Hello Neighbors:
Several years ago, our household got rid of one of our cars and replaced it with an e-cargo bike that I use to commute with my two girls. They love it, I love it — and it has given me clear insight into the District’s cyclist infrastructure and what we need to do to enhance safety on our streets.
Making our roads work for all users, not just cars, by prioritizing bus and bike lanes and safer crosswalks has long been a focus of mine, since I first took office as your Ward 1 Councilmember, and even before that, as a Ward 1 Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner. I have worked with residents and our ANCs during my time on the Council to shepherd many transformational transportation projects centered on that priority, including D.C.’s first 24/7 protected bus and bike lanes and improved pedestrian crossings.
I championed the Adams Morgan Pedestrian Zone and Open Streets on Georgia Avenue, as well as a significant increase in funding for Safe Routes to School interventions.
I led the initiative to fund fourteen 24-hour bus routes across the District. Five of them serve Ward 1.
I have been a vocal advocate for projects in Ward 1, including the 14th and 16th Street bus lanes and express routes, which greatly reduce bus commute times, and I have worked to allocate significant funding each budget season. For fiscal year 2027, those projects will include business grants to support pedestrian activation of 18th Street and the implementation of strategies to improve streets, parks and plazas in Columbia Heights and Mount Pleasant.
I am a proud participant in the Week Without Driving, and I look forward to sharing my bus and bike trips during this year’s campaign next week.
And in addition to prioritizing safety measures, I’ve been working on efforts to get the most dangerous drivers off the road. As chair of the Committee that oversees the Department of Public Works, I’ve been working to strengthen parking enforcement and focus it toward those efforts, with stronger authority to boot and tow vehicles, and to better coordinate the use of technology, especially license plate readers.
Council passed my legislation to make a vehicle with an obscured or fake tag eligible for immediate towing. Experience has shown that premeditated reckless driving is often associated with vehicles that have these kinds of tags, presumably because drivers with these tags feel they can’t be held responsible.
I introduced and the Council passed legislation to give the Department of For-Hire Vehicles the authority to regulate food and parcel delivery activities, including by enforcing traffic laws for drivers engaged in these activities.
We know the stakes when we delay the work to keep all road users safe. We need no reminder that words cannot do justice when anyone loses their life to senseless road crashes.
The work is not finished. We are seeing a rise in traffic fatalities from this time last year according to MPD traffic data. I plan to use my remaining months as your Councilmember to continue to lead on road safety. I have a bill moving through the Council now on parking enforcement, and I will soon introduce major legislation to give vehicle-for-hire operators and customers a rational, modern code and fairer marketplace—replacing the hodgepodge of out of date and in many cases irrelevant provisions in our current code.
COUNCIL UPDATES
Parking bill would help alleviate dangerous and disruptive parking
The Council gave initial approval this week to legislation I introduced to address unlawful parking in commercial corridors.
Bill 26-16 – Strategic Parking Enforcement Enhancement Act of 2026 would create a reimbursable detail program for parking enforcement officers to work overtime in designated neighborhoods, as a way to increase turnover and reduce dangerous activities, such as double parking and parking in crosswalks or in front of fire hydrants. The cost of these shifts would be paid by event organizers, BIDs and other groups.
The legislation would also allow universities with campus police departments to enforce parking violations on public roads within their campuses.
DPW’s enforcement resources are often stretched very thin, and having these options for additional support allows our core DPW workforce to focus more attention on addressing the most dangerous and high-risk vehicles on our roadways. This is about getting some of the same entities whose profitability and operations sometimes contribute to traffic congestion to bear some of the cost of managing congestion.
When a few people don’t follow parking laws, the rest of us lose out—whether we’re fellow drivers looking for a space, pedestrians, or bus commuters. This bill provides additional tools to improve the safety of our streets and neighborhoods.
Decades in the making, U St. and Shaw are getting a BID…
After decades of trying, we now have a successful and nearly-completed effort to establish a Business Improvement District in the Duke District – encompassing parts of the U St. corridor and Shaw. This week the Council passed legislation I moved, along with Councilmember Pinto, to provide seed money for establishment of the BID. I plan to introduce legislation as soon as the BID application is formally submitted – as early as next week – to officially recognize the BID.
A BID will give businesses an entity that can coordinate with District government agencies and others to maintain community amenities, support community vibrancy, improve public safety, and more. There are already 13 BIDs across the District, serving their communities and making great partners.
…And Columbia Heights will get a boost of its own
Columbia Heights would gain a powerful new organization to coordinate improvements to its business corridors and neighborhoods under legislation I introduced was the subject of enthusiastic public testimony at a D.C. Council committee this week.
The Neighborhood Management Authority Act of 2025 would establish a new structure similar to a Business Improvement District but would not require a new property tax in order to be established. It creates a new set of tools and resources for small businesses and residents in places like Columbia Heights, where traditional options haven’t worked.
As originally written, the legislation would have created a second NMA in the U Street corridor, but I am now recommending that be dropped from the legislation, as businesses there and in the adjacent Shaw neighborhood are advancing plans to establish the BID. As I noted above, I will introduce legislation to establish the BID once we receive the necessary BID paperwork, as soon as next week, I hope.
