By Guest Contributor, on May 28th, 2013 
Cross-posted from WAMU by Julie Patel and Patrick Madden
Tax-related subsidies increased 24-fold. Data from D.C.’s Office of Revenue Analysis.
No. 1 in the series: Deals for Developers, Cash for Campaigns
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A historic mansion in Georgetown, a downtown office building flipped for a record profit and luxury apartments with a car elevator, a block from the White House.
These are among the developments in D.C. receiving tax breaks and discounted public land.
A WAMU investigation found the city awarded $1.7 billion in subsidies to 133 groups in the past decade — and more than a third of the subsidies went to ten developers that donated the most campaign cash over that time. Meanwhile, a fraction of the subsidies went to the city’s poorest neighborhoods.
“By a lot of metrics the District is … the hottest real estate market” in the country, said Tommy Cafcas of Good Jobs First, an economic subsidies watchdog. “So why does the city need to be giving out all of these tax breaks to these major developers?”
On paper, the District has low campaign finance limits: From $500 for most council races to $2,000 for mayoral campaigns. In practice, developers can “bundle” donations through employees, family members and by writing multiple checks to a single candidate through limited liabilities and other affiliates.
Some of the developers said they donate to be civically engaged — not to win favors.
Likewise, city officials said they approve projects not to boost their campaign coffers but because developers pledge affordable housing, jobs and other benefits for taxpayers. But the promises often aren’t enforced, or the subsidies simply weren’t needed.
And what began as a targeted economic development tool, now looks to some like government handouts run amok.
WAMU’s investigation involved examining thousands of pages of city documents on 110 developments receiving city subsidies in the past decade, 133 groups benefiting from the subsidies and campaign contributions for council, mayoral and other local races over that time. It found:
* Groups receiving subsidies donated more than $2.5 million in campaign cash. * The ten developers that donated the most were on development teams that benefit from $641 million – or more than a third of all the subsidies examined. * Nearly half of the donors had multiple affiliates donating and 19 had at least 10. * Less than 5 percent of the subsidies were for projects in wards 7 and 8 — the city’s poorest areas with a fourth of the population. * A dozen developers spent the most campaign cash the year their subsidy was approved and there were 10 dates in which three or more companies developing a project together donated to a single candidate on the same day.
“This is, of course, pay to play politics in gory detail,” Bruce Cain, a political science professor at Stanford University, said after reviewing WAMU’s findings. “I doubt that anyone was so stupid as to be explicit about what was being traded…More likely [the trading] is done with quiet understanding about what is expected of people who want a subsidy.”
Cain added that most D.C. residents “lack both the means and the motive” to donate hefty sums of campaign cash: “This is about a system that forces elected officials to raise private money and the people with the most motivation to give are the people who get direct benefits from the system such as subsidies.”
CLICK HERE to read the rest of the article at WAMU.
By Liane Scott, on May 15th, 2013 
If you rent in DC, and are unhappy about just how much rent you have to pay. If you rent and have concerns about health and safety issues in your apartment or apartment complex, you should go. The Tenant Town Hall is organized by the Latino Economic Development Center and the Housing for All Campaign but any DC resident who rents is encouraged to attend. It’s your opportunity to make your housing concerns known to those with the power to do something about it.
Tenants Demand Safe, Affordable Housing
Join the tenant movement for affordable housing and safe, healthy conditions! Hundreds of DC tenants will gather to raise their concerns to Councilmembers and agency directors just days before the DC Council votes on the budget and decides how to fund key housing programs. Wins made by tenants at the Tenant Town Hall have improved the lives of all DC renters. Stand for Housing For All at the Tenant Town Hall!
Saturday, May 18 All Souls Unitarian Church 1500 Harvard St NW (16th and Columbia Rd NW, 3 blocks from Columbia Heights Metro)
Free lunch, 1-2 PM Free childcare with RSVP by May 10. Interpretation in Spanish, Amharic and Chinese.
1 – 2 PM: Speak with DC housing agencies – DC Housing Authority, Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, Department of Housing and Community Development, legal service providers and non-profit organizations. Lunch
2 – 4 PM: Town Hall presentations by residents focusing on DC’s affordable housing budget and Safe and Healthy Housing (no mold, asbestos or lead!) and responses from elected officials and Housing Agencies.
For more information contact Elizabeth efalcon@cnhed.org.
By Liane Scott, on May 13th, 2013 
Tell DC Council to Invest in the Programs that will End Homelessness for DC Residents! Visit this link: http://bit.ly/10bBDQw
As part of the FY 2014 Budget Support Act (BSA), DC Mayor Vincent C. Gray has proposed significant changes to the Homeless Services Reform Act (HSRA), the law governing homeless services in DC. Not only will the proposed changes do little to resolve the crisis of family homelessness, but if enacted, could cause significant harm to homeless residents.
Nearly 200 DC organizations signed on to a letter to the Mayor asking him to withdraw these amendments from the BSA because they had not been vetted by stakeholders and because such significant changes deserve their own legislative process. Councilmember Graham is now leading the effort to remove these amendments (Subtitle D, The Homeless Services Reform Amendment Act of 2013) from the BSA and has introduced them as stand-alone legislation, which will give the public and stakeholders an opportunity for meaningful input.
As Fair Budget members, we know the best way to address homelessness is to ensure that housing is provided right now to DC residents experiencing homelessness, not by implementing changes in the law that could negatively impact both families and individuals.
That’s why we want to tell the DC Council to invest in housing and to support Councilmember Graham’s efforts.
