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D.C. Housing Authority director Brenda Donald to step down

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D.C. Housing Authority director Brenda Donald to step down


D.C. Housing Authority director Brenda Donald plans to step down after almost two years atop the embattled company, officers introduced Wednesday.

She plans to go away her function this summer time, in keeping with a late night time assertion from the company. The assertion didn’t say what prompted Donald’s departure months earlier than the tip of her contract.

The Housing Authority’s board held a closed session Wednesday afternoon to take care of personnel issues. The board will start a seek for a brand new director, the assertion stated. It didn’t say if the board would appoint an interim director if Donald leaves earlier than the search is full.

Company workers was knowledgeable in latest days that Donald deliberate to go away quickly, in keeping with two individuals with data of her resolution who spoke on the situation of anonymity as a result of it had not been formally introduced.

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Phrase of Donald’s impending departure comes at a crucial time for the company, which is attempting to rectify deficiencies recognized by the U.S. Division of Housing and City Improvement this previous fall. HUD gave the company till March 31 to appropriate its failures to offer “respectable, secure, and sanitary” housing for its residents in violation of federal necessities, however has since prolonged the deadline to the tip of this month.

Fallout from the report, which was deeply crucial of DCHA’s oversight and governance, elevated Donald’s public profile as she grappled with entrenched challenges. The town additionally remade the company’s governing board. Donald, 68, championed her workers and claimed progress whereas defending herself and her administration from generally withering criticism from D.C. Council members and board commissioners.

Donald and her workers, with the assistance of consultants employed by town, have scrambled to write down a brand new administrative plan for the company — an enormous doc that may alter a variety of insurance policies. Authorized assist organizations that advocate for the Housing Authority’s residents have criticized the tempo of efforts and say revised plans gained’t repair deep-seated challenges that mirror a scarcity of competence in implementing insurance policies already in place.

They waited many years for D.C. housing assist. Will adjustments lastly deliver reduction?

Earlier than main the Housing Authority, Donald had served as director of town’s Little one and Household Providers Company beneath Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), who credit Donald with turning that company round. The mayor, who has been a staunch supporter of Donald, instructed reporters final 12 months that she urged her to remain on and assist the company “maintain its commitments to HUD.” Inexpensive housing and homelessness stay deep-rooted points within the District and a Bowser precedence.

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Donald has steered the company by way of a tumultuous interval that noticed Bowser champion laws after the HUD report back to dissolve the Housing Authority’s 13-member governing board — and eliminate DCHA’s most vocal board critics within the course of. The brand new nine-voting-member reform board first met in January over opposition from some public housing tenants, voucher recipients and their advocates. They agreed that the company wanted main adjustments — however stated they need to be undertaken solely after debate and enter from stakeholders and specialists.

Donald took over as interim director of the Housing Authority in June 2021.

Later, she acquired a two-year contract price $275,000 yearly that was scheduled to run out on the finish of September.

All through her tenure, Donald has blamed the issues at what she has referred to as a “badly damaged company” on the earlier administration. “My purpose in taking this job was to stabilize the company so {that a} longer-term director could be arrange for achievement …” Donald stated in a letter final month to the chairman of the D.C. Council housing committee, Robert C. White Jr. (D-At Giant).

D.C. overpays landlords tens of millions to accommodate town’s poorest

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Donald inherited an company with entrenched issues. They embrace harmful situations at its properties, equivalent to lead-paint hazards; out-of-code plumbing; water harm and mould; emergency work orders going unaddressed at night time as a consequence of excessive crime; and potential tenants declining models as a result of they concern for his or her security. Additionally they embrace a voucher program that fails to appropriately decide rents to landlords. These points together with many others had been highlighted in final 12 months’s HUD report.

Donald had identified the HUD report was coming for months, however downplayed it to the board as she tried to handle the Housing Authority’s fame. When the company acquired the report in October, Donald declined to launch it publicly, intending to attend till after the Housing Authority shaped a response. However The Washington Publish obtained a replica and detailed its findings.

