Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson is leaving politics

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Pretty soon email inboxes won’t get those monthly newsletters from Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson. It’s the end of an era in the city, as Wilson leaves office in January.

Wilson is looking forward to it.

“I certainly never worked harder at a job than I have worked in this one,” Wilson said. “There’s no question about it that that’s been a an enormous part of my life.”

It was a busy Saturday in November for Wilson when he spoke with us. Sipping tea at St. Elmo’s Coffee Pub in Del Ray, he was frequently interrupted by texts that couldn’t be avoided.

“I’m gonna enjoy life,” Wilson told ALXnow. “Can you give me one second, actually? I’m gonna answer a text here. More urgent. Sorry. Yeah, I’m gonna enjoy life. I’m gonna travel when I feel like it, without having to plan around the council calendar. My daughter has a year-and-a-half left before she goes to college. We’re going to hound her and and do what teens love for their parents to do, which is to spend lots of time with them.”

Wilson started the day with a photo shoot with the Alexandria Times, followed by a ribbon cutting for a new food truck at Port City Brewing Company, a City Council retreat to discuss the budget and incoming Trump administration, and the Christmas tree lighting at Market Square in front of City Hall.

“I certainly feel wiser,” Wilson said. “I feel better equipped to handle different things. But I don’t think there’s anything that like, ‘Oh man, I wish I would have known that.'”

Wilson has presided over an unprecedented period in Alexandria’s history marked by social strife and a pandemic. His tenure includes redeveloping Landmark Mall into a hospital, education funding and upending the city’s zoning laws with the controversial Zoning for Housing/Housing for All overhaul.

Wilson is married with two children and is a senior manager for Amtrak. He was first elected in a special election to Council in 2007 after the resignation of then-Vice Mayor Andrew Macdonald. He lost reelection in 2009, was elected in 2012 and was elected as vice mayor in 2015. In 2018, he defeated then-Mayor Allison Silberberg in the Democratic primary and was reelected in 2021.

Wilson was reelected virtually while stuck with covid in a hotel room in Spain in 2021.

“I missed the installation,” Wilson said. “I got installed in the council installation from there in Spain. I think that’s first.”

In the near-term, Wilson and his family are going on vacation next month to Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Estonia. Before the trip, though, he’ll be honored (and roasted) on Dec. 15 at a $50-per-plate fundraiser to benefit ALIVE! and Carpenter’s Shelter.

“I’m still gonna have a full time job,” he said, of leaving office. “I’m gonna do one job as opposed to two full time jobs.”

Wilson will hand over the reins to Mayor-elect Alyia Gaskins when she and Council-elect members are sworn in on Jan. 2 at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center at Northern Virginia Community College’s Alexandria campus.

Wilson said he’ll enjoy not responding to floods, power outages or crime events.

“Every time there is a really loud rainstorm, I think, ‘Oh my God, there’s a place flooding right now,'” Wilson said. “Every time I get an alert that there’s been a shooting, I’m like, ‘Oh my God, we’re gonna have to deal with that.’ The anxiety of being, if not actually, at least figuratively, responsible for kind of anything that happens in the city and feeling that responsibility, I will not miss that and and look forward to not having that kind of panic. It’ll probably take a while for me to kind of feel liberated from that and allow myself to understand that someone else is going to be responsible for that in the future.”

He also said that Gaskins, who was first elected to council in 2021, has a good approach to governance and that he’s happy to provide advice.

“I think her newness to all this can be an asset.” he said. “Maybe you think about the issues that are in front of the city, around economic development, around housing, around transportation, in a lot of cases, things that we’ve tried before are gonna have to be tried again, and we’re gonna have to hope that they’re more successful this time, to learn from our failures in the past.”

Former Mayor Bill Euille said he’s proud to call Wilson his “mentee” and that he will be missed.

“Being Mayor is both demanding and challenging, which requires stamina, a strong personality, along with leadership and listening skills,” Euille said. “I am pleased to not only call him a friend, but also a mentee. I have enjoyed providing counseling and advice to him when needed. He’s always been dedicated to constituent service and timely response.”

Will Wilson run for office again?

“As far as future in politics, never say never,” Wilson said. “Most of the things that are available to run for in the future are things that, first of all, require me to have a different career, and I don’t want to change my career. And also are in offices I’m not really interested in. I tell our congressman (Rep. Don Beyer) frequently I have no, literally no attraction or desire to go into his job. He has, I would argue, one of the worst jobs out there and and so, yeah, I don’t really have a lot of things I’m looking at where I would say this is what I want to do politically. I want to be involved in something, and I certainly want to find ways to serve. What that looks like, I don’t know.”

On the incoming Trump administration

Wilson said that the city’s economy is at serious risk if the incoming Trump administration outsources work from federal workers and contractors.

“It’s a serious risk, and I think everyone needs to understand that,” Wilson said. “The biggest infusion of federal money is in the salaries and the benefits of the tens of thousands of federal employees, contractors and retirees that live in the city. If  we end up in a situation where the administration is true to what they promise, which is to move thousands of workers out of here or eliminate their jobs, that’s cataclysmic for the city.”

Wilson continued, “It’s cataclysmic for our economy, and I think we would be foolish to ignore that risk. It’s a very, very big risk and you don’t mess with the federal workforce. If you do, it’s gonna be a problem.”

On the Potomac Yard arena deal

The implosion of the Potomac Yard arena deal was a disappointment for Wilson, who still believes it was a good idea to move the  Washington Wizards and Capitals from D.C. next door to the new Potomac Yard Metro station. The deal was sprung on the region by Governor Glenn Youngkin, team owner Ted Leonsis and Wilson in a surprise Dec. 13, 2023 announcement.

