New City Manager James Parajon may be trying to make a good first impression with city residents. His first budget — a continuation of one started under former City Manager Mark Jinks — comes with no new tax rate increase. Even so, with real estate assessments on the upswing, local homeowners can still expect to see taxes go up.
In a meeting today, Parajon joined Budget Director Morgan Routt and other city officials to present the fiscal year 2023 budget to the City Council.
Alexandria’s Florence King, a 2021 City Council candidate who died in December, has been posthumously awarded Volunteer Alexandria’s top award.
Volunteer Alexandria’s 2021 Volunteers are the Heart of Alexandria awards gala has been canceled due to Covid, but top honors were still announced on Monday (Feb. 15).
Despite complaints from neighbors, Alexandria’s City Council renewed Classical Movements’ permit to continue holding concerts in Old Town and even expand offerings.
Last year, international music tourism company Classical Movements (711 Princess Street) won approval from the city to transform the outdoor space behind their building into a venue for classical music performances. On Saturday, the City Council approved an earlier Planning Commission recommendation with a few amendments.
A Maryland man has been sentenced to 17 years in prison after being found guilty for five armed robberies through the area, including one at a McDonald’s in Alexandria.
Jon Karl Mcree Fleet, 62, was found guilty of five robberies stretching from Jan. 24 to March 13. On Feb. 11, 2011, Fleet robbed the McDonald’s at 505 South Van Dorn Street.
The Alexandria Wedding Showcase is back to being an in-person event.
This year’s event will be held at The Alexandrian (480 King Street) in Old Town and feature a VIP champagne brunch with Alexandria resident Monte Durham, host of TLC’s “Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta”and owner of Salon Monte.
If all goes well, this September the Potomac Crescent Waldorf School in Old Town will have a new home.
The private school is seeking a special use permit (SUP) to operate as a grades 1-5 school at 424 N. Washington Street.
Augie’s debuts new beer — “Partnership with Denizen’s Brewing to be revealed Thursday.” [Alexandria Living Magazine]
City of Alexandria offering free tax prep service — “The City of Alexandria is offering a free tax preparation service to certain residents. To qualify for assistance, taxpayers must have an income below $55,000.” [Zebra]
The Alexandria School Board unanimously adopted Superintendent Gregory Hutchings’ $346 million fiscal year 2022 Combined Funds Budget last Thursday night.
The proposal, which was approved without discussion, is a nearly 4% increase ($9.3 million) over last year’s request from the City, and asks for approximately $248.7 million from the city to give employees a 2.6% salary step increase and a 2.5% market rate adjustment. The school system is banking on the hope that the city will endorse former Governor Ralph Northam’s proposal to raise teacher pay by 10.25% across the state.
To help neighbors tired of ball-related destruction, Alexandria is planning to add some new nets to a field just off Duke Street.
Alexandria is planning to put up some towering new netting around the Witter Recreational Fields (2660 Witter Drive).
Regardless of a reporting inaccuracy by the Virginia Department of Health, Alexandria’s Covid numbers are still going down.
VDH identified 220 cases that were “inaccurately auto-generated duplicated in the case reporting system,” which is why there were 19 cases reported on Feb. 6, 20 cases on Feb. 7 and 43 cases on Feb. 8 — all sharp contrasts to the hundreds of daily cases being reported the previous week. Additionally, three deaths from January were also added to the city’s death toll, which now stands at 176.
Longtime voter registrar Anna Leider, who retired last year after managing over 40 elections, died this weekend after a long battle with brain cancer.
Leider grew up in Alexandria and was a fixture of local election days before her retirement in 2020.
