we enter the holiday weekend, I wish our Jewish community in Ward 4 a meaningful Passover and Seders filled with tradition and joy – surrounded by loved ones. To our neighbors celebrating Ramadan, I hope your fast is fruitful and leads to peace, reflection, and love. And to all celebrating Easter this weekend, I hope it brings a renewal of hope and a deepening of our commitment to one another. Today is also Emancipation Day in DC, when we honor the freeing of 3,100 enslaved DC residents eight months before the Emancipation Proclamation. I share a reflection

Dear Neighbors, I hope you were able to keep dry these past few days, and that you can enjoy some sunshine this weekend! Here’s a rundown of what’s happening at the Council and in Ward 4 this week! Legislative Updates Council Legislative Recap: Gifting Shops, Abandoned Vehicles, and Hotels At Tuesday’s legislative session, the Council narrowly voted down emergency legislation seeking to make two major changes to the District’s cannabis policies. First: ease barriers to safe, regulated medical marijuana by temporarily allowing anyone over the age of 21 to self-certify a qualifying medical condition, among other positive changes to our medical cannabis

Dear Neighbors, There’s a lot to report back on this week! The Ward 4 Redistricting Task Force settled on new ANC/SMD Ward 4 boundaries to recommend to the Council, I attended eight budget oversight hearings, we have more traffic safety updates from across Ward 4, and this week we celebrated an incredible affordable housing project in Takoma. In addition, second COVID booster shots are now available for residents who are immunocompromised or 50+ years old, the renovated Lamond-Riggs Neighborhood Library is seeking input on two potential names, and DPR summer camp registration starts next week! We also have several community events

Dear Neighbors, Along with the blooming of the Cherry Blossom trees, spring this year brings us spring clean ups, budget hearings, and more traffic safety in our neighborhoods! I’m excited to bring you another update from our work on the Council and in our community. Here’s the latest on budget oversight, traffic safety upgrades in Sixteenth Street Heights, and community resources. There’s also a full itinerary of Ward 4 events for you to enjoy this weekend, including two spring clean ups and Cherry Blossom-themed kite events from DPR. Meanwhile, next week we’ll have our Ward 4 CARE Day in Crestwood,

Dear Neighbors, I hope you are enjoying the first few days of spring, as declared by the Capital Weather Gang earlier this week. This year the start of spring coincides with the start of budget season at the DC Council, so I’ll be breaking down the Mayor’s proposed budget for you today. I’ll also share updates about traffic safety in Ward 4, actions being taken to address gun violence on Kennedy Street, community events, and more! Unpacking the Proposed DC Budget This week the Mayor released her proposed $19.5 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2023, which runs from October 1, 2022 through September 30,

Dear Neighbors, From launching Ward 4 CARE community outreach days to new legislation and updates on city services and neighborhood events – we have a lot of ground to cover this week. Let’s dive in! Ward 4 News and Legislative Updates Legislation from the Community: The CLEAN Collections Act During our community walkthroughs with neighbors, we identified an issue with several multifamily buildings in Ward 4. These buildings are not serviced by DPW, so they rely on private collection companies to pick up their trash. However, many of these multifamily buildings only have a small number of trash and recycling