Alexandria City Council Member Alyia Gaskins made history tonight by becoming the first Black woman elected mayor of the city.
Gaskins was surrounded by her City Council colleagues and Democratic supporters as she accepted the results at Pork Barrel BBQ in Del Ray.
About 80% of Alexandria voters are expected to turn out this Election Day, according to the city’s General Registrar and Director of Elections.
Registrar Angie Turner said that 80% of the city’s 99,369 registered voters are expected to vote.
After nearly a year of campaigning, City Council Member Alyia Gaskins said on election day that she’s ready to be the next mayor of Alexandria.
Gaskins won the three-way Democratic primary for mayor in June, and faces no opposition in the general election. She will be the first Black woman elected mayor of the city.
The City of Alexandria is considering a new ordinance that will prohibit (item 7) any new retail selling tobacco products within 1,00 feet of a child day center, public, private or parochial school.
The ban includes stores selling tobacco products, nicotine vapor products, alternative nicotine products or hemp products. The ban will only affect new businesses: those in operation before July 1 are grandfathered in.
Alexandria’s been seeking public feedback on proposed short-term rental regulations and has started to make changes to the proposed regulation based on feedback.
Namely, city staff said in a presentation that the proposed requirement that an operator/local agent live within 15 miles of the city has been removed.
Alexandria City Manager Jim Parajon has hired Tarrick McGuire as Alexandria’s new police chief.
McGuire, the assistant chief of police in Arlington, Texas, has been with that department since 2003 — just three years before Parajon started working in that city government in 2006. There was no mention of their relationship or knowing each other in the release to the public.
Personal property taxes, also known as car taxes, are due today in Alexandria, and new penalties make late payments pricey.
City Council approved City Manager Jim Parajon’s proposal in the spring to increase the late payment penalty from a flat rate of:
Alexandria is considering making trailers permanent structures.
The city’s special use permit process currently allows commercial businesses and schools to use temporary trailers for two years, followed by an option to extend the use for an additional period.
Inova Alexandria Hospital at Landmark broke ground today, marking a momentous occasion for the city’s West End.
When completed, the 1.1 million square-foot project at the former Landmark Mall (just off Interstate 395 at Duke Street) will include a 569,000 square-foot hospital center with 192 beds, a 111,000 square-foot cancer center, an 83,000 square-foot specialty care center and a retrofitted 550-space parking garage. A 1,488-space below-grade parking garage is also planned with at least 19 parking spaces set aside for electric vehicle charging.
Alexandria is now a safe haven for the LGBTQ+ community.
City Council, on Tuesday night, unanimously approved Council Member Kirk McPike’s resolution directing the city attorney and city manager to take legal and other measures to curtail discriminatory efforts on the national, state and local levels from Republican politicians against LGBTQ+ residents.
Alexandria’s credit is still good.
On Tuesday, the city announced that S&P Global Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service reaffirmed its ‘AAA’ bond rating. The move means that Alexandria can get low-interest rates from bond investors to provide funding for expensive capital improvement projects.
