Miguel Trindade Deramo stakes Ward 1 bid on affordability and safety

Ahead of June’s D.C. Council primary for Ward 1, Miguel Trindade Deramo—currently chair of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B—laid out a platform focused on housing affordability, public safety rooted in community policing, and stronger oversight of cit

On his walk from an ANC meeting circuit into a June primary, Miguel Trindade Deramo has a message he keeps returning to: Ward 1 needs help that shows up—on time, in full, and in ways residents can see.

Deramo. who currently serves as chair of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B. is running for the Ward 1 seat on the D.C. Council against Rashida Brown, Terry Lynch, Jackie Reyes Yanes and Aparna Raj. In answers shared verbatim after WTOP sent a questionnaire to candidates in each contested D.C. primary race, he framed his candidacy around affordability, safe streets, and vibrant neighborhood corridors.

Deramo’s path to the ballot runs through both organizing and oversight. He previously served as the lead organizer and steering committee member for Initiative 83. a ballot measure that brought ranked-choice voting to D.C. elections; after winning, he cofounded and served as executive director of Grow Democracy DC. Earlier in his career, he worked in the federal government as a consular officer and visa analyst. In his current ANC role, he said he has learned budgeting, legislation, and oversight in the D.C. government and regularly interacts with agencies at all levels.

He pointed to specific results from that work: he said he helped secure a new bike share station despite what he described as having zero budget; backed advocacy for violence interruption; and helped push for new bus and bike lanes. He also said he led a ballot initiative that won 73% of the vote after building coalitions across all eight wards. in English and Spanish. around strengthening D.C. democracy.

Housing, he said, is the most urgent pressure on Ward 1. Deramo told WTOP he is running with the goal of making it easier and faster to build all types of housing while preserving the affordability of existing homes and preventing displacement.

To do that, he backed the Housing Production Omnibus Act. In his description. the legislation is meant to preserve the District’s Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF) so it can actually fund the construction of affordable housing. He said that for the past two years. District HPTF funds have been used to stabilize existing affordable housing rather than finance new developments.

His proposal. he said. would create five separate accounts—each with a dedicated purpose: production. preservation. property purchases through the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA). subsidies for deeply affordable homes. and land acquisition. He described the approach as letting the Council resource and monitor each account and the housing goals it supports. He added that the effort should also go further by identifying new funding streams for affordability programs. including expanding D.C.’s efforts to create publicly financed mixed-income housing. For purchases. he cited funding under the District Opportunity to Purchase Act. and said he would use the Council’s review of the new Comprehensive Plan to push for increased density.

On public safety. Deramo argued that safety has multiple dimensions—protection from crime. protection from discrimination. and safety while crossing the street. He said the D.C. Police Department must be re-committed to community policing. including its statutory obligation to convene a community policing working group and publish a report on community policing every two years; he said MPD has abandoned that commitment.

He also emphasized accountability as a cornerstone for public trust, specifically calling for structural scrutiny of policing through the Council. Deramo said he would like to serve on the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety to examine structural issues with policing. including civilian oversight mechanisms. to achieve durable results.

For “anti-crime measures,” he said he would invest in violence interruption with stable funding and insists the work be based on rigorous research and data analysis. He also said he would support violence interruption at all levels, “especially in schools.”

He also tied public safety to transportation and traffic design. Deramo said he would push for protected bike lanes, street design, and traffic calming interventions for pedestrian safety. He cited the STEER Act, saying it allows the attorney general to bring civil suits against the most dangerous drivers.

Youth-involved crime and civil liberties sit at the center of his approach. Deramo said he personally understands the impact of huge youth gatherings on U Street residents and businesses from his role as chairman of the ANC representing U Street.

He said he does not support a permanent curfew or repeated extensions as the only fix. and he does not want young people “unnecessarily” exposed to arrest and involvement in the criminal justice system. He said leaders have told the public the curfew is only a band-aid but have not advanced real solutions.

Instead. Deramo said he would shape law and oversight to pressure the Mayor to reactivate the Youth Advisory Council. which he said has not met in years. and advance programming co-led by youth—including with schools. recreation centers. and entertainment businesses. He argued those partners could create safe, social programming youth would actually want to attend. He said nightlife is not the only appeal for young people and urged the city to do more to foster “third spaces” that are genuinely welcoming. including employing youth for real wages.

