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I am a lifelong Ward 5 resident, community advocate and small business owner. My professional background spans risk management, economic development, constituent services and nonprofit leadership. I have spent years working alongside residents, civic associations and faith communities to address the real challenges facing our neighborhoods, from blight and disinvestment to public safety and housing insecurity. I have served on advisory boards, collaborated with ANC commissioners, and engaged directly with D.C. government agencies to advocate for Ward 5’s interests. As a business owner and community builder, I understand what it takes to create jobs, serve people with dignity and hold institutions accountable. These lived and professional experiences rooted right here in Ward 5 are exactly what this Council seat demands.

My top three priorities are: (1) Public Safety—investing in both law enforcement accountability and community-based violence intervention so families feel safe in their homes and on their streets. (2) Affordable Housing—protecting longtime residents from displacement through stronger tenant protections, inclusionary zoning enforcement and targeted homeownership support. (3) Economic Opportunity—revitalizing Ward 5’s commercial corridors, growing local jobs and ensuring residents are first in line for the prosperity being built in our community. This includes being a CHAMPION for Native Washingtonian businesses.

Keeping Ward 5 safe requires both accountability and investment, not one or the other. Legislatively, I would push to fully fund the Community Safety and Violence Intervention (CSVI) ecosystem, including more investment in , violence interrupters and trauma-informed crisis response teams. I would also advocate for mandatory body camera compliance and independent oversight of MPD use-of-force incidents to protect civil rights. On the accountability side, I support restoring consequences for serious offenses while ensuring that young people in the justice system receive wraparound services not just incarceration. I would measure progress through data: response times, recidivism rates, community crime surveys, and clearance rates for violent offenses. Just as important, I would hold quarterly listening sessions in Ward 5 so residents — not just statistics — can tell me whether they feel safer. Real public safety is built with partnership, with responsible law enforcement, concerned citizens. The Council must be the bridge between community voice, legislative action and powerful law enforcement initiatives that are rooted in evidence-based research and compassion for our residents.

The Council’s role is to fund a continuum — prevention, intervention, and accountability — not to choose between them. Prevention means investing in after-school programs, mentorship, summer jobs, and mental health services so young people have real alternatives. Intervention means deploying credible messengers and violence interrupters the moment a young person is at risk. Accountability means that when serious harm occurs, there must be meaningful consequences paired with rehabilitation. On youth curfews: I believe targeted, time-limited curfews can be a reasonable tool in specific high-risk areas during documented spikes in youth-involved violence, but only when paired with programming, not as a standalone enforcement measure. Curfews without investment are merely punishment. Used responsibly, they can create a window of safety while longer-term solutions take hold. I would oppose blanket, citywide curfews that sweep up youth who are simply outside and doing nothing wrong. Context, data, and community input must guide any such decision and that is what I would use to curate the appropriate solution that protects everyone’s right to enjoy our city and feel safe.

The Council’s budget and oversight authority is one of its most powerful tools for improving student outcomes. I would use it in three ways. First, I would advocate for equitable per-pupil funding that accounts for the higher costs of serving students with disabilities. Second, I would exercise rigorous oversight of both DCPS and the Public Charter School Board, demanding transparent data on graduation rates, chronic absenteeism and post-secondary outcomes by school and ward. Third, I would champion investments in school-based mental health services, wrap-around support coordinators, mandate trade schools have the opportunity to partner with middle schools and high schools to produce a pipeline of professionals who are skilled upon graduation. I would also encourage family engagement programs because a child who is hungry, traumatized or homeless cannot learn effectively regardless of instructional quality. Education is Ward 5’s strongest path to economic mobility, and the Council must treat it that way.

Ward 5 is being squeezed from every direction: Rents rising, longtime homeowners being pushed out and new developments that don’t always serve the people already here. I would support strengthening the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), ensuring tenants have real tools to exercise their right of first refusal. I would fight to expand the Affordable Dwelling Unit pipeline and require deeper affordability levels in new developments near transit corridors. For homeowners, I would push for expanded D.C. Homeowner Assistance Fund access and property tax relief for longtime residents facing assessment increases. New development is not the enemy; displacement is. I support growth that includes community benefit agreements, local hiring requirements and genuine affordable set-asides, not token percentages. Ward 5 residents built these neighborhoods. Any development deal that doesn’t protect their ability to stay is not a deal worth making. I would also create programs to help repair homes for the elderly residents who are the backbone of Ward 5. Many served the government and many other organizations during a time when civil rights protections were not accessible and faced many challenges to access home ownership. I want to ensure they can age in place in their homes and create generational wealth for their families

Residents deserve city services that work every time, not just when someone is watching. As a Council member, I would establish a structured agency oversight calendar for committees I serve on, holding quarterly public hearings where agency directors must report on response time data, complaint resolution rates and service equity, by ward. I would push for a Ward 5 constituent services dashboard with public-facing, real-time data on 311 request completion rates, DCLP and DOB timelines, and DDOT response to infrastructure complaints. Legislatively, I would advocate for service-level agreements between agencies and the public with enforceable benchmarks. When agencies consistently fail, budget consequences must follow. I have spent years navigating D.C. bureaucracy on behalf of neighbors. I know exactly where the gaps are, and I will use Council authority to close them.

When the budget is tight, the people with the least margin for error must be protected first. That means funding for public safety, affordable housing subsidies, senior services and behavioral health cannot be treated as discretionary line items — they are the foundation of a functioning Ward 5. My framework for budget decisions: (1) Does cutting this program hurt the most vulnerable residents disproportionately? (2) Does it undermine public safety or health outcomes? (3) Are there administrative efficiencies elsewhere that can absorb the cut instead? I would scrutinize large contracts and agency administrative overhead before touching direct services. I would also demand program-by-program outcome data so we are not simply protecting programs that have existed for decades but producing little measurable impact. Every dollar is a vote for what we value and Ward 5 families and all residents deserve a Council member whose values show up in the budget.

