It's hot. The humidity is sky high. And the Nats were once again sellers at the trade deadline. It must be August in DC! On the upside, we had a great Ward 6 Week last week which still has me buzzing. 

I've been touring our Ward 6 schools ahead of the first day on (gasp) August 24. We've got good punch lists to carry out and plenty of school leaders excited to have students back in the classroom. Below, I've got some timely updates around the forthcoming Grand Prix race, Union Station, and a detailed review of how DC's first elections with Ranked Choice Voting went (spoiler, really well). So let's get to it!

QUICK LINKS: Ward 6 Week Recap | Sherwood Updates | School Campus Walks | Union Station Redevelopment | H Street BID | Fort Myer Fine | E-Cargo Delivery Bikes | RFK Transit | RFK Comments | RCV Results | Constituent Services Wins | Tickets! Tickets! Tickets!

Miss the last newsletter recapping Rumsey Aquatic Center developments, the RESALE Act, and the reopening of Rosedale Pool? Read it here.

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Ward 6 Week: A Reminder of What a Great Place We Get to Call Home!

Our latest Ward 6 Week is in the books, and it was just a wonderful week spent with a lot of Ward 6 neighbors. As a brief recap (just to be sure you save the date next year), here's what we did: 

We started the week with an amazing win by the Washington Spirit. Hundreds of neighbors saw a great goal lift the Spirit to the top of the league. The next day, we beat the heat with ice cream in the new Cobb Park with our friends from the Mt. Vernon Triangle CID -- I ended up serving scoops of Yala Ice Cream to almost everyone, which was a great way to say hi to a lot of neighbors. 

Then we enjoyed a summer version of office hours at CIVIC. on Barracks Row ahead of Ward 6 Night with the Nats. Even though we had a rain delay (I hope you didn't get caught in the deluge!), they delivered a curly W!

But it wasn't all games: A lot of neighbors joined me on Wednesday afternoon for a service event volunteering with Ward 6's DC Central Kitchen, preparing more than a thousand healthy meals for the community in their beautiful Southwest headquarters. 

That night, we packed Henceforth, on H Street NE for trivia night, hosted by Two Girls Trivia, including a special round focused on all things Ward 6. 

Thursday, we had a great hardhat tour for the future home of the Theater Alliance in Southwest, before a special viewing of a dress rehearsal for their next production.

We rolled into the weekend with hundreds of families joining our office to hit the PLAYGROUND exhibit at the National Building Museum on Friday. 

And Saturday was packed with a firehouse tour of Engine 18 on Barracks Row, followed by our highly popular, very sweet (literally), and extremely cute Ward 6 Lemonade For a Cause contest, where folks set up lemonade stands across Capitol Hill and yours truly biked around to try all of them. And then we wrapped up Ward 6 Week with a Cake Party at Hill's Kitchen, where I had more cake than I thought I could eat. Whew! Thank you all for coming out!

Improvements Coming to Sherwood Recreation Center in 2028

In late July, I joined more than a dozen neighbors at Sherwood Recreation Center to meet with DPR about some planned improvements. I had pushed the city to include funding for several needed additions and upgrades, including a possible splash pad for families. DPR initially shared that they would use the funds to just repair or replace outdated systems like the HVAC or roofing. All important things, but these should be built into any project. Without ongoing maintenance, all these investments quickly deteriorate and leave everyone frustrated and services falling apart. The community raised several needs, including an improved fitness and weight room, community meeting facilities, and additions like a splash pad. Folks also rightly noted that if the roof and HVAC systems are being replaced, it's an ideal time to install solar and start generating energy on site (and lower overall energy costs to the city). Next steps are for DPR to come back in late fall with some plans that they think are responsive to the community input. After another round of feedback, they want to present a final plan in early 2027 with work to start by 2028. 

Walks on School Campuses Help Us Understand What Educators and Parents Need

My team and I have been on walks at several of our schools in Ward 6 in the past few weeks, including Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan, Chisholm Elementary School, and Walker-Jones Education Campus.

We met with principals, educators, and parents from these schools to hear about the issues and challenges our students and neighborhoods face. We rightly focus a lot of time inside the classrooms and hallways, but this was a chance to turn attention to the areas outside our schools - crosswalks, alleys, pickup and drop-off areas, etc. - that also impact how our students get to and from school safely each day.

It's also a chance to identify urgent needs for the city to address before school starts for the year. In one example at Walker-Jones, there's a broken classroom window that needs urgent repair. No kid should be in a classroom with a smashed window. That's an example of an issue I've since escalated to the leadership of DGS (the agency that maintains and repairs public buildings) to make sure it gets solved.  

This was also an opportunity to meet and welcome new principals at both of these schools. Please join me with a big welcome to Principal Shelly Gray at Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan, Principal Sara Arranz at Chisholm Elementary School, and Principal Rasheda Webster at Walker Jones Education Campus!

