The following Letter to the Editor was written by Alexandria Vice Mayor Elizabeth Bennett-Parker.
As I write this, I sit in the Alexandria Medical Reserve Corps call center in-between calls.
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City Council
At the end of an exhausting emergency budget cycle, the City Council praised the work of staff for throwing together a $753.3 million fiscal year 2021 operating budget that fills a steep funding shortfall without curtailing city services.
In a 45 minute Zoom meeting, the City Council unanimously approved the budget with little discussion, following a week without any additions or deletions.
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In an update to the City Council, Dr. Stephen Haering said Alexandria is making a clearer picture of which populations are most vulnerable to COVID-19.
“We’ve not reached the peak,” Haering said in a city council meeting Tuesday night. “We haven’t seen a decrease in cases. The number of daily cases still on the rise. The numbers here bounce around in the 20s to 30s.”
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Casa Chirilagua gave out more than 1,000 meals to families in Chirilagua on Thursday, and needs food, cash and face mask donations for Alexandria’s vulnerable Hispanic population.
Casa Chirilagua works with more than 120 families living below the poverty line, and so far nonprofit has also paid more than $25,000 in rent and utilities for families impacted by COVID-19.
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Alexandria Restaurant Partners Reopening Two More Locations in May — “Alexandria Restaurant Partners will reopen two of its restaurant concepts, Riverside Taco Company and Vola’s Dockside Grill, on May 5.” [Patch]
Del Ray Cafe Gets PPP Loan, Hiring Back Employees — “Our PPP loan came through and we’re bringing back our employees! Starting tomorrow, Friday, April 24th, we will be offering Brunch for carryout every day from 9am-2:30pm. Order from our modified Brunch menu on our website www.delraycafe.com.” [Facebook]
The City Council voted on Saturday to direct $671,570 in federal funding to provide rent assistance for low-income families in Alexandria.
The catch, however, is that this funding will be used for rental assistance only for those living in the city’s assisted housing developments, like those managed by Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority, and including non-profits and set-aside affordable units the city received through the development process.
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Updated 4:40 p.m. — Adhering to proper social distancing protocol, tenants and other supporters rallied outside of Southern Towers in cars making slow circles through the parking lot with signs and chants of “No pay! No Rent!” and “No job! No Rent!”
“How are people going to be able to make a rent deferral plan work?” asked Sarah Jacobson, organizing director for UNITE HERE Local 23 DC, a food service workers union operating out of D.C. “Even if people went back to 100% employment tomorrow, that would be challenging. Uber drivers won’t be getting the kind of pay they had before.”
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There will be no tax increase on the city manager’s proposed fiscal year 2021 budget, as the City Council swept through its budget public hearing on Saturday, paving the way for approval next Wednesday, April 29.
Council also unanimously approved the plan for the construction of the southern access to the Potomac Yard Metro station. The access will be a bridge that connects to the northern entrance, and will open at the same time as the station in March 2022.
The Fairlington Presbyterian Church is another step closer to building an affordable housing complex in its parking lot.
City officials announced Thursday they will submit a request early next month for U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development HOME Investment Partnerships funds for The Waypoint at Fairlington — a four-story, 51,000-square-foot development at 3846 King Street.
The Alexandria City Council unanimously approved Councilman Canek Aguirre’s call for a rent freeze at its meeting this week.
The resolution calls on state and federal officials to put a potential moratorium on rents and mortgages and to suspend the reporting of negative credit information by credit bureaus to protect people’s credit scores.
The City Council reviewed a substantially cut-back $753.3 million fiscal year 2021 operating budget at its meeting Tuesday night, and are now working through a months-long process that must be approved by April 29.
There were few budget surprises at the meeting, as the information was presented last week. The budget is 5.8% lower than the $800 million operating budget Jinks proposed before the COVID-19 pandemic, and includes $46.6 million in cuts to the operating budget and $140.6 million in the capital budget.