Janeese Lewis George (photo courtesy of the Councilmember’s Office)

by Austin Schott

Our environment is a major indicator of who we’ll become down the road. I’ve been lucky enough to have lived for short periods in countries around the globe, and its fascinating to see how communities are shaped by the cultures, traditions and values that surround them. It’s true even within the states – my hometown Wisconsin friends follow the Packers, while my DC friends follow FiveThirtyEight.

Newly elected Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George is no exception. Her visions, aspirations and policies are a product of Ward 4, the community she grew up in. And as of January 2nd, she’s now representing her community on the DC Council, sharing Ward 4’s and Petworth’s ideals and aspirations with the rest of the city.

Following George’s election, Petworth News is starting a new chapter of the Councilmember’s Corner where George will be sharing her thoughts and perspectives on current events in Petworth. It’s a great opportunity for the Councilmember to connect with readers, and for readers to connect with her.

So, to kickstart the new chapter in the Councilmember’s Corner, I had the pleasure of sitting down (virtually) with CM George this week. I was struck by how nearly all of her policy positions are drawn from her own personal experiences. Her housing policies are drawn from experiences as a DC renter, while her experience as a DC prosecutor taught her about public safety, and working as a waitress in law school exposed her to the economic vulnerabilities of life on minimum wage.

Screen capture from Zoom call interview with Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George

We started our conversation discussing housing. When George was just starting law school, her mom told her that rent was rising too quickly for her to manage; they would have to move out of their rented home. While juggling law school, George picked up two jobs so that her family could afford to stay in the city.

George believes long-time renters, like her mom, who have a reliable, steady income, shouldn’t be forced out of their homes. If someone’s wages only increase at the rate of inflation, George argues, then their rate of rent increase in rent-controlled properties shouldn’t surpass that (currently rent control is set at the inflation rate plus 2%).

She also shared her experiences with the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), which allows renters to have first dibs at buying the home they’re renting if the property owner wants to sell.

“The house that I live in now, we were able to obtain through TOPA rights,” George said. “My family was renting, and the property owners said, ‘Look, I'm selling. You guys got to go.’ And I responded with, ‘Great, I'm buying.’”

A much younger Janeese Lewis George, her siblings and mother (courtesy of CM George)

A year later, the DC Council voted to exempt single-family dwellings, like her own, from the law. Had her landlord sold one year later, George would have lost her home.

She told me native Washingtonians who have been paying rent for years are forced to up and move without any chance to own the property, so she wants to reverse the Council’s exemption.

George is also an expert in public safety after serving as Assistant District Attorney and Assistant Attorney General.

“It really informed a lot of where I think we need to go as a city as far as what we're doing to prevent gun violence,” she said, “Which undoubtedly goes to say, I don't think that we're doing enough.”

George believes there’s a lot more to public safety than policing. First, she fears folks without basic services are more likely to commit crimes. Folks need secure housing, health care, and quality education, she said.

In addition, before involving police or prosecutors, the city should rely on youth service programs and trauma support to engage at-risk communities. Building off these programs, George suggests the city rely more often on violence interrupters and social services to respond to emerging conflict.

“In our Ward,” she said, “That would look like ensuring trauma support mobile agents are actually servicing some of our corners, especially where we know drug usage and drug-selling goes on.”

Discussing the difficulties of the past year with Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George (screen capture from Zoom interview)

George has also experienced the hurdles of working without family leave, emboldening her perspectives on child and family care. While she was working with Attorney General Karl Racine, she exhausted all her vacation days – and eventually took leave without pay – to take time off work to look after her dying father, according to the Washington Post. Soon after, she actively campaigned for paid family leave until the DC Council, in 2016, approved legislation to that effect.

She also testified before the DC Council when they were considering increasing the minimum wage for tipped workers in 2016. From her time working as a waitress, she said she knew the economic vulnerabilities of being a tip earner and called on the Council to increase the minimum wage.

“This year has been interesting in the sense that in the past people would deny white supremacy and racism,” George said. “And there were so many of us saying, ‘This is real. This exists. We're not we're not making this up. Our struggles are real.’”

This traumas of this past year have illustrated DC inequalities, especially across race and class, in housing, earnings, policing and public health – disparities have been further exposed by the pandemic and acts of systemic racism.

“I think what we saw the last couple of weeks for many of us was the full display of what we've been saying, that white supremacy and racism exist in our country and we have to be proactive about handling and addressing these issues in a systemic way,” George said. “I think this year also showed with Covid, tip workers were the first to lose their jobs. And those most at risk are the bus drivers showing up every day and the postal workers – like my mother - showing up every day.”

“And when we look at housing,” George said, “We proved this year that housing is health care. What did we keep saying all year? ‘Stay home.’ You can't tell people to stay home and they don't have a home to go to. It is really shown us who actually is and has been the most vulnerable this whole time.”

Janeese Lewis George on her home turf along Kennedy Street NW in Ward 4 (photo courtesy of CM George’s office)

From speaking with Councilmember George, I felt she really has her finger on the pulse of our community. It makes sense – when you’ve spent your life in Petworth, you understand the community inside and out.

George has pledged in her campaign to put “People first.” Petworth News is glad to offer a channel for her to share that vision in Councilmember’s Corner.