Testimony for the Record
Chris Otten – Ward 1 Resident, Community Organizer

My name is Chris Otten, a 25-year resident of Adams Morgan living in a limited equity coop. This budget exposes who bears the burden when revenue falls short: everyday people—working-class DC residents, vulnerable neighborhoods, and Black and brown communities.

To plug a budget gap, the Mayor proposes removing over 50,000 DC people, kids, moms, families, from DC Healthcare Alliance—an unconscionable act that could literally cost lives. Meanwhile, millionaires got richer during COVID—and some of them even showed up here at the Wilson building to say: “Tax us more.” We should listen. Don’t kill people. Tax the rich. A small percentage increase could go a long way to stop the brutality!

The appalling contradictions are throughout the Mayor's budget—look at the RFK deal. Bowser’s budget hands acres upon acres acres of public land and $1 billion-plus subsidy to a billionaire NFL owner, so that we can lead in rushing yards, touchdowns and sacks while DC schools lead in reading and math illiteracy, and DC is in the tops of the nation in maternal mortality, HIV, asthma, and diabetes.

We don’t need football at any price—we need healthcare, education, social housing and jobs.

Please remove all RFK-related details from this budget. Let’s debate the stadium handout in the fall to allow time to root out the worst provisions, not sneak it in now.

The Mayor also proposes gutting our values as a sanctuary city—cutting immigrant services while expanding funding for untrained police willing to collaborate with ICE. All this, while many of those residents being oppressed have committed no crimes at all and instead serve their community and society honorably and diligently.

This budget is not grounded in equity or care. It’s corporate welfare for the rich—and austerity, displacement, and death for the rest of us.

Let’s talk land. Developers have already devoured Union Market, The Wharf, Shaw, Anacostia—displacing tens of thousands of families and half the city’s Black population, killing hundreds of small local businesses, and hollowing out and homogenizing DC culture like colonizers do. 

Now these land speculators are moving on to new cities, leaving DC's carcass behind—and blaming us for daring to fight back.

And Bowser’s helping them, by pushing a wave of deregulation policy changes in all things, our budget act, like:

• Attacking TOPA, ERAP, SNAP . . . etc.

• Making it nearly impossible to appeal bad zoning decisions.

• Loosening eviction rules, hastening displacement.

• And trying to bury the Rental Act in the BSA, attempting to avoid further debate and quickly getting this attack through.

This is brutal. It makes you wonder: When did Muriel Bowser switch parties?
Because this budget reads like a GOP dream—corporate handouts, deregulation, and no regard for the people.

So I ask: Will this Council stand up for DC residents?

I ask you Councilmembers, act like we are the bluest city in the nation. Strip all non-budgetary policy riders from the Budget Support Act—like the Rental Act, the stadium deal, the sanctuary city stuff and any other harmful policy changes not germane to the budget. 

If the Mayor wants those changes, she can introduce them as standalone legislation—subject to open hearings and public debate.

And instead of cuts, let’s raise revenue the right way:

• Use public land for municipally owned social housing—just like Montgomery County is doing—producing permanent affordability and long-term revenue.

• Tax millionaires and billionaires—a modest increase on the top brackets can prevent healthcare cuts and displacement.

• And tap the $700M Rainy Day Fund—because the orange skies say the storm is already here.

If DC is truly a progressive city, now is the time to act like it—not just with words, but with votes.

Unless, of course… that’s too woke.

Thank you.