Washington Post columnist Marc Fisher took a swipe this morning at Sen. Ben Cardin for holding up the Fenty Administration's school reform effort and blocking progress at the Oak Hill juvenile detention facility because he wants the land it sits on to be given back to Maryland.  The federal government granted control of the 880-acres in Anne Arundel County where Oak Hill is situated to the Disrict of Columbia in 1923.  The Oak Hill facility itself takes up 25 acres of that land, and the DC Government is on the verge of breaking ground on a new juvenile detention facility adjacent to the old one that will completely modernize the District's juvenile detention system.  The new facility will be smaller and more oriented toward rehabilitation than the old correctional model.  Now Senator Cardin evidently wants those efforts stopped dead in their tracks, or moved to some unspecified location back in the District.  We would like to know how you feel about Senator Cardin's priorities.  Let our staff on the Human Services Committee know how you feel. Leave your comments on our blog, or send us an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Tommy will collect the comments and pass them along to Senator Cardin's office.

I am very pleased to have worked on and passed a progressive budget for the District yesterday. As one of the first big tasks as your Councilmember, this budget has been months in the making. It fully funds every function of our government, and also provides a package of progressive tax relief. I am also very proud of working to create new resources for the working poor and needed initiatives in Ward 6.  

To name just a few examples, Ward 6 received the funds needed to rebuild Eastern Market, build a new recreation center at Rosedale, continue support for the Main Street program on Barracks Row and H Street, purchase trolley cars for the upcoming light rail system, develop river quality testing in Southwest, and much, much more.

This budget also increases funding for infrastructure improvements such as alley resurfacing and sidewalk replacement (although, I think this could use even more money); new investments to prevent child abuse and neglect; and substantially increases resources for rat abatement – a Ward-wide problem but particularly in Southwest near the waterfront.

We provided money for intervention in youth crime and the creation of new summer programs for children and youth.  I also worked very closely with Kwame Brown (Councilmember at-large), to identify funds for community programs at the Eastern Branch of the Boys and Girls Club.

As to tax relief, resident homeowners and small businesses will receive smaller tax bills.  The personal exemption has been greatly increased helping all tax filers.  I am very proud, that the tax cuts, coupled with providing new funding for the rent supplement program for the working poor, are part of a broader effort to provide more affordable housing in DC.

Over the next two weeks, there will still be an opportunity to make adjustments to the budget prior to the final vote on June 5th. As the lone councilmember to vote against eliminating funding for the DC Historical Society, I will work with my colleagues to restore its funds in the city budget.  I will also continue to look for funding for improving our public infrastructure.

Tommy Wells 

In view of the overwhelming amount of separate development projects in process or scheduled for completion in the future, the major community organizations in Southwest DC are jointly hosting community meetings to engage Southwest and near Southeast residents in roundtable discussions this next week. The community meetings are planned to achieve community consensus on the priorities of community amenities desired by the community as a guide for negotiating Community Benefits from developers.  The concept of the hosting organizations is to unify as a community toward achieving sustainable partnerships within the community and with developers in support of the stability and diversity of the community and residents’ quality of life after development.  

The 6D Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners (ANC), the Southwest Neighborhood Assembly (SWNA) and the South Washington/West of the River Family Strengthening Collaborative (SWWR) are the hosts for the meetings. Extensive outreach is being made to publicize the meetings and to encourage a broad spectrum of the existing residents to attend one of the two meetings and voicing their ideas. Councilmember Tommy Wells will be attending to hear and consider how he might assist the SW/SE community as it works further to shape its vision and efforts to implement the priorities defined by the community.

The first meeting will be held Saturday May 19 from 10am – 1:00pm at Second Baptist Church, First and M Streets, SW.  The second meeting will be Monday, May 21 from 6:30 – 9:30pm at Southeastern University, Sixth and I Streets, SW.  Refreshments will be served.

The community meetings are being produced by the SW/SE Community Benefits Coordinating Committee, a working group comprised mainly of individual members of the host groups. 

Hello. As you know, one of the issues that I have been focusing on since my arrival at the Council is homelessness and the services delivered to this population. Until joining the Committee staff I had not had the opportunity to work with this population. I joined the Committee shortly after the Inspector General released its report about the conditions at DC Village. After holding a hearing on the report and conditions at DC Village, Councilmember Wells committed to have 2 staff members at the on-site at the Village at least one day per week. I am one of those two staff members. This marked my introduction, not only to DC Village, but to the myriad of issues regarding the homeless service delivery system in the District. The experiences and lessons I have gained have been invaluable. When it comes to homelessness, we all tend to make the mistake of feeling too far removed. We think, “Oh, that can never happen to me.” But it can so easily happen to any of us.

On last week, I attended a resident meeting at DC Village. At this meeting, I had the privilege of meeting a resident, who shared her story of how she came to DC Village.  This grandmother found herself taking on the parental responsibility of eight of her grandchildren. Unable to afford daily care and housing for herself and the eight additions to her household, she found herself in a place that she probably never envisioned, homeless and living at DC Village. This is one of many stories I could share with you about the various paths that have lead many DC residents to homelessness. Any one of us, at any time, could find ourselves traveling on any one of these paths.

One of the main issues that we have been working to address is ways that communication to residents regarding the activities and other resources that are available at the Village can improve. Among the services available to residents are the literacy program and employment assistance services provided by the Department of Employment Services (DOES). The Committee is excited about these new programs and desire that residents take full advantage of these and other services provided.

If you have any suggestions or comments you would like to share with me, please feel free to contact me. I look forward to hearing from you!