Union Station Redevelopment Back to Square One

I'm sure you saw the news that the Trump Administration is halting a long-planned Union Station expansion project, one of the biggest potential growth projects in the District. Should it ever get underway, it would unlock enormous potential for the District, the region, and the surrounding neighborhood. It's worth remembering Union Station moves roughly the same number of people annually as our airports.

Just to step back: We had a roughly $8.8 billion plan approved under the Biden administration for the federally-owned Union Station that took years to get to the finish line. This latest decision scraps almost a decade of planning for not just the station, but a planned replacement and realignment of the tracks that would not just allow them to be decked over to create a new neighborhood, but also greatly expand station rail capacity to help move more people through DC and the region. However, this isn't necessarily the end. 

So what happens next? WTOP reports that the "DOT intends to pursue a new public-private partnership rather than move forward with a federally approved expansion plan approved under the Biden administration." There are times when public-private partnership works really well to advance a major project, and there are times when the phrase is used to slowly move a project out of sight. I'm still in conversation with many people to see how we can keep this moving forward, even if it doesn't follow the exact rail expansion plan we'd been working toward before. Either way, though, it's a huge lost opportunity after this project has dragged on agonizingly slowly trying to win over the support of federal elected leaders, many of whom use Union Station regularly.

The Conversation Around a BID on H Street NE Gets Serious

There's long been a conversation about starting a Business Improvement District for H Street NE -- it's a significant commercial corridor boasting restaurants that have earned tremendous accolades, but also a corridor that needs a more centralized approach to problem-solving, branding, and promotion. Enter a new and serious effort to consider a Business Improvement District (BID) on H Street, which was covered in the Hill Rag this month.

A BID is a private entity that is funded by an additional BID tax on eligible properties or businesses within a set geographic area, and the BID often helps to organize, clean, promote, and problem-solve for that corridor. You're likely familiar with their work, as Ward 6 has several BIDs, including the Southwest BID, Capitol Hill BID, Mt. Vernon Triangle CID, Navy Yard BID, NoMa BID, and even a portion of the Downtown BID. Every BID area is different, and there's not a set formula for what the services provided by the BID look like nor how it's funded. I've been part of several conversations with the team behind the Greater H Street BID efforts shaping up, and I think they're putting in the legwork to have this be a serious consideration.

I never take lightly that while a BID can offer a lot upside for the businesses within their service area, it's an additional cost ultimately for those same businesses. In the end, all or most of those businesses need to be onboard and agree with the value of that investment before I advance legislation to create a BID -- which is exactly the work that Phil Coppage (owner of Cynthia at 5th and H) and several dedicated leaders on the corridor have been doing. The effort is significant and promising, and I dedicated $100,000 to a BID feasibility study in next year's DC budget. 

After Allegations of Polluting Waterways, Fort Myer Construction is Paying a $450,000 Fine

Last fall, you may remember DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb announced a lawsuit against Fort Myer, one of the District's largest contractors, in which the AG alleges years of violations of DC’s water pollution laws at its Ward 5 storage and maintenance yard. I'm pleased to share that lawsuit reached a settlement resulting in a fine of $450,000 and extensive upgrades to its equipment and practices. We simply cannot have one of the largest contractors with the city polluting our rivers and air.

More E-Cargo Delivery Bikes on the Road? 

How many times have we all seen big delivery trucks park all over a neighborhood, block the roadway, or create a dangerous situation for folks trying to get around? All the time.

We like the convenience of getting deliveries to our doors, but there's got to be a better way to manage the congestion, double parking, and dangerous situations. After seeing other cities working to use e-cargo bikes to get deliveries to the last mile quicker and safer, I wanted to see the same for DC. There are more than 400 of these delivery e-bikes in New York City, but we've got a modest 14 right now.

I'm pleased that Ward 6 is host to a pilot project with Amazon to test new cargo bike deliveries. You've probably seen them around already! They're able to move more nimbly in the neighborhood, they're easier to pull over and park legally (and not in the bike lane), and I think so far are showing they can get the job done. I visited with their team this Thursday at their distribution hub in Southwest Ward 6 to learn more about it, and I'm excited to see this continue to grow.

Overall, this is about using innovation and technology to deliver better results for neighbors. Whether it's with traffic safety on our roadways to reduce injuries, rethinking curbside management so you can find parking when you need it, speeding up the Metrobus for better reliability, or a myriad of other initiatives - as your Chair of the Transportation Committee, this is an area of focus where I've pushing and leading the city to innovate and take back the mantle of leadership that DC deserves.

Big Milestone in RFK Public Transit Improvements 

We have some notable Metro news: D.C. and WMATA agreed to a plan for the $300 million expansion of the Stadium-Armory station and the Gold Line rapid transit bus line that would run from Union Station to Stadium-Armory. This is a key step I'd pushed for as part of a public roundtable I co-chaired on July 1 (coverage from NBC4). We’ve got just 50 months to make the stadium and soon-to-follow new neighborhood the most transit accessible NFL stadium in the country.

That might feel like a lot of time, but given the scope of the job, it's really not.

So what is this agreement? Think of it as the first step of many to get the work done to dramatically update and expand the Stadium-Armory station, as well as plan and build the infrastructure to get buses in and out of the campus on big days. As I argued during the stadium debate, and then added funding for public transit improvements, the Stadium-Armory station is not currently built to meet the demands of an NFL stadium - or a revamped neighborhood for that matter.

WMATA General Manager Randy Clarke told us at the hearing that the estimated equivalent of people using Metro could be more than 30,000 attendees, roughly three times as many people using public transit for a Nats game. This key agreement is where a lot of that work kicks off to make it all happen. Much more to come, but this is a major milestone, and I'm glad WMATA and DDOT have gotten on the same page.

Earlier this year, WMATA released a brief study on RFK Campus and Kingman Park improvements and what a project there would look like, in particular around a Gold Line providing Bus Rapid Transit services. Take a look, and let me know what you think.

Also, check out the Council roundtable I held earlier last month, taking a look at this.

Public Comment Period for RFK Campus Master Plan Ends August 14

Speaking of RFK, the Office of Planning is still accepting comments on the RFK Campus Master Plan, and I want to make sure you have enough time to get your thoughts in before the August 14 deadline. 

While there was already a public meeting on August 1, I encourage you to submit comments using the online feedback form, or send written comments to the project team at [email protected].

The Grand Prix is Coming in Two Weeks. Here's What We Know. 

Freedom 250 Grand Prix is coming to DC in about two weeks. We have a clearer understanding of road closures since I last wrote, including some closures already in place. 

According to the race chair, we're expecting about 140,000 people per day during this event, so I want residents prepared for what will be a major event for the District -- including expected overtime deployment by MPD, as is the case with every major event we host.

Traffic restrictions are expected from now through mid-September as crews prepare for and then remove the course and viewing stands after the races on August 22 and 23. Viewing stands are going up around the course, including on the National Mall. Besides designing the race track, crews are also "putting down fresh asphalt on Pennsylvania Avenue to make sure the ground is smooth and evened out," according to NBC Washington. 

Full list of road closures can be found here.

How Did Ranked Choice Voting Work? We Have Some Answers!

With all ballots counted and certified from the District's primary election, it's time to take a look at how the first-ever use of Ranked Choice Voting worked for voters. While a lot of residents were excited for a new way to vote and rank their preference of multiple candidates, a lot of outreach and education had to take place to ensure folks had confidence in the new process.

Now, the Board of Elections has made anonymized data available that allows us to dig in and see if that worked. Short version... it did!

The full analysis and report by Fair Vote can be found here, and for those of you who really want to geek out on the elections data, ANC Commissioner Josh Jacobson built his own tool that allows you to explore a lot of race- and candidate-specific information.

I'll share some data points that jumped out to me:

• In the most competitive races on the ballot, voters were most likely to rank multiple candidates. And consistent across all contests on the ballot, there was a strong correlation that voters who ranked a lower-performing candidate first were more likely to rank a backup choice. These two points show that DC voters understood the ranked choice voting process and how ballots would be counted.

• Counter to some of the fears expressed by ranked choice voting critics, voters in Wards 7 and 8 were the most likely voters to use all five candidate rankings on their ballots. I think this is important and shows that the Board's extensive outreach and education efforts reached all parts of our city. 

As with any election, it's important to review what worked, what didn't, and what could be done better to ensure access to the ballot box for free and fair elections.

I think this analysis shows that the Board was able to implement Ranked Choice Voting very well, and voters overwhelmingly understood the process. For those of you who cast a ballot in the Primary, how did the process work for you? Does this report line up with your own experience? As always, please let me know if there are ways we can use oversight on the independent Board of Elections to keep improving how elections work in DC.

A Few Good Constituent Services Wins

I'm proud to have a hardworking and experienced constituent services team, and as I have in past newsletters, I want to take a moment to share some of the different kinds of problems they're helping Ward 6 neighbors solve every single day. As always, you can request help with a challenge through our website (please include your address or quadrant when you submit so we can respond faster). 

Here are a few ways we helped solve your problems in the last couple of weeks: 

• Coordinated a clean up by DPW's Street and Alley Cleaning Division after a constituent notified us that a whole lot of furniture had been dumped outside a for-sale house.
  
  
• Were able to help a new business secure a conditional Certificate of Occupancy after DOB notified them at the last moment they had the wrong classification, an error I really wish DOB had raised a lot sooner, rather than right as they were hiring new staff and preparing to open!
  
  
• Alerted DDOT on a construction trailer blocking the contraflow bike line in front of Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan, as well as taking up too much space needed for pick up and drop off at the school. A Public Space Inspection unit went out to observe the conditions of the construction work being done and issued a Stop Work Order as well as outlined the necessary accommodations to be made.

Ticket Giveaway

Thanks for reading to the end! It's been a busy trade deadline for the Nats, and you can watch them play the Colorado Rockies on August 27th. Reply to this email if you'd like to be entered into a drawing for two tickets.

See you around the neighborhood,

Charles Allen