The City of Alexandria is hosting a public hearing tonight on plans to rename streets that honor Confederate leaders.
Last month, the city identified six streets that could be renamed early next year.
city government
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Updated at 11:45 a.m. Alexandria Fire Chief Corey Smedley announced his retirement today, and that he will leave the top job on Friday, Jan. 12.
After more than three years at the helm of the department, the 51-year-old Smedley did not say what his next move would be after his retirement. He’s the city’s first permanent Black fire chief, and led the department through the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as negotiated the AFD first-ever collective bargaining agreement with the fire department’s union.
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(Updated 11/26) In true Alexandria fashion, a contentious debate over city zoning policy led to some unorthodox and occasionally offensive arguments, from calls for public officials to be spanked to an argument that affordable housing should go to “deserving blacks.”
Almost all of the five-hour public comment period, a follow-up to a six-hour public comment session from last week, was a civil — if heated — discussion over the merits of Zoning for Housing/Housing for All.
Alexandria just hired Cheran Cordell Ivery as the city attorney, replacing outgoing City Attorney Joanna Anderson.
Ivery, who starts work on Jan. 8, has been the city attorney in Hampton, Virginia, for the last five years. She replaces City Attorney Joanna Anderson, who has had the role since 2018, and announced her retirement in June.
All arguments aside, Alexandria’s equity standards and economic prospects have been declared sound.
Yesterday, the city announced that S&P Global Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service reaffirmed Alexandria’s ‘AAA’ bond rating. The city has maintained the designation since 1992, and it equates to a good credit rating for the city to get low-interest rates from bond investors to provide funding for multiple projects.
With food insecurity in more than 30% of Alexandria households, the city wants feedback on food access for its residents.
In a new survey, the city’s Department of Community and Human Services is working with a consulting firm to get the latest on food access for residents. The effort is part of an effort to develop a citywide food security strategic plan.
Few speakers at a six-hour City Council meeting last night seemed fully satisfied with the Zoning for Housing/Housing for All initiative, but the public comment was divided between those who saw the proposal as a good first step and those who thought it threatened the city’s character.
While nearly all speakers at a six-hour public hearing last night said they supported affordable housing, opinions on the city’s Zoning for Housing/Housing for All initiative varied widely.
The City of Alexandria is hosting a community meeting on plans to reshape the West End.
The Alexandria-West Planning processes is an update to a plan drafted in 1992. The new planning process kicked off back in November 2022.
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The Alexandria Planning Commission unanimously endorsed a sweeping overhaul of the city’s zoning ordinances on Wednesday night, giving City Council the green light to vote on it later this month.
There were more than 100 attendees and 51 speakers at the Planning Commission’s five hour public hearing, which ran after midnight. The speakers were a mixed bunch, with about half supporting the legislation and the other half opposing it.
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As Alexandria leaders prepare to vacate City Hall for a few years while the building is renovated, a wish list is already building for what a new and improved City Hall could look like.
The center of city government, rebuilt in 1871 after the previous building burned down, is in rough shape and the much-needed renovations have long been kicked down the road.
The future of Alexandria’s West End is being reevaluated with a series of open houses in the coming days.
City staff are working to update Alexandria’s long-term vision for the 1992 Alexandria West Small Area Plan and integrate it with the 2012 Beauregard Small Area Plan.