City Council | ALXnow

City Council Wants Independent Investigative Authority, Sends Back Police Review Board Proposal

Published September 9, 2020 at 2:30PM | Updated September 10, 2020 at 5:20PM

Alexandria police (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

The Alexandria City Council on Tuesday night unanimously sent a proposal establishing a community police review board back to the drawing board.

In Tuesday night’s legislative meeting, Councilman Mo Seifeldein said that city staff did not include his desire to give the review board independent investigative authority to look into police misconduct and issue subpoenas. Seifeldein said he was clear with his request to City Manager Mark Jinks when Council unanimously directed the creation of the review board proposal in June.

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City Council Defers Plan to Add Virginia Tech Name to Potomac Yard Metro Station

By James Cullum

Published September 9, 2020 at 1:15PM | Updated September 9, 2020 at 2:24PM

The Alexandria City Council has pushed a decision to add Virginia Tech’s initials to the Potomac Yard Metro Station.

Virginia Tech’s $1 billion Innovation Campus is promised to bring a massive redevelopment to the area, although no buildings have yet to be constructed and no students are on site. Consequently, some members of council were concerned that the school’s request to add the name to the Metro station would not meet Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority naming guidelines.

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Councilman Seifeldein: Police Review Board Proposal ‘Dead in the Water’

By James Cullum

Published September 8, 2020 at 11:30AM | Updated September 8, 2020 at 11:50AM

City Councilman Mo Seifeldein says that the community police review board proposal going before City Council tonight (Tuesday, September 8) is “dead in the water.”

The proposal from Council was approved unanimously in June, and does not give the review board the ability to independently investigate police misconduct and issue subpoenas if necessary. The request to include the authority was made by the NAACP, Tenants and Workers, and other local groups, Seifeldein said.

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Here’s How Hundreds of Alexandria Kids Got Free Backpacks and School Supplies Over the Weekend

By James Cullum

Published August 24, 2020 at 5:00PM | Updated August 24, 2020 at 11:05PM

Kids playing near Alexandria City High School (staff photo by James Cullum)

Former Alexandria City Councilman Willie Bailey has done it again. Over the weekend, Bailey and a large collection of supporting organizations, groups and volunteers gave out more than 800 backpacks full of school supplies and thousands of books, with ice cream on the side.

Bailey, a deputy fire chief for the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, was raised in Alexandria and says he’s just paying it forward.

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Alexandria Celebrates 100 Year Anniversary of Women’s Right to Vote

By James Cullum

Published August 19, 2020 at 10:45AM

Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson (on left), Councilwoman Del Pepper and Councilwoman Amy Jackson honor the passage of the 19th Amendment with an event at the Barrett Library on August 18, 2020. (Staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria commemorated the 100 year anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment on Tuesday with a socially distant ceremony outside the Kate Waller Barrett Library.

Mayor Justin Wilson read a city proclamation that recounted the dozens of suffragists who were imprisoned, tortured and ultimately released from the Occoquan Workhouse after their case was thrown out in the federal courthouse in Alexandria.

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Morning Notes

By James Cullum

Published August 14, 2020 at 9:00AM

Former Councilman Bob Calhoun Dies — “Bob Calhoun, a former Republican state senator and city councilor, died on Aug. 6 of prostate cancer. He was 83.” [Alex Times]

ACPS Staffer at John Adams Elementary Registration Site Tests Positive for Coronavirus — “The site has currently been closed for cleaning and ACPS will follow all guidelines for ensuring that our facilities are clean and safe prior to reopening. The risk to anyone who was in contact with this individual at the school site has been deemed low, due to the specific circumstances of this case, including proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and physical distancing.” [Facebook]

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City Councilman Wants Police Review Board to Have Investigative Authority, Subpoena Power

By James Cullum

Published August 12, 2020 at 5:15PM | Updated August 12, 2020 at 6:47PM

The Alexandria City Council will receive a staff proposal next month on a community police review board, and Councilman Mo Seifeldein says he wants the body to have independent investigative authority and subpoena power in investigating police misconduct.

“Don’t abuse your power is what it comes down to,” Seifeldein said in a virtual meeting on Tuesday night. “The board could receive complaints that deal with abuse of power, serious misconduct… unnecessary force, unreasonable excessive use of force, use of racial, ethnic or sexual language/ remarks or just harassment, generally.”

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Alexandria Democrats Praise Kamala Harris VP Nomination

By Vernon Miles

Published August 12, 2020 at 10:45AM

U.S. Senator Kamala Harris was named Joe Biden’s vice presidential candidate on Tuesday, and some in the deeply blue Alexandria are celebrating.

Alexandria Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA) said Harris is a powerful and historic choice.

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Morning Notes

By James Cullum

Published July 30, 2020 at 9:00AM | Updated July 30, 2020 at 5:14PM

Exercising along the Mount Vernon Trail in Alexandria (staff photo by James Cullum)

COVID-19 Cases increase by 10 — “Positive tests up 10 to 2,759 in the City 7-day Positivity Rate down to 5.6% 0 new hospitalizations Still safer at home, wash hands, wear masks and support our essential workers.” [Twitter]

Beyer Votes for Republican Colleague by Proxy — “Beyer is a popular proxy choice for House Democrats, since he represents a Northern Virginia district that is just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.” [Roll Call]

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Alexandria VRE Improvements Headed to City Review

By Vernon Miles

Published July 28, 2020 at 10:30AM

The Amtrak and VRE station (Staff photo by Jay Westcott)

A series of new improvements to Alexandria’s Union Station — a Virginia Railway Express stop — proposed late last year are moving forward toward city approval.

The plan is to create new Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant access with a grade-separated pedestrian tunnel and elevator access. The expansion will also allow the station to take two trains at any given time, with one at each platform. The change is part of a regional effort to reduce the system’s bottleneck around the D.C. area.

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First Lady Northam, Officials Promote Safe Tourism Amid Pandemic in Alexandria

By James Cullum

Published July 23, 2020 at 10:30AM | Updated July 23, 2020 at 1:02PM

First Lady of Virginia Pamela Northam talks about tourism at the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Old Town on Thursday

Tourism in Alexandria isn’t what it used to be. With local economies devastated by the pandemic, First Lady of Virginia Pamela Northam visited Alexandria on Wednesday (July 22) to promote safe tourism and congratulate the city on winning a $10,000 grant for its Great Walks program.

“In 2018, Virginia tourists spent more than $26 billion here, and this put 235,000 people to work and contributed $1.8 billion in local and state tax revenue,” Northam told a small audience in the Torpedo Factory Art Center. “This year, however, our tourism and hospitality industries have been among the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic.”