On enforcement, he said he would direct MPD action toward the adults who plan and promote unlicensed gatherings and toward those who sell alcohol illegally at such events.

Education oversight, in his view, should be more about outcomes than logistics. Deramo said the Council’s oversight of education in recent years has largely focused on transportation for special-education students and the affordability of early childhood education. and he said those are crucial pillars worth oversight. Still. he said the Council has focused less on overall school performance and ensuring “strong return on our significant per-pupil investment.”.

He tied the urgency to citywide performance, saying test scores are persistently low across the District. He said Ward 1 schools posted some of the city’s lowest test scores and that Ward 1 was the only ward to make virtually no improvement in test scores last year.

His answer called for an “education Council” that he said is more involved and more thoughtful about accountability for performance. and that ensures practices are evidence-based. especially in literacy and math. He said the Council needs an education committee. He added a pledge to personally visit each school in his ward before the school year to ensure facilities. which he said the Council oversees more directly. are well-maintained and ready to facilitate learning. He cited “recent experiences at Cardozo, CHEC, and elsewhere” as evidence that is not the case now.

Deramo also addressed what residents describe as a pattern of weak service delivery and follow-through by District agencies. He said he is familiar with constituents’ frustrations as a current Commissioner. and pointed to examples including inefficient trash management that he said contributes to the persistent rat issue. He argued that common-sense solutions haven’t had the political will to be implemented. including replacing open-air litter bins—what he described as “rat buffets”—with rodent-proof models.

He tied accountability to responsiveness and presence. Deramo said Ward 1 is leading the district in composting, but that residential pickup remains only a pilot and there are only four composting Smart Bins in the entire ward.

He said he would work hand-in-hand with residents in English or Spanish and described his “number-one priority” as showing up—ensuring his office is fully and bilingually staffed and has adequate project management processes to follow through on constituent requests to satisfactory completion.

Budget decisions, he said, must protect long-term needs. Deramo said his priorities are to avoid short-term savings that entail long-term costs and not break promises “especially promises to our children.” He also argued the city should grow its tax base while ensuring taxes are borne equitably.

In a specific policy proposal. he said he supports Councilmember Parker’s proposal to create a tiered surcharge on realized capital gains—aimed at increasing taxes on realized capital gains primarily on the top 1% of DC taxpayers. Deramo said the measure would help fund essential programs including vouchers for unhoused people. the Child Tax Credit. and the Pay Equity Fund.

For transportation. Deramo described himself as a car-free commuter and laid out a plan centered on safety. speed. reliability. and enjoyment for everyone—age. ability. income. or travel choice. He said he wants streets designed with safety at their core: more intentional traffic calming on neighborhood streets to slow vehicles and reduce crash severity; converting temporary paint-and-plastic installations into permanent. high-quality protections; and ensuring a truly safe. accessible sidewalk network that is free of obstructions. compliant with accessibility standards. and well maintained.

He also supported dedicated bus lanes on all key corridors so WMATA can provide frequent and reliable service. He said the plan includes investing in more bus shelters so waits are safe and dignified across seasons. For people biking and using scooters. he said he wants a complete. connected network of protected bike lanes to stitch together today’s fragmented system into something coherent for riders of all ages and abilities.

On development, Deramo said the D.C. Council does not have authority over individual housing developments or zoning changes related to individual development proposals. and he said that the executive branch handles those processes. He argued the system is designed to prevent individual Councilmembers from wielding outsized influence over specific projects in ways that might skew decisions toward political relationships rather than public benefit and objective assessments.

Still. he said the executive branch. working with Advisory Neighborhood Commissions. provides opportunities for public input through in-person and virtual public meetings. He also said that for displacement and affordability. he would use legislative authority to resource proven programs including TOPA. the District Opportunity to Purchase Act. and rent stabilization. He added that TOPA is only effective if residents can actually use it. noting complex transactions and “byzantine rules” shouldn’t frustrate tenants’ ability to purchase their homes and preserve affordability.

