TESTIMONY OF GREGORY L. ROHDE BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON FACILITIES AND PROCUREMENT
FOR THE PERFORMANCE OVERSIGHT HEARING OF THE DEPARTMENT OF GENERAL SERVICES
February 28, 2019
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee thank you for the opportunity to testify today before the Committee on Government Operations.
I have been a resident of Capitol Hill for approximately 30 years. Like all other Capitol Hill residents, I am grateful to live in this special place that holds onto a sense of community with a distinguished history and amenities that make living here a wonderful place. At the heart of this community is Eastern Market which is not only a unique fresh food market for my neighborhood but is also a valued attraction for the entire region.
My reason for being here today is because I fear the Eastern Market I cherish and have enjoyed for years is changing and its future as a unique fresh food market is at risk. I am no expert on matters related to operations and management of historic markets and social centers like Eastern Market. But from the perspective of a resident who frequents this market, it is obviously the market is struggling. When I speak to the merchants, they identify a wide range of concerns that are making their survival difficult, chief among their concerns being a deeply troubled relationship with the current market manager, inability to secure leases, building maintenance neglect, and parking.
It does not take an expert to see the obvious fact that there is a serious management dysfunction at Eastern Market. When I visit with the merchants and tenants, I hear a lot of concern about building maintenance neglect and the significant loss of business due to the lack of parking and any promotional strategy. These are persisting problems, going back years and they feel threatened with retaliation from the market management if they raise their concerns.
According to a recent presentation made by the merchants operating in the South Hall of Eastern Market to the Eastern Market Community Advisory Committee (EMCAC), Eastern Market “is in grave risk of failure” and “on the brink of collapse due to neglect and mismanagement by DGS.”
The merchants refer to parking and access problems that are a result of what is almost a permanent closure of the streets adjacent to the market. The merchants also pointed out that they have been operating without leases for 21 years, characterizing this “process” over the lease negotiations as fraught with a lack of “transparency and continuity.” They also noted threats of retaliation by DGS management if they made their concerns public.
In my judgement a 21 year-long debate is not a process…it is a breakdown due to a combination of incompetence and cruel indifference on the part of the DC government at all levels. Everyone from DGS, to the Mayor, and to the City Council should be embarrassed that such a situation has persisted for so long.
The merchants also blame DGS management for unacceptable and incompetent management and maintenance of the Market, saying that DGS has not provided consistent services to maintain the South Hall of the Market. Repeated requests for heating and air-conditioning repairs and lighting requests remain unfulfilled.
These concerns expressed by the merchants are not new and many of the issues they have raised should have been addressed years ago. Their testimony paints a picture of leadership failure. The DC government has failed in its management of the market and the City Council has failed in its oversight to prevent this circumstance from existing for as long as it has.
The Tenants Council to Eastern Market have raised similar concerns. In a recent presentation to the EMCAC, the Tenants Council echoed the call for the DC Government to start managing Eastern Market in compliance with the law – noting that DC has been out of legal compliance for more than a decade – and to separate management of the building from management of the business. The Tenants Council highlighted several issues that need immediate attention including the:
- Total absence of any business plan or promotional strategy for the market;
- Mismanagement of leases;
- Neglect of building maintenance and pest control; and
- Current management’s neglect and refusal to respond to the expressed concerns of the merchants and tenants.
I understand that the street closures and direct management arrangement by the DC government are against DC law. How can this go on with such indifference by the City Council?
I am aware that the DC government is in the process of issuing an RFP to conduct a long-term study of Eastern Market. While I support any and all efforts designed to preserve the market and address issues that could threaten the long-term future of the market, I fear that the existence of a pending long-term study is being used as a foil to avoid addressing the immediate crisis facing the market. I am one among many other Hill residents that are frustrated with the lack of urgency on the part of anyone in DC government to address the issues facing the market.
As a concerned resident, I urge this Committee to take immediate actions to ensure that Eastern Market maintain its current character by addressing the near-term as well as long-term issues threatening Easter Market’s survival. I also ask that this Committee ensure that the DC government treat the merchants and tenants of the market with the dignity and respect they deserve. They cannot run a business with a lease and as businesses operating in a facility owned by the DC government, they deserve at least a cooperative environment where access and marketing issues that affect their business can be addressed.
This Committee has a role to play and I urge to get engaged. Specifically, this Committee should demand that DGS take the following immediate steps:
- Meet with the merchants and tenants and issue leases for a reasonable period of time, using their existing monthly or daily fees as a temporary solution to the lease issue. Facilitating a 21-year management failure over the issue of leases is just unacceptable and this problem needs to be addressed immediately.
- Make immediate management changes for Eastern Market and initiate an expedited process to hire a qualified non-profit organization to assume the business management of the market in compliance with DC law. Given the wide range of problems and dysfunction with the current market management, DGS should immediate change the current market management as required by the law and immediately install leadership that would create a more cooperative environment and work better with the merchants and tenants.
- Demand greater transparency over market budgeting, operations and maintenance.
These are steps that this Committee could and should undertake under its oversight responsibilities while the DC government moves forward on a long-term study over the future of the market. In the long-term, insist on greater transparency and follow the law. If you believe the law is flawed or unworkable, you have the power to change it. But what is not acceptable is to simply allow the DC government to operate in non-compliance of the law for whatever reason.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today.