Press Release, DC for Reasonable Development, Chris O., 202-810-2768
\nNovember 1, 2014<\/p>\n
AG Contenders Face Questions on Barry Farm,<\/strong> McMillan & Other Development Disputes<\/strong><\/p>\n Washington, DC \u2013 Candidates in the first election for attorney general offered answers about development issues in a recent forum organized by the citywide coalition, DC for Reasonable Development (DC4RD).\u00a0 For the forum, held at the Martin Luther King Memorial Library, DC4RD supplied briefing material on community opposition to development projects and questionable decision-making across the city, including the threatened displacement at Barry Farm, the over-development and legal questions at McMillan and the removal of affordable housing requirements and other questions about downtown in the wholesale zoning revisions, known as the Zoning Rewrite.<\/p>\n The strongest commitments were made in-person by Edward \u201cSmitty\u201d Smith<\/strong> and Lorie Masters<\/strong>.\u00a0 Smitty<\/strong> said: \u201cI promise you in my first 60 days as attorney general we\u2019re going [to] ask [the agencies] the tough questions; [to] show us the evidence.\u2019\u2019\u00a0 If the evidence is not there, then \u201cI\u2019m not going to be an good position to represent them.\u201d<\/p>\n Masters<\/strong> committed to \u201clistening to interests of all the neighborhoods\u2026.to make sure we\u2019re following the processes that are in place [and if there are] agreements with neighborhoods\u2026enforced.\u201d<\/p>\n In a separate interview, Lateefah Williams<\/strong> said she would investigate to determine if decisions in these cases were \u201carbitrary and capricious.\u201d \u00a0If so, she would \u201csubmit a legal opinion to the agency\u2026and ask them to basically redo the process;\u2026if they didn\u2019t comply…[she would] file a suit on behalf of District residents against the agency.\u201d<\/p>\n In written submission, Karl Racine<\/strong> said he’d \u201censure that any decisions made conform to the law and adhere to the [existing downtown requirements] to create a balanced mix of\u2026office development, protect historic buildings, and foster growth for small and minority businesses\u201d\u00a0 and, he wants to see, \u201cthat the District achieves its affordable housing goals [and be willing to] intervene to uphold the law [including pursuing] any unscrupulous developers and landlords, such as those who do not adhere to affordable housing laws.\u201d<\/p>\n Paul Zukerberg<\/strong> did not attend the forum.\u00a0 In a phone interview, he referenced his long record of helping many residents across an array of social justice issues and winning on many such cases. He said this approach would carry over into issues like improper rulemaking by DC agencies.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n