The solution is housing! With a total investment of $8.5 million in the Housing First Program, $10.3 million in tenant-based Local Rent Supplement Program vouchers, we can end homelessness for 300 homeless families, for every DC senior, and for every resident with HIV/AIDS. And an investment of $5.1 million in supportive housing, shelter beds, and wrap-around services will help end homelessness for over 100 chronically homeless youth.
Go to this link to email the DC Council today!: http://bit.ly/10bBDQw
Then Join the Fair Budget Coalition at the following event:
The “ONE CITY NEEDS” Lobby Day Action Wed, May 15TH 10:00am-12:00pm At the Wilson Building (1350 Pennsylvania Ave NW)
For more information please email: janelle@fairbudget.org or call 202-328-5513
By Liane Scott, on March 24th, 2013 
Empower DC and the Barry Farm Tenant and Allies Association (BFTAA) confronted DC Mayor Vincent Gray during his planned photo opportunity at the “ground breaking” for the new Barry Farm Recreation Center. While the ground breaking occurred on the grounds of the existing Rec Center, the plans for the new one have not yet been made public and the only existing public plans have the Center built on another location entirely, not only raising the question of why the ground breaking was at the wrong location, but why the existing Rec Center has to close in order to build a new one slated to be built on a separate piece of property.
Through the power of protest, Barry Farm residents and Empower DC won a reprieve for the Center as the city promised not to shutter the facility until they actually meet with the residents. Empower DC organizer Schyla Pondexter-Moore spearheaded the organizing of the action. Executive Director Parisa Nouruzi was featured on the news, as well as members Joe-Ann Donaldson, Phyllissa Bilal and Michelle Hamilton. See news clips below.
View more videos at: http://nbcwashington.com.
By Schyla Pondexter-Moore, on December 5th, 2012 
Empower DC Affordable Housing Organizer Schyla Pondexter-Moore testifying at Comprehensive Housing Strategy Task Force Public Hearing.
In February of this year, Mayor Vincent Gray signed a Mayor’s Order appointing 36 members to the Comprehensive Housing Strategy Task Force 2012. Task Force 2012 will build upon the work of the previous Task Force (2003 – 2006). Gray appointed 36 members to the new task force including Harry D. Sewell and Deborah Ratner Salzberg who will serve as co-chairs.
According to Gray, “the goal of the Comprehensive Housing Strategy Task Force is to help city leaders ensure the creation of more affordable housing for residents of the District of Columbia.” To that end, the Gray Administration held two public forums in October and November to get public feedback on how the city should be working to ensure the creation of more affordable housing in DC. One forum was held in NW DC and the other in Ward 8. Event organizers asked specifically to get input from DC residents on what the Comprehensive Housing Strategy Plan should look like.
I signed up to testify at both of the Comprehensive Housing Strategy Task Force Public Forums. There were several testimonies about what programs worked for people, what programs didn’t’ work, the need for affordable housing, the steady influx of gentrifiers into the district, and the districts failure to provide adequate affordable housing. No one but me spoke about the decrease in public housing and the threat to public housing. No one else in the room seemed to recognize how importance public housing is to maintaining affordable housing or that it should be an integral part of the Comprehensive Housing Strategy Task Force.
Representatives from MANNA Inc testify at the Comprehensive Housing Strategy Task Public Forum. Image re-posted from HousingForAllBlog.org
This attitude was reflected in a video shown by the Task Force at the beginning of both forums called “Miracle at East Lake,” which was about a 600+ unit public housing property in Atlanta, Georgia called Eastlake Gardens. The residents were forced out, the units demolished, and it was redeveloped with less than 200 public housing units replaced. There are now about 525 units in East Lake, the majority of which are for market-rate renters and homeowners. The “Miracle at East Lake,” perfectly exemplified what has been part of the District Government’s plan for affordable housing.
The video was such propaganda it made me sick to my stomach. It first showed footage of how crime-ridden East Lake was back in the 90’s. It showed black people being arrested, being carted into ambulances, having their homes raided by police, and lying in the streets bleeding and dying. There were comments from people calling East Lake the worst place on earth to live, a hell hole, and images of the units having broken windows and being in slum conditions. Then they showed how “out of nowhere, a savior came.” Who was this so-called savior? None other than Tom Cousins, a white businessman and owner of a golf course next door to the property, who invested his money into the redevelopment of East Lake.
After much praise of this rich businessman with a” kind heart”, the video went on to show how East Lake was transformed into a mixed-income area where everyone’s happy, crime is non-existent, there’s a magnificent Charter School, and only 5% of the residents are on welfare. As I fumed in my seat, I looked around and saw people in the audience nodding and smiling. I looked at the stage and saw Harry Sewell smiling approvingly while looking back and forth between the audience and the film. What hope is there for public housing in the District if this is the attitude of the Task Force co-chair?
I had testimony prepared but that all went out the window. As I approached the mic, my emotions took over and it all came spilling out.
“That video is nothing but propaganda!! I am a resident of public housing and that scares me to death. You are telling me that at any given time, I can be forced out of my home, transferred to another housing property that is in no better condition, if not worse, than where I currently live, and I probably won’t return to the newly redeveloped “mixed-income” property? Why doesn’t anyone ever talk about where all of the families who were not allowed to return are? Did some become homeless? Why doesn’t anyone ever talk about how the neighborhood and . . . → Read More: My Experience at the Comprehensive Housing Strategy Task Force Public Forum
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