First Round Budget Wins for Ward 7

Dear Neighbor,

As you know, economic development in Ward 7 has been a significant priority of mine and has guided my legislative actions since returning the the Council. The Skyland Town Center is a long-awaited development project that will bring retail, a full-service grocery store, medical building, and 500 residential units to the East End of the District of Columbia. I am pleased that we were able to provide a needed tax abatement for Skyland to anchor the lease with new full-service grocery store Lidl, during the first budget vote on Tuesday.

Additionally, I have been working with Ward 7 residents who have organized and advocated significantly for the revitalization of the portion of Pennsylvania Avenue in Ward 7. As a result, I was able to secure $250,000 in the budget this first round for a small area plan for Pennsylvania Avenue East and $200,000 to create a Pennsylvania Avenue East Main Street program. This will go a long way towards economic development in Ward 7.

In terms of Ward 7 recreation center, I am glad the $210,000 for the replacement of the HVAC system at the Deanwood Library has been maintained. I was also able to secure $200,000 to complete the water source connection for the Kingman Park-Rosedale Community Garden.

The Council also shifted $12.35 million in capital funds for the Fort Dupont Ice Arena so that the renovation project can start in FY21, and for re-instituting the recurring $235,000 to fund the grant to run programming at the Ice Arena.

Finally, as you recall, Councilmember Bonds and I were able to successfully get an amendment passed to create the Police Reform Commission that will offer recommendations on reforming and restructuring public safety and law enforcement in the District of Columbia. Through our respective committees, we were able to direct $75,000 to the Commission to support its work. I want to thank the Council for including an additional $425,000 to support the valuable work of the Commission. The second vote on the budget is July 21^st.

New Hospital Bill Unanimously Approved on its First Vote!

DC Health has confirmed that a new peak was detected in the data, resetting the District’s count in community spread to three days of sustained decrease. That data is represented in the chart below.

Currently, there are 10,743 confirmed cases of Coronavirus in the District, and, tragically, 568 deaths caused by COVID-19. African Americans still account for 77% of COVID-19 deaths in Washington, DC compared to about 46% of population. Please continue to wear your face coverings and practice social distancing while out in public.

ADVANCES IN TESTING

DC residents can also now get antibody testing. Antibody testing will allow you to know with a significant degree of certainty whether you have already had the coronavirus. To make an appointment for COVID-19 testing or antibody testing, you can call the Testing Triage Center at 1 (855) 363-0333 Monday-Friday from 8:30am-4:30pm.

In case you missed it, Ward 7 now has a new mobile testing site at Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church. To make an appointment, call (202) 865-2109. There is also walk-up testing available at DC firehouses. Engine 30, at 50 49^th Street, NE, does testing on Thursday and Friday from 4 to 8 p.m. and Saturday from noon to 4 p.m.

Learn more about additional testing sites and to find a testing site near you.

DCPS GROCERY DISTRIBUTION

There are 13 drive-thru grocery sites in the District where D.C. students and their families can pick up fresh fruits, vegetables, and non-perishable groceries. Groceries are available first-come, first-serve from 12:30PM to 2:00PM. Four of the sites are located in Ward 7 at:

Kelly Miller Middle School (Tuesday)
Woodson High School (Wednesday)
Kimball Elementary School (Thursday)
NEW! Bard High School (Thursday)

To get the full schedule visit: coronavirus.dc.gov and click on the “Food” tab.

RESOURCES FOR SENIORS

Visit this link for more information: www.amazon.com/snap-ebt.

HELP FOR OUR WORKFORCE

SMALL BUSINESS ASSISTANCE ALERT!

MAKE SURE YOU ARE COUNTED - 2020 CENSUS!

COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS

The District of Columbia Office of Tax and Revenue (OTR) reminds taxpayers that the deadline is one week away (**JULY 15**) to file and pay their 2019 District of Columbia individual and fiduciary income tax returns (D-40, D-41, and D-40B), partnership tax return (D-65), and franchise tax returns (D-20, D-30). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the deadline for filings and payments was postponed from April 15 to July 15. No late charges will apply to filings and payments that are made on or before July 15, 2020: https://coronavirus.dc.gov/release/tax-filing-deadline-one-week-away-2019-tax-returns-and-payments-due-july-15

COVID-19 UTILITY ASSISTANCE!

More information and the application for this program is available through DOEE at doee.dc.gov/service/criac or by contacting criac.residential@dc.gov.

For any constituent issues, assistance for seniors & families, contact my constituent services team, Sedrick Muhammad at (202) 704-9657 or smuhammad@dccouncil.us; D.L. Humphrey at (202) 704-4304 or dhumphrey@dccouncil.us.

Sheila E. Bunn
Chief of Staff
sbunn@dccouncil.us

Jordan M. Betters
Staff Assistant/Scheduler
jbetters@dccouncil.us