Dear Neighbor,
This month, I am highlighting a few projects and priorities that are important to the District in my newsletter. As I have shared, my team and I are spending time this summer ensuring policy initiatives we advanced throughout this past year are implemented as planned, conducting oversight of our District agencies and programs, and meeting with residents across the city to hear ideas about how we can best serve you.
This week, I am excited to share updates on the Ward 2 Senior Center and DC’s soon-to-be LGBTQQIA+ Community Center in Shaw!
First, however, I want to call attention to an issue that I know is on the top of many residents’ minds right now: our Office of Unified Communications 911 call operations.
Continued incidents and issues in our 911 operations have been extremely troubling to me. That’s why I fought hard to include hiring and retention incentives for OUC call-takers and dispatchers in this year’s budget and included critical transparency provisions in my Secure DC bill to provide greater insight into concerning trends related to below-minimum staffing levels at our 911 call center through the mandated public dashboard.
Our 911 call center call-takers and dispatchers perform challenging, high-stakes, and lifesaving work, and it is absolutely critical that our essential workers are fairly compensated for their work and also that our staffing levels sufficiently facilitate expedient, accurate, and reliable emergency response. I am concerned about the trend of low staffing levels we are seeing at OUC and am urging the agency to explore additional solutions and incentives to improve our staffing levels, including hiring and performance bonuses.
I am also exploring additional interventions around incident reports and legislative action to see the actualization of these improvements that I have been calling for and that the public rightfully expects and deserves. Lives depend on getting needed improvements in place at OUC.
Ward 2 Senior Center
As I have shared before, I was immensely proud to secure funding for a sorely needed Ward 2 Senior Wellness Center.
The Senior Center will be co-located with senior-housing and LGBTQQIA+-senior -housing and will provide rich programming, resources, and opportunities for connection so that our senior neighbors can age in place with dignity and community. We know that our senior neighbors have greater health outcomes when we facilitate structures that curb isolation and promote connection.
Currently, the Task Force I established last year is working with the Department of Aging and Community Living (DACL) to select an architect and engineering (A/E) team that will assess and identify three potential locations for the Ward 2 Senior Center. Once the A/E team is selected, neighbors will have the opportunity to provide feedback and ideas to the Task Force through community forums, open houses, and surveys.
Our best ideas come from our residents - I encourage you to share your ideas with me for what you’d like to see at a Ward 2 Senior Center.
LGBTQQIA+ Community Center
I am so proud that Ward 2 will be home to a new first-of-its-kind LGBTQQIA+ Community Center on Wiltberger Street (between S, T, 6th and 7th Streets) in Shaw! The Center aims to provide education, connection, and supports to uplift our LGBTQIA+ neighbors through health and wellness, arts and culture, social and peer support, and advocacy and community building.
This year, I successfully worked with colleagues to secure an additional $1 million in the budget to complete renovations at the new location in Shaw, and earlier this summer I toured the location to discuss all of the exciting new initiatives. I am thrilled that the renovations are in the home stretch!
I met with Executive Director Kimberley Bush and Board Member Rehana Mohammed to discuss all of the incredible supports and services that will be provided at the Center, including but not limited to:
- Showers, laundry services, and free clothing
- Healthcare providers, STI testing, and therapy services
- Food pantry, nutritional education, and community programming
The Center will also house space for other LGBTQQIA+ groups – including Capital Pride, the Wanda Alston Foundation, SMYAL, and Team DC – so that the site can be a one-stop-shop for our LGBTQQIA+ community to access services, supports, and programming.
With our rich history of LGBTQQIA+ activism and community, Ward 2 is so proud to be home to this incredible initiative, and I am grateful for the continued partnership with the thoughtful and intentional leadership at the Center. Learn more about the DC LGBTQQIA+ Community Center here!
Lastly, make sure you are subscribed to my newsletter to receive it in your inbox each week this month!
Yours in Service,
Brooke
- Washington Post: D.C. 911 center under fire again after baby dies during computer outage. “'We know that improvements are needed to ensure that we are operating at the highest level of care and response,’ Brooke Pinto, Ward 2 Council member and public safety committee chair, said in an emailed statement to questions about Friday’s failure. 'While the circumstances of this case are still under review, we know that emergency response is too important not to get it right.’”
- Watch: WUSA9: DC 911 call center workers offered $800 bonuses for doing this one thing. “WUSA9 has learned the average annual salary for a call taker is $50,000. Councilmember Brooke Pinto, Chair of the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee sent WUSA9 this statement: ‘Improving hiring and retention at our public safety agencies – including at the Office of Unified Communications – is essential for our public safety goals. As a result of my Secure DC bill that the Council unanimously passed, we now have greater insight into concerning trends related to below-minimum staffing levels at our 911 call center through the mandated public dashboard. That’s why I fought hard to include hiring and retention incentives for OUC call-takers and dispatchers in this year’s budget. But there is much more work to do.’”
- Watch: DC News Now: DC 911’s call center to offer $800 bonus to employees who show up for work. “Staffing shortages have plagued the OUC for years, and back in July of this year, only eight shifts of 66 met targeted staffing levels, according to the office’s online dashboard. Councilmember Pinto told DC News Now ... that she’s urging the agency to explore additional solutions and incentives to improve staffing levels, including better compensation for people doing the important work of answering 911 calls.”
- WTOP: DC’s 911 call center employees to get $800 bonus to show up to work. “Ward 2 Council member Brooke Pinto, chair of the D.C. Council Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, issued a statement saying, 'Our 911 call takers and dispatchers do challenging, high-stakes, and lifesaving work,' adding that it’s critical 'our essential workers are fairly compensated.' Pinto went on to say, “’I am concerned about the trend of low staffing levels we are seeing at OUC” and urged exploring incentives, including hiring and performance bonuses.’”