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Articles
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| EmpowerDC Gaining Momentum |
admin writes, "EmpowerDC Gaining Momentum
By KATIE PEARCE
Across the city, at rallies, D.C. Council sessions and community meetings, a grass-roots organization called EmpowerDC is rousing interest.
"We're not always the nice guys," said the group's co-founder, Parisa Norouzi. At a rally last month that protested D.C. Council legislation setting the stage for the sale of three public West End properties to a private developer, Norouzi led the crowd in chanting, "Public property is not for sale!"
In recent months, EmpowerDC has been shopping around a platform called the People's Property Campaign, with the goal of mobilizing more support by fall. Several groups — including four advisory neighborhood commissions, the D.C. Tenants' Advocacy Coalition and, late last month, the D.C. Federation of Citizens Associations — have passed resolutions in support of the campaign, which seeks to establish a more restrictive and more transparent process for the District's disposition of public property.
Issues like the one in the West End serve as "examples of how badly our system is broken," Norouzi said, adding that while EmpowerDC "likes to support and engage in neighborhood battles," it remains focused on the broader picture.
EmpowerDC's stance toward the District's public property is "purist," said Norouzi. "Our fundamental position is that public property should be used for public space, not private profit."
If a parcel's current use is no longer necessary, the campaign asserts, that property should go toward community needs. Specifically, the group believes, such sites should be used to expand government services, replace spaces the city government currently rents or house community programs like homeless shelters and small-business incubators.
One of the group's ultimate goals is to instigate change at the legislative level."
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Current D.C. laws require public property disposition to go through two council committees. The Committee on Workforce Development and Government Operations first considers a mayoral recommendation on whether to declare a public property "surplus." From there, the Committee of Economic Development approves a land disposition method, according to Sean Madigan, spokesperson for the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development. Madigan said disposition options include requesting proposals from developers or designating sole-source contracts.
The multi-step process ensures that there are more people involved with the disposition of city-owned land, according to at-large Councilwoman Carol Schwartz, chair of the government operations panel.
"Our properties are assets," Schwartz said in an interview. "I want to keep those for our children and grandchildren, not just for ourselves for a quick sale."
But the problem with the current laws, according to Chris Otten, an EmpowerDC activist and community coordinator for the Library Renaissance Project, is "the complete disregard for public input."
"We don't know if the decisions of the higher-ups have community interest in mind," he said. "It's more about insider dealing."
Recent public property dispositions — including the West End deal and the sale of an upper Georgia Avenue parcel — have drawn scrutiny particularly due to the council's use of emergency legislation, which allows for a quicker pace and does not require a public hearing.
"[Public property] should really ... never be disposed of by emergency legislation," said Renee Bowser, an Empower DC activist, Petworth advisory neighborhood commissioner and former Ward 4 council candidate. The emergency process, Bowser said, puts the public in the position of reacting "after the deal has gone down."
She pointed to the Georgia Avenue case, where the D.C. Council recently sold a public property — briefly considered for use as a fire station — back to private developer Ellis Denning, who will construct condominium and possible retail units.
Bowser lamented that "there are so many public uses we could put in that site" and called the council's process in disposing of it both "cavalier" and nontransparent. Though she belongs to an advisory committee for upper Georgia Avenue development, Bowser said she learned of the transfer "after the fact."
According to Norouzi, the current law does not provide enough process "for looking at a vacant public property, bringing the community together and looking at what use it could serve."
EmpowerDC formed in late 2003 as an outgrowth of the now-defunct organization Washington Inner-City Self Help, which buckled under financial pressures.
Norouzi and EmpowerDC co-founder Linda Leaks, who met working for the former group, "basically ... looked at each other and felt there was a need for an organization focusing on community mobilization, to lift the voices of moderate- to low-income people living in the city," said Norouzi.
In addition to public property issues, EmpowerDC focuses on affordable housing and child care, often working in conjunction with other groups such as the Library Renaissance Project, Affordable Housing Alliance and Fair Budget Coalition.
EmpowerDC is a growing organization, with 250 official dues-paying members "but hundreds of additional participants" Norouzi said. She and Leaks are the only full-time staff members of the group, which operates from a headquarters at 1419 V St., NW.
With several controversial public property issues in the fore, EmpowerDC's campaign is stirring dialogue throughout the city.
The Dupont Circle advisory neighborhood commission voted 7-1 at its July meeting to support the People's Property Campaign, and later drafted a letter of support to Mayor Adrian Fenty.
"In a city where it can take forever to get a fire hydrant fixed," the West End deal came "practically overnight," Dupont commissioner Mike Silverstein said at the meeting. The commission's letter to the mayor emphasizes the importance of consulting advisory neighborhood commissions "before any action is taken to change the use of any public property."
The Logan Circle advisory neighborhood commission, meanwhile, chose not to grant official support to the People's Property Campaign during its June meeting, preferring instead to look at public property dispositions on a case-by-case basis.
At the meeting, Logan Circle commissioner Christopher Dyer and EmpowerDC representative Dave Mallof engaged in a debate about public property sales.
While Mallof pointed to "greased deals" tainted by cronyism and behind-the-scenes shenanigans, Dyer countered that such sales often become the subject of "significant play in the media and significant agitation." When Mallof stressed the importance of competitive bidding for the District's land, Dyer pointed out that "unqualified" community members often use that argument to slow down complex and often beneficial development deals.
"I don't like giving [that] opportunity to community members who are disingenuous in their motives," said Dyer, a member of Mayor Adrian Fenty's cabinet as interim director of the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Affairs.
EmpowerDC's outreach to community groups is part of a broader effort this summer to gain momentum before the council reconvenes, said Norouzi. A meeting last month discussed possible strategies — including increased public protests, tighter organization and marketing and one-on-one meetings with council members.
According to Norouzi, EmpowerDC will be on the front lines at the Wilson Building when the council returns from its summer recess. "We want to have generated a significant amount of participation," she said. "We want to hold them accountable and force some sort of change."
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Posted on Aug 31, 2007 21:24pm.
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