Mark Jinks | ALXnow

City Council Wants Independent Investigative Authority, Sends Back Police Review Board Proposal

Published September 9, 2020 at 2:30PM | Updated September 10, 2020 at 5:20PM

Alexandria police (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

The Alexandria City Council on Tuesday night unanimously sent a proposal establishing a community police review board back to the drawing board.

In Tuesday night’s legislative meeting, Councilman Mo Seifeldein said that city staff did not include his desire to give the review board independent investigative authority to look into police misconduct and issue subpoenas. Seifeldein said he was clear with his request to City Manager Mark Jinks when Council unanimously directed the creation of the review board proposal in June.

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Morning Notes

By James Cullum

Published September 9, 2020 at 9:00AM

Beyer: We Must Protect the U.S. Postal Service — “I have been in touch with local postal officials, who express their commitment to ensuring the timely delivery and return of all ballots. This could be an issue in many parts of the country, however, and I will be working with my colleagues to exercise constant vigilance and ensure that elections are fair and safe. My Northern Virginia colleague, U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly, serves as the chair of the Oversight Subcommittee on Government Operations, and with his tireless leadership the House will do all it can to fix these problems and restore operations and service at USPS.” [Gazette]

Three City Parks Scheduled for Improvements — “Projects at or near Powhatan, Hooffs Run, and Brenman Parks to occur over next two months.” [Zebra]

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City Council Passes ‘Hunker Down’ Budget With ‘Dreams Deferred’

By Vernon Miles

Published April 30, 2020 at 11:40AM

At the end of an exhausting emergency budget cycle, the City Council praised the work of staff for throwing together a $753.3 million fiscal year 2021 operating budget that fills a steep funding shortfall without curtailing city services.

In a 45 minute Zoom meeting, the City Council unanimously approved the budget with little discussion, following a week without any additions or deletions.

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City Council Approves Potomac Yard Entrance and Moves Forward on Budget

By James Cullum

Published April 20, 2020 at 11:35AM | Updated April 20, 2020 at 6:05PM

There will be no tax increase on the city manager’s proposed fiscal year 2021 budget, as the City Council swept through its budget public hearing on Saturday, paving the way for approval next Wednesday, April 29.

Council also unanimously approved the plan for the construction of the southern access to the Potomac Yard Metro station. The access will be a bridge that connects to the northern entrance, and will open at the same time as the station in March 2022.

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Letter to the Editor: ALIVE! Thanks Alexandria for Overwhelming Response

By James Cullum

Published April 9, 2020 at 3:15PM

Food at ALIVE! (Photo via ALIVE!/Facebook)

The following Letter to the Editor was written by Jennifer Ayers, the executive director of ALIVE!

A few weeks ago, like many, I wondered if coronavirus was just another bad case of the flu. Would it just pass?

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City Manager Presents Radically Changed FY2021 Budget Proposal

By James Cullum

Published April 2, 2020 at 10:15AM

Alexandria City Hall (staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

City Manager Mark Jinks presented the City Council with preliminary estimates for a $743.5 million fