Get to know DC Council at-large candidate Kevin Chavous

I’m running for the Democratic nomination for At-Large because D.C. deserves day-one leadership that is experienced, community-rooted, and focused on delivering real results for neighborhoods across the city. I am a licensed attorney and have held roles in the public and private sector, most recently serving four years in the D.C. Council as Policy Director and Committee Director for Councilmember Anita Bonds until January 2026. I’m also D.C.’s elected voice on the Democratic National Committee, standing up against the Trump Administration and raising awareness for statehood in the DNC. I’m not running to learn how the Council works. I’m running because I’ve helped make it work, and I know where it can work better.

My three priorities include public safety, housing, and workforce development. In brief, I will support smart, effective enforcement that prioritizes the prevention of violent crime and repeat offenders while strengthening community policing policies. For housing, I will work to increase affordable and workforce housing through zoning updates, incentivizing ADU development, and the adaptive reuse of vacant properties. Lastly, I will prioritize enhancing locally funded job training programs, apprenticeships, and career pipelines in high-demand fields — such as construction, healthcare, and infrastructure.

I will support effective enforcement targeting violent crime and repeat offenders while enhancing community policing to rebuild trust and improve safety. Simultaneously, I plan to boost mental health and infirmary services for individuals with treatable conditions to prevent harm. Restoring community policing principles and rebuilding trust in the MPD are critical, as is increasing officers’ familiarity with neighborhoods and residents. For this reason, we must demand transparency from MPD regarding data and complaints, to ensure that trust within the community is restored. I will also fight to make sure our forensic lab maintains is accreditation, which helps the USAO close cases.

Additionally, I propose creating a Crime Prevention Director within the Mayor’s Office to consolidate all violence prevention programs, such as the Office of Gun Violence Prevention, Building Blocks D.C., Cure the Streets, and Pathways, ensuring effective coordination among intervention groups.

As a parent, I know that it starts at home. However, we know that there are times that the government must step in to provide services for youth in need. The D.C. Council should fully fund Out-of-School Time programming, so that young people have access to enriching activities, regardless of their neighborhood. We also should increase late night hours at our recreation centers, and pursue a holistic community schools approach to learning, using our school buildings as community hubs for various familial needs. I do support the limited use of curfews as a tool to protect our youth and the broader community, but curfews are not close to the answer.

My goal is to create more open safe spaces for youth by investing in centers where kids can be kids, playing games with each other, exercising, eating, and helping out the District with community service, especially on the weekends.

The top priority facing public education in the District of Columbia is ensuring every family—regardless of ward or income—can rely on a stable, high-quality neighborhood school. This means we have to stabilize and strengthen the educator workforce. Persistent turnover, burnout, and staffing shortages undermine student learning and school culture. We cannot close achievement gaps or expand opportunities without experienced, supported teachers in every classroom.

If elected, I will prioritize competitive compensation, fully funded staffing models, and strong collective bargaining agreements that respect educators as professionals. I believe we need to explore using a weighted student funding model (student-based staffing) to help make sure all schools get the resources they actually need. By investing in educators, we invest directly in student success.

This is a problem in cities all over the nation. Those who purchased a home years ago have realized dramatic gains, but those just starting a career are locked out of the housing market altogether. We have excellent programs to build upon, such as the Home Purchase Assistance Program, Inclusionary Zoning, and affordable projects financed using the Housing Production Trust Fund, but we must do more. This means increasing our affordable housing stock so that residents are not priced out.

As your next Councilmember At-Large, I will incentivize the construction of “pop-up” additional levels on DC townhomes and ADUs, update residential zoning laws in the District to encourage multifamily housing construction all over the city to make up for decades of housing decay and slow growth, utilize vacant commercial properties by promoting and encouraging commercial to residential conversion projects using tax-based incentives and deferred loans, restore funding for permanent supportive housing vouchers to assist single individuals with disabilities and special needs, and invest in the maintenance and upkeep of our existing housing stock. We also must increase the percentage of Inclusionary Zoning units to create more available units for our seniors.

I will listen to the communities’ concerns regarding new developments, and advocate for denser developments near transit corridors.

I will have an obligation to perform meticulous oversight in all issue areas for all residents. For example, take Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center in Congress Heights, the only full-service hospital east of the Anacostia River. Recent Council oversight hearings and reporting have highlighted significant operational challenges that undermine the hospital’s mission to deliver high-quality, equitable care. A facility that was meant to close longstanding gaps in access is instead facing unacceptable strains that must be addressed with urgency.

We are seeing persistent and serious staffing shortages, particularly among nurses and frontline healthcare workers. Testimony before the Council has underscored that the hospital has struggled to fully staff its units, limiting its ability to operate at full capacity. In particular, the emergency department has faced patient volumes exceeding projections, placing immense pressure on an already stretched workforce. The result is overworked staff, longer, sometimes dangerous wait times, and growing concerns about patient safety and quality of care.

This is one example that demonstrates the urgency of oversight. I am committed to working with civic and corporate leaders, policymakers, and the community to bring accountability, investment, and solutions needed to translate hearings into action.

The first thing I would do is work to eliminate chorically vacant positions from agency budgets. Full-time positions are funded over the course of the financial plan, which means vacant positions can tie up local money for several years. I would work diligently to make sure long-term vacancies are not funded, which frees up resources for other needs.

