{"id":1185,"date":"2025-02-05T00:02:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-05T00:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/?p=1185"},"modified":"2026-04-19T17:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T17:00:00","slug":"council-hearing-dc-residents-slam-city-officials-for-prioritizing-connected-developers-and-luxury-playtime-over-black-dc-families-truly-affordable-housing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/2025\/02\/05\/council-hearing-dc-residents-slam-city-officials-for-prioritizing-connected-developers-and-luxury-playtime-over-black-dc-families-truly-affordable-housing\/","title":{"rendered":"Council Hearing: DC Residents Slam City Officials for Prioritizing Connected Developers and Luxury Playtime Over Black DC Families & Truly Affordable Housing"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n

<\/p>\n

PRESS STATEMENT ON DMPED HEARING AT THE DC CITY COUNCIL<\/span><\/p>\n

DC Residents Slam City Officials for Prioritizing Connected Developers and Luxury Playtime Over Black DC Families & Truly Affordable Housing<\/span><\/strong>
\n\u201cNo more excuses. No more lies. Stop selling out our city.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

February 5, 2025 \u2013 WASHINGTON, D.C.<\/strong> \u2013 In a fiery multi-hour oversight hearing before Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie and the D.C. Council\u2019s Committee on Business and Economic Development<\/a>, DC residents and advocates delivered scathing testimony about the Deputy Mayor\u2019s Office of Planning and Economic Development (DMPED). They condemned the city\u2019s failure to address the worsening affordable housing crisis, its reliance on the flawed & failed Inclusionary Zoning (IZ) program<\/a>, and its public land, air rights, and financing giveaways to wealthy real estate speculators and sports team owners at the expense of working-class communities. <\/span><\/p>\n

Speakers called out the city\u2019s “profit over people”<\/strong> priorities, citing displacement, gentrification of vulnerable DC families and communities, and a lack of investment in truly affordable housing as urgent crises that must be addressed. They stressed that the status quo is failing working DC residents and Black and brown families, and offered solutions that can help and not continue the harm.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Key Themes from the DMPED Hearing<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n


\n1. DC Is Prioritizing Developers and Billionaires Over Working-Class Residents & Black Families<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u2022 Rondell “Magic” Jordan [Ward 2 Council Candidate] <\/strong>(4:07:15): \u201cWe\u2019re told there\u2019s no money to build truly affordable housing, no money to keep longtime residents in place, no money to stop the displacement crisis that is devastating Black communities. But when billionaires come knocking, suddenly the checkbook is wide open.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u2022 Debby Hanrahan [Save DC Public Land: The 1617 Project]<\/strong> (4:51:56): \u201cWe learned with some shock that the city, which has no money for housing, suddenly has money for a $2.5 billion football stadium to benefit a billionaire team owner. How can that be?\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u2022 William Jordan [Ward 1 Advocate]<\/strong> (3:54:46): \u201cI\u2019ve given up on DMPED. And that is something. I\u2019ve worked with DMPED over the years. This is the first time I\u2019ve ever really given up.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n2. The Failure of Inclusionary Zoning (IZ) Has Been Ignored While DMPED Uses IZ to Justify High-Density Luxury Redevelopment<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u2022 Andria Chatmon [Empower DC Community Organizer] <\/strong>(4:47:28): \u201cInclusionary zoning units exclude households earning below 50% AMI. The DC Auditor\u2019s report notes that DC has a deficit of over 33,000 housing units at or below 30% AMI for extremely low-income families.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u2022 Kerry Kemp [Dupont Neighbor] <\/strong>(4:57:05): \u201cThe DC Auditor in November 2024 identified a number of the failures of the IZ program and called for much stronger oversight by the DC Council. [DMPED] is not even ensuring that developers abide by the covenants they sign when they get permission to build their luxury buildings.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u2022 Rondell Jordan<\/strong> (4:05:44): \u201cThe Inclusionary Zoning program, touted as a solution to housing affordability, has been nothing but a smokescreen for gentrification. IZ has done more to fuel displacement of Black residents than to stop it.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

3. Lack of Transparency and Minimal Community Engagement on Public Land Deals<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u2022 Robin Diener [DC Library Renaissance Project]<\/strong> (3:58:29): \u201cThe [Ward 1] Councilmember, Brianne Nadeau, whose district [1617 U Street] is in, with whom I have tried repeatedly and reasonably… to engage, refuses to meet with us.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u2022 Gregory Adams [Black Neighbors of 1617 U Street]<\/strong> (4:38:03): \u201cDMPED made recommendations [about 1617 U Street] with no outreach to Black residents, churches, businesses, or organizations that would be affected by their decision. \u2026 DMPED is in need of [Council] oversight more than ever.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n4. Residents Demand Social Housing at 1617 U Street for Long-Term Voluminous Affordability<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u2022 Debby Hanrahan<\/strong> (4:53:56): \u201cSocial housing is a model that welcomes all incomes, limits rent to 30% of one’s income, is not destabilizing, does not displace residents, does not spur gentrification, and lowers the cost of living.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u2022 Andria Chatmon<\/strong> (4:49:36): \u201cWe urge the council to retain 1617 U Street and utilize it to pilot social housing. This will secure long-term affordability through public ownership and deliver 70% much-needed affordable units.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Residents Want Action<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Speakers urged the D.C. Council to take decisive steps, including defunding failed DMPED programs harming vulnerable neighborhoods, to halt public land & air rights gifting to private developers, and to invest in publicly owned, deeply affordable social housing to curb gentrification & displacement.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t just negligence\u2014it\u2019s betrayal,\u201d <\/em>said Rondell Jordan. \u201cWe are subsidizing our own destruction. We are paying for our own execution. This must stop. No more excuses. No more lies. Stop selling out our city.\u201d <\/em><\/strong>(4:07:33)<\/span><\/p>\n

Watch the Full Hearing Here: \u00a0YouTube Link to CM McDuffie Hearing<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n

For press inquiries, contact:
\nSave DC Public Land | The 1617 Project
\nthe1617project@SaveDCPublicLand.org<\/a>
\nPhone: 202-462-2054<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PRESS STATEMENT ON DMPED HEARING AT THE DC CITY COUNCIL DC Residents Slam City Officials for Prioritizing Connected Developers and Luxury Playtime Over Black DC Families & Truly Affordable Housing \u201cNo more excuses. No more lies. Stop selling out our city.\u201d February 5, 2025 \u2013 WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 In a fiery multi-hour oversight hearing before […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1190,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-1617u"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Screenshot_2025-02-06_00-36-14.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1185"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1194,"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1185\/revisions\/1194"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}