Abdel Elnoubi | ALXnow

Alexandria City Council forms committee to consider School Board election reforms

Published June 25, 2026 at 3:45PM

Alexandria City Council on May 12, 2026 (staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria City Council voted Tuesday to create an ad hoc committee to discuss possible Alexandria City School Board election reforms such as terms and the size of the nine-member board.

City Council’s approval allows the committee to discuss term lengths, staggered term elections and overall board size and composition. The action comes after School Board Chair Michelle Rief requested the joint committee to seek city charter amendments on School Board terms. Specifically, the School Board is requesting moving members from three-year terms to four-year staggered terms, with one member from each of the three School Board districts being elected each year.

News

After BID failures, City Council looks for other options to support Old Town business corridor

By Emily Leayman

Published June 25, 2026 at 9:15AM

Shops in the 200 block of King Street in Old Town (staff photo by James Cullum)

After multiple failed attempts over the past decade to bring a Business Improvement District to Old Town, Alexandria City Council is asking for other strategies to give the corridor an economic boost.

On Tuesday (June 23), City Council endorsed a memo from Council Members Sandy Marks and John Taylor Chapman directing the city manager to assess “how we can address the needs of the Old Town business corridor a little more intentionally.” City staff will review existing research on services and financial investments the city is making in Old Town and alternative options to boost tax revenue.

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Alexandria fire chief reports morale boost, staffing gains with new 49-hour work week

By Emily Leayman

Published June 24, 2026 at 3:45PM

Alexandria Fire Chief Felipe Hernandez (on left) at APD’s Public Safety Summit, June 18, 2026 (staff photo by James Cullum)

Morale and staffing are improving at the Alexandria Fire Department after a 49-hour work week was implemented, according to an annual presentation to City Council by Fire Chief Felipe Hernandez Jr. yesterday (Tuesday).

AFD implemented the 49-hour work week in October 2025, reducing weekly hours from 56 as a strategy to improve retention and recruitment. The department achieves the 49 hours with a fourth-shift schedule and “debit day” system. That means firefighters work a 42-hour work week and work an extra day every 24 days to average 49 hours weekly.

News

City Council approves Housing 2040 Plan to guide housing goals over next 15 years

By Emily Leayman

Published June 15, 2026 at 1:45PM

The Sherwood apartment building at Southern Towers in Alexandria's West End. (staff photo by James Cullum)

On Saturday (June 13), Alexandria City Council unanimously approved the Housing 2040 Plan, which will set the city’s housing goals over the next 15 years.

The Housing 2040 Plan will guide city policies on expanding housing supply and affordable homeownership, preserving existing affordable housing, seeking landlord-tenant protections, strengthening condominium communities, expanding resources for seniors and people with disabilities, and supporting safe and healthy housing. It will also guide the city’s legislative policies on housing, land use planning, small area plans, housing programs and development of new financial and regulatory tools.

News

City Council considers special committee to discuss School Board election reform, more ACPS funds

By Emily Leayman

Published May 27, 2026 at 12:30PM

Alexandria City Council on May 12, 2026 (staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria City Council took a step Tuesday (May 26) to consider changes to the School Board’s terms and the size of the nine-member board. The council is also considering using potential contingent funds that will be available in the new fiscal year to fund Community in Schools of Northern Virginia at Alexandria City Public Schools.

Mayor Alyia Gaskins received support from a majority of City Council members on the proposal to form an ad hoc committee on election reform. City Council’s request will direct City Manager Jim Parajon to prepare a resolution to create the committee that two City Council members would be in. Gaskins said the committee’s scope would allow it to look at staggered terms and other election reform items such as board size, timing of terms or representation. The two City Council members would work with two School Board members to bring forward election reform recommendations.

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City Council approves $979.1M budget with unchanged real estate tax rate but eyes tougher choices ahead

By James Cullum

Published April 30, 2026 at 1:45PM | Updated May 6, 2026 at 11:43AM

Alexandria City Council on Wednesday, April 29, 2026 (staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria City Council unanimously approved City Manager Jim Parajon’s $979.1 million Fiscal Year 2027 budget with a few changes Wednesday night.