Columbia Heights is a perfect candidate for the proposed new structure. More than two decades after the opening of the Columbia Heights Metro and build-out of the plazas and public spaces around it, those spaces need some TLC – improvements in programming and coordination to bring the neighborhood to its full vitality.
Learn more about the legislation and read the bill text.
BRIANNE IN THE COMMUNITY
Last week I joined the Adams Morgan community to unveil the sign for Charlie McCormick Way, in honor of the late owner of City Bikes. Charlie was a great neighbor to all and a dedicated advocate for cyclists. Thank you to the Adams Morgan BID and to ANC 1C for their support of this designation.
Friendship Place is a giant in the world of addressing homelessness in the District and now, surrounding areas. I was honored to share the stage with three other honorees who have done so much to support our most vulnerable residents in moving from homelessness to having a home.
I’m proud of the work we’ve done, adding funding to move more than 2,400 households into homes through my Homes and Hearts Amendment in 2021. I am still committed – more than on any other issue, honestly – to ensuring that every resident of D.C. has a safe place to live.
I know that as my time on the Council comes to a close, the work will continue, thanks to advocates, councilmembers, donors, and the incredible staff of Friendship Place and other organizations and people that make up this caring community. I hope and expect that I will continue to be part of it.
COMMUNITY UPDATES
Prevent rats
Join the DC Rat Rangers to learn about rat prevention, resources you can access, and risks to avoid at a webinar on Saturday, September 26 at 12 noon.
Get updates on the new Crisis Stabilization Center
The Department of Behavioral Health and partners will hold a virtual community meeting on the new Columbia Heights Crisis Stabilization Center on Monday, September 28 at 7 pm. Residents will have the opportunity to ask questions and hear updates on progress.
Know your rights about consumer debt
Legal Aid DC and Debt Collective are hosting You Are Not a Loan: Debt Know Your Rights and Discussion on Saturday, October 10, 2026 from 2:30 – 4:30 pm ET at the Benning/Dorothy I. Height Library in Ward 7. The event will feature a Know Your Rights and debt education presentation from Legal Aid’s Consumer Law attorneys, focused on common types of consumer debt.
New ice rink volunteer opportunity for students
The Department of Parks and Recreation has a new opportunity for high school students seeking volunteer opportunities: the High School Rink Guard Program.
Participants will serve the community at the Fort Dupont Ice Arena and receive:
- Community service hours
- Ice-skating training
- Hands-on rink operations experience
- Leadership & career development
The start date is October 19.
IN THE NEWS
WASHINGTON POST
After legal saga, D.C. Council committee calls for new ride-hailing laws
CITY CAST DC
Council Report Finds Empower Ignored Fines, Flouted Rules
WASHINGTON SUN
Neighbors Are Upset Over Federal Agents’ Presence at a D.C. School
ABC7
DC proposal would let businesses fund extra parking enforcement
FOX 5 DC
Proposed bill could bring more privately funded parking tickets to DC
CALENDAR
Department of Behavioral Health Community Engagement Meeting on new Crisis Stabilization Center
Monday, September 28, 6 pm | online
Advisory Neighborhood Commission 1B Monthly Meeting
Thursday, October 1, 6:30 pm | online
Council Legislative Meeting
Tuesday, October 6, 12 noon | online and in-person at the John A. Wilson Building (1350 Pennsylvania Ave NW)
Advisory Neighborhood Commission 1C Monthly Meeting
Wednesday, October 7, 7 pm | online
Advisory Neighborhood Commission 1D Monthly Meeting
Tuesday, October 20, 7 pm | online and in-person at the Mt. Pleasant Branch of the DC Public Library (3160 16th St NW)
Council closed in observance of Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Monday, October 12
Council Committee of the Whole Public Hearing on Revenue Proposals for the Fiscal Year 2028 Budget
Friday, October 16, 10 am | online and in-person at the John A. Wilson Building
The Committee will hear testimony on Councilmember Nadeau’s proposed wealth proceeds tax (Bill 26-749) and plan to transition to a land value tax (Bill 26-777).
Advisory Neighborhood Commission 1A Monthly Meeting Wednesday, October 21, 7 pm | online and in-person at LAYC (1419 Columbia Road NW)
Advisory Neighborhood Commission 1E Monthly Meeting
Wednesday, October 28, 7 pm | online
CONTACT US
Brianne K. Nadeau | Councilmember | bnadeau@dccouncil.gov
Abigail Boshart | Deputy Committee Director | aboshart@dccouncil.gov
Nicole Bramstedt | Senior Legislative Assistant | nbramstedt@dccouncil.gov
Amanda Chulick | Senior Legislative Assistant | achulick@dccouncil.gov
David Connerty-Marin | Communications Director | dconnertymarin@dccouncil.gov
Sean Cuddihy | Committee Director | scuddihy@dccouncil.gov
Kara Dunford | Communications Manager | kdunford@dccouncil.gov
David Meni | Deputy Chief of Staff & Legislative Director | dmeni@dccouncil.gov
Maricela Nava | Deputy Chief of Staff & Scheduler | mnava@dccouncil.gov
Sabrin Qadi | Deputy Legislative Director | sqadi@dccouncil.gov
Norma Rivera | Constituent Services Specialist | nrivera@dccouncil.gov
Niccole Rivero | Chief of Staff | nrivero@dccouncil.gov
Eliza-Roche Robinson | Constituent Services Specialist | errobinson@dccouncil.gov