3 minute read
Recall Efforts Hit The District
By: Kristal Knight
2023 saw a steep increase in crime across the District and now residents want a say in who gets to continue legislating over the future of the handling of crime. Two recall efforts are now underway in ward 6 where Charles Allen is the councilmember and another in Ward 1 where Brianne Nadeau is the councilmember.
You don’t have to live in any special area of the city to be affected by the crime wave that’s currently happening. Across the District residents are getting carjacked, businesses are being robbed and repeat offenders are getting released quicker thanks to the post 2020 effort to relax laws and divert police funding to alternative community violence intervention programs, or CVI.
Both recall efforts are being led by residents. In the case of Charles Allen, residents have complained that as he chaired the public safety and judiciary committee crime was on the rise. They have also complained that Allen has been lukewarm on his response to the crime wave. In a recent town hall he held after a wave of crime in his ward, residents were seen voicing concerns about his ability to provide answers to questions about how the council will handle the problems. The recallcharlesallen.com movement already has enough signatures needed and has filed the formal petition to have him removed.
In order to begin a recall effort, a registered voter in the respective ward has to obtain 10 percent of the ward’s registered voters and collect the signatures within a 180 day time period. Voters in Ward 6 did it and now voters in Ward 1 are targeting Brianne Nadeau.
Ward 1 business owner Diana Alvarez, who is leading the effort, told the Washington Post she decided to step up and file the paperwork after her smoke shop was hit by a series of robberies and her concern for the spike in crime across the city. Residents in Ward 1 believe Nadeau has backed liberal criminal justice policies that they say fuel crime. In
2020 the council voted to divert $15 million dollars of the policing budget to alternate justice programs and Nadeau voted in support of that policy.
Supporters of Allen say his recall effort is being funded and supported by Capitol Hill staffers, but they are District residents. Counter campaigns like No Recall in Ward 6 and Neighbors United for Ward 6 have launched to support Allen against this recall effort. Allen has been elected three times to serve the residents of Ward 6 and has stated that a lot of the anger is misguided. In a Navy Yard meeting in mid-February 100 attendees packed a meeting, but many people noted it was mostly a white crowd.
For Nadeau’s recall effort, it is just beginning and we will have to wait to see if organizers can get the roughly 6,500 signatures needed to begin the effort to replace her.
Photo: Diana Alvarez (left) small business owner leading recall effort againt Coucil member Brianne Nadeau (right) . Credit Fox News
Photo: Diana Alvarez (left) small business owner leading recall effort againt Coucil member Brianne Nadeau (right) . Credit Fox News
Photo: Diana Alvarez (left) small business owner leading recall effort againt Coucil member Brianne Nadeau (right) . Credit Fox News