The budget represents a 2.4% increase over the FY2026 budget and maintains the real estate tax rate of $1.135 per $100 of assessed value, although some City Council members expressed caution about a potential tax increase in next year’s budget. Property owners whose assessment values increased could still see higher tax bills under the unchanged rate.

News

Sheriff blasts budget cut by City Council to study U.S. Marshals Service jail contract

By James Cullum

Published April 24, 2026 at 1:45PM

Sheriff Sean Casey speaks at the 9/11 remembrance ceremony at Alexandria's Market Square, Sept. 11, 2025 (staff photo by James Cullum)

Sheriff Sean Casey is criticizing a recent Alexandria City Council decision to take $200,000 from his budget for a jail operational efficiency study, while Vice Mayor Sarah Bagley says the city should reevaluate whether it wants to maintain a longstanding contract between the Alexandria Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Marshals Service.

On Tuesday, City Council moved forward with a proposal by Bagley and City Councilman Abdel Elnoubi to conduct the study, despite objections from Casey and members of his staff. At last Saturday’s public budget hearing, Casey said his office cannot afford the $200,000 budget reduction and asked City Council, “Do you want to be in the jail business?”

News

‘Do you want to be in the jail business,’ Sheriff Casey asks City Council amid budget talks

By James Cullum

Published April 20, 2026 at 3:55PM | Updated April 21, 2026 at 9:00AM

Sheriff Sean Casey at the unveiling of the Alexandria Police Department Suicide Memorial, Sept. 26, 2023 (staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria Sheriff Sean Casey and members of his staff argued against a proposed budget reallocation before City Council on Saturday (April 18).

Casey said a proposal by Vice Mayor Sarah Bagley and City Councilman Abdel Elnoubi to transfer $200,000 out of the Alexandria Sheriff’s Office budget for a jail operational efficiency study is a waste of valuable resources and will hurt an already cash-strapped agency. While a number of speakers at Saturday’s public hearing called for Casey’s budget to be cut over what they see as voluntary collaboration with U.S. Immigration and Enforcement, several City Council members defended the proposed study, saying the measure is intended to improve ASO operations.

News

Alexandria School Board members push City Council for staggered term reforms

By James Cullum

Published April 20, 2026 at 12:15PM | Updated April 20, 2026 at 5:29PM

Alexandria School Board meeting in 2025 (staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria City School Board members are asking the public to help push for reforms to the nine-member board, including staggered elections, higher salaries and more.

The clock is ticking, School Board Members Ashley Simpson Baird and Kelly Carmichael Booz wrote in a recent blog post. The pair wrote that City Council must act this year by beginning a process to amend the City Charter — a change that would need to go to the Virginia General Assembly’s 2027 session for approval.

News

Sunday paid parking proposal opposed by majority of Alexandria City Council

By James Cullum

Published April 15, 2026 at 1:45PM

An Alexandria parking enforcement vehicle (staff photo by James Cullum)

A majority of Alexandria’s City Council won’t support City Manager Jim Parajon’s proposal for paid parking on Sundays, but the door to increasing parking meter rates and fines is still open.

City Council had first reading on a number of parking-related ordinances yesterday (Tuesday), which, if approved later this month, would increase parking meter rates and parking ticket fines and add paid parking to metered spots on Sundays.

News

BPOL tax increase, no new ACPS funding in City Council’s add/deletes as budget vote nears

By James Cullum

Published April 14, 2026 at 2:45PM

Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins in Council Chambers, April 8, 2025 (staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria City Council members have submitted their proposed additions — and one deletion — in their Fiscal Year 2027 budget deliberations.

The proposed additions to the budget include a 5-cent increase to the city’s Business, Professional and Occupational License (BPOL) tax; $200,000 for a jail operational efficiency study; and $350,000 for improvements to the pedestrian zone in the 200 block of King Street.