The D.C. Council is back, but not better than ever

We’re back on the local politics beat, the D.C. Council has returned to the Wilson Building, and one of the District’s elected leaders is mired in an FBI scandal… time is a flat circle! 

To catch you (and ourselves) up, we’ve rounded up some of the big issues to watch as the councilmembers pack their calendars with hearings and votes. This fall marks the end of the two-year legislative session, meaning any bills that don’t move forward will need to be reintroduced in the next session.

For your convenience, jump to a topic:
What's going on with Trayon White?
Department of Youth and Rehabilitation Services reform
What's next for the Circulator?
Weakening eviction protections
That opioid lawsuit money is finally being used. But how?
More attempts to fix D.C.'s disastrous 911 agency
Downtown revitalization, whatever that means

What’s going on with Trayon White? 

Despite the crunch, lawmakers will be operating under a cloud of political uncertainty. 

And that’s because of Councilmember Trayon White (D-Ward 8). 

Federal officials arrested White in August over allegations that he schemed to accept $156,000 in bribes to help a local businessman gain new contracts with the city. Authorities caught White on tape allegedly accepting money in exchange for pressuring the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services and the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement to extend him the contracts. Unfortunately for White, the businessman turned out to be an FBI informant.

White faces a trial that could take place in 2025 and threatens him with more than a decade in prison. While his colleagues were quick to profess that White remains innocent until proven guilty under the law, his political career is a different story. On their first day back, the council voted to remove White as chair of the Committee on Recreation, Libraries, and Youth Affairs — the body that oversees DYRS and ONSE. 

And thus Mendelson swiftly moved to create an Ad Hoc Committee chaired by Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie (I-At Large), to investigate the allegations and propose possible sanctions. On the light end, the committee could recommend a censure or reprimand, the legislative equivalent of a stern scolding. But more seriously, it could recommend that White be booted from the council altogether – not unlike what lawmakers were ready to do when former Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans faced his own ethical and legal controversies in 2019. (Evans resigned before the vote could happen.)

“We will conduct an investigation and review, and expulsion from the council is on the table,” said Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen in an interview with The 51st. “That’s what the Ad Hoc Committee will be looking towards, I think that’s where the council will ultimately go.” 

The council is spending $400,000 on a legal investigation not only into the bribery charges but also where exactly White lives. He was arrested outside a luxury high-rise in Ward 6 and ward-based lawmakers have to live in the place they represent or give up their seats. The legal report must be done by mid-December.

That, of course, only compounds the political awkwardness evident inside the Wilson Building these days. As the investigation proceeds, there’s little else the council can do to White. Additionally, his legal troubles come just as he faces likely re-election in November. That means that his colleagues could well have to give him the heave-ho after his constituents give him something of a vote of confidence. When that would happen, of course, is critical. If he’s expelled this fall after winning re-election, White would simply rejoin the council next January. Mendelson says he’d like to avoid that by simply pushing any possible vote on expulsion until after White is sworn in for his third term. But even if White is ultimately given the boot, nothing would stop him from running for his old seat in the required special election in the spring.

Department of Youth and Rehabilitation Services Reform 

White’s removal as chair of this committee adds further tumult to the city’s Department of Youth and Rehabilitation Services, a troubled executive branch agency that oversees the city’s youth jail. Over a year ago, DCist (RIP) reported on an overcrowding and understaffing crisis at the jail (also called the Youth Services Center), which put children at risk and kept them confined to their cells for almost entire days. Over the past year, little has improved: the number of youth detained at the facility has increased (thanks, in part, to legislation that makes it easier for a judge to detain a child pre-trial) and the rate of violent incidents remains high.

In May, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb introduced legislation targeting the agency’s dysfunction. The bill, which received its first public hearing in September, would require the agency to develop an individualized rehabilitation plan within three days of a child being sentenced to DYRS custody. The jail is meant to detain kids awaiting trial but some spend weeks and months there after being convicted, waiting to get placed at a group home or shelter. Under the provisions of the bill, if no action is taken within 30 days of a commitment to DYRS custody, the child can request a new hearing. 

Schwalb’s legislation would also make permanent D.C.’s Office of Independent Juvenile Justice Facilities Oversight — a monitoring arm that Mayor Muriel Bowser attempted to shut down last year before reversing course. Schwalb’s bill would move the office out from the executive branch and over to the D.C. Auditor, which is under the council’s purview. 

The council led a public hearing on the bill in late September; it now awaits a first vote. 

What’s next for the Circulator? 

