MEMORANDUM

 

TO:                     Nyasha Smith, Secretary to the Council

               

FROM:          Phil Mendelson, Chairman

                                                               

DATE:           September 28, 2023

 

RE:                 Emergency Measures for the October 3, 2023 Legislative Meeting

 

This memo is to request that the following measures be placed on the agenda for the October 3, 2023 Legislative Meeting:

 

§  Clarification of UDC PR Harris Exclusive Use Repeal Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2023

§  Clarification of UDC PR Harris Exclusive Use Repeal Temporary Amendment Act of 2023

§  Clarification of UDC PR Harris Exclusive Use Repeal Emergency Amendment Act of 2023

 

In 2010, the Council gave the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) the exclusive use of the closed Patricia R. Harris Educational Center School (PR Harris) located at 4600 Livingston Road, S.E. In 2020, the Council approved the “UDC PR Harris Exclusive Use Temporary Act of 2020,” which repealed UDC’s exclusive use of PR Harris and transferred it to the District of Columbia to reduce the financial burden of maintaining the building, which needed extensive modernization.

 

When the temporary amendment expired on April 13, 2021, the District no longer retained the exclusive right to PR Harris. The District has negotiated a new lease with the tenants of PR Harris. It was thought at the time that no other legislative action was necessary. Recently, I was informed that legislation is still needed to ensure the transfer of the exclusive use of PR Harris from UDC to the District of Columbia to execute the new lease.  Thus, an immediate need exists to retroactively repeal UDC’s exclusive use of PR Harris.

 

Draft