(Updated at 3:15 p.m.) Three outgoing members of the Alexandria City Council were honored by their colleagues for their service at Tuesday night’s meeting.
Alexandria Vice Mayor Elizabeth Bennett-Parker, Councilwoman Del Pepper and Councilman Mo Seifeldein were presented with proclamations thanking them for their service by Mayor Justin Wilson on Tuesday night.
(Updated 3:20 p.m.) Ahead of the new City Council being installed in January, the current body is scheduled to take another look at the city’s ethics pledge.
The Mayor and City Council make a pledge when being sworn in to abide by a somewhat nebulous one-page code of conduct. The pledge was a point of contention when it was introduced by then-Mayor Allison Silberberg, who fought tooth-and-nail to get the pledge passed.
(Updated 12/14) Remember the American Rescue Plan Act? Earlier this year, the city received $29.8 million in funding to allocate toward projects across the city.
Five months later, a new report to the City Council scheduled to be presented at a meeting tomorrow breaks down how that’s been going so far. Here is ALXnow’s simplified, condensed version:
Understaffing within the Alexandria Fire Department put people and buildings at risk during a fire at Crystal City’s restaurant row on 23rd Street earlier this month, according to two unions representing more than 500 Alexandria and Arlington firefighters, medics and fire marshals.
In a sharply worded press release on Friday, Dec. 10, officials from the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 2141 and IAFF Local 2800 wrote that AFD’s inability to fully staff their department led to “multiple close calls” at a fire on Saturday, Dec. 4, in the 500 block of 23rd Street. No one was injured in the blaze, which caused $1.8 million in damages.
Alexandria is about to embark on a public relations campaign in response to the 5 cent Plastic Bag Tax, which goes into effect next month.
In a meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 14, the City Council will consider the release of $30,000 from contingent reserves to the city’s Department of Transportation and Environmental Services for outreach on the matter.
Alexandria’s COVID transmission rate has risen from “Substantial” to “High”, as the number of reported cases has surpassed 15,000.
As of Tuesday, Dec. 7, there have been 15,056 reported cases of COVID-19 in the city, according to the the Virginia Department of Health. There has also been another death since last week, bringing the death toll from the virus to 155.
The City of Alexandria is sending its Torpedo Factory plans into a public engagement phase that’s been decried by some city commissions as rushed.
The city is hosting virtual public meetings on Thursday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. and Friday, Dec. 10 at noon. Registration is required and each meeting is scheduled to last about an hour. Those wishing to speak on the plans can also do so at the Alexandria Commission for the Arts tomorrow (Tuesday) at 7 p.m.
(Updated 9:10 p.m.) In a fairly sizable newsletter, city staff laid out a sort of “state of flooding” message that lays out the city’s response to recent flooding issues and a longer-term look at infrastructure work in progress and on the horizon.
In a newsletter, staff outlined plans for the grant funding received from the state for flood prevention.
The city is looking for public feedback on fair housing in Alexandria, with plans to incorporate that feedback into a larger effort to secure federal funds to make housing more equitable in the city and its neighbors.
Fair housing, in this context, refers to the Fair Housing Act of 1968, which prohibits the sale, rental and financing of housing based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability. The meeting will gather public responses to see what difficulties or barriers still exist in regard to fair housing in Alexandria.
After a five-month-long national search, the Alexandria City Council officially hired James F. Parajon as Alexandria’s next city manager on Wednesday night.
Parajon, the deputy city manager of Arlington, Texas, will start work on Jan. 18 and take over for retiring City Manager Mark Jinks.
After a five-month-long national search, the Alexandria City Council will select a new city manager at a special meeting on Wednesday night (Dec. 1).
“Yes, we will be choosing a city manager,” Mayor Justin Wilson confirmed to ALXnow.
