After two years of euphoria with a Democratic majority in the legislature and a Democrat governor, local Democratic leadership are bracing for the other shoe to drop after Republicans won the governor’s seat and secured a tie in the House of Delegates in the election on Tuesday.
Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson, a Democrat who just won re-election along with the full slate of Democratic candidates in the City Council race, said those last two years have been a boon for the city.
(Updated at 4:30 p.m.) The Alexandria Health Department is working community partners to begin scheduling coronavirus vaccine appointments for kids ages 5-11 by this week, according to its newly hired Director, Dr. David C. Rose.
“We’re in the process of making sure that we and our partners within the community — the pharmacies, the providers — everyone has what it is they need,” Rose told ALXnow in a recent interview. “We’re going to be making sure that appointments are available on a rolling basis when supply becomes available.”
The City of Alexandria is looking for locals to comprise the new Independent Community Policing Review Board, a body created by the City Council last year as part of an effort to provide greater police accountability in the wake of the George Floyd murder and the nationwide Black Lives Matter protests.
The new review board is an eight-member panel that will review complaints against the police department after an internal investigation by the police department. Ordinance adopted on April 17 earlier this year described the board as part of an effort to enhance policing legitimacy and to maintain trust between the police department, City Council, city manager and the public.
The Alexandria City Council wants more than answers from Dominion Energy for a recent power outage on the busiest day of the year in Del Ray — they want restitution.
After a 2020 hiatus, the weather was perfect for Art On The Avenue on October 2 along Mount Vernon Avenue. But a 16-hour power outage that morning ended up shuttering many businesses throughout the festival, which brought an estimated 50,000 visitors to Del Ray.
Alexandria incumbent Mayor Justin Wilson (D) faced off against challenger Annetta Catchings (R) in a forum hosted by the Seminary Ridge Civic Association (SRCA) earlier this week.
Discussion of crime and policing took up much of the forum, marking one of the few instances where the candidates challenged each other directly. During a discussion of the opioid impact on Alexandria, Catchings put the blame for the issue on drugs on border control and drugs imported from China.
New data from tax collection over the summer shows a minor rebound for sales and meals in Alexandria, but while it’s a positive sign, Mayor Justin Wilson cautioned that they don’t quite tell the full picture.
In March, local sales tax revenue reached a high of nearly $3 million. Since the start of the year, sales tax revenue has been higher than it was in those respective months the last two years, but the fact that COVID-19 seemed to have a negligible impact on sales last summer indicates that most of that is driven by online sales rather than local business, which Wilson confirmed.
The power went out on the busiest day of the year in Del Ray on Saturday (October 2).
An estimated 50,000 people descended on Mount Vernon Avenue for the 26th annual Art On The Avenue festival that day, but many restaurants and other businesses were forced to shut down due to the outage.
A power outage in Del Ray has shut down a number of businesses, although the annual Art on the Avenue festival today (October 2) is still happening. The event is one of the biggest events in the city and draws tens of thousands of people.
“We have a right to expect more from @DominionEnergy,” tweeted Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson. “Plunging a central business district into darkness for the better part of their biggest day of the year, with no inclement weather, is UNACCEPTABLE.”
After the previously announced delay for the Potomac Yard Metro station, Mayor Justin Wilson said at a meeting last night that the cause of the September 2022 date is still vague and the city is hoping the project can be completed sooner.
At the City Council meeting, Wilson said the delay to September could, in part, be the result of internal issues at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.
Facing no electoral opposition in her November reelection, Alexandria School Board Chair Meagan Alderton says the next three years will be full of challenges. For one thing, the incoming nine-member board will have six new faces who will be challenged to lead a school system beset by controversy.
“I am definitely concerned about the turnover of the board,” Alderton told ALXnow. “One of the greatest challenges in today’s public schools in general is what I call the revolving door. We really reached a critical juncture in which we can’t even expect and plan to our support personnel — teachers, principals, leadership, superintendents… To not stick around for at least five years is devastating to our potential for progress.”
For five years Port City Publius has let fly. The anonymous blogger won’t shy from criticizing the superintendent, or blasting “NIMBY” residents who favor changing the leadership of City Council.
Who is this writer? Is Port City Publius more than one person?
