D.C. City Council Member Jack Evans, D-Ward 2, is seeking to dissolve two public organizations charged with major redevelopment work in sections of the District, including work along the Anacostia Waterfront.
Evans, who chairs the finance and revenue committee, introduced legislation Tuesday called the National Capital Revitalization Corporation and Anacostia Waterfront Corporation Reorganization Act of 2007. The bill seeks to transfer the assets of both organizations back to the District and would revert all of their power to the mayor’s office. Council Member David Catania, I-at large, signed on as a co-sponsor.
Catania and Evans complained the agencies have become barriers to getting things done in the District, saying the organizations have too often clashed or engaged in what Evans referred to as “turf wars.” Evans also accused the agencies of being unresponsive to the council, adding that the legislative body should have more oversight.
“Unfortunately, my view is that neither organization has lived up to its potential,” Evans said, adding, “development is not occurring as a result of these organizations.”
The NCRC opened in 2001 during a time of major interest in redeveloping large swaths of the District’s long-neglected areas. It has most recently been involved in a somewhat controversial redevelopment plan for the Skyland shopping center in Anacostia.
The AWC has a much more narrowly defined mission, which is to redevelop nearly 2,200 acres along the Anacostia River in the city’s Southeast and Southwest quadrants “into a model for 21st-century urban living,” according to its Web site.
“We’ve had our government working against itself for some period of time,” Catania said.
In addition to Evans’ legislation, Council Member Phil Mendelson, D-at large, also introduced legislation that seeks to make both organizations subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
