草莓传媒

I currently serve as the chair of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B. I was formerly the lead organizer and steering committee member for Initiative 83, which brought ranked-choice voting to D.C. elections. After winning that ballot initiative, I cofounded and served as executive director of Grow Democracy DC. Previously, I had been a consular officer and visa analyst in the federal government. I am the candidate best equipped to take our bold, progressive ideas off the page because I have a record of rolling up my sleeves to make change. As a Commissioner, I have successfully learned the ropes of budgeting, legislation, and oversight in the D.C. government. I interact regularly with many agencies at all levels, and those relationships have borne fruit for my constituents: a new bike share station despite zero budget, advocacy for violence interruption, new bus and bike lanes, and more. I led a ballot initiative that won 73% of the vote after building coalitions across all eight wards, in English and Spanish, around the importance of strengthening our democracy.

I am running to be the next Councilmember for Ward 1 with a focus on affordability, safe streets, and vibrant neighborhoods. Housing affordability is the most pressing issue facing Ward 1 residents. I want to make it easier and faster to build all types of housing, while preserving the affordability of existing homes and preventing displacement. Everyone deserves to feel safe: I want to reestablish trust between the community and MPD, refocus MPD on community-oriented policing, and invest in violence interruption programs that work. I also want to establish a clear revitalization vision for livable neighborhoods, especially our commercial corridors.

I acknowledge that safety means many things: safety from crime, safety from discrimination, safety while crossing the street. To advance public safety for our community, we must re-commit MPD to community policing, including its statutory obligation to convene a community policing working group and publish a report on community policing every two years. MPD has abandoned that commitment. Accountability is a cornerstone for public trust in government institutions, especially MPD. As a Councilmember, I would like to serve on the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety to examine structural issues with policing, including civilian oversight mechanisms, to achieve durable results. On the Council, I will invest in anti-crime measures that actually work, like violence interruption, through stable funding, insisting that investments be based on rigorous research and data analysis, and supporting VI at all levels, especially in schools. I will also fight for the safety of D.C. residents while walking, biking, and driving. As a Councilmember, I will champion funding and coherent implementation for protected bike lanes, street design, and traffic calming interventions for pedestrian safety, as well as the STEER Act, which allows our attorney general to bring civil suits against the most dangerous drivers.

As chairman of the ANC representing U Street, I viscerally understand the impact of huge youth gatherings on local residents and businesses. I do not support a permanent curfew or repeated extensions as the only fix; I also do not want us to unnecessarily expose our youth to arrest and involvement in the criminal justice system. Our leaders have told us repeatedly that the curfew is only a band-aid, but they have not advanced real solutions. I will shape law and oversight to pressure the Mayor to reactivate the Youth Advisory Council, which has not met in years, and advance programming that is 鈥� crucially 鈥� co-led by youth, including with schools, recreation centers, and entertainment businesses. We can partner with businesses to create safe, social programming that youth actually want to attend. I also understand that nightlife is not the only type of activity that appeals to young people, and that our communities can do much more to foster third spaces that are genuinely welcoming of youth (including by employing them for real wages). I will direct MPD鈥檚 enforcement toward the adults who plan and promote unlicensed gatherings, as well as those who sell alcohol illegally at such events.

The Council鈥檚 oversight of education in recent years has largely focused on transportation for special-education students and the affordability of early childhood education. These are crucial pillars of our system, so that oversight is warranted. However, Council has focused less on the overall performance of our schools and ensuring strong return on our significant per-pupil investment. This is a citywide concern, as test scores (to use but one metric) are persistently low across the District; this is especially a concern for Ward 1 because our schools have posted some of the city鈥檚 lowest test scores and, alarmingly, we were the only ward to make virtually no improvement in test scores last year. We need an 鈥渆ducation Council鈥� that is more involved and more thoughtful about accountability for performance, and which ensures that practices are evidence-based, especially in literacy and math. The Council needs an education committee. As a Councilmember, I am committed to personally visiting each school in my ward before the school year to ensure that facilities, which the Council does more directly oversee, are well-maintained and ready to facilitate learning. Recent experiences at Cardozo, CHEC, and elsewhere have revealed that is not the case now.

