Read the latest Ward 5 news in the
Councilmember’s weekly newsletter:
Read the latest Ward 5 news in the Councilmember’s weekly newsletter:
Constituent Services - Submit A Request
Need help with an issue? Let us know!
LATEST WARD 5 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
March 21, 2025
Dear Ward 5 neighbors,
Last week, I emailed you asking for your help in calling on the Senate to protect DC’s local budget in the GOP spending bill. Your overwhelming response of support made a difference! While the Senate didn’t fix the Continuing Resolution, they did pass a separate, standalone measure called the District of Columbia Local Funds Act, which would allow us to continue operating at our Fiscal Year 2025 spending levels. The measure now returns to the House of Representatives. When the House returns from recess on Monday, March 24, we are calling on them to expeditiously pass the measure so that the District does not face a $1.1 billion cut to essential services by being forced to revert to FY24 spending levels.
The Mayor and Councilmembers are all having discussions with representatives and their offices to ensure they understand the significance of this bill and how critical it is for our city. We welcome your support as we make the case to the House: this bipartisan, common-sense measure that was unanimously passed by the Senate deserves their support to protect some of DC’s most essential services—fire and emergency medical services, teachers and schools, and more.
LATEST WARD 5 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
Calling on the House and Groundbreaking at Fort Lincoln
March 21, 2025
Dear Ward 5 neighbors,
Last week, I emailed you asking for your help in calling on the Senate to protect DC’s local budget in the GOP spending bill. Your overwhelming response of support made a difference! While the Senate didn’t fix the Continuing Resolution, they did pass a separate, standalone measure called the District of Columbia Local Funds Act, which would allow us to continue operating at our Fiscal Year 2025 spending levels. The measure now returns to the House of Representatives. When the House returns from recess on Monday, March 24, we are calling on them to expeditiously pass the measure so that the District does not face a $1.1 billion cut to essential services by being forced to revert to FY24 spending levels.
The Mayor and Councilmembers are all having discussions with representatives and their offices to ensure they understand the significance of this bill and how critical it is for our city. We welcome your support as we make the case to the House: this bipartisan, common-sense measure that was unanimously passed by the Senate deserves their support to protect some of DC’s most essential services—fire and emergency medical services, teachers and schools, and more.
Progress Report: January 2023 - January 2025
Check out the latest Progress Report from Councilmember Parker! Our office has been hard at work alongside Ward 5 neighbors to build healthy communities through transformative policy, fighting for Ward 5, and making government accessible and transparent. View the full report and see more of what we achieved together here.
COUNCILMEMBER ZACHARY PARKER
Since taking office in January of 2023, Zachary has delivered for Ward 5 residents through responsive constituent services and significant budget wins. He has introduced dozens of transformative pieces of legislation, including bills to establish the District’s State Superintendent of Education’s School Support Office to improve low-performing schools, and the District Child Tax Credit which provides low-income and middle-class families fully refundable tax credits for children 17 years of age and younger.
LEGISLATION
Since taking office, Councilmember Parker has introduced more than 30 pieces of legislation, and co-introduced more than 150 additional bills. Learn about Councilmember Parker’s legislation, co-introductions, and committee assignments on the Legislation page.
COUNCILMEMBER ZACHARY PARKER
Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker is an educator and a public servant. He taught 7th-grade math in New Orleans, post-Katrina, with Teach For America, and spent nearly a decade supporting DC school administrators at Ward 5 schools like Dunbar High School and Mundo Verde PCS.
Zachary sees firsthand the human impact of a system that leaves our most vulnerable behind. He grew up watching his oldest brother struggle with a one-size-fits-all school system that did not have the resources to support him, and now sees the challenges he faces in life because of it.
And Zachary suffered alongside his middle brother through a long and exhaustive battle with a healthcare system that treated him more like a problem than a patient before he ultimately passed away at 36 from kidney failure. These shouldn’t be the experiences families have when interacting with our public institutions. Zachary has dedicated his life’s work to transforming the systems that failed his brothers and so many like them.
The latest on the Councilmember’s Social Media
Building a stronger, healthier Ward 5 every day.
VISIT OR MAIL OUR OFFICE:
John A. Wilson Building
1350 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Suite 102
Washington, DC 20004