Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of you seem to be implying that it was ok when this behavior was confined to "those neighborhoods".

I won’t imply it. I’ll flat out say it. Keep it away from Conn Ave.

Exactly. My family deserves to live in a safe neighborhood without Bower's horrible policies of "everyone deserves to have crime equally" on their doorsteps.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of you seem to be implying that it was ok when this behavior was confined to "those neighborhoods".

I won’t imply it. I’ll flat out say it. Keep it away from Conn Ave.

Genie seems to be out of the bottle.

After the shooting outside The Saratoga on a Saturday afternoon, inevitable that more will move when able and the vacancies will be backfilled with vouchers. The descent into private public housing accelerates. Having buildings declared "nuisance properties" by then AG Racine has done nothing to put a floor in the situation.

I suspect the "overpayments" are spread around so all DC pols have a stake in shielding the program. When tax revenue drops and the program is curtailed (Biden has targeted the federal dollars) what then?

Anonymous wrote:This is so horrible. That stretch of Connecticut used to be so nice with the stately and/or convenient apartment buildings between Cleveland Park and Chevy Chase Circle. Now it's just one more area to be avoided. Really need to get rid of Bowser and the fools who constantly kowtow to the mentally ill and criminal element in the city.

The difference on Wisconsin is pretty shocking too, there are frequent ODs in buildings there and last weekend there was a daytime stabbing on the 33 bus (arrest has been made). Adding in shelters and PIW and halfway houses in that corridor, looks run down and feels less safe. There have also been stabbings and if you look on the registry or Citizen app, far more sex offenders and CSA offenders in that area too. Friends moved from the Cathedral area, said it felt unsafe and wife was harassed and followed from the Cathedral Commons Giant several times.

Anonymous wrote:Some of you seem to be implying that it was ok when this behavior was confined to "those neighborhoods".

I won’t imply it. I’ll flat out say it. Keep it away from Conn Ave.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of you seem to be implying that it was ok when this behavior was confined to "those neighborhoods".

Stop trolling and attempting to derail. Obviously, unsafe people need to be removed from the community, in any Ward. DC rarely does that. Dispersing them more widely solves nothing but greatly enriches the landlords paid well over market rate and whoever they kick back to. And law abiding voucher recipients, many elderly, also deserve a safe and orderly environment, many have moved OUT of Connecticut House and The Brandywine due to safety concerns. This was documented way back in the series the WP did on Sedgewick Gardens. What about those people?

In the 90s, DC did not target the tax base that is Ward 3 in this fashion. Given the looming CRE implosion, anyone have a sense of what the strategy seems to be here?

Strategy? Bowser??? Hah

Anonymous wrote:Some of you seem to be implying that it was ok when this behavior was confined to "those neighborhoods".

Stop trolling and attempting to derail. Obviously, unsafe people need to be removed from the community, in any Ward. DC rarely does that. Dispersing them more widely solves nothing but greatly enriches the landlords paid well over market rate and whoever they kick back to. And law abiding voucher recipients, many elderly, also deserve a safe and orderly environment, many have moved OUT of Connecticut House and The Brandywine due to safety concerns. This was documented way back in the series the WP did on Sedgewick Gardens. What about those people?

In the 90s, DC did not target the tax base that is Ward 3 in this fashion. Given the looming CRE implosion, anyone have a sense of what the strategy seems to be here?

In DC landlords cannot consider past criminal convictions if more than 7 years old, no matter how heinous. So if someone served 8 years for the rape of a child, then gets out, landlord can't consider that when renting a unit in a building filled with families. They also cannot consider credit if rent is paid with a voucher or past evictions even if for grounds other than non-payment.

SO at least are often on a registry. Murderers are being moved into buildings and there is no way to know. One recently was moved into a building in Chevy Chase DC that is full of the unsuspecting and vulnerable elderly and families of modest means eager to get their kids into Lafayette, Deal, JR.

There have been issues in condo buildings too, where individual landlords are eager to get in on the $$$ that they city pays over market rate for vouchers. Any multifamily housing may have unanticipated safety risks. If not from the voucher holder, then their associates. Over time, many buildings tip and become de facto, overpriced, private public housing.

Some of you seem to be implying that it was ok when this behavior was confined to "those neighborhoods".

Bowser has ruined this city.

This is so horrible. That stretch of Connecticut used to be so nice with the stately and/or convenient apartment buildings between Cleveland Park and Chevy Chase Circle. Now it's just one more area to be avoided. Really need to get rid of Bowser and the fools who constantly kowtow to the mentally ill and criminal element in the city.

Here is what people need to understand about the vouncher program. A number of years ago, DC added "source of income" as a protected class in its human rights law. While there are a minority of (mostly liberal) jurisidictions which have done this over the last 15 years in order to expand affordable housing access, I would argue that "source of income" is not an immutable characteristic such as race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, etc. and should not be given unfettered protection. But that's where we are. The reality is that while many, perhaps most, of voucher tenants are law abiding citizens of limited means, there is a subset of voucher holder tenants who exhibit severe anti-social behaviors. Their effect on a building means that gradually a building's market rate tenants---who have more economic mobility---will simply leave. The Council should revisit the scope of the "source of income" protection and be more nuanced. Landlords should do their fair share in terms of voucher acceptance but should not be required to accept vouchers ad infinitum or risk being sued. Our courts should also be far more efficient in allowing Landlords to evict tenants who are exhibiting anti-social lease violation behaviors.

There is very visible drug dealing now in Forest Hills, it was even noted on a thread on DCUM a while ago by a mom who waits for her kid's speech therapy to finish sitting in a car on the corner of Connecticut and Brandywine (right by where the 3pm Saturday shooting happened, in fact).

Many violent released offenders "returning citizens" are getting vouchers to live in buildings up and down the Wisconsin and Connecticut Ave. corridors, including for offenses like rape and murder. The DBH also provides PSH vouchers to the seriously mentally ill, who are under no requirement to comply with treatment or even to open the door to a monthly social worker visit.

DC has no requirements re: CSA offenders living at a distance from children or even schools, do a search for the area surrounding Murch before renting nearby. There are over 3,000 PSH vouchers just in those 2 corridors, tax paying residents and law abiding voucher recipients deserve safety and public order. The city does not remove vouchers even for egregious conduct, that needs to change.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/08/08/dc-paid-housing-chronic-homelessness/

I have contacted Ward 3 CM Frumin re the safety issues at the Brandywine and other buildings on Connecticut Ave several times with no response from him. Criminals and severely mentally ill people are being given carte blanche to wreak havoc in an area filled with kids and elderly people, the most vulnerable among us.
Frumin hides his head in the sand, as does the mayor. Shame on them.

https://www.foresthillsconnection.com/news/the-brandywine-apartments-like-sedgwick-gardens-is-seeing-an-influx-of-voucher-holders/

The city really needs to manage this program differently.

Per a neighbor, the stabbing occurred inside The Brandywine. It's not the first time in recent years.

Alert: Stabbing Investigation in the 4500 block of Connecticut Ave NW. Lookout for a light-skinned B/F; wearing Grey sweatpants ... https://evb.gg/n#obbbbzdckvm 9:40 am

Unclear at this time if stabbing occurred in the building or outside. Large LE presence.

This follows a daytime shooting last month, across from The Brandywine, outside The Saratoga, where the shooter ran across Forest Hills playground. The perps and victim did not live in the neighborhood but the perps had "associations" with both buildings per MPD. An arrest has been made in the shooting.

Not long ago, both buildings were full of older residents and families with young kids at Murch and Franklin Montessori.