neighborhood news she had employed, Capitol Services Management, headed by Phinis Jones. Both denied any wrongdoing. During the ensuing skirmish the DC Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) – the agency that provided the multimillion loan to the nonprofit – appointed a new management company. The tenants filed a lawsuit. Attorney General Nathan jumped into that fight, asking the court to appoint a receiver that would help repair the building and oversee its sale. The case has gone on for 18 months without resolution. “I’m surprised the legal system takes its time in dealing with quality-oflife issues for poor black people.” said Councilmember May, adding that she is “bothered and angered.” Leah Gurowitz, a spokesperson for the court and its judges, called the case “complicated.” She said that at the District’s request DC Superior Court Judge John Mott combined two cases, making it “even more complex and time-consuming.” Further, there were claims and counterclaims by the various parties. But, she said, “Judge Mott has been very active and has done his best to get the parties to work out many of the issues, including discovery disputes, although some of those efforts have met with limited success. He has entered more than 25 orders and has held six hearings to date in order to move the case to resolution.” According to Gurowitz the judge entered “a default against defendant Park Southern Neighborhood Corporation and [granted] judgment to the District on Park Southern Neighborhood Corporation’s counterclaim.” He also has ordered “several of the defendants to show cause why they should not be sanctioned for failing to comply with discovery orders.” Still, Mott has not issued a definitive ruling on Nathan’s request. A status hearing is set for Feb. 24. During the court’s delays the DHCD has provided some relief. Gwen Cofield, director of communications, said in an email that the agency “continues to monitor the day-to-day property management of Park Southern and continues to pay utility bills to avoid disconnection of services, as well as pay repair bills.” She said the agency also “has administered the [Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act] process since the owners received a sale offer in September 2015.” Cofield did not respond to a follow-up email asking her to indicate how much cash the DHCD has spent on behalf of the nonprofit owners of Park Southern. She also did not provide, as requested, the name of the individual or company that wants to buy the building. Meekins said the current lawsuit is very different from the others, however. The OAG is attempting to establish a foundation for future litigation that would provide “temporary and permanent injunctive relief ” to tenants while putting in a place a significant system to monitor poor performing landlords “We are going to make sure Congress Heights is resolved expeditiously,” added Racine. Can he keep that promise?
Promises, Promises Calling housing construction and preservation in the District a political minefield would be speaking in understatement. At Park Southern, for example, both key players – Scott and Jones –are political supporters and allies of Mayor Bowser. In fact, during the 2014 campaign Jones helped raise $20,000 in contributions. When the head of DHCD asked for a public hearing regarding the problems at the complex, Bowser sought to resolve the matter behind closed doors. Thus far, she has made no public statement about the properties on Alabama Avenue, where political connections are equally troubling. The owners and their partners recently received approval for a zoning change. They want to build on the site of the exiting apartments, which is across from the Congress Heights Metro Station, offices, retail shops, and more upscale rental units. The partnership includes Geoffrey Griffis, who in published reports acknowledged that he is one of Bowser’s long-time friends and political supporters. Bowser appointed him last year to the National Capital Planning Commission. That designation came even as his business associates refused to make repairs to the apartments that senior citizens and low-income residents called home. Phinis Jones also is in the middle. He provided management and construction services for Sanford Capital LLC, a prime owner of the Alabama
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Avenue properties. He also helped prepare a community benefits agreement, an arrangement in which property developers or owners offer cash and other resources to select nonprofit groups and individuals; signers of the agreement in turn advocate for the project and secure support from their neighbors. One recipient of the Alabama Avenue benefits agreement is supposed to be a workforce development training program started by Jones, according to government sources. They also indicate that Jones has been lobbying to purchase a fifth building on Alabama Avenue adjacent to those named in the attorney general’s lawsuit. Jones, who did not return telephone calls to his office at Capitol Services Management, was a key figure in May’s council campaign. Prior to her election she and Jones worked