Alexandria’s development of a community police review board is too insular and groups representing the city’s minority populations are not being consulted, says Alexandria NAACP President Christopher Harris and community advocates.
“It appears to be an insular process,” Harris told ALXnow. “I would think that at the least out of courtesy you would reach out to the NAACP to get feedback and input, given that most of the people affected are members of the African American community.”
The office building at 4850 Mark Center Drive may not be known to many Alexandrians, but on Tuesday it was approved as the eventual headquarters of the city’s Health Department and Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS) — and potentially a temporary hub of city administration once repairs to City Hall move forward.
At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, the council approved purchasing the building for $58.7 million and to relocate the Health Department andn DCHS into the 10-story building.
There were public concerns about the massing, height, and construction hours for the newly approved development at 701 N. Henry Street. Behind those criticisms though was a recurring theme: many residents of the city’s historic Parker-Gray neighborhood are unhappy with the new density coming to their neighborhood.
Before it was part of the trendy Braddock neighborhood, with Metro adjacent coffee shops and bars, the Parker-Gray neighborhood was a historic black community formed as a haven for former slaves after the Civil War and solidified into a distinct center of Black life in Alexandria during segregation, according to the Washington Post.
Alexandria businesses struggled with poor sales during the shutdown, and now that drop in revenue is coming around to leave the City of Alexandria with little commercial tax support for an already strained budget.
According to information shared by Mayor Justin Wilson, the city faced a dramatic drop off in business taxes in April and May.
Alexandria City Councilwoman Del Pepper never saw it coming.
At Tuesday night’s virtual City Council meeting, Mayor Justin Wilson diverted from the agenda and took a moment to reflect on an important year — 1985. It was the year that “Back to the Future” came out in theaters, Ronald Reagan was sworn into his second presidential term, and Pepper was elected for the first time to the Alexandria City Council.
While supportive of the city overall, Alexandrians have issues with the cost of living and housing affordability in the city, according to a survey of 634 residents that the City Council will receive at its meeting tonight (Tuesday).
The Community Livability Report’s Resident Survey 2020 includes opinions on the livability of Alexandria, and while the reviews are mostly positive there are a number of areas that need work, according to the respondents.
(Updated 6/24) A new mixed-use development featuring a ground-floor daycare facility is scheduled to go to the City Council for approval this Saturday (June 20).
There’s extensive redevelopment underway at the northern end of the Braddock neighborhood just south of Potomac Yard. A seven-story residential building with ground-floor retail and the aforementioned daycare is planned for the very northern point of that neighborhood on a triangular lot at 1200 N. Henry Street.
Few things outside of the Seminary Road diet can rile the public comment portion of an Alexandria City Council meeting like proposed gun control legislation.
At a City Council meeting on Tuesday, the Council unanimously approved moving forward with a sweeping ban on firearms on or near city property — including parks — or on streets near permitted events.
The Alexandria City Council unanimously agreed last night (Tuesday) that the city should Endorse a resolution condemning systemic racism and establish a community police review board. That vote was preceded by hours of heated debate on Council over red tape.
Some members were concerned that a new community police review board — which would investigate alleged abuses and use of force — would overlap with the City’s Human Rights Commission, the body which currently investigates instances where force is used.
During a City Council meeting last night, the city moved to settle on a discrimination case involving the Alexandria Fire Department reprimanding and disciplining a captain requesting medical leave to handle a disability.
Last December, EMS Captain Michael Cahill — who has worked for the Alexandria Fire Department since 1994 — filed a lawsuit against the city alleging that he faced discrimination and retaliation as a disabled person requesting medical leave.
The Alexandria City Council will consider a resolution tonight (Tuesday) establishing a community police review board and condemning systemic racism.
Councilman Mo Seifeldein, who drafted the resolution, says he has support from his colleagues and that he envisions the board to have independent authority to review and investigate police misconduct and empower the community and law enforcement members to come forward with concerns without fear of retaliation.