Because the mayor is the mayor and the D.C. Circulator is not a cop, a stadium, or a vacant downtown office building, the bus service was left on the cutting room floor when it came time to balance the books this year. Citing drops in ridership, Bowser’s FY 2025 budget took an axe to the 20-year-old Circulator, and buses are set to ride for the last time on Dec. 31, 2024, with a service phase-out already underway. (Should auld acquaintance be forgot, etc…) 

To put it mildly, no one seems pleased with the decision — least of all the Circulator drivers who now face losing their jobs. The first round of layoffs are set to begin this week, according to Benjamin Lynn, a communications official with ATU Local 689, the union representing Circulator workers. Bowser and DDOT only recently unveiled a plan to expand Metrobus service to accommodate for the Circulator gap, months after initially announcing the phased service cuts. It’s still unclear if WMATA will absorb the hundreds of Circulator drivers who will be left high-and-dry. ATU Local 689 called the lack of a transition plan “reckless and cruel.” 

Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen, who chairs the transportation committee, said the council (which attempted to restore Circulator funding for at least a year before that plan fizzled) will be holding oversight hearings on the transition plan and ensuring workers have a place to land within the next six weeks. In a hearing last week, councilmembers grilled Metro and DDOT officials for moving ahead with the cut before securing workers' jobs. 

“[The mayor and DDOT] never put in a transition plan,” he said in an interview with The 51st. “How does the bus service have a transition plan with WMATA for not just our riders, but all of the workers and drivers?”

On Tuesday, the council passed emergency legislation from Allen that would funnel assets from the sale of the Circulator to staffers who lost their jobs. Around 90 employees have been laid off so far.

(BTW – we’re collecting residents’ favorite circulator moments. Email us at hello@51st.news if you’d like to share a memory, a funny story, or just what you’ll miss.) 

Weakening eviction protections

On Tuesday, the council voted on an emergency housing bill that will shrink the protections afforded by the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (or ERAP), a program to help people pay their rent in emergencies. 

Because it was introduced on an emergency basis, the bill required no hearing. Councilmembers passed it unanimously on Tuesday. 

Chairman Mendelson and the Department of Human Services argue that ERAP – which allows a resident to self-certify their need for assistance and prevents eviction while the application is processed — is putting affordable housing providers in dire financial straits. The chairman, DHS, and providers seem to think some tenants are abusing the assistance fund to forego rent payments. 

Under the provisions of the bill, tenants will no longer be able to self-testify their need for rental assistance. It also makes it easier for a judge to evict someone who has a pending ERAP application. 

In a press conference on Monday, Bowser and Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Nina Albert characterized the reforms as necessary and a benefit to both renters and landlords. Albert said the changes will bring the District’s housing “ecosystem” back into balance – an oft-used refrain when officials discuss a dysfunctional government apparatus. She added that building more affordable housing is another important component to ensuring that “all people in the District are housed.” 

“We don’t want to evict anyone. We just want people to pay their rent” Bowser said of the bill – an interesting way to defend a piece of legislation that removes eviction protections and makes it more difficult for people to get help paying rent. A growing share of D.C. residents spend at least half of their income on rent, according to a U.S. Census report this time last year. Meanwhile, production of new affordable housing units has slowed and Bowser’s FY25 budget, despite some changes by councilmembers, dealt a blow to affordable housing funds. 

Predictably, several housing advocates and legal service providers penned a letter opposing the legislation. The crisis isn't fraudulent renters looking to cash in on a public assistance program, they argue, but rather the program's bureaucratic delays stymying its efficacy. They describe tenants waiting months for ERAP payments and allege that lags in court proceedings, which slow down efficiency, are often caused by (who knew) landlords. The bill, they add, will create more hurdles to granting an eviction stay (putting it on hold until a judge can weigh in), further clogging up the courts. 

“Passing this bill on an emergency basis, with no hearing and no real assessment of the cause of rental arrears or whether this is a solution, much less the right one, is irresponsible policymaking that risks mass eviction and displacement,” reads the letter. 

It remains to be seen if the emergency legislation will be introduced on a permanent basis (it stays in effect for 90 days) — we’ll be watching! 

That opioid lawsuit money is finally being used. But how? 

Over a year after officials formed the Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission, the group has finally started to use over $11 million in opioid lawsuit funds. Over the next several years the group, which is housed in the Department of Behavioral Health, will decide how to spend up to $110 million in settlement dollars meant to stem the city’s opioid crisis. 

At-large Councilmember Christina Henderson, who chairs the council’s health committee, said in an interview with The 51st that the first round of grants was issued over the summer. Over the coming weeks, lawmakers will review how the commission decided to spend the money.

While D.C. isn’t the only U.S. jurisdiction slow to move on using its pot of money, the need is particularly acute here as the District has a higher overdose death rate than every state except West Virginia, according to the CDC. In 2023, the city recorded 518 fatal overdoses, up from 461 in 2022 making last year the deadliest on record. Fatalities have declined in the first half of 2024, according to a report from the medical examiner’s office, but officials don’t know exactly what caused the drop or what strategies were most effective. 

Henderson expects to review how the funding was awarded and perform oversight checks – which historically have not gone so well for DHS. For years, harm-reduction advocates, public health experts, and city leaders have butted heads on how to address the crisis. A safe-use site, where people can use drugs with medical supervision, is an intervention that’s proven to save lives but that city leaders have been reluctant to take seriously.

