Office of Ward 4 DC Councilmember Janeese Lewis George. Fighting for working families in the community where I grew up. She/her #PeopleFirst
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Labor Day is a celebration of the power of collective action and the workers in DC who have fought for the labor protections we have today. As workers across the District continue to be put at risk by attacks on DC’s autonomy, today, we draw strength from our history of progress through solidarity.
It was a pleasure to talk with The Politics Hour crew at @wamu.org about the federal occupation and what DC’s leaders should be doing to meet this moment.
Mayor Bowser must be unequivocal that we do not welcome a federal occupation.
On what DC’s leaders should be doing in this moment: “We need to resist and reject — we need to not comply in advance.”
CM Lewis George is on @wamu.org The Politics Hour and shared advice for our immigrant communities during the federal occupation: 1) keep your loved one’s phone numbers on you, 2) make a family preparedness plan, 3) be vigilant. If you’re not at risk, help a neighbor and show up.
Listen in today at noon to The Politics Hour on @wamu.org where I’ll be talking about the federal occupation and what communities are doing to protect our neighborhoods.
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I was overjoyed to celebrate Truesdell Elementary’s new state-of-the-art, Net Zero Energy building at its ribbon cutting ceremony today! Congratulations to Principal Foster, the Truesdell FTO, @dcpublicschools.bsky.social, DGS, ANC4D and the Truesdell community whose input shaped this vibrant space.
UPDATE: Our Ward 4 neighbor has been released & retrieved his car this morning. Thank you to our neighbors for showing up in numbers. This is how we get through this: we keep fighting, we keep showing up, we keep recording, we keep speaking out, and we keep organizing! We keep us safe.
#Ward4 neighbors: please don't order any food delivery right now if you can help it. Delivery drivers are being targeted heavily in our neighborhoods.
Just leaving the scene of yet another neighbor being taken today. Delivering food to a neighbor, stopped, surrounded by multiple agencies of law enforcement and arrested. No pretext.
DC has not had cash bail since 1992. We’ve been collecting data. In FY23, 92% of individuals released pretrial were not arrested for a new offense. www.courtexcellence.org/news-items/2...
Every year, one of my favorite traditions is handing out pencils to DCPS students on their first day of school. It was a joy to visit Truesdell Elementary this morning to cheer on our Ward 4 scholars and see their excitement ahead of starting classes. Wishing all our students a great year ahead!
But hey, don't take it from us... in a new op-ed, @cmlewisgeorgew4.bsky.social argues the need for public investment in local news is dire. 51st.news/opinion-dc-m...
Happy First Day of School to DC's incredible students and educators! Here's to a bright year ahead!
And @freedcproject.bsky.social has put together a 2025 Back to School Community Safety Toolkit — check it out at freedcproject.org/schools
✏️ All bus routes have changed. Plan your new route to school with Trip Planner: wmata.com/tripplanner. ✏️ Kids Ride Free cards will be sent to schools soon. Current cards active until Sept. 30! ✏️ Use DC student fare lanes at Metrorail stations.
DC students head back to school on Monday! 🎒 Here’s some helpful transit tips to make sure your first day back is a success.
![[Graphic: Light purple background with monochromatic 80s styled blobs, with text on a white box affixed with graphic tape; there’s drawings of notebooks, a laptop, and Councilmember Lewis George’s logo in 3 of the corners.] TRANSIT TIPS FOR BACK TO SCHOOL ✏️ All bus routes have changed. Plan your new route to school with Trip Planner: wmata.com/tripplanner. ✏️ Kids Ride Free cards will be sent to schools soon. Current cards active until Sept. 30! ✏️ Use DC student fare lanes at Metrorail stations.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2lwv5jyabj66wqmmhqoar7mg/bafkreiac67lh67wc5kclpuxsbv3uzn6jx2qkrtqsf5eypc3dsvk3amgcqm@jpeg "Click to view full size")
I’m deeply concerned about this pattern and asking Attorney General Schwalb @dcattorneygeneral.bsky.social to investigate this matter.