In her letter to White final month, Donald touted what she stated had been her accomplishments, equivalent to closing on the sale of the company’s headquarters to make method for housing and retail within the NoMa neighborhood, bettering its monetary situation and accelerating inspections and upkeep if its properties.

“Two years in the past, I took this function as a result of I imagine that having a secure and inexpensive place to name dwelling is prime, and I used to be excited to be charged with turning round an company that issues to so many individuals,” Donald stated in a press release included within the announcement. “I’m pleased with the work my workers and I did to place DCHA again heading in the right direction to serve public housing residents and voucher individuals.”

The reform board’s chairman, Raymond Skinner, who additionally served on the earlier board, praised Donald’s accomplishments “within the onerous work of public company transformation,” the company announcement stated.

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Donald, nonetheless, failed to attain what she has referred to as her highest precedence — bettering the company’s public housing occupancy fee. Early final 12 months, because the occupancy fee stood at 79 %, Donald pledged to boost it 10 proportion factors by the tip of September. As an alternative, it has fallen beneath 74 %. Donald has stated the company is popping a nook on the difficulty.

However at latest public conferences, a number of authorized assist representatives have stated the company’s efficiency has hit an all-time low. “The state of the company has by no means been extra discouraging or demoralizing than it’s right this moment,” Amanda Korber, a supervising legal professional on the Authorized Help Society of the District of Columbia, instructed the council’s housing committee final month.

Lately, Donald has had a rocky relationship with White, who took over as housing committee chair this 12 months. White appeared to take purpose at Donald throughout a March information convention, saying the company’s “management tradition” didn’t elevate severe points to the board and different oversight our bodies, selecting as a substitute to “quash them quietly.”

1 in 4 public housing models sit vacant throughout D.C. affordability disaster

White had referred to as the information convention to speak about inside company audit stories that, amongst different allegations, accused a deputy director of the voucher program employed by Donald of getting enterprise pursuits and a relationship with a landlord. However acrimony had constructed between White and Donald over her refusal to reply questions from his workers about who licensed a $41,250 bonus she acquired in January.

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Rigidity over the bonus intensified throughout a council listening to final month, when Donald once more refused to reply questions on it and instructed White it was not the council’s enterprise.

“Your obstruction of Council oversight harms the company,” White wrote to Donald afterward, saying the mud up over the bonus was not the one time she’d refused to reply oversight questions. “It means that DCHA is secretive and is hiding info. Whereas I’m upset that you don’t see why this info is related to DC taxpayers or the Committee’s oversight work, you can’t choose and select when the company will probably be clear.”

In her letter to White, Donald famous the necessary work but to be executed on the company. “Whereas there are plans for main, long-term redevelopment throughout our portfolio, these tasks take a few years, however our residents dwell there every single day and will anticipate secure, respectable, and sanitary housing,” she wrote, pledging to finish her tenure having “cured the findings” within the HUD report and having laid the groundwork for a brand new director’s success.



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Washington, D.C

As Trump inauguration is moved indoors, tourists in DC say they just ‘wanted to be a part of it’ – WTOP News

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As Trump inauguration is moved indoors, tourists in DC say they just ‘wanted to be a part of it’ – WTOP News


Due to the expected freezing temperatures on Monday, the 60th inauguration was moved to inside the U.S. The Capitol and the inaugural parade will now be taking place at Capital One Arena.

More than a quarter of a million tickets were handed out for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration Monday.

Due to the expected freezing temperatures, the 60th inauguration was moved inside the U.S. Capitol and the inaugural parade will now be taking place at Capital One Arena.

Now, hundreds of thousands of people are not only looking for things to do while they are visiting the nation’s capital, they are also hoping to find the perfect spot to view Trump take the oath of office.

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If you are wondering why some don’t scrap their plans and watch from home, money may be an issue.

Madison Jones and her friends traveled from North Carolina for the inauguration. Jones told WTOP that she is paying $1,600 for a two-night stay in D.C. She hopes she will be able to attend Sunday’s Trump rally at Capital One Arena.

“Main thing is listening to him speak and sightseeing,” Jones said.

While a lot of those that call the D.C. area home only visit the tourist sites in D.C. when they have friends or family in town, Brandon Moore and his friends from Ohio fit in a year’s worth of sightseeing.

