Catching Up With Ward 2 Council Member Brooke Pinto
By • October 21, 2024 0 506
District Council member Brooke Pinto has been representing Georgetown and Ward 2 since June of 2020. A 2017 graduate of Georgetown University Law Center, the 32-year-old Pinto is the youngest Council member in the city’s history.
As chair of the Council’s Public Safety and Judiciary Committee, Pinto has become a presence at hundreds of community meetings to argue for tightening up law enforcement in the District.
The Georgetowner caught up with the energetic Council member at Tatte Bakery on Wisconsin Avenue — just before she was off to Art All Night on Sept. 27 — for a 35-minute conversation, focusing on the District’s budget and strategic initiatives.
Key points included the amendment to delay taxing bond interest until 2026; the “Secure DC” initiative reducing violent crime by 36 percent; and efforts to improve public safety, including hiring more police officers and raising the pay of 911 call takers. The discussion also covered downtown revitalization, tax abatements for building conversions and the importance of maintaining Georgetown’s unique character while attracting new businesses. Other topics: literacy, teacher retention and, given the loss of the DC Circulator, the need for better transportation solutions.
The following transcript has been edited for clarity.
The Georgetowner: Let’s begin with the amendment on the municipal bonds, and let’s talk about the budget.
Pinto: I think it’s really important that we recognize where we are as a city, and that we have to be really strategic about making sure that residents and businesses stay here, and that we’re being more proactive about attracting new residents and new businesses.
When I learned that Council member Kenyan McDuffie had moved an amendment in the Business and Economic Development Committee to tax everybody’s interest on bonds that they had anywhere around the country — and not only to do that, but to start taxing them this current year — I thought that that was not only fully unfair to people who had purchased these bonds on the assumption that they wouldn’t be taxed, but also just a bad strategy, as we are trying to make sure that this city is hospitable and that can maintain our residents. And our seniors can even have these bonds. So I worked with colleagues and we made some changes in the budget once it got to all of us, so that at least it would start next year, so we’re not taxing right away.
But I said, you know, that’s still not enough, but at least it wouldn’t change. The bill that I introduced this week would basically grandfather anyone in who already has one of these bonds to be exempt from taxation interest. And we have a short window of time: those taxes won’t be due until spring of 2026 for 2025 taxes. My hope is that we can get this bill passed and get it funded in this year’s budget.
The Georgetowner: What was your focus in the budget process?
Pinto: I have been focused throughout my first term on three primary goals. The first is around public safety, the second is around downtown and business revitalization and the third is around supporting District residents so they have more opportunities to thrive, especially more economic opportunities. So, with the budget in the Judiciary Committee, I was really focused first and foremost on making sure to fund security.
The Georgetowner: Is that one of your best accomplishments?
Pinto: I consider “Secure DC” one of my biggest accomplishments, primarily because I think about where we were this time last year — with crime being on the forefront of everyone’s mind across the city, on businesses. And it was national and international, where we were with crime, with the highest homicide rates in two decades. There were people feeling unsafe to walk around in broad daylight, kids feeling scared, seniors being scared, everyone in between. And police saying they hadn’t seen anything like this in years and years.
Look where we are now, with these interventions being passed and funded and implemented, to have reduction of violent crime by 36 percent. We have some of the lowest violent crime rates we’ve had in over a decade. These are pre-pandemic levels, and a much stronger sense, I hope, of security among residents.
I would say the work is not done. We still have far too much crime and violence in the city.
The Georgetowner: What about the loss of tax revenue in downtown?
Pinto: We have put tax abatements from my bill into the budget to incentivize conversions to housing, but also conversions to any other productive use. We’re the leader of the country in this conversion space right now.
The Georgetowner: How’s it going with replacing some of the Circulator routes?
Pinto: I am extremely disappointed. Our Circulator buses are such a jewel of our city and have a fantastic on-time reputation. Fortunately, the route from Union Station to Georgetown to Rosslyn will be picked up by WMATA starting in December.
The Georgetowner: We have to ask you about Georgetown.
Pinto: Georgetown is such a special place. It is such a beacon of hope, not only in D.C., but talked about across the world, as a place people want to visit. And I think that that electricity is really important to harness. I believe that we can do both, maintain the systems in Georgetown that people have grown accustomed to, around safety, around beauty, around standards and aesthetics, while also having an injection of energy and bringing more people here.
The Georgetowner: So, you’re off to Art All Night. Which places?
Pinto: I might get my face painted.
