For Immediate Release:
January 21, 2020
Contact:
Matthew Nocella, 202.724.8105 - mnocella@dccouncil.us
Councilmember Grosso seeks greater public disclosure of D.C.’s efforts to preserve affordable housing
Washington, D.C. – Councilmember David Grosso today introduced legislation that would require the executive branch and developers to be more transparent when considering housing purchases intended to preserve and expand affordable housing in the District of Columbia.
“The District of Columbia cannot afford to waste any more time when it comes to preserving and expanding our residents’ access to affordable housing,” said Grosso. “The imbalance in our housing stock, combined with rising rents and housing costs, is displacing mostly low-income families and families of color.”
In 2008, the Council enacted the District Opportunity to Purchase Act (DOPA) to employ government resources to preserve and expand affordable housing units. Under the law, the District of Columbia has the right to purchase buildings with five or more dwelling units with at least 25 percent affordable housing. It also allowed the D.C. government to assign its rights to purchase to third party entities.
“Unfortunately, nearly 12 years later, the District of Columbia still has not exercised its right to purchase a single property, and the District has missed too many opportunities to purchase,” Grosso said.
Regulations from the 2008 law were not finalized until November 2018, a decade later. And the mayor only recently announced 40 pre-qualified developers who can be assigned the District’s right to purchase in May.
Grosso intends to increase transparency and accountability into the exercise of the government’s purchasing power with the DOPA Disclosure Amendment Act of 2020, which he introduced along with Councilmember Anita Bonds, chairperson of the Committee on Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization.
The bill requires the mayor to file a detailed annual report that discloses the qualifications of developers as well as the process, factors, and communications involved in the government’s or its assignees’ decision making when exercising its rights under DOPA.
“DOPA was intended to be another tool to address our affordable housing crisis, and so far, it’s not even been taken out of the toolbox. District residents and policymakers need to better understand why this tool is not being used, and once it’s finally taken out of the toolbox, how it is being used,” said Grosso.
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