“We went to the Capitol and walked around. The Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, the Bible Museum. Just about anything we could get to we went inside,” said Moore.

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Moore hopes the inaugural tickets he received from Vice President-elect JD Vance’s senate office will get him into the Capital One Arena. If not, Moore said he and his friends will make the best of it.

A lot of the folks in town are taking in the Memorials and monuments, including Stacey Rayford. He and his friends came to town from Louisiana after snagging inaugural tickets from the office of Majority Leader Steve Scalise.

“It’s going to be a historic event on multiple levels, and we wanted to be part of it,” Rayford said.

While he is not sure where they will watch the swearing-in ceremony, Rayford told WTOP he knows the type of place he wants.

“We’re going to find somewhere warm and some good food to eat, and hopefully have an opportunity to socialize with some of the people we have things in common with,” said Rayford.

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An hour after their plane landed, 21-year-old LeBron Maverevedze and his father wanted to witness Trump become the 47th President of the United States, which may be surprising to some, considering they are both Canadian.

“The United States President is considered the president of the world, since it’s a superpower. So, we all have to support whoever is gonna be inaugurated,” Maverevedze said.

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Preparations underway in DMV for snowstorm

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Preparations underway in DMV for snowstorm


Local and state snow crews are preparing to treat secondary and neighborhood streets throughout D.C., Maryland and Virginia.

“It’s me and three other fellas, so it’s fairly small,” said Jason Swain with the Department of Public Works in Kensington Maryland.

He says his team may be small, but they’re mighty and ready.

“We get the plows ready, make sure everything’s working,” Swain said. “We have salt, which has been kindly given to us by the state, ready to put into the spreaders.”

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He says the biggest hurdle when plowing snow, oftentimes, is cars.

“Some people don’t have driveways, but if they’re going to park on the street, try not to park directly across from each other because when we come through, you literally got inches between the edge of our plow and the cars,” Swain said.

In the District, plenty of people decided to step out before snow crews put plow to pavement for a potential all day snow event.

“Mayor Bowser activated the snow team, and they’ll begin their operations tonight, treating and then plowing roads throughout the day tomorrow,” said Clint Osborn with the District’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency.

D.C.’s smaller plows will be on back roads and alleys, while heavy trucks will focus on primary streets.

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“We’ll have a full deployment out throughout all day tomorrow into Monday as we support the inaugural activities in the District,” Osborn said.

Icy conditions in Prince George’s County during the region’s last snowstorm led to different strategies this go round.

In a statement, the county’s Department of Public Works and Transportation says, “We have implemented adjustments to strengthen our response, and these improvements have prepared us for this round of winter weather.”

The biggest piece of advice for tomorrow:

“Tomorrow would be a good day, since it’s a Sunday, to stay home,” Swain said. “Read a book, have some hot chocolate, relax. Can come out after we finish.”

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Days before Trump takes office, thousands of protestors march in Washington, D.C.

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Days before Trump takes office, thousands of protestors march in Washington, D.C.


WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of people from around the United States rallied in the nation’s capital Saturday for women’s reproductive rights and other causes they believe are under threat from the incoming Trump administration, reprising the original Women’s March days before President-elect Donald Trump’s second inauguration.

READ MORE: Trump arriving in nation’s capital for inaugural celebrations to mark his return to power

Eight years after the first historic Women’s March at the start of Trump’s first term, marchers said they were caught off guard by Trump’s victory and are determined now to show that support remains strong for women’s access to abortion, for transgender people, for combating climate change and other issues.

The march is just one of several protests, rallies and vigils focused on abortion, rights, immigration rights and the Israel-Hamas war planned in advance of inauguration Monday. Around the country, over 350 similar marches are taking place in every state.

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Jill Parrish of Austin, Texas, said she initially bought a plane ticket to Washington for what she expected to be Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris’s inauguration. She wound up changing the dates to march in protest ahead of Trump’s swearing-in instead, saying the world should know that half of U.S. voters didn’t support Trump.

“Most importantly, I’m here to demonstrate my fear, about the state of our democracy,” Parrish said.

