Ward Two Councilmember Releases Budget Priority Letter

Ward Two Councilmember Brooke Pinto released her budget priority letter last week. And it contains multiple items to improve Georgetown specifically. I’ll describe those below.

But of course, before I do that, I have to address the elephant in the room (or rather the 200 or so elephants on Capitol Hill). The continuing resolution adopted by the House, which would avoid a federal shutdown starting on Saturday, would absolutely devastate the DC budget. In a move that can only be described as sadistic and spiteful, the House continuing resolution would force DC to revert to its fiscal year 2024 budget. That is the budget for the fiscal year that ended last October. We are already halfway through fiscal year 2025, operating on a completely balanced budget (as we have for 28 years straight). The budget is funded by local dollars, which is to say local taxes. By forcing us to revert to an earlier fiscal year’s budget, the city would have to immediately cut its spending by $1.1 billion. There is simply no way to do that without firing a whole bunch of police officers and teachers. It would be devastating and devastatingly stupid. And it would not send a single dime back to improve the federal budget deficit.

As I write this Wednesday night, the resolution is sitting in the Senate, and it’s unclear whether the Senate Democrats will successfully modify the resolution to prevent this monumentally moronic event from coming to pass.

So I have no idea what will happen with all that. But the process to create the fiscal year 2026 budget still must go on. Even if somehow we overcome this financial sabotage from the Hill, the city is still facing a fairly tight budget, so priorities must be chosen wisely. Here are the priorities from CM Pinto that directly relate to Georgetown:

• Georgetown streetscape: The request asks for $5 million to pursue the model for a future Georgetown-specific streatery design. This is something I discussed recently. The money would go towards creating a much more attractive version of the streateries along the 1400 block of Wisconsin Ave. The goal is to develop a new surface made up of brick and granite that would much more closely mimic the sidewalk itself. Additionally, the Jersey barriers would be replaced with a more appealing design such as bollards.
• Tour bus parking lot: It’s great for the Georgetown economy for large tour buses to deposit visitors in the neighborhood. But what to do with the buses while those visitors walk around and spend money has long been a challenge. A plan put forward would create a tour bus parking lot near 27th and K St. between Georgetown and Foggy Bottom. Pinto’s letter requests $1.9 million for this much needed project.
• Wayfinding: Along those same lines, Pinto’s letter asks for $50,000 to erect better signage to encourage movement between Foggy Bottom (with its Metro station) and Georgetown.
• Stairwell at 34th and Water St.: Pinto asks for $1.2 million for a new stairwell connecting Water St. up to the canal at 34th St. This particular stairwell is in pretty bad shape, and with the new hotel opening right next to it, it’s a good time to fix it up.
• Volta Park Playground and splashpad: This one is near and dear to my heart. Volta Park’s playground is clearly long in the tooth and needs a serious overall. The last time it was improved was over 10 years ago. And at the time, the vast majority of the funds went towards water run-off issues, leaving less for the equipment itself. I hope this time we can get more fun and usable playground equipment. And I have long asked for a splash pad! Sadly my daughter is wayyyy past the age that she could use it (without causing a scene) but plenty of families would warmly welcome it!

There are plenty of other items on CM Pinto’s list, many of which would apply to Georgetown as much as any other place (such as investments in public safety). Check out her letter here.

Getting a request into a councilmember’s request letter is certainly no guarantee that the mayor will include it in her own budget proposal, but it’s much better to be in the letter than not, that’s for sure. We’ve got a lot of genuinely frightening uncertainty to fight through before we can really focus on FY 26, but I think given the circumstances, this is a good start.