I will also take a close look at our sole-source or noncompetitive contracts to ensure that the contractors are meeting the requirements. We need to encourage competitive bidding whenever it is possible. We also must eliminate our duplicative programming. We can create savings by increasing our government efficiency, rather than looking to cut essential programs first.

As an elected official, I will actively push for not just home rule, but statehood through legislation, coalition-building, and consistent advocacy at the federal level. I’ll work with our D.C. Statehood Delegation and colleagues across government to move a concrete bill forward—not just talk about the issue. When Congress tries to overturn our laws or block our budget, I’d treat it as both a governance issue and a democratic rights issue. One thing I would do is publicly, formally, and aggressively oppose the intervention and work to block it legislatively.

This means active coordination with allies in Congress to introduce or support a resolution of disapproval or use other procedural moves to halt or reverse the interference. At the same time, I’d push for votes that protect D.C.’s budget autonomy. I’ll also focus on building strong public support by keeping residents informed and engaged, so their voices create real pressure for change. And when misinformation or political resistance arises, I’ll address it directly with clear facts and a firm commitment to equal representation.

Statehood means ensuring full rights and a voice in our democracy—and I will treat it as a priority until it’s achieved.

I believe every neighborhood deserves real transportation options. I support dedicated bus lanes where they reduce congestion and make transit faster and more reliable. Too many residents skip the bus because it does not feel any faster than driving. DDOT must make sure roadway changes actually move people safely and efficiently whether they travel by bus, bike, or car. This means DDOT must follow their own regulations when redesigning streets or altering traffic patterns. There are far too many complaints from the community regarding the transparency of DDOT’s decision making process, and I will fight to make sure that DDOT follows the law.

I will also fully support the OAG using the STEER Act to pursue recovery of unpaid ticket fines from out ot state drivers. Moreover, I support a dedicated revenue source for WMATA that reflects ridership (since more riders are from Virginia), rather than the number of stations in a jurisdiction (D.C. has the most stations)

As I mentioned previously, since I am running to represent all 8 wards, I will listen to the communities’ concerns regarding new developments, and prefer dense developments near transit corridors. I will commit to close oversight and questioning of appointees to the Historic Preservation Review Board, Zoning Commission, and Board of Zoning Adjustment to make sure the nominees’ positions focus on expanding housing options.

D.C. residents will vote in a historic election next month. In fact, it is the most consequential election in D.C. since limited home rule returned to D.C. Not only are two At-Large seats open, but so are the Delegate and Mayor’s offices. Given that the leading candidates for the mayor and delegate seats all have experience as Councilmembers, I think this is a great moment for collaboration. I will ask the mayor’s nominees to lead agencies and govern boards fair questions during hearings, and I hope for a proactive dialogue regarding the budget and appearances around the District.

As a former Committee Director at the Council, I have strong, current relationships with current elected officials and the leading candidates for Mayor. I am a consensus-builder, and will leverage my relationships with elected officials and their staff to collaborate on issues that will improve the quality of life for District residents.

Based on per capita population, D.C. has the busiest 911 call center in the nation. I support growing the Fire and EMS Department to meet the rising volume of service calls. I would also push for mandatory public reporting on 911 response metrics: average wait times, dispatch intervals, and resolution rates. I’d also demand a full independent audit of the Office of Unified Communications to identify where breakdowns are occurring and whether staffing, technology, or management failures are to blame.

On the legislative side, I’d fight for dedicated funding to modernize OUC’s dispatch infrastructure, expand and better compensate the call-taker workforce to reduce turnover, and establish clear performance benchmarks with real consequences for missing them.

I support due process when a member of the Council is facing alleged impropriety. Last year, the Council took historic action to expel one of its own Members after a thorough investigation. People are tired of politicians not only being out of touch but also skirting the law and evading consequences. If I am a Councilmember and one of my colleagues is accused of violating ethics or the law, I would support an investigation and follow the facts diligently. I also consider legislation requiring real-time financial disclosure for all Council members, banning the revolving door between Council offices and the industries we regulate, and mandating conflict-of-interest recusals be documented publicly.

At-large members have a unique mandate: we answer to every D.C. resident, which means we’re positioned to see patterns that ward members may not. That’s not a structural reality I will use strategically. My approach is simple: listen ward by ward in order to act citywide. I have committed to holding at least one town hall meeting in every ward during my first year in office.

This is important because At-large members are best positioned to tackle issues that cross ward lines: public safety infrastructure, housing affordability, workforce development, transit connectivity, and government accountability. But, they can only be addressed through collaboration with the community.

I’d also use the at-large platform to elevate communities that ward representation alone sometimes leaves behind, like returning citizens, immigrants, and young Washingtonians who don’t yet have an organized political voice.

Every ward deserves a champion. At-large members should be that champion for all eight.

I would say enjoying a nice Saturday in Eastern Market/Barracks Row or on U St NW. It’s heartwarming to interact with the lively energy in those areas: There’s a rhythm to this city that you only feel when you’ve grown up in it. D.C. isn’t just where I live, it is who I am and I am running to protect our culture here.

I’m not known for culinary skills, but I’ve eaten at every type of restaurant in D.C. So I have strong opinions about food, though I lack credibility in anyone’s kitchen. Some of the best ideas and strongest bonds are developed over a plate of food. That’s not an accident. As your Councilmember, you will definitely see me at some of your favorite spots around the city!