Incumbent Nadeau draws three challengers in Ward 1 council race

Following an underdog victory against Jim Graham four years ago, Ward 1 DC Council member Brianne Nadeau has faced criticism from her opponents for not prioritizing constituent services.

Graham, who died last June, drew longtime support as a ward boss attuned to bread-and-butter constituent requests — until a corruption scandal involving allegations he steered a Metro contract tanked his re-election bid. Nadeau continues to argue that her role goes beyond using her office to press for pothole repairs and neighborhood services.

She has drawn three challengers in the Democratic primary, including Kent Boese, a Park View resident and chair of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 1A (Columbia Heights, Park View). He and other challengers say they will restore a focus on constituent matters.

“Sadly, some people think Jim Graham is still [a] council member,” he said at a May 17 forum.

Nadeau also faces Lori Parker, a former DC Superior Court judge and two-time advisory neighborhood commissioner, and Sheika Reid, a Columbia Heights native.

All three have criticized the pace of development in Ward 1. Boese said at the forum that he wants the city to add more affordable housing without exceeding zoning rules for building heights. Parker, who was endorsed by the Washington Teachers’ Union, said she takes no money from developers. Reid has said “we need to prioritize community need over development greed.”

That anti-development sentiment, which has also percolated in races citywide and in Ward 6, has left Nadeau to defend projects such as 965 Florida Ave. NW. Nadeau voted in 2015 in favor of selling that public parcel to developers at a cost far below market rate, according to The Washington Post. In exchange for the discount, the Bowser administration said they won concessions from developers to reserve 30 percent of the units in the 10-story project as affordable for low-income residents.

“That property was discounted to the tune of $4.6 million, and, therefore, to maximize affordable housing on that site should have been a no-brainer,” Parker said at the May forum. “The numbers just don’t add up.”

Nadeau defended her vote. “The numbers do add up, by the way,” she said.

The council member said that she prefers to stay out of neighborhood fights over development projects, such as a redevelopment proposal for SunTrust Bank in Adams Morgan. Now tangled in a court appeal, Nadeau’s opponents say open space in front of the bank ought to be reserved as a public plaza.

While disagreeing with the lawsuit, Nadeau said her office has worked with the plaintiffs on how to approach the case. However, the issue reminds Nadeau of why she ran to unseat Graham in 2014.

“I knew how it felt when I was on the ANC to have a council member interfere in ANC business,” she said, describing the process that advisory neighborhood commissions follow when reviewing a large development project.

Boese said that the District can build affordable housing and preserve neighborhood character. “You don’t need to destroy the city to do it,” he said, pointing to projects that include affordable housing that came before his ANC.

Nadeau’s website says that she has helped place “more than 500 units of affordable housing” in the construction pipeline in Ward 1. On the DC Council, Nadeau backed progressive legislation like the Universal Paid Leave Act and tax credits for first-time homebuyers. She does not hold a constituent-services fund, which she labels a “slush fund,” and instead argues her work on the DC Council has ensured investments are made in housing-assistance programs.

Nadeau raised more money than all of her challengers combined, raking in roughly $243,700, according to filings with the Office of Campaign Finance. Boese raised about $60,600; Reid, $53,500; and Parker, $38,400.