Image by Dan Reed.

Weekly, Regional Policy Director Dan Reed and DC Policy Director Alex Baca will share with you an action you can take in the immediate future that has the potential, sometimes great and sometimes small, to increase the number of homes in our region, decrease the trips people take by car, make all of it safer, and not screw people over in the process. This week: do you have what it takes to run for ANC, it’s all rent stabilization, all the time in Maryland, and congratulations to our Virginia primary endorsees!

If you have any questions, email dreed@ggwash.org about Maryland and Virginia Do Somethings, and abaca@ggwash.org about Washington, DC, Do Somethings—or, about whatever you want to talk about.

DC

Our first training for anyone interested in running for an Advisory Neighborhood Commission seat in DC is this coming Monday, July 1, at 6:00 pm, via Zoom. You should attend it! Sign up for it here.

Dan and I started writing Do Something primarily because people who want, say, more housing often ask us what to do about getting more housing—or more bus lanes, or more bike lanes, or whatever. As GGWash’s policy directors in Maryland and the District, we spend a lot of time figuring out what is the most effective way to bring about more of the things we think are good (housing, affordable housing, places that aren’t impossible to traverse without a car, etc.). Sometimes that involves showing up to a meeting to do a yimbyism by saying, “Build more housing here,” and sometimes—actually, most times—it doesn’t.

One constant in the doing of things to advance GGWash’s issues is that: The #1 most important thing I think that any resident of the District can do—if they want to see more housing, more affordable housing, more bike and bus infrastructure, and fewer trips by car—is to run for an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner seat and, if elected, serve. (And when it comes time to step down, identify and support an appropriate replacement.) We’re big believers in representative democracy at GGWash, which ANC commissioners, whose single-member districts have about 2,000 constituents and whose oath pledges service to the District of Columbia, embody. It matters tremendously to have people who are aligned with our worldview serving their communities, even in an advisory capacity, because land-use and transportation decisions are that hyper-local.

So, we endorse candidates running for ANC seats—we’ve been doing so since 2018—and are continually looking for ways to support our candidates after they win their elections. Our endorsement process always kicks off with a candidate training, where we go over how to run for an ANC seat and what to expect if you win your election. You do not have to have been endorsed by us, or agree with us, to attend.

The July 1 Zoom training is, conveniently, the first day that nominating petitions will be available for pickup from the Board of Elections! We’re also hosting an in-person training on July 14, followed by a happy hour, at Grand Duchess in Adams Morgan, from 3:00–5:00 pm. I hope you will come to one or both. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, email me at abaca@ggwash.org.—AB

Maryland

It’s Hot Rent Stabilization Summer in Maryland, and county and city governments are hustling to introduce legislation that will block landlords from giving their tenants backbreaking rent increases. A few weeks ago it seemed like Prince George’s County would have two competing proposals for rent caps, but last week the County Council seems to have reached a deal, and it looks a lot like what Montgomery County passed last year: capping rents at 6% or 3% over the rate of inflation, whichever is lower. A final vote hasn’t been scheduled yet, but there will be a public hearing July 16 at the County Administration Building in Largo.

Speaking of Montgomery County: This summer the County Council will review the regulations for how rent stabilization will actually work, which need to get approved before rent caps can take effect. We had some concerns about the regs, written by county housing staff at the request of county executive Marc Elrich, in particular a cap on parking fee hikes to between one and four percent per year, depending on if the space was reserved or covered. An analysis of parking fees at county apartment complexes found rates ranging from $25 to $300/month, though many landlords didn’t charge for parking at all. Under the proposed regs, parking fee increases at those complexes could be restricted to as little as 25 cents.

As I wrote back in February, “the point of rent stabilization is to make it easier for living beings to find stable, affordable homes, especially considering the county’s push to make parking requirements more flexible as a way to lower home prices.” The revised text is a little better, creating a mechanism for landlords who don’t currently charge for parking to introduce parking fees. That’s ultimately fairer for tenants, many of whom don’t own cars, especially the lower-income tenants who are most vulnerable to dramatic rent increases. Restricting parking fees not only undermines the county’s own parking policies, but it means that landlords will find another way to pass those costs along, whether or not someone owns a car.

But tenants are already feeling the squeeze, and the County Council’s ability to change the executive’s proposed regulations are limited. That’s why we cosigned this letter with other groups asking the council to pass the rent regulations sooner, rather than later. We still need to have a bigger conversation about Montgomery County’s parking policy, and as someone who literally co-wrote the book on that in 2016, I’m eager to get started.

Meanwhile: Rockville is in Montgomery County, but they need to pass their own rent stabilization bill, and the City Council will start looking at that this summer. They’ll have a worksession and hearing next Monday, July 8, and I need to actually look at what they’re proposing.

But I’ll say what I’ve said before: rent stabilization is a sometimes food, and it is not enough to simply pass it and call it a day. All three of these jurisdictions need to look at how they’re making it easier to build more homes, at all price points. If rent stabilization gives people the choice to stay in their homes and neighborhoods, abundant housing gives people the choice to move if their desires or needs change. People deserve both. This is one reasoning behind Montgomery County’s Attainable Housing Strategies, which is also before the County Council this summer, and we hope to see Rockville and Prince George’s exploring ways to juice their housing production as well.

If you have a few minutes this week…

  • And live in Prince George’s County: write your County Councilmember and let them know you support CB-55-2024, which would enact permanent rent stabilization. Here’s a list of their email addresses, and here’s how you can find your district councilmember.
  • And live in Montgomery County: send an email to the County Council and let them know you support passing the rent stabilization regulations sooner rather than later. The council has a new form you can use without typing out all their email addresses, which is very convenient.
  • And live in the City of Rockville: send an email to the Mayor and City Council at mayorcouncil [at] rockvillemd [dot] gov and let them know you support rent stabilization AND increased housing production to address our regional housing shortage. I’ll follow up with more details as we have them.—DR

Virginia

The results from last week’s primary election are in, and congratulations to our endorsees Alyia Gaskins, Sarah Bagley, and Kirk McPike in Alexandria, and JD Spain in Arlington! They’ll go on to the general election in November, but in these heavily Democratic jurisdictions they’re all favored to win. Thanks to everyone who voted, shared our endorsements with their friends and loved ones, and donated to or volunteered with these campaigns! —DR

Your support of GGWash enables us, Dan and Alex, to do our jobs. Our jobs are knowing how development and planning works in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. If it’s appropriate to take action to advance our goals, which we hope you share, we can let you know what will have the most impact, and how to do it well. You can make a financial contribution to GGWash here. And if you want to see Do Something in your inbox, scroll down and sign up for our daily emails.