Performance oversight and budget season is upon us. In preparation for DC Council performance and budget oversight hearings, Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker office is asking residents to identify Ward 5 needs.

Complete the Ward 5 Needs Survey at ward5.us/oversightform.

The survey lists four areas (schools & rec; street safety & transportation; pollution, trash, & environmental justice; & violence reduction & community safety), but residents can also list other areas of concern.

CM Parker’s office is also accepting feedback in other ways. Copied from the survey:

We welcome emails and letters from residents, civic associations, parent-teacher associations, and advisory neighborhood commissioners highlighting concerns in more detail. Please send those materials to Conor Shaw (cshaw@dccouncil.gov) by February 3, 2023. If you’d prefer to relay your concerns via phone, please contact us at 202 724 8028.

This is the time to identify issues you would like Councilmember Parker to be aware of for oversight purposes and to advocate for budget items. I know neighbors have asked for support and funding for a number of things over the years that still need attention and funding, with a couple of more recent asks.

• Attractive green space at the corner of South Dakota Avenue & Riggs Road NE. This is consistent with approved neighborhood area development plan.
• Shade for the Riggs-LaSalle Rec playground.
• Support/funding for neighborhood park/area recommendations in draft Ready2Play plan.
• New Riggs Park-area pool.
• Better coordination with National Park Service (NPS) to get things that neighbors would like to see at Fort Circle Park. This is consistent with approved neighborhood area development plan.
• Metropolitan Branch Trail Fort Totten to Avondale segment. This is consistent with approved National Capital Trail Network
• South Dakota Avenue NE Multimodal Safety and Access Study along the lines of the Bladensburg Rd. Multimodal Safety and Access Study that was funded in FY 2023. Longstanding issues at key intersections at Galloway Street, Hamilton Street, Ingraham Street, & Riggs Road in Riggs Park, but also points further south.
• Taylor Street/Rock Creek Church Road bike lanes
• Riggs Road NE cycletrack and trailhead
• For Bertie Backus campus plan, ensuring that any plans/changes have a positive impact on the local neighborhood in addition to advancing institutional goals.
• For Metro’s Joint Development program, ensuring that any further redevelopment of Fort Totten Metro station, as anticipated in Metro’s 10-year strategic plan, has a positive impact on the local neighborhood in addition to advancing Metro’s institutional goals.

Being as specific as possible, explaining how neighbors have advocated for items over a number of years, and providing cost estimates & number of people impacted to the extent possible, is always helpful. Connecting requests to approved plans, study recommendations, and initiatives, such as the Riggs Road/South Dakota Avenue NE Area Development Plan, moveDC, Vision Zero, and DDOT livability studies, is also helpful to provide justification for the request or context for the issue.

Even if you do not have a lot of time to spend on the survey, please take a few minutes to share your thoughts with Councilmember Parker.