More attempts to fix D.C.'s disastrous 911 agency

It’s hardly a stretch to say that one of D.C.’s most troubled agencies is also one of its most critical. The Office of Unified Communications handles incoming 911 calls and dispatches emergency responders to crime scenes, medical emergencies, and fires. 

There are countless recent stories of egregious errors, with complaints of emergency calls going unanswered, responders sent to wrong addresses, and dispatchers misclassifying incidents. The consequences have been tragic. This summer, a five-month-old died after technical issues at OUC’s dispatch center led to delays in providing the required care (it’s unknown whether faster timing could have saved the infant). Last year, 10 dogs died in a flood when dispatchers failed to accurately describe what was happening to responding firefighters. To say that OUC has remained resistant to public accountability would be an understatement. Some local reporters have started pushing back on the agency’s habit of holding non-public briefings, instead demanding open exchanges with Director Heather McGaffin.

“What I'm hearing from residents is that people don't have confidence they can even call 911 at this point,” Allen said. “Everybody wants to see them get better, but they seem to be refusing to acknowledge that there's even a problem.” 

This fall, the council will turn up the heat on OUC – but will it continue to be too little too late?

Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto, who chairs the judiciary committee, says she’s rolling out a three-part approach to attempt to right the ship. First, she’s holding monthly oversight hearings where McGaffin will have to answer questions from lawmakers and the public. 

“I want to stay very publicly engaged with [OUC] and provide the public an opportunity to provide testimony and be part of the improvement process, and have the director know that every month we need her to come back and answer some of the same questions about where we are with staffing, have we hired people, how long it takes to answer the phones,” says Pinto.

Second, she’s planning unannounced visits to OUC. “I need to see, earnestly, how the agency is running when they are not expecting a visitor,” she says. And Pinto has already gotten started: she visited OUC on a Saturday in late September to observe an overnight shift.

And last, she wants the council to flex its legislative muscle. She’s introduced a pair of bills to address OUC, one that would require that an after-action report be made public after any failed dispatch or mistake at the agency, and another that would provide agency workers with free, on-site child care. 

But critics have already pounced on the idea, with former reporter and crusading OUC critic Dave Statter arguing that it merely “helps OUC continue to stall for time while it is hiding and covering up the truth.” At-large Councilmember Robert White agrees. “We have passed the time for reporting. Reporting will not fix this agency,” he says. Last year, White introduced a measure that would create a task force to recommend more sweeping changes at OUC, while Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau proposed a bill that would transfer some 911 dispatching responsibilities to the fire department. 

Pinto says she’s unlikely to move either of those bills, opting instead to use her existing oversight powers to wrestle improvements out of OUC. But even that may have its limits, largely because of significant staffing challenges within the agency. In July, only 13% of shifts at OUC met minimum staffing requirements, prompting McGaffin to offer $800 incentives to workers who showed up for their full shifts. When the Metropolitan Police Department faced staffing challenges, Bowser and the council stepped up to offer $25,000 hiring bonuses. It’s unclear if the same perk will be offered for 911 call-takers and dispatchers, though Pinto says something needs to be done.

“I do not think our call-takers and dispatchers are paid enough,” she says. “I’m very worried about OUC’s ability to hire. We have to get more people in the door."

Downtown revitalization, whatever that means

More workers are returning to the office, Metro ridership has trended upwards, the Capital One Arena is staying put (and expanding), and earlier this year Mayor Muriel Bowser lauded a first in what she hopes will be many office-to-residential conversions in downtown D.C. 

But some lawmakers are less sanguine about what everyone seems to agree is a needed post-pandemic transformation of downtown from a 9-to-5 office worker hub to a more dynamic (and ideally residential) neighborhood. 

“It’s incredibly important to the District that we figure out what is the next chapter for downtown and execute it. But that is not where we are right now,” says At-large Councilmember Robert White, who called a late-September hearing in his housing committee to rekindle conversations about how best to spur the transformation of downtown.

“Federal workers are back… maybe 1-3 days a week. That’s not enough occupancy to sustain the businesses downtown,” he says. “Should we die a slow economic death, or have a come-to-Jesus moment and say we’re not going back to 2019 and build an economy around neighborhoods and tourism?”

White says he’s still formulating his own vision and strategy for getting to a new downtown, but one proposal he’s leaning towards is the creation of a Downtown Economic Development Corporation. Long employed in struggling cities, counties, and neighborhoods across the country (including Baltimore, Prince George’s County, and even Columbia Heights), the public-private partnerships can serve to marshal resources for long-term revitalization projects. 

In the meantime, though, Bowser is likely to keep leaning on the feds to force more workers back into the office, touting the city’s incentives for converting offices into residential buildings (hopefully with lower rents than what’s on offer), and pushing forward with plans to revamp the area around the Capital One Arena.