GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Department of Public Works

 

Fiscal Year 2024 and Fiscal Year 2025 to Date

Performance Oversight Hearing

 

Testimony of Anthony Crispino
Deputy Director, Department of Public Works

Before the Committee on Public Works and Operations

Brianne Nadeau, Chairperson
Council of the District of Columbia
February 25, 2025
9:00 AM

 

John A. Wilson Building, Council Chamber, Room 500
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20004

 

 

Introduction

Good morning, Chairperson Nadeau, members of the Committee on Public Works and Operations, and staff. I am Anthony Crispino, Deputy Director of the Department of Public Works (DPW), providing testimony on behalf of Director Timothy Spriggs. I am joined by Christine Davis, General Counsel; Perry Fitzpatrick, Agency Fiscal Officer; and Jessica Smith, Chief Administrative Officer. The full leadership team is present to represent the DPW employees who are responsible for our accomplishments.

First, I want to thank Mayor Bowser for providing the resources needed to perform our duties with excellence and dispatch. I also want to thank City Administrator Kevin Donahue for his steadfast support throughout FY 2024 and into FY 2025. We are grateful.

Madame Chair, thank you for creating a true partnership with us that benefits all District residents who receive our environmentally sustainable municipal services that are both ecologically sound and cost-effective.

Finally, I want to recognize our primary customer base – District residents and businesses – our partners in the ongoing growth of the greatest city in the world.

DPW’s Contributions to the District

DPW touches every District resident, business, commuter, and visitor through our solid waste, parking enforcement, and fleet management services.

We maintain a clean and healthy environment by collecting trash, recycling, yard and food waste, litter, and bulk items. We ensure public safety by enforcing parking regulations, clearing snow, and collecting leaves. We also keep the District government working by ensuring that our fleet is a leader among cities and states, acquiring forward-looking green vehicles and installing the infrastructure to support them.

Services Overview

We have been productive since our last Performance Oversight Hearing, delivering:

• Multiple services as “Critical Responders” supporting National Special Security Events, and life and death emergencies;
• New programs to expand food waste collections and corridor beautification;
• New public art through our award-winning Murals DC program;
• Support for crime prevention through the Nightlife Task Force;
• Support for national and local special events, such as the Cherry Blossom Festival and the Rock and Roll Running Series; and
• Seasonal operations, including snow and ice removal, leaf collection, graffiti and poster removal, residential street sweeping, and parking enforcement to ensure clean streets.

Our workplace is on the streets and in the alleys; so, weather has the biggest influence on how, where, and when we work. I want to highlight how weather recently enlarged our already full plate of services to platter size.

 

January 2024 vs. January 2025 – Snowfall Times Two; Historic Low Temperatures; Planned and Unexpected NSSEs:

• January Snowfall Times Two
  • In January 2024, two storms dropped a combined 7.9” of snow during the week we celebrated the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. District school children enjoyed two snow days, and life returned to normal shortly thereafter.
  • On January 6 and 11, 2025, 6.6” and 1.3” of snow fell amidst the state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter and the 60^th Presidential Inauguration. Again, our children enjoyed two snow days; but this year, we really stretched our resources to get the job done over seven 12-hour shifts.
  • I congratulate the Snow Team for its extraordinary effort. I want to thank their families for shouldering the burden of clearing their own sidewalks in their loved ones’ absence.

 

• Persistent Sub-Freezing Temperatures Prolong Snow Removal; Three NSSEs; Tragic Plane Crash over the Potomac River

• Temperature matters! Between January 4 and 12, temperatures fell as low as 9.3 degrees below normal. Sustained below freezing temperatures kept the District Snow Team on duty for 84 consecutive hours to make our streets safe.
• These snow events AND two consecutive National Special Security Events brought positive national and international attention to the District and our snow removal effort.

• We planned for the January 6 Counting and Certification of Electoral Votes at the US Capitol, a newly established NSSE;
• But the next day, we faced the unanticipated January 7-9 NSSE, Lying in State at the US Capitol and funeral services at the National Cathedral for former President Jimmy Carter.

• By January 20, temperatures were so low that the Inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, was conducted indoors at the US Capitol. DPW was a full partner with federal, DC, state and local agencies that planned for this NSSE.
• MSNBC and CNN noted our streets looked great, considering the amount of snow that had fallen. The US Secret Service expressed its appreciation for our contributions to Director Spriggs.

• At the end of January, DPW had the sad duty to support the Metropolitan Police Department’s and DC Fire’s recovery efforts following the mid-air crash over the Potomac River.
• We provided portable light towers at two different staging areas, to assist with visibility.

 

Initiatives and Accomplishments

Our greatest asset is our staff of well-trained, highly responsive employees who are carrying out new and ongoing programs that address our constituents’ needs. I will start with the High-Dollar Scofflaw Project, a new program that supports Mayor Bowser’s Vision Zero goals and is an example of programs adding value to our operations.