We must enable existing neighbors to stay in their homes by preserving affordability; at the same time, I know that we can鈥檛 guarantee access to housing that doesn鈥檛 exist, and therefore we need to build more homes. I will support the Housing Production Omnibus Act, to preserve the ability of the D.C.鈥檚 main affordable housing production tool 鈥� the Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF) 鈥� to actually fund the construction of affordable housing. For the past two years, the District has used HPTF funds to stabilize existing affordable housing rather than finance new developments. The legislation would address this issue by creating five separate accounts, each with a dedicated purpose: production, preservation, property purchases through the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), subsidies for deeply affordable homes, and land acquisition. This would enable the Council to resource and monitor each account and its respective housing goals. However, we need to go further by identifying new funding streams to support affordability programs, such as by expanding D.C.鈥檚 efforts to create publicly financed mixed-income housing. Funding purchases under the District Opportunity to Purchase Act is one mechanism. I will use the Council鈥檚 review of the new Comprehensive Plan to push for increased density.

As a current Commissioner, I am intimately familiar with constituents鈥� frustration with basic service delivery and responsiveness. The perception that District agencies cannot address routine issues 鈥� inefficient trash management and collection practices that contribute to the persistent rat issue, for example 鈥� undermines confidence in our government. There are common-sense solutions that we haven鈥檛 mustered the political will to implement, such as replacing our open-air rat buffets (by which I mean litter bins) with a rodent-proof model. We need to do that immediately. We also need to follow how residents are voting with their feet: we in Ward 1 are leading the district in composting, yet our residential pickup program remains only a pilot, and we still only have four composting Smart Bins (public drop-off) in the entire ward. I understand that being present is a prerequisite for effective leadership. As a Councilmember, I will work hand-in-hand with residents, in English or Spanish, to bridge the gap between policymakers and the population we serve. As Ward 1鈥檚 next Councilmember, my number-one priority will be showing up, and ensuring that my office is fully and bilingually staffed, with adequate project management processes, to follow through constituent requests to satisfactory completion.

My priorities in budgeting will be to avoid short-term savings that entail long-term costs, and to not break promises, especially promises to our children. As an alternative, I would like to grow our tax base and ensure that tax burdens are borne equitably. I support Councilmember Parker鈥檚 proposal to create a tiered surcharge on realized capital gains, to increase taxes on realized capital gains primarily on the top 1 percent of DC taxpayers. This proposal would help fund essential programs like vouchers for unhoused people, the Child Tax Credit, and the Pay Equity Fund of which we are right to be proud and protective. I am an urbanist who supports increasing the housing supply, not only because it creates desperately needed homes, but also because it allows us to grow our tax base and more reliably fund our network of public services. The Office of Planning is currently rewriting D.C.鈥檚 Comprehensive Plan, a process that provides an opportunity to foster the city鈥檚 economic growth, including boosting residential density throughout the District.

Recent events have shown us all the more urgently that we require greater autonomy and full representation. D.C. statehood is a civil rights issue, as Congress could at any minute roll back local laws that enshrine our rights. As a Councilmember, I will establish long-term relationships with Hill counterparts so that our lobbying efforts are viewed with more sincerity. This will also include connecting the dots for Members of Congress about the threats to D.C. and their wider implications for American democracy. At the Council, I will vote for legislation that would benefit the District, even if we expect that Congress may overturn it. This includes bills that protect and advance civil rights. Some Councilmembers are wary of passing laws that might attract Congressional disapproval; however, this posture ultimately paralyzes our Council and amounts to obedience in advance. I am proud to have the strongest record of anyone in this race when it comes to fighting for D.C.鈥檚 statehood and autonomy. I founded the ANC Home Rule caucus, conducted oversight of MPD鈥檚 collaboration with ICE, and currently lead Know-Your-Rights trainings in Spanish with Free D.C. I am also proud to be a member of Senator Jain鈥檚 Statehood Advisory Council.

As a car-free commuter myself, my vision for sustainable and equitable transportation is to make getting around Ward 1 and the whole city safer, faster, more reliable, and more enjoyable 鈥� no matter one鈥檚 age, ability, income, or how one chooses to travel. I envision streets designed with safety at their core. That means more intentional traffic calming on neighborhood streets to slow vehicles and reduce the severity of crashes; converting temporary paint-and-plastic projects into permanent, high-quality installations that provide real protection; and ensuring our sidewalk network is not just 鈥渃omplete鈥� on paper, but truly safe, accessible, and functional 鈥� i.e., free of obstructions, compliant with accessibility standards, and well maintained. For transit, I envision dedicated bus lanes on all of our key corridors so that WMATA can provide the frequent and reliable service that our residents deserve. It also means investing in more bus shelters so that waiting for the bus is safe and dignified in every season. For people biking or riding a scooter, I envision a complete and connected network of protected bike lanes that stitches together today鈥檚 fragmented system into something coherent and comfortable for riders of all ages and abilities.

