WASHINGTON (DC News Now)—After more than a year on the job in an interim capacity, acting director of the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement Kwelli Sneed is appealing to the D.C. Council and the community for the full-time position.
Monday, Sneed appeared before the Public Safety and Justice Committee for a public hearing on her confirmation as director. This comes after she was nominated by Mayor Muriel Bowser last month.
“I am an educator, transformer, connecter and fixer and I know how government works,” said Sneed. “I intend to finish the work my team and I have started. We are seeing lives change and we all are committed to this work.”
The Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, also known as ONSE, is tasked with preventing and intervening in gun violence.
It’s a task Sneed said the agency has made great progress on during her time as acting director. In fact, Sneed said that so far this year, there has been a 34% reduction in violent crime in the ONSE priority communities.
Councilmember Anita Bond asked Sneed what she attributed that to.
“The enhanced coordination with MPD and community leaders,” explained Sneed. “This is the first time I’ve seen as a resident where we have the full support for the chief of police. When (the public gets) real data in time, they allow us to go in and do the work.”
Still, the office has been scrutinized after being named in the bribery indictment against Councilmember Trayon White. White is accused of accepting cash in exchange for his influence on contracts with the agency.
Sneed has since stated that she is not under investigation and that her agency has cooperated fully with the FBI.
She also explained Monday that she’s created a compliance unit for contracts and grants to ensure accountability. It’s just one factor that’s garnered her some community support.
“I appreciate she is somebody that I’ve experienced to desire fidelity in that office to national standards and best practices as it relates to CVI work overall,” said Pastor Delonte Gholston, who spoke in favor of her confirmation.
“She was willing to do a hard thing when she first got into her role, which was to really shake up that office and take a hard look at who was getting contracts and why,” he continued.
Still, others criticized the agency as a whole.
“The office is dysfunctional. Pushing Ms. Sneed into that office is not fair to her,” said Kathy Henderson, neighborhood advisory commissioner.
“The nominee is from Ward 4 and she’s being nominated from the Mayor,” said ANC Commissioner Ashley Ruff. “Most of the Mayor’s nominees don’t really do nothing. It just seems crazy. Why are we not nominating for ONSE from Ward 7?”
Sneed’s appointment still requires a full vote by the Council.
