DPW Service Level

Curbside Composting Pilot Program: Not in the Pilot Program but interested in participating in the future? Please fill out this waitlist form to be one of the first to hear about program updates and openings: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CompostPilotInterest

Join Mayor Bowser's 7th Annual Spring Cleanup This Saturday, April 27^th!

For more information click here https://servedc.galaxydigital.com/need/detail/?need_id=922111

The Special Waste Collection Events will be conducted twice quarterly.

Here are the dates for the future special waste collection events:

• Thursday, June 27^th from 10am to 2pm @ Anacostia Skate Park 1500 Anacostia Drive SE)
• Saturday, June 29^th from 8am to 2pm @ Cater Barron Tennis Center 1698 Kennedy St NW
• Thursday, September 19^th from 10am to 2pm @ Anacostia Skate Park
• Saturday, September 21^st from 8am to 2pm @ Carter Barron Tennis Center

The Department of Energy and Environment will still have E-cycling events. Visit https://doee.dc.gov/ecycle for more information.

Join the Mayor's Office of the Clean City at their "Roll-Off Days." Roll-off days rotate to different wards on Saturdays each month and allow residents to responsibly dispose of bulk trash, debris, and electronics to E-Cycle! For additional information visit Cleancity.dc.gov

Here's the schedule: 

Spring Services

Street cleaning, alley cleaning, mowing/grounds maintenance, and graffiti removal spring services resumed on April 1^st. Please contact 311 to request an alley cleaning or street cleaning.  For more information regarding DPW spring services visit dpw.dc.gov/page/spring-operations

Assigned Mechanical Street Sweeping resumed on March 4^th. Monday, March 11^th parking enforcement began issuing $45 tickets and $100 relocation fines for vehicles parked on Assigned Mechanical Street Sweeping streets during sweeping hours. If your street is missed, please contact 311 to submit a Signed Street Sweeping Missed service request.

Unified Communication Center UCC

DPW is committed to delivering efficient and effective services to our residents and quickly resolving issues. As our partner in providing streamlined and effective resolutions, we wanted to share the best channels for residents to utilize.

In order to improve our customer service and our internal tracking mechanisms, DPW launched the Unified Communication Center (UCC) in November 2023 aimed at decreasing our response and resolution times. Through the UCC, we have consolidated our call centers and phone numbers into one accessible line. In February 2024, our average hold time was under 2 minutes, affirming our swift assistance for all callers. We also consolidated our emails into one central address. Each contact, whether by phone or email, is provided a Service Request (SR) if they don’t already have one. For a service inquiry, our representatives offer service information and pass along Service Level Agreement (SLA) benchmarks. In instances where an SR is past our SLA benchmarks, our operational escalation team intervenes to quickly resolve the outstanding request.  

To ensure smooth communication for everyone, as a first step, we kindly request you share the contact details of the UCC with all members in your office and constituents who reach out to you. This will make the service resolution process quicker for residents and raise awareness about DPW's new communication center. DPW’s leadership team is here to address continual issues or problems that have not been addressed satisfactorily by the UCC.  

The UCC is still new, and staff are still learning. If you have used the UCC, please share feedback on what’s working well and what needs improvement. We’d love to hear from you so we can continue to improve!  

UCC Phone: (202) 673-6833 (Mon – Fri) 8:30 am – 4:30 pm  

Central Email: dpw@dc.gov. 

2nd Quarterly Community Conversation Questions & Responses

On behalf of the DPW team, I wanted to extend our gratitude for your active participation in the 2nd Quarterly Community Conversation held on April 24, 2024. Your willingness to share questions and concerns beforehand played a pivotal role in shaping the discussion and guiding our efforts toward addressing the most pressing issues facing communities within the District. We genuinely appreciate the time and effort you invested in providing thoughtful input. Attached to this message, you will find comprehensive responses to all the questions and concerns that were submitted before and during the community conversation. Our team has diligently worked to address each inquiry, ensuring transparency and accountability in our communication with you all. I hope that our operations administrators, whose presentations during the event addressed several of the questions raised by the community were instrumental in providing clarity on various topics and a deeper understanding of our department's initiatives. Moving forward, we will remain committed to fostering open communication and collaboration with members of the community. Your continued engagement is vital in our collective efforts to enhance the quality of life for everyone in our city. Once again, thank you for your unwavering support and dedication to our shared goals. 