His answers also returned to D.C. autonomy and the role of Congress. Deramo said recent events have made clear the District requires greater autonomy and full representation. He described D.C. statehood as a civil rights issue, saying Congress could roll back local laws that enshrine residents’ rights. He said he would establish long-term relationships with Hill counterparts so lobbying efforts are viewed with more sincerity. and he would connect the dots for members of Congress about threats to D.C. and the wider implications for American democracy.

At the Council. he said he would vote for legislation that benefits the District even if Congress might overturn it. including bills that protect and advance civil rights. He argued that avoiding such votes to prevent Congressional disapproval paralyzes the Council and becomes “obedience in advance.”.

He pointed to his own record as evidence of his position on statehood and autonomy. Deramo said he founded the ANC Home Rule caucus. conducted oversight of MPD’s collaboration with ICE. and currently leads Know-Your-Rights trainings in Spanish with Free D.C. He also said he is a member of Senator Jain’s Statehood Advisory Council.

He singled out the city’s 911 system as another place where trust is tested. Deramo said improving responsiveness of city services is a key priority and tied his stance directly to a set of major issues he said Councilmember Nadeau flagged about the Office of Unified Communications (OUC) handling and response to emergency calls from Ward 1 residents.

He said those issues included 911 calls going entirely unanswered, significant delays in responding without prioritizing emergencies, and sending EMS to the wrong addresses. He added that these mistakes “sadly” led to Ward 1 neighbors passing without receiving rapid assistance.

Deramo backed the E911 Modernization Amendment Act. saying it would support Next Generation 911 (NG911) to allow text. video. and data sharing; use advanced GPS technology in mobile devices for precise location tracking; provide training for emergency responders on new technologies and protocols; and allocate funding for ongoing maintenance and updates to the 911 system.

He said he supports more transparency in sharing 911 data, especially around mishandling of emergency calls, and launching a task force of experts to identify tools to address emergency-response shortcomings.

On ethics. he said accountability is central to rebuilding public trust and that elected officials should show people government works for them. Deramo said he would proactively use oversight authority instead of waiting for once-yearly oversight hearings. including subpoenaing documents and requiring testimony from District agencies.

He also said he would use legislative authority to create better systems for collecting and sharing real-time public data. including complaints residents or agency staff submit about misconduct or unresolved issues. For ethics violations by Council members. he supported exploring reforms such as increasing civil penalty caps to deter violations and creating an ethics committee—an independent body with external members rather than having the Council Committee of the Whole examine internal ethics violations.

Asked what his first housing policy would be and how it would make a real difference within one term. Deramo again pointed to the Housing Production Omnibus Act of 2026. describing it as preserving the Housing Production Trust Fund to fund construction rather than stabilization. He repeated his emphasis on five separate accounts—production (construction). preservation. property purchases through TOPA. subsidies for deeply affordable homes. and land acquisition by the District—saying the Council could resource and monitor them.

He said the plan also needs new funding streams amid constrained budget seasons and he would support expanding publicly financed mixed-income housing, sometimes called social housing, to create and preserve more affordable homes in Ward 1.

For a personal note. Deramo described what feels like home: long walks. runs. or bike rides with his partner. Luis. ending at local places where they’ve become regulars—Little Hat Coffee. La Tejana. El Chucho. All Souls. Nido. Green Zone. and Cana!. He said those businesses and their teams make neighborhoods “livable, beautiful, and downright cool.”.

When asked about something voters would never learn from his résumé or campaign website. Deramo said he was raised by music lovers—his mom and dad met at a record store while browsing for Joni Mitchell albums. He said that music was always playing in his grandparents’ home. and that when he was young he wanted to be a composer. writing original scores for a local children’s musical theater program and conducting the pit orchestra. He ended with a memory of “Halcyon days!”.

The June primary offers voters a choice among candidates each claiming a clear path forward. Deramo’s pitch. delivered across answers on housing. crime. youth gatherings. education. transportation. emergency response. and ethics. is built on a single theme: public trust is earned through concrete systems that work—and through leadership that doesn’t look away once the cameras are gone.

D.C. Council Ward 1 Miguel Trindade Deramo ANC 1B affordability public safety community policing Housing Production Trust Fund Housing Production Omnibus Act of 2026 Youth Advisory Council 911 modernization Next Generation 911 protected bike lanes STEER Act E911 Modernization Amendment Act