city government | ALXnow

New Alexandria Police Chief Don Hayes wants cops in schools, says assault by mob incidents on rise

Published June 7, 2022 at 3:45PM | Updated June 9, 2022 at 10:41AM

Alexandria Police Chief Don Hayes in his office. (staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria Police Chief Don Hayes thinks police need to stay in Alexandria City Public Schools — at least for now.

Hayes spoke with ALXnow in his office before the fatal stabbing of Alexandria City High School senior Luis Mejia Hernandez, and also before APD announced last week that due to short-staffing that it is reducing its services to the community. Officers will no longer respond to calls for service that fall under another agency’s responsibility or respond to old crime scenes that show no danger to the public.

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Alexandria needs volunteers for Torpedo Factory task force

By Vernon Miles

Published June 7, 2022 at 2:30PM

The Torpedo Factory Art Center in Old Town (staff photo by James Cullum)

Changes coming to the Torpedo Factory Art Center have been among the more contentious discussions in Alexandria over the last few years, but the City of Alexandria is looking for two locals to serve on a board to help direct the art center’s future.

The city is looking for two at-large members for the Torpedo Factory Art Center Stakeholder Task Force.

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Amid Covid surge, Alexandria will allow emergency declaration to expire on June 30

By James Cullum

Published June 6, 2022 at 1:00PM

Alexandria City Hall lit up (staff photo by James Cullum)

As COVID numbers continue to rise, the Alexandria City Council will allow the city’s state of emergency to expire on June 30.

The declaration was made by Council in March 2020, and has been extended five times.

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Report: Alexandria Police Department has morale issues

By James Cullum

Published June 3, 2022 at 1:30PM | Updated June 4, 2022 at 2:07AM

Alexandria Police at the annual wreath laying ceremony for fallen officers on May 10, 2021 (staff photo by James Cullum)

The Alexandria Police Department is beset by morale issues, according to a report obtained by ALXnow.

In the 2021 APD Organizational Assessment — an annual anonymous survey conducted by the department — 173 department staffers (out of 421 total staff) self-reported their wellbeing as employees.

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JUST IN: Short-staffed Alexandria Police Department to reduce service to public

By James Cullum

Published June 2, 2022 at 4:05PM | Updated June 3, 2022 at 3:20AM

Updated at 7:45 p.m. — A short-staffed Alexandria Police Department is reducing its services to the community, the department announced on Wednesday (June 2).

Police will no longer respond to calls for service that fall under another agency’s responsibility or respond to old crime scenes that show no danger to the public.

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Resident advocacy group racing against time to prevent wave of Southern Towers evictions

By Vernon Miles

Published May 19, 2022 at 11:10AM

Southern Towers residents wait for the bus. (Staff photo by James Cullum)

With a potential wave of evictions incoming next month, a group representing tenants of Southern Towers is trying to indirectly pressure the building’s owner into giving residents a reprieve.

The 2,261-unit Southern Towers complex at 4901 Seminary Road is one of the last bastions of market-rate affordable housing — housing that’s affordable without being set at a certain level by agreement with the local government. The West End building was purchased in 2020 by California-based real estate company CIM Group.

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Long-awaited Landmark Mall demolition and redevelopment begins

By Vernon Miles

Published May 12, 2022 at 2:50PM

Landmark Mall demolition in progress (staff photo by Vernon Miles)

After two decades of Landmark Mall redevelopment being just out of reach, city officials and developers alike let out wild roars of satisfaction as the wrecking ball crashed into the side of the building today (Thursday).

There’s still a long way to go before the first buildings of the new hospital and mixed-use development start coming online — currently slated for 2026. Still, demolition marked the furthest point of progress for redevelopment since meetings to that effect started in 2008.

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Visit Alexandria to get nearly $1 million for marketing from Virginia Tourism Corporation

By James Cullum

Published May 11, 2022 at 1:00PM

A tour guide tells a story on a hot July day in front of the Carlyle House at 121 N. Fairfax Street in Old Town (staff photo by James Cullum)

The Alexandria City Council, on Tuesday night, unanimously approved Visit Alexandria’s grant application request to secure nearly $1 million in federal tourism recovery aid.

Virginia Tourism Corporation received $50 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds last October, and $990,000 has been set aside for marketing to improve the city’s hospitality sector.

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Alexandria starts to move away from virtually accessible meetings

By Vernon Miles

Published May 11, 2022 at 10:00AM

Alexandria City Hall was lit up for the weekend of Juneteenth 2021. (photo via Carol Jean Stalun Photography for Visit Alexandria)

While City Council usually has the final say over big decisions, much of the city’s future starts taking shape in Alexandria’s boards and commissions. After two years of those meetings going online and recorded for public viewing, many of them are starting to go offline again.

The Waterfront Commission, for example, has been where many of the details about flooding in Old Town have been hashed out. The 7:30 a.m. meetings have historically had fairly light public attendance. With the start of the pandemic those meetings were recorded and published online until last month, when the group stopped recording meetings.

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ALXnow’s top stories this week in Alexandria

By Vernon Miles

Published May 6, 2022 at 3:30PM

Alexandria’s annual budget process wrapped up this week with a $839.2 million fiscal year 2023 budget approval and special tax relief for car owners.

Meanwhile, an uptick in opioid overdoses among children has Alexandria City Public Schools considering adding Narcan to schools and city officials issuing warnings about counterfeit Percocet.

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Alexandria City Council approves $839 million budget

By James Cullum

Published May 5, 2022 at 1:00PM | Updated May 5, 2022 at 1:54PM

Alexandria City Hall (staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated at 1:45 p.m.) The Alexandria City Council unanimously adopted City Manager Jim Parajon’s $839.2 million fiscal year 2023 budget on Wednesday night (May 4), and despite giving all city employees raises, Mayor Justin Wilson says inflation will likely mean more raises in future budgets.

“We’re staring into a significant inflationary environment that pinches our employees very hard, just like it pinches everyone hard,” Wilson said. “We’re going to have to continue to have this conversation every year about how we make sure we invest in the level of compensation and benefits required to not only attract but retain the best and the brightest in the city.”