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Recommendations and Final Report of the DC Comprehensive Housing Strategy Task Force

Alice M. Rivlin
Alice Rivlin
Alice M. Rivlin Former Brookings Expert

June 13, 2006

Madame Chair and Members of the Committee: I greatly appreciate the opportunity to present to the Committee and the Council the Report and Recommendations of the DC Comprehensive Housing Strategy Task Force. I served as co-chair of the Task Force along with my colleague, Adrian Washington, the President of the Anacostia Development Corporation, who joins me here this morning. The purpose of our testimony is to present our final report to the Council, describe the process the Task Force followed in arriving at findings and recommendations, discuss the steps that need to be taken to implement the Task Force’s recommendations, and answer any questions Council members may have.

The Comprehensive Housing Strategy Task Force was created by the City Council in November 2003 as a result of legislation developed by the then-chairman of this committee, Harold Brazil, with co-sponsorship by Council member Adrian Fenty. Mayor Williams appointed, and Council confirmed, the Task Force members in early 2004.

You and the Mayor gave us a balanced group of housing professionals and developers from the non-profit and private sectors along with four city agency directors, several housing advocates, various think tank, academic and foundation experts, and a citizen representative. It was a hard working group of serious and thoughtful people and as a result we accomplished a good deal.