City Council | ALXnow

Here’s how Alexandria is planning on spending its American Rescue Plan Act funding

Published June 10, 2021 at 2:40PM | Updated June 10, 2021 at 3:08PM

Alexandria is planning on spending a portion of its American Rescue Plan Act funding on supporting a childcare wellness program, commercial business districts around the city, flooding mitigation and hiring bilingual city staffers to help residents facing eviction.

Those are just four of nine prioritized recommendations that the Alexandria City Council received Wednesday night on how to spend its first tranche of funding. After getting more than 1,300 recommendations from the community, spending has been categorized into tiers, with projects scored by staff. The Tier 1 and 2 projects would be handled with the first allocation, followed by the Tiers 3 and 4 with the second.

Opinion

Poll: Did you vote in Alexandria’s Democratic primary?

By Vernon Miles

Published June 9, 2021 at 4:45PM

Elizabeth Bennett-Parker casts her vote on primary day, June 8, 2021, at Matthew Maury Elementary School. (Staff photo by James Cullum)

Months of campaigning came to a head last night as Mayor Justin Wilson and three City Council incumbents held onto their seats despite opposition and the three new members of the City Council were among those most closely aligned with the incumbents.

The city also had relatively high levels of voter turnout for a non-Presidential election year, with 23% of registered voters showing up to the polls.

News

Democratic primary settled in Alexandria, but underlying issues linger

By Vernon Miles

Published June 9, 2021 at 3:45PM | Updated June 9, 2021 at 5:46PM

Winners of the 2021 Democratic Primary (left to right) Councilman Canek Aguirre, Councilwoman Amy Jackson, Mayor Justin Wilson, Alyia Gaskins, Sarah Bagley, Vice Mayor Elizabeth Bennett-Parker, who won the 45th District primary, and Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-30) at a victory party at Pork Barrel BBQ in Del Ray. (Photo via Alexandria Democratic Committee/Facebook)

Last night was a rout for a vocal contingent of Alexandrians pushing for a change in city leadership, but both top dogs in the local Democratic party and their opposition say the fight isn’t over.

At Los Tios Grill in Del Ray, former Alexandria Mayor Allison Silberberg told enthusiastic supporters that conversations over issues like the Seminary Road Diet and Taylor Run Stream restoration project would continue, although the candidates who put those issues at the forefronts of their campaigns lost.

News

Morning Notes

By James Cullum

Published June 9, 2021 at 5:00AM

Winners of the 2021 Democratic Primary (left to right) Councilman Canek Aguirre, Councilwoman Amy Jackson, Mayor Justin Wilson, Alyia Gaskins, Sarah Bagley, Vice Mayor Elizabeth Bennett-Parker, who won the 45th District primary, and Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-30) at a victory party at Pork Barrel BBQ in Del Ray. (Photo via Alexandria Democratic Committee/Facebook)

McAuliffe, Ayala, Herring win statewide Democratic primary — “Former Virginia governor and longtime fixture as a national Democratic Party leader Terry McAuliffe won the state’s Democratic nomination for a second term as governor in Tuesday’s primary election, the Associated Press reported at 7:44 p.m. In the two other statewide races, the lieutenant governor’s contest was called by AP for Del. Hala Ayala. In the attorney general race, Del. Jay Jones conceded to incumbent Mark Herring.” [Patch]

Council candidates pose after Democratic primary — “Congratulations to our 2021 Democratic nominees for Alexandria Mayor (Justin Wilson) and City Council (John Chapman, Alyia Gaskins, Amy Jackson, Canek Aguirre, Sarah Bagley, and Kirk McPike), and the 45th House District (Elizabeth Bennett Parker)! Onward to November!” [Facebook]

News

BREAKING: Incumbents hold on in Alexandria City Council Democratic primary

By ALXnow.com

Published June 8, 2021 at 10:30PM

City Councilman John Taylor Chapman in the voting booth with his son at the George Washington National Masonic Memorial on primary day, June 8, 2021. (Staff photo by James Cullum)

The Alexandria City Council incumbents held onto their seats in a hotly contested Democratic primary, and will be joined by three new faces to the Council if the results carry over into the November election.

Alexandria City Councilman John Taylor Chapman received the most votes in Tuesday night’s Democratic primary, winning 12.07% of the vote. Alyia Smith-Parker Gaskins won the second most, with 11.96% of the vote.

News

BREAKING: Wilson wins Democratic mayoral primary, Silberberg concedes

By James Cullum

Published June 8, 2021 at 9:15PM | Updated June 8, 2021 at 11:06PM

Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson speaks at a vigil against police brutality at the Charles Houston Recreation Center in Old Town on June 4, 2020. (Staff photo by James Cullum)

(Updated 11 p.m.) Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson defeated his political rival, former Mayor Allison Silberberg, in Tuesday night’s Democratic primary.

“Thank you Alexandria,” Wilson said at Pork Barrel BBQ in Del Ray. “When the voters of Alexandrians get a choice between a list of things that they are against and a positive vision for the future for our city, they choose the positive vision of the future every single day of the week.”

News

Here’s how much it would cost to reverse the Seminary Road Diet

By James Cullum

Published June 7, 2021 at 10:45AM | Updated June 7, 2021 at 5:55PM

The controversy over the Seminary Road Diet has been front and center this election season, with a majority of City Council candidates saying they will vote to reverse it if elected.

Council candidates have been peppered with questions on the road diet, in addition to their general philosophies on roadway development and community engagement.

News

Wilson keeps fundraising lead over Silberberg in mayoral primary, McPike leads City Council candidates

By James Cullum

Published June 3, 2021 at 3:30PM

The June 8 Democratic primary is next Tuesday, and the latest fundraising totals show that Mayor Justin Wilson has still outraised his opponent, former Mayor Allison Silberberg.

Kirk McPike is also continuing to lead financially among City Council candidates.

News

City Council candidate thinks divisive local issues are Republican comeback opportunity

By Vernon Miles

Published June 3, 2021 at 1:15PM

It’s been nearly ten years since Republicans had a spot on the City Council, but Republican City Council candidate Darryl Nirenberg is hoping several divisive issues that have cropped up over the last couple years can help break the blue stranglehold on the city this November.

“Prospects for a Republican are better now than they have been for years,” Nirenberg said. “The issues facing our city, such as divisive plans to house adults on school grounds; road diets; promoting more density in the midst of a pandemic; neglect of our storm drains and infrastructure; and destroying green space — are not partisan.”

News

Wilson and Silberberg mayoral debate finale opens possibility of ‘tweaking’ Seminary Road Diet

By James Cullum

Published May 28, 2021 at 9:30AM

Mayor Justin Wilson and former Mayor Allison Silberberg in the Seminary Ridge mayoral candidate discussion on Thursday, May 27, 2021. (Image via Zoom)

With no more mayoral debates, now it all boils down to the Democratic primary on June 8.

Like the main event at a boxing match, Mayor Justin Wilson and former Mayor Allison Silberberg on Thursday night maneuvered through a series of questions in the final of four Seminary Ridge Civic Association candidate forums.

News

Ownership of Landmark’s streets could make a big difference down the road

By Vernon Miles

Published May 27, 2021 at 10:45AM

Landmark Mall rendering (image via City of Alexandria)

The building blocks for what will become a sweeping mixed-use development replacing Landmark Mall are almost in place. A small discussion about street ownership could also have big implications for the future of the site’s identity.

The Eisenhower West Landmark Van Dorn Implementation Advisory Group met on Monday to put some of the finishing touches on some of the initial framework discussed over the last few months. One of the major points of discussion is over who will own the roads.