Council committee hears Cheryl Doggett’s reappointment to Events DC board

Cheryl Doggett appeared before the Committee on Business and Economic Development on Sept. 24 as the committee considered Proposed Resolution PR26-283, the Washington Convention and Sports Authority Board of Directors Cheryl Doggett Confirmation Resolution of 2025. The resolution would reappoint Doggett to the board for a term ending May 16, 2029.

Doggett, who said she has served on the authority since October 2014 and currently serves as vice chair of the board, described her background as a long-time District resident and business owner. “I am grateful to Mayor Bowser for nominating me and honored to have this opportunity to continue to serve the residents of the district,” she told the committee. She identified herself in testimony as President and Treasurer of Doggett Enterprises, Inc., the parent corporation of Doggett’s Parking Company.

Doggett emphasized her committee work on the authority, including finance, nominating and search, and community grants. She said Events DC’s community grants program has expanded from a “very small program” (which she described as about $100,000 a year when she joined) into a broader effort that now includes workshops and training to help small organizations apply for grants and meet requirements such as clean hands certificates. “We have expanded that with your help and with also with the help of the other board members to bring our grants program into, just not just giving the money, but helping to train the people who run these small programs,” Doggett said.

Committee members asked Doggett about projects and impacts she cited in written testimony. She pointed to the entertainment and sports arena on the St. Elizabeths campus as a catalyst for redevelopment in Ward 8 and cited work on the Carnegie Library project as an example of activating underused public assets. “I firmly believe this project helped to ignite the spark for major redevelopment at this site in Ward 8,” she said of the St. Elizabeths arena. Doggett also described Events DC’s role in creating athletic fields at the RFK site and said the authority is approached frequently with ideas for similar facilities.

Councilmembers commended Doggett’s record and asked about residency and potential conflicts of interest. Doggett answered that she is a District resident (Ward 3), that she has not claimed a principal residence elsewhere since 2021, and that neither she nor an immediate family member has interests that would pose a conflict for performance of board duties, as asked by the chair. She confirmed she has no outstanding liabilities for taxes or fees to the District or other governments when asked.

There were no public witnesses signed up to testify for this nomination at the hearing. The committee recorded the opportunity for written submissions until Oct. 3, 2025, to be uploaded via the Council’s hearing management system. The committee did not vote during the roundtable; the session was a hearing on the nomination and record-taking.

The committee’s consideration of Doggett’s reappointment and her answers to residency, conflict-of-interest, and service-history questions are now part of the record for PR26-283, which will proceed through the Council’s confirmation process.