D.C. residents pay federal taxes, serve in the military and participate fully in American civic life, yet lack the full self-governance that every state takes for granted. The Council should be unequivocally assertive in defending home rule. That means working in coalition with our congressional delegates, national advocacy organizations and peer cities to push for D.C. statehood or, at minimum, meaningful autonomy protections. It also means the Council must be disciplined—passing legislation that is legally sound and politically defensible, so as not to give Congress unnecessary pretexts for intervention. When Congress does act against the will of District residents, the Council should respond publicly, on the record, and in coordination with the Mayor. Our silence is not neutrality it is consent. Ward 5 residents deserve a representative who will stand up, speak clearly, and fight for our right to govern ourselves

Ward 5 residents deserve reliable transportation regardless of whether they own a car. My priorities: First, I would push for increased frequency on the bus lines that serve Ward 5’s residential and commercial corridors. Many residents depend on these lines to reach jobs, schools and healthcare. Second, I would advocate for dedicated capital investment in street repaving and sidewalk repair in under-served sections of the ward where aging infrastructure creates safety hazards, especially for seniors and families with strollers. Third, I would support expanded protected bike infrastructure and pedestrian safety improvements near schools and senior centers. Finally, I would fight for equitable Metro access. Ward 5 communities that are far from rail stations deserve robust first-and-last-mile solutions, including improved bus shelters, lighting and real-time information displays. Transportation is economic justice. Where you can get to shapes what opportunities are available to you.

Meaningful community voice means more than a single public hearing. It means early, ongoing and accessible engagement before plans are finalized. As a Council member, I would require that development proposals in Ward 5 go through a structured community benefits negotiation process involving ANC commissioners, civic associations and direct resident input. I would support stronger community benefit agreement (CBA) requirements for large-scale projects, covering affordable housing set-asides, local hiring, small business preservation and green space commitments. I would also advocate for interpretation services at all public hearings, so non-English-speaking residents can participate fully. Growth is not the problem; exclusion from growth is. Ward 5 has tremendous assets and deserves development that reflects its history, honors its people and builds on its strengths. I will be a Council member who holds developers accountable to the community, not just to the bottom line.

The Council and Mayor must be partners where partnership serves residents, and independent where independence is required. I would approach the relationship with good faith and a commitment to collaboration on shared priorities: Public safety, housing, and economic development. When the executive proposes strong initiatives, I will support them. When the Mayor’s office falls short of its commitments to Ward 5, I will exercise the Council’s full oversight authority without hesitation. Oversight is not opposition; it is the constitutional function of a legislative body. Residents expect the Council to be a check on executive power, not a rubber stamp. I would use committee hearings, budget authority, and legislative tools to ensure accountability regardless of political considerations. Ward 5 deserves a Council member whose loyalty is to constituents first.

A 911 system that fails is a matter of life and death and the Council must treat it that way. I would push for a dedicated oversight hearing on the Office of Unified Communications (OUC) with mandatory reporting on call answer times, dispatch accuracy and dispatcher staffing levels. Specifically, I would advocate for: full staffing of the OUC dispatch center with living-wage positions to reduce turnover; mandatory dispatcher training standards; real-time performance dashboards visible to the public; and an independent audit of technology infrastructure. I would also push for community liaisons who can help residents navigate emergency response when the system fails. Ward 5 families have waited too long for 911 calls to be answered. That is unacceptable in a city with the District’s resources, and I will use every Council tool available to fix it.

Public trust is the foundation of effective governance, and the Council has a responsibility to earn it back. I would start by committing to full financial disclosure, responsive constituent communication and transparent use of office resources, setting the standard through my own conduct. Systemically, I would support strengthening the Council’s ethics rules, including mandatory ethics training, robust financial disclosure requirements and empowering the Board of Ethics and Government Accountability to act swiftly and independently. When members violate ethical standards, consequences must be real. Censure, loss of committee assignments and referral to appropriate authorities are all appropriate tools. I will never protect colleagues at the expense of the residents we serve. The people of Ward 5 deserve a Council they can trust and I intend to be exactly that for all District residents, not just those in Ward 5.

Ward 5 is at a crossroads, and how we manage this moment will define our community for a generation. I will fight to ensure that growth serves those who have been here, not just those arriving with more resources. That means mandatory affordability in every major development, with set-asides at income levels that actually reach Ward 5’s working families—30% and 50% AMI, not just 80%. It means using the District’s First Source hiring laws so that construction and permanent jobs created in Ward 5 go to Ward 5 residents. I also support a community land trust model to permanently remove units from the speculative market, ensuring housing stays affordable in perpetuity. Ward 5 has been a community of builders, workers and neighbors for generations. Protecting that legacy while welcoming responsible growth is not a contradiction; it is exactly what principled leadership looks like.

There is not just one item I can identify, but when I hear Go-Go music; when I eat a Half Smoke at Ben’s Chili Bowl; when I wear a Universal Madness Shirt or attend services at Howard University Chapel on Sundays, I am reminded of the heartbeat of this city. When I walk on the National Mall and think of the March on Washington and all of the leaders who died for my opportunity to serve and then walk on Pennsylvania Ave and think of the slaves who built each building, I’m proud to say this is my home.

I cry at graduation even when I don’t know the student. Something about watching someone cross that stage, knowing what it took to get there, gets me every time. That’s what this work is really about for me: Not policies and platforms, but people making it through and getting what they deserve. I have overcome many challenges and hardships and my personal journey through hardships is what motivates me to be an advocate for others and serve with compassion and loyalty to my fellow residents.