Demonstrators staged in squares around Washington ahead of the march, pounding drums and yelling chants under a slate-gray sky and in a chilly wind. Protesters then marched to the Lincoln Memorial for larger rally and fair, where organizations at the local, state and national level will host information tables.

They held signs with slogans including, “Save America” and “Against abortions? Then don’t have one” and “Hate won’t win.”

There were brief moments of tension between protesters and Trump supporters. The march paused briefly when a man in a red Make America Great Again hat and a green camo backpack walked into a line of demonstrators at the front. Police intervened and separated him from the group peacefully as marchers chanted “We won’t take the bait.”

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As the protesters approached the Washington Monument, a small group of men in MAGA hats walking in the opposite direction appeared to draw the attention of a protest leader with a megaphone. The leader veered closer to the group and began chanting “No Trump, no KKK” through the megaphone. The groups were separated by high black fencing and police officers eventually gathered around.

Rick Glatz, of Manchester, New Hampshire, said he came to Washington for the sake of his four granddaughters: ” I’m a grandpa. And that’s why I’m marching.”

Minnesota high school teacher Anna Bergman wore her original pink pussy hat from her time in the 2017 Women’s March, a moment that captured the shock and anger of progressives and moderates at Trump’s first win.

With Trump coming back now, “I just wanted to be surrounded by likeminded people on a day like today,” Bergman said.

Rebranded and reorganized, the rally has a new name — the People’s March — as a means to broaden support, especially during a reflective moment for progressive organizing after Trump’s decisive win in November. The Republican takes the oath of office Monday.

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Women outraged over Trump’s 2016 presidential win flocked to Washington in 2017 and organized large rallies in cities throughout the country, building the base of a grassroots movement that became known as the Women’s March. The Washington rally alone attracted over 500,000 marchers, and millions more participated in local marches around the country, marking one of the largest single-day demonstrations in U.S. history.

This year, the crowd was far fewer than the expected 50,000 participants, already just one-tenth the size of the first march. The demonstration comes amid a restrained moment of reflection as many progressive voters navigate feelings of exhaustion, disappointment and despair after Harris’ loss.

WATCH: Harris loss causes some to question what it will take to elect a woman president

“Before we do anything about democracy, we have to fight our own despair,” said one of the event’s first speakers, Rachel O’Leary Carmona, executive director of Women’s March.

The comparative quiet contrasts sharply with the white-knuckled fury of the inaugural rally as massive crowds shouted demands over megaphones and marched in pink pussyhats in response to Trump’s first election win.

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“The reality is that it’s just hard to capture lightning in a bottle,” said Tamika Middleton, managing director at the Women’s March. “It was a really particular moment. In 2017, we had not seen a Trump presidency and the kind of vitriol that that represented.”

The movement fractured after that hugely successful day of protests over accusations that it was not diverse enough. This year’s rebrand as a People’s March is the result of an overhaul intended to broaden the group’s appeal. Saturday’s demonstration promoted themes related to feminism, racial justice, anti-militarization and other issues and ended with discussions hosted by various social justice organizations.

The People’s March is unusual in the “vast array of issues brought together under one umbrella,” said Jo Reger, a sociology professor who researches social movements at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. Women’s suffrage marches, for example, were focused on a specific goal of voting rights.

For a broad-based social justice movement such as the march, conflicting visions are impossible to avoid and there is “immense pressure” for organizers to meet everyone’s needs, Reger said. But she also said some discord isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“Often what it does is bring change and bring in new perspectives, especially of underrepresented voices,” Reger said.

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Middleton, of the Women’s March, said a massive demonstration like the one in 2017 was not the goal of Saturday’s event. Instead, it’s goal was focusing attention on a broader set of issues — women’s and reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, immigration, climate and democracy — rather than centering it more narrowly around Trump.

“We’re not thinking about the march as the endgame,” Middleton said. “How do we get those folks who show up into organizations and into their political homes so they can keep fighting in their communities long term?”

Associated Press writers Gary Fields, Ellen Knickmeyer and Mike Pesoli contributed to this report.



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