together to construct a senior housing complex in Ward 8. When asked about Jones’ involvement in the Alabama Avenue properties, May attempted to distance herself. “I am not sure about any specific involvement of Phinis Jones,” she said. “I am a lawyer,” she continued, “but I am not the lawyer for Mr. Jones or [for] the building owners or for DHCD.” The landlords seem to have circumvented residents’ rights under the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) by not formally putting the buildings up for sale or securing a permit for their demolition. That hasn’t happened, speculated Bonds, because they want the tenants to move out. If TOPA were to take effect, it could stall the development that Nowell and his team want by as much as six months to a year. “If the DHCD had partnered with the tenants to purchase the property when it was possible, things wouldn’t look the way they do,” added Merrifield, who entered the conflict to help the residents with the TOPA process. He said residents have gone to multiple District agencies looking for relief and support: DCRA, DHCD, the zoning commission, and the District Council. “I have never worked with a group of tenants like the ones at this property. It’s been a unique experience,” added Merrifield. They have not received any tangible support except for the attorney general’s lawsuit. Why didn’t others come to their aid? Are political connections serving as obstacles to the preservation of the affordable housing the mayor has promised? Merrifield said he has seen documents between DHCD and Sanford Capital. There was also communication between the Office of Planning and Sanford before it presented its case to the zoning commission. He said that wasn’t supposed to happen. “It was not an independent process,” he continued. “The game is rigged.” It’s certainly hard to fathom why the District government would continue to do business with property owners who have a documented history of violating the city’s housing code. Even May suggested she was troubled by that. She said that in assessing developers she looks at “how [they] are treating people they are serving now as an indicator how they will treat people in the future.” May said she has asked DHCD Director
Polly Donaldson to renovate that fifth building owned by the government. That would be the same property allegedly coveted by Jones, who is a friend of the mayor and May. “We have a lot of housing needs in Ward 8,” continued May. “We need to be more aggressive, more creative about getting more housing on line. I’m looking across the country for best practices. I am looking for the most aggressive processes that we can adopt.”
Room for a Legislative Fix “If we had the regulations for DOPA [District Opportunity to Purchase Act], we could go in and purchase those buildings,” said Bonds. That law was introduced by Marion Barry in 2008 and approved unanimously by the legislature. Seven years later, however, the implementing regulations remain incomplete. She said she and Council Chair Phil Mendelson met with Donaldson to discuss the problems on Alabama Avenue. Bonds also met with May, who initially wanted to invoke eminent domain. “[That] could take years,” said Bonds, who with Mendelson finally held a public roundtable on the plight of the residents on Alabama Avenue. There seem to be laws that could have brought early relief. DCRA cited Sanford and his associates with more than 70 violations of the city’s housing code. The agency could have taken the owners before the judges in the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH). DCRA spokesman Matt Orlins did not answer East of the River’s question about whether that was done. Instead, the tenants’ lawyer said it was only late in January that he and the tenants filed a case with OAH. The DCRA also did not use money from its Nuisance Abatement Fund to make repairs to the apartments. Orlins did not explain why the DCRA failed to use the fund; in 2016 the city budgeted $520,000 for that purpose. And while the agency has authority to revoke a business license, it appears it didn’t seek to use that power either. Bonds said that her committee is looking make changes to TOPA and ensuring that DOPA regulations are finalized. A member of the city’s Preservation Strike Force, she said that group likely will be presenting a strategic plan for holding onto affordable housing units. “We are going to be coming out strong to show that we are doing everything not to lose any additional units.” A few days later the Bowser administration announced it would spend nearly $900 million to construct or preserve affordable housing units. There was no mention, however of either Park Southern or the Alabama Ave. SE properties. The lines are drawn. Sanford Capitol with the support of District agencies continues to advance the redevelopment of its Congress Heights properties. The AG, on the other hand, is refusing to let Sanford abandon its responsibilities as a landlord. Is Racine’s legal stick big enough to get their attention? Equally important, by the time the courts intervene, will the tenants have fled unlivable conditions? jonetta rose barras is a freelance writer. u