This video makes it clear that many federal agents aren’t stopping residents based on warrants or reasonable suspicion — they’re abducting people based on racial profiling and only then releasing them once their status is verified. This is blatantly unconstitutional.
Exactly why DC must invest in local news via @cmlewisgeorgew4.bsky.social’s Local News Funding Act!
Local community groups like @freedcproject.bsky.social are also organizing efforts to help protect families from federal overreach as they travel to and from neighborhood schools. You can help by joining an upcoming orientation: freedcproject.org/event-list?c...
Many DC students & families are uncertain about what to expect as they return to school on Monday in the midst of the federal occupation. Join me in surrounding students on their first day with positive energy and support — sign up to clap students back to school!👏🏾 forms.office.com/pages/respon...
This week's #Ward4 Dispatch: Hands Off DC, Local News Funding Act, and DCPS Back to School ⬇️ janeeseward4.com/ward-4-dispa...
📢 My latest Councilmember’s Corner column is out now in @petworthnews.org — discussing how DC is responding to the Trump administration’s attacks, how neighbors can look out for one another, and how we must move forward as a community. Read it here: ➡️ www.petworthnews.org/blog/cm-lewi...
Thanks to @brianneknadeau.bsky.social for co-introducing this important bill. I urge my colleagues on the Committee on Business and Economic Development and the Committee of the Whole to hold hearings on this bill in the fall.
The need for public investment in local journalism is dire — a fact underscored by the events of the last two weeks. That's why I've introduced the Local New Funding Act. 📰 Read my full opinion in @51st.news: ➡️ 51st.news/opinion-dc-m...
That's a typical week for MPD — without the political circus and attacks on DC's autonomy. If Trump had any real interest in fixing violence, he wouldn't be touting those numbers while pushing to let more out-of-state firearms onto DC public transit.
Over the last week, we've heard countless concerns about harmful federal law enforcement activity in our communities. I have created an online form where neighbors can anonymously report and document concerning incidents involving federal agents. Submit reports here: ➡️ bit.ly/4msqJmU
As always, I'm here as a resource for neighbors' questions and concerns. As we learn more, I'll continue to share updates via my Ward 4 newsletter: ➡️ www.ward4news.com
On Friday, we held a Ward 4 town hall to discuss the Trump administration's actions and their impact on District residents. For neighbors who couldn't make it, watch the full recording at bit.ly/3HFHGLu
Yesterday, we officially cut the ribbon on the new Little Free Library at the Takoma Community Triangle Park! 📚🎀🌳 Huge shoutout to @erinpalmerdc.bsky.social, Main Street Takoma, and all the neighbors who worked tirelessly to help this beautiful space support the needs of our community!
Excited to welcome Wings on Deck to their new location in #Ward4! 🍗🌶️ Black-owned and serving delicious wings and sandwiches in a beautiful new space just steps from the Takoma Metro. Make sure to stop by and show your support!
Had a great time with neighbors at Riggs-LaSalle Rec helping our #Ward4 scholars get ready for the school year! Thanks to LRCA, Friends of Riggs-LaSalle, Faith Moravian, DCPC, Pepco, DPR and everyone who joined to make today’s giveaway possible!
Just left the courthouse alongside other DC leaders. Today's outcome is a win for Home Rule and maintaining the right to operate our local law enforcement. We are in this fight together and we must continue to be in this together.
Ward 4 Dispatch: Fighting for DC’s Autonomy ⬇️ janeeseward4.com/ward-4-dispa...
Ward 4, the start of the school year is almost here, and I'm grateful for all the neighbors and organizations committed to ensuring our students have what they need to succeed. Here are a few back-to-school giveaways happening soon, including one I am co-hosting tomorrow at Riggs-LaSalle Rec! 🎒✏️🏫
We stand in support of OAG’s complaint against the federal government defending Home Rule. Grateful to see a hearing scheduled for 2pm today. Neighbors can listen in by calling 1-833-990-9400 (Meeting ID 787605272).
Grateful to see OAG take an important step I’ve been requesting since Day One: to use the District’s legal levers to fight back against this clear unconstitutional overreach. The only thing that will protect our rights as DC residents is to use every legal tool at our disposal.
Thanks to DGS, @dcpublicschools.bsky.social, and LaJoy Law for joining our tours and working to ensure our schools are safe, comfortable, and prepared for the start of the school year.
Even with the recent federal threats, we’re still showing up and doing the work on the ground to support our community. This week, I kicked off our DCPS school readiness tours as Chair of the Committee on Facilities.
Street outreach orgs supporting unhoused residents on the ground: 🚨 Miriam’s Kitchen: 202-452-8926 🚨 Pathways to Housing: 202-529-2972 🚨 Community Connections: 202-546-1512 Share w/ a neighbor, check in on our most vulnerable, & make sure our community stays informed.
Resources for youth, families, and veterans: 🚨 Hotline for youth (18-24): 202-547-7777 🚨 Virginia Williams Family Resource Center (for families w/ minors): 202-526-0017 🚨 Veterans Affairs Office (coordinator for unhoused veterans): 202-745-3012
The President's reckless actions targeting DC autonomy mean many of our unhoused neighbors are at immediate risk. 🚨 If you or a neighbor need support, call the shelter hotline immediately at 202-399-7093. DC government has expanded availability. More resources: ➡️
Thanks @ryangrim.bsky.social @krystalball.bsky.social for having me on Breaking Points today to discuss the Trump administration’s reckless and anti-democratic actions and how the District must respond. The facts don’t support Trump’s claim of a public safety emergency in DC.
The actions taken yesterday by the Trump administration are anti-democratic and un-American, plain and simple. Our residents pay taxes like every other American. Now is the time for everyone else to hear us and fight alongside us for our autonomy.
Taking over our police department and deploying hundreds of National Guard members is not the hard work of public safety – it is a show of force without impact. This is a manufactured intrusion on local authority. Full statement:
Read this week’s #Ward4 Dispatch: Back-to-School Backpack Giveaways, Traffic Safety Prioritizations, and Emery Heights Community Day ⬇️ janeeseward4.com/ward-4-dispa...
Great to spend time meeting with #Ward4 neighbors and sharing resources at National Night Out! Thanks to everyone who stopped by our table at Emery Community Center and to 4th District @dcpolicedept.bsky.social, 4D CAC, ANCs, and all our community partners!
Every government official who supports this agreement is responsible for what happens next. And District residents must hold us accountable if we fail to hold the team, developers, and ourselves to the commitments made to the residents of the District of Columbia.
The work starts now. And I feel the full weight of my vote—every commitment that needs to be kept, every resident who's counting on these promises, every risk we're taking with our public dollars.
To the Commanders' leadership: You want to be a part of this city? Hire our people. Build the affordable housing you promised. Support our small businesses.
There are real wins in this deal - wins that weren't on the table when we started. Hundreds of jobs for DC residents and returning citizens. Grocery subsidies and youth investment for Ward 7. Environmental protections and LEED Platinum certification.
With a federal government hellbent on making this deal happen, we don't always get to choose the game, but we can choose how we play it. But we played it hard. We turned what started as corporate welfare into something that could actually put money in working people's pockets.
This is one of the hardest votes I’ve had to make as a daughter of the District. As someone who grew up in DC, I know what it feels like when development happens to us instead of for us. 🧵
This week's #Ward4 Dispatch: A Challenging Final Budget Vote, An Improved RFK Deal, and RENTAL Act ⬇️ janeeseward4.com/ward-4-dispa...
An update from me and @cmlewisgeorgew4.bsky.social on the RFK labor agreements 👇🏾 We secured a major win for workers and Washingtonians, representing hundreds of good-paying jobs with benefits over several years.
🚨 NEW: I’m proud to announce we've reached an agreement between the Commanders and union partners, securing hundreds of good-paying jobs with benefits during and after construction. Full update from me and @cmzparker5.bsky.social:
Any RFK deal before the Council must have project labor and labor peace agreements as an essential part of the terms we sign onto. Read @cmzparker5.bsky.social’s and my full statement:
What is happening to the people of Gaza defies humanity. It is doubly unconscionable so many leaders continue to turn a blind eye or deny the reality of this unspeakable starvation and killing of civilians. None of this is justifiable. The violence must come to an end.
