On December 16th, we took our message against displacement right to the home of one of the chief architects of gentrification in D.C.: Geoff Griffis.
While he was home for the evening, tenants from Congress Heights and advocates rallied directly outside his home in Northwest D.C. Despite cold temperatures, for over an hour, we held signs calling him out as a slumlord, chanted, and made sure he directly heard the voice of the people he is trying to displace and their advocates. Despite Griffis’s track record in D.C., no one has ever taken their message directly to his front door – until now.
Griffis has partnered with the slumlords Sanford Capital with the aim of displacing tenants around the Congress Heights Metro. Griffis and Sanford have colluded to force the tenants out by forcing them to live in deplorable slum conditions.
When we started working with tenants at Congress Heights, total displacement seemed imminent. Over the past year, we’ve doggedly pursued every angle – from the Zoning Commission to the D.C. Council. Our work has exposed corruption and slum conditions, and has drawn significant media coverage. We know we are just around the corner from a win. Tenants have the legal right to purchase their building, and we know we have the infrastructure in place to help them do that.
However, Sanford Capital and Geoff Griffis are trying to use a loophole in the law to wait us out. We went to Griffis house to show that we won’t stop.