I am running to become a member of the D.C. Council, which does not have authority over individual housing developments or zoning changes related to individual development proposals; the executive branch handles these processes. This system works as intended to prevent individual Councilmembers from exercising outsized influence over specific development proposals, a dynamic that could skew decisions based on political relationships rather than public benefit and objective assessments. However, I believe that the executive branch, in collaboration with Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, provides a variety of opportunities to receive public input on proposed developments, including in-person and virtual public meetings. Regarding addressing displacement and preserving affordability, I will use my legislative authority to resource and strengthen proven programs, including the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), the District Opportunity to Purchase Act, and rent stabilization. It is important to ensure that residents can actually take advantage of TOPA; the notoriously complex transactions and byzantine rules of real estate should not frustrate tenants鈥� (theoretical) ability to purchase their homes and preserve affordability.

This race, like Ward 1 itself, is not short of smart people with good ideas. However, I am the candidate best equipped to take our good ideas off the page because I have a record of doing so. Ensuring that programs are well resourced and implemented will require effective collaboration between the Council and the mayor. I will be able to work with our next mayor, even if we are not fully aligned on policy or ideology, to accomplish goals for the public good. I will collaborate with our next mayor while staying true to my principles and exercising my oversight authority vigorously 鈥� more than just once per year at performance oversight hearings 鈥� to hold the executive branch accountable. I am the only candidate for Ward 1 who has brought executive officials before an ANC to face tough questions about agency performance, including oversight of MPD collaboration with federal agencies and the quality of inspections by the Department of Buildings.

Improving the responsiveness of city services is one of my key priorities. Councilmember Nadeau has flagged major issues with the OUC handling of and response to emergency calls made by Ward 1 residents, including 911 calls going entirely unanswered, significant delays in responding (not prioritizing emergencies), and sending EMS to the wrong addresses. These 鈥渕istakes鈥� have sadly led to the passing of Ward 1 neighbors who did not receive the rapid assistance they needed. As a Councilmember, I will support the E911 Modernization Amendment Act. The legislation would support advanced technologies by implementing Next Generation 911 (NG911) to allow text, video, and data sharing; using advanced GPS technology in mobile devices for precise location tracking; providing training for emergency responders on new technologies and protocols; and allocating funding for ongoing maintenance and updates to the 911 system. I also support more transparency in sharing 911 data, highlighting mishandling of emergency calls, and launching a task force of experts to identify effective tools to address these shortfalls in our emergency response.

Accountability is a cornerstone for public trust in government institutions, and that is why I believe the most progressive thing we can do as elected officials is to show people that government works for them. As a Councilmember, I will be proactive about exercising my oversight authority. I will not wait to ask questions during once-yearly oversight hearings, but rather proactively use my authority to subpoena documents and require testimony to receive answers from D.C. agencies. I will also use my legislative authority to create better systems for collecting and sharing real-time public data, including complaints received by constituents or agency staff members about misconduct or unresolved issues. To better hold Councilmembers who violate ethical standards, I support exploring reforms, including increasing civil penalty caps to deter violations and launching an ethics committee, which would be an independent body with external members, rather than having the Council Committee of the Whole examine internal ethics violations.

As a Councilmember, I will support the Housing Production Omnibus Act of 2026, legislation that seeks to preserve the ability of the D.C.鈥檚 main affordable housing production tool 鈥� the Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF) 鈥� to actually fund the construction of affordable housing. For the past two years, the District has used HPTF funds to stabilize existing affordable housing rather than construct new affordable developments. The proposal would address this issue by creating five separate accounts, each with a dedicated purpose: production (construction), preservation, property purchases through the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), subsidies for deeply affordable homes, and land acquisition by the District. This would enable the Council to resource and monitor each account and the respective housing goals it funds. However, we need to go further, and explore new funding streams to support affordability programs amid constrained budget seasons. As a Councilmember, I would support expanding DC鈥檚 efforts to create publicly financed mixed-income housing (sometimes called social housing). Collectively, these changes would create and preserve more affordable homes in Ward 1.

I feel most at home when my partner, Luis, and I make time to take a long walk, run, or bike ride around the city and end at one of our favorite local haunts where we have become regulars 鈥� Little Hat Coffee, La Tejana, El Chucho, All Souls, Nido, Green Zone, Cana! These gems, and the hardworking teams that run them, make our neighborhoods livable, beautiful, and downright cool.

Oh, great question. I was raised by true music fanatics. My mom and dad actually met at a record store, browsing for Joni Mitchell albums! In my grandparents鈥� house, where I grew up, we always had music on, of many different genres. When I was young, I wanted to be a composer, and I actually did write original scores for a local children鈥檚 musical theater program, and conducted the pit orchestra. Halcyon days!