Project Labor Agreements and Labor Peace Agreements together are a bright line for me when it comes to my vote on RFK. Now it’s time for the Commanders to work with our local unions to negotiate strong PLAs and LPAs that ensure good union jobs and protect workers’ rights.
And just as importantly, Labor Peace Agreements must be in place for all hotels to ensure that workers’ right to unionize will be respected and prevent labor disputes. This is essential to ensuring that post-construction opportunities are good for District workers too.
A deal that’s good for labor is good for DC—because union jobs mean secure jobs for DC residents that pay a good wage, and a rising tide lifts all boats for all of us. That’s why any deal on #RFK must include strong Project Labor Agreements covering all stadium construction.
Working families in DC deserve a better deal when it comes to the #RFK Stadium—especially when it comes to strengthening protections for labor conditions.
Thank you to every neighbor who engaged with us and all our agencies whose partnership made this goal possible. Together, the work continues!
Yesterday's pop-up at Georgia and Emerson was our last of the summer! Over the last month, our goal has been to take up positive space in neighborhoods across Ward 4 and support neighbors and small businesses with constituent services.
Thank you to everyone who made a phone call, testified at a hearing, and advocated for the needs of our community. Your voices made a difference in this budget.
While this budget was far from perfect, here are some of the investments I'm grateful to have helped secure for Ward 4 and DC. I'm ready to keep fighting to make sure we deliver on our promises to DC residents and bolster support for our neighbors most in need of help.
This RENTAL Act does not create balance. It is an abandonment of our most vulnerable citizens. We can and must fix it.
While my colleagues and I sought to resolve some of this budget's gaps, too many serious holes remain in our social safety net for Ward 4 and DC's most vulnerable residents. I cannot in good conscious vote for a budget that falls so far on the side of maintaining the status quo and increasing harm.
My statement on the Council’s final vote on the FY26 budget.
The data is clear: DC's restaurant industry is seeing rising new business starts, outpacing both Maryland and Virginia. We need to prioritize helping restaurants adapt, rather than continuing to make sacrifices at the expense of the workers who keep DC's economy strong.
DC voters overwhelmingly approved tipped workers' right to earn a living wage. Despite our own budget office showing robust restaurant growth since I-82, my colleagues today are proposing we keep these workers at a subminimum wage based on biased data from the restaurant lobby.
We build on the legacy of leaders like Judith Heumann, the "Mother of the Disability Rights Movement" and the first director of the DC Department on Disability Services. May her lifelong advocacy continue to inspire progress for generations to come.
As chair of the Committee on Facilities, I take pride in working alongside agencies every day to support our neighbors with disabilities and advance accessibility in the workplace, transportation, health care, and education.
We also proudly celebrate #DisabilityPrideMonth in July! It’s a time to honor our neighbors with disabilities, uplift their voices and stories, and reaffirm our dedication to advancing disability justice.
Today marks 35 years since the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, a landmark bill that outlawed discrimination based on disability. On #ADADay, we honor this milestone and renew our commitment to breaking down the barriers that people with disabilities still face.
Read my latest #Ward4 Dispatch: Evaluating the RFK Stadium Proposal, Preparing for Final Budget Vote, and Host a Block Party ⬇️ janeeseward4.com/ward-4-dispa...
The recently-released reports on the RFK campus redevelopment show that real questions remain — questions we can't afford to overlook. Read more: ➡️ janeeseward4.com/news Sign up to testify at next week's hearing on RFK: ➡️ lims.dccouncil.gov/Hearings/hea...
Relief is long overdue for neighbors on 4022 Georgia Ave, who have endured unsafe building conditions through no fault of their own. Thank you to OAG for making clear: DC won't tolerate illegal construction. Cases like this show why we must strengthen oversight to protect homeowners.
This Saturday from 8am-5pm is their grand opening, with the first 50 people in line receiving gift cards — parking available at The Vale!
Welcome to Ward 4, Tropical Smoothie Cafe! 🥥🥤🌴 Our newest small business at The Parks at Walter Reed is serving up delicious smoothies right on the corner of Georgia and Aspen. Make sure to stop by and show them some support!
If you're interested in joining the campaign to support youth in foster care, visit CFSA's website: cfsa.dc.gov/page/partner...
Last year, DC passed Lisa's Law, my bill guaranteeing all youth in foster care have access to luggage when moving placements. In just 15 days, DC’s Child & Family Services Agency has surpassed its goal of raising 1,100 bags for foster youth in DC! This is what dignity in action looks like.
Great to join the #Brightwood community for our pop-up yesterday on the corner of Georgia Ave and Sheridan St. Thanks to every neighbor who brought ideas for how to improve our community, and all our agency partners for supporting neighbors with resources!
My statement on the DC Auditor’s report on the “Grossly Inadequate” discipline of the MPD officers convicted in the killing of Karon Hylton-Brown:
Great to join neighbors and agencies on New Hampshire and Rittenhouse to share resources and troubleshoot constituent services issues. Especially grateful to host Prince George's County Council Member Wanika Fisher’s office to discuss working across jurisdictions to keep our communities safe.
Loved speaking with students from @dcattorneygeneral.bsky.social's High School Advisory Council about restorative justice, youth empowerment, and legal advocacy. Grateful to have these young advocates leading the way in guiding policies impacting students across the District.
Thanks @nationals.com for welcoming our community to Nats Park tonight to show our #Ward4 pride! 🏟️⚾️ Grateful to every neighbor who came out, especially LaSalle-Backus Principal Shelly Gray who repped our community on the field!
Read my latest #Ward4 Dispatch: First Budget Vote, Citi Open Begins, and Ward 4 Pop-Ups Continue! ⬇️ janeeseward4.com/ward-4-dispa...
Awesome meeting neighbors at our pop-up on 5th and Kennedy alongside Georgia Ave Family Success Center, OPC, @dcpolicedept.bsky.social, and DCPC! Big thanks to agencies for joining to help neighbors access DC resources and build stronger, safer communities together.
Kicked off our Ward 4 pop-ups strong at New Hampshire Ave & Farragut St in #BrightwoodPark! Thanks to @dcpolicedept.bsky.social, OPC, & DCPC for helping us support neighbors with resources and troubleshoot neighborhood concerns. Join us on Thursday on the 400 block of Kennedy St!
Ranked choice voting is coming to DC! I was proud to vote for @chenderson.bsky.social and @brianneknadeau.bsky.social's amendment to fund Initiative 83 and expand choice in District elections. This is a win for fairer elections and upholding the will of the voters.
Of course! My earlier thread covers some of the key issues — both what’s good and what we still need to address before second vote. Luckily, we were able to mitigate some harm today by preventing an I-82 repeal. I’ll also cover more in my newsletter this week. bsky.app/profile/cmle...
Make no mistake: this budget still has concerning gaps we must work to narrow before second reading. Before the final vote, I'm committed to building on our progress to deliver critical investments in housing, education, and justice.
Today, we protected I-82 and the fair wages of tipped workers, upholding the will of 74% of DC voters. I'm grateful to my colleagues for rejecting a repeal that would ignore the realities workers face while trying to live and work in one of the most expensive cities in the country.
There is much to be proud of in this budget as DC faces unprecedented fiscal challenges and one of the most difficult budgets in recent years. Let’s get this right and pass a budget that keeps our promises to District residents and protects the services our city relies on most.
I'm also concerned about key areas this budget leaves unfunded: ➡️ Changes to DC Healthcare Alliance will leave many without coverage ➡️ Zero new Permanent Supportive Housing vouchers for single adults ➡️ Leaves ranked choice voting approved by voters under I-83 unfunded
The budget also strips $1.7M for summer readiness enhancements in DCPS we secured through the Committee on Facilities. These readiness efforts continue throughout the school year and help ensure our schools are safe, comfortable, and accessible for students and staff.
Data shows our restaurant industry remains healthy, with a growing workforce, an increasing number of restaurants, and rising average wages. Cutting the wages of tipped workers yet again puts a significant strain on the staff who ensure restaurants' success.