DC Water Public Meeting on Green Infrastructure

On May 6, 2024, at 6:30 pm DC Water will hold its final public meeting to present our third green infrastructure project in Ward 4, Rock Creek Project C (RC-C). DC Water’s virtual meeting will describe the project in detail and allow residents to comment on the Draft Project Description before the 30-day comment period closes on May 10, 2024. Information on how to join the meeting as well as the RC-C Project Description can be found at: https://www.dcwater.com/projects/rockcreekgreenc.

Rock Creek Project C is designed to meet a requirement to manage 1.2” of stormwater runoff from at least 25 impervious acres. This requirement will be achieved through the construction and implementation of permeable pavement within alleyways. Comments received by May 10th will be incorporated in the final project description and design, as applicable.

Kennedy Street Library Project Updates

On Wednesday, the Council held a budget oversight hearing for the DC Public Library system, where I asked the Chief of Staff and Executive Director of DCPL about the Kennedy Street Library Project, which had its funding eliminated in the proposed FY25 budget. This project would not only address a substantial library service gap in Brightwood Park and Manor Park but would also address the need for more community gathering space and affordable housing in Ward 4. 

I'm grateful for the community members who testified during the hearing, and the many more who submitted written testimony. The perspective of these Ward 4 residents speaks to the lived experience of our neighbors, and I have been moved by their testimony over the last several days. As one testimony from Ward 4 business owner Taalib-Din Uqdah reads, "there are very few institutional structures that can have an immediate impact on any community; a library is one of them... To build a library says we care; to not build one says we don't."

During the hearing, I also underscored the need for other crucial library services for Ward 4. One particularly important service is the provision of WMATA SmarTrip cards by DC public libraries. Many seniors are not able to travel downtown to get SmarTrip cards and making them available at local libraries is an effective policy to make sure seniors have access to affordable public transportation. Additionally, I underscored the importance of continuing construction of teen space and promoting safe passage to and from Petworth Library. Finally, I was relieved to hear DCPL's indications that they will keep the Juanita E. Thornton-Shepherd Park Library open on its current site. This was the result of persistent activism by many members of our community, and I will push to make sure this promise is upheld in the final budget, keeping this library where Ward 4 residents need it most.

Safeguarding Neighborhood Connect

During Wednesday's Committee on Public Works and Operations hearing, I was extremely concerned to learn of the Mayor's budget's elimination of Neighborhood Connect, which is expected to take effect in late July. Neighborhood Connect is a vital service providing affordable shuttle services for people throughout DC and has been incredibly important to our Ward 4 community.

Neighborhood Connect has particularly earned the trust of our seniors as one of the most reliable transportation options they have available. I have heard time and again from Ward 4 seniors, especially those living in communities like East Rock Creek Village and Northwest Neighbors Village how important this program has been in their day-to-day lives. This cut will fall hard on those who are unable to walk to the nearest transit stop and can't afford the high price of taxi or rideshare services. Seniors cannot be a part of the "shared sacrifice" of this proposed budget, and I am committed to making sure this program has its funding fully restored. 

Pay Equity Fund Updates

Last month, DC's Chief Financial Officer stated that the city must immediately replenish DC's reserve funds, which were largely spent during the pandemic. In an already tight budget year, any action by the CFO to decline to certify would force the city to cut $217 million from the budget to go towards these reserves. Ultimately, the Council asked the Attorney General for his legal opinion on the CFO's position. 

This week, we learned that the Attorney General stated that this decision declining to certify the budget would have no legal effect. Now, rather than being forced to immediately replenish reserve funds, which have a harmful effect on our ability to fund important services for our communities, we will be able to replenish the funds over the next several years. Council Chairman Mendelson has publicly stated that this money will be used to restore the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund, a crucial program for DC's childcare workers and families. I'm thrilled about this development and will work to make sure we can keep this important program funded in the FY25 budget.