 

• Last April, using DPW personnel and funding, we rolled out our High-Dollar Scofflaw Pilot, getting vehicles with thousands of dollars in outstanding fines off the streets. License Plate Readers data identified where to find these vehicles. Between April-December 2024, we impounded 424 high-dollar scofflaw vehicles and recouped $588,983 from these vehicles. To increase vehicle storage capacity, we opened a third impound lot in July.
• We also streamlined how our customers can reach us and be assured of timely, accurate responses. In FY 2024, we created the Unified Communications Centerwhere we respond to questions, concerns, and requests for services and information.Responsiveness, accuracy and timeliness are our guideposts. The management team ensures responses and service requests are addressed timely and properly closed out. This process is effective in managing and resolving service requests and has reduced confusion among our stakeholders.
• The popularity of food waste composting has grown from our initial drop-off network of farmers markets and now includes 9,000 households in our new Curbside Composting Pilot. In its first year, we collected 1,423 tons (2.8 million pounds) of food waste and garnered a 98% participant satisfaction rate. We received $3 million in FY 2025 enhancement funding to provide services for 9,000 households for another year. To maintain this service level, we will add a small number of new participants as current participants move away or opt-out. Priority will be given to residents living in designated low-income and disadvantaged communities across the District, mainly concentrated in Wards 5, 7, and 8.
• We are responsive to our residents. To boost participation in food waste drop-off programs in Wards 7 and 8, we proactively engaged the community to identify challenges and improve access. Our Office of Waste Diversion (OWD) organized community engagement meetings to gather feedback on site locations and program accessibility. Based on this input, OWD relocated the Ward 8 drop-off site, which has since increased participation. We also ran targeted bus ads featuring local leaders involved in sustainability, which helped raise awareness and promote participation. This consultation and collaboration ensured that changes were responsive to the needs of communities of color and empowered them to help shape the program.
• Later this month, we will install 30 smart public compost bins District-wide so every household can compost its food waste 24 hours a day. We will carefully monitor usership and diversion performance to assess expansion opportunities.
• We also addressed fire prevention and cost reduction at our transfer station by acquiring the Pronar MRW 2.1010 industrial shredder. Since we began using the shredder last October, we reduced by 50% our non-combustible tonnage sent to Covanta, which lowered our hauling and disposal costs. We expect to see continued success in our reduction plan and cost savings.
• Four stand-alone public restrooms, called Thrones, were installed in in June 2024 with a 5^th Throne added in August. FY 2025 funds were provided to maintain these public restrooms.
• Corridor cleaning and highway beautification is an FY 2025 initiative where we stepped outside of our normal operations to meet a need. In November 2024, DPW hired 40 temporary staff dedicated to this program. Between November 25 and January 4, the team collected 73 tons of debris, addressed 1,191 graffiti service requests and removed more than 200 illegal posters.
• Keeping trash collections on time prompted DPW to pilot a mid-shift or “swing shift”in FY24. The swing shift of 21 temporary employees, works weekdays to complete delayed or understaffed trash and recycling routes. From February through September 2024 the swing shift reduced overtime in the collections division by approximately 35% or $1.2 million dollars.
• Benning Rd. Zero Waste Campus: Timeline and Community Engagement. In 2024, the Department of General Services (DGS) came aboard to help DPW manage the Benning Road Transfer Station construction project. This has been a great help. We just welcomed a contractor to complete the third and final phase of abatement as well as demolition. An architect/engineer (AE) solicitation is about to be released. Once the AE contractor is on board, community engagement will ramp up. The site is expected to be completed in late 2028.
• In keeping with our commitment to providing “second chance” employment opportunities to District residents, we continue to support the People of Promise program participants who receive on-the-job training with DPW. Participants can receive a transitional mentor depending on their work site and assignment within the agency. Since program oversight falls under the Office of Neighborhood and Safety Engagement (ONSE), each participant is engaged monthly with check-in meetings scheduled by an Outreach Specialist from the ONSE team, with DPW offering meeting space on site for real-time engagement. The monthly meetings serve as a performance update and additional reinforcement supplement to the performance evaluation forms the agency submits monthly to ONSE.
• DPW is a leader among fleet operators investing in alternative fuel vehicles (AFV). Of our 1,087 vehicles, more than 54% or 594 vehicles use some type of alternative fuel. This includes 392 vehicles that use biodiesel, five vehicles that use clean natural gas (CNG), and 197 vehicles that are fully electric or hybrid.

In FY24 and FY25 to date, we have taken significant steps to encourage the use of alternative fuels year-round across all vehicle classes. This includes fully electric vehicles in the light-duty class and using biodiesel consistently in the heavy-duty class. We operate one of the country's most significant 100% biodiesel programs and have partnered with the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), DGS, the Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE), and the Executive Office of the Mayor (EOM) to strategically plan for electrical infrastructure to expand the electric vehicle program further. Additionally, DPW’s Fleet Management Administration has provided education and training on alternative fuel vehicles to Fleet Managers across all DC Government agencies, raising awareness, setting sustainability goals, and showcasing best practices.

Conclusion

This concludes testimony delivered on behalf of Director Spriggs. I want to acknowledge his leadership and guidance to ensure our residents are well served by the Department of Public Works and the employees who perform these services have the materials and equipment needed to be successful and safe.

Thank you, Chairman Nadeau.