The $2 billion proposal to build an entertainment district in Potomac Yard failed when Youngkin didn’t get Democrat legislators on board and the proposal died in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

“It was a good deal, and it would have been transformative for the city’s economy,” Wilson said.

Wilson said the city needs another Potomac Yard arena-sized deal in order to correct a widening imbalance in the city’s tax base. About 82% of the city’s tax base is generated by residential property taxes.

“I think it was a good proposal, and I and I’m proud of what we were able to structure on that deal and and yes, we worked with a governor that we don’t agree with on a lot of stuff, but ultimately we we felt like it was in the best interest of the Commonwealth, in the best interest of the city,” Wilson said. “I will say that had the governor and the General Assembly been of the same party during this arena situation, this deal would have happened, or at least would have gotten a lot farther down the way than it did, and the fact that it didn’t was purely because of partisan bickering in Richmond.”

On Zoning for Housing

In Dec. 2023, City Council passed the controversial Zoning for Housing/Housing For All. The package of reforms includes a single-family zoning provision allowing developers to build homes with up to four units on any property, reducing parking requirements for single-family homes and analyzing office-to-residential conversions.

In September, Circuit Court Judge David S. Schell, who is also set to rule on Alexandria’s Zoning for Housing/Housing for All litigation, overturned neighboring Arlington’s Missing Middle zoning changes today. Meanwhile, the ruling gives credence to Old Town residents who have been fighting the city in court to reverse the zoning changes.

The city feels “very strongly that what we did was not only in alignment with city policies and goals and focus, but also legal,” Wilson said. “We feel very strongly about that and we will vigorously defend in court.”

On the pandemic

Wilson said that the pandemic was an “enormously difficult, challenging time, but one where we learned a lot.”

He said that the city was essentially winging it without a guidebook, and commended the city’s vaccine rollout.

“I think the way we worked out, providing supports to different vulnerable communities, around housing, around food, some of the needs that we had in the community that were exacerbated by the pandemic, I think we did a great job,” Wilson said. “I think we’re going to see ripple through society for a while, certainly the impacts on the criminal justice system, and what we saw as a result of the pandemic and the pandemic impacts we’re still dealing with in many ways.”

On Crime

Wilson said that crime is on a downswing in the City, and that young boys and men are largely responsible for “challenges” that the city is experiencing.

“We’re still seeing challenges, and particularly with young boys,” Wilson said. “Let’s be honest, it’s 15-to-25-year-old boys, and that is who is dominating the crime that we see in the city, and most of it is firearm related incidents. It’s also regional in nature.”

Wilson said that there’s an understanding on Council to invest in police, preventative mental health, gang prevention and schools.

“Then we also have to invest in advocacy at the state and federal level to make sure they adopt the kind of laws that are going to prevent the flow of weapons into our community, into the hands of people who are going to do bad things with them,” he said.

Comments about Wilson from City Council

ALXnow reached out to City Council members on their thoughts regarding Wilson. Their comments are below.

Mayor-elect Alyia Gaskins — Justin’s attention to detail and focus on understanding the ins and outs of every policy and process in the city has helped the staff and the council deliver on critical community priorities like housing, transit, and climate.

Vice Mayor Amy Jackson — Being elected to the Alexandria City Council has been an honor, one I share with Mayor Wilson.  In working alongside Mayor Wilson for a number of years now, he’s proven to be a data-driven, results-oriented mayor, continuing to move our city forward. In this role, Alexandria has survived a pandemic, school-related challenges, and economic hardships. Through our resilience, we have built back better with multimodal transportation initiatives, more open space and public art works, initializing and completing major infrastructure projects (including new schools), improving policy for working families, and winning national and regional awards and accolades for our programs and services that impact our residents and businesses – setting trends that are all critical to the foundation for the success of all Alexandrians. In his effort to balance our community’s needs with the intricacies of multilayered policy measures, Mayor Wilson, along with City Council, has served Alexandria well, setting up our city for success for generations to come.

Council Member Kirk McPike — Justin has been an extraordinary mayor and leader for our city. His breadth of knowledge regarding the history of so many of the things that come before Council has been invaluable. He navigated Alexandria through the pandemic and its recovery, a sharp economic slowdown and the inflation spike that followed, and did so in a way that maintained our commitment to our local values.

Council Member Sarah Bagley — Regardless of his position on a given issue, residents could trust that Justin was always prepared, had read the underlying docket and materials and chatted with relevant staff and residents.   The City has benefitted from this commitment to preparation and I have strived to follow this model (admitting I seem to need a bit more sleep than he does).

Council Member Canek Aguirre — Justin Wilson has been a passionate and tireless advocate for the people of Alexandria for more than a decade. Never one to shy away from difficult conversations, I have admired his command of the issues and have relied on his institutional knowledge, friendship, and counsel during my time on City Council. There is no doubt that Justin has been the right leader at the right time.

Council Member John Taylor Chapman — I think what a number of us who have followed Justin’s political career for a while have seen the energy that he bought to the work that he did on council after his first kind of go round, after losing in 2009, coming back with a kind of fresh vision, a new way of engaging individuals. The famous newsletter of his is filled with information, filled with updates. Even his political opponents and people who do not see things the same way he does, are very interested in making sure they’re on that mailing list. I think that is a testament to the fact that he knows that information is key for elected officials to make decisions, key for community members to be able to weigh in and have their say.