bloomingdale: Ward 5 Report: Engage on the DC government budget and more

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Ward 5 Report: Engage on the DC government budget and more

From: Councilmember Kenyan R. McDuffie

Sent: Tuesday, January 29, 2019 4:29 PM
Subject: Ward 5 Report: Engage on the D.C. Government Budget and much more

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Neighbors,

Throughout the year, residents often share their thoughts with me about how the District should spend their tax dollars. The opportunity to impact these budgeting decisions is happening now. As my colleagues and I embark on crafting and approving the budget for the District, I want to invite you to take part in that process.

On Wednesday, February 13th at 6:30 p.m., I will host a Ward 5 Budget Engagement forum. The Council’s Budget Director will be on hand to provide an overview of the budget process. The meeting will be an opportunity for you to share your budget priorities with me and my staff.

In addition to the budget engagement forum, I encourage residents to testify or submit testimony at the Council’s performance oversight and budget oversight hearings. While I will be advocating for many of the priorities identified by Ward 5 residents, nothing is more powerful than direct, in-person advocacy.

Performance oversight hearings review the performance of District agencies over the past year and start next week, February 6, through March 1. The first week of performance oversight hearings include high-interest agencies like the Metropolitan Police Department on Thursday, February 7 and the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and the Department of Health on Friday, February 8.

Budget oversight hearings review each agency’s budget for the upcoming year and take place starting March 25 through April 25. I invite you to view detailed information on how to participate and make your voice and priorities heard.

In service,

Kenyan

Ward 5 Budget Engagement Forum

Legislative Update

On January 22, Councilmember McDuffie joined the majority of the D.C. Council in voting to make fare evasion on Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority punishable by a civil penalty, instead of a criminal offense. In his remarks, which you can view by clicking the image above, Councilmember McDuffie said: "Criminalization of fare evasion does significantly more harm to [people of color] than the financial impact it has on Metro... And those criminal consequences, to me, are what's unjust and unfair."

#RacialEquityDC Update

Thank you to all who attended the Race and Policy Symposium on January 17. The standing-room-only audience was engaged throughout the day discussing ways to tackle the inequitable outcomes that persist across a variety issue areas. The event was filmed and we will share the video when it is available, it was also covered by the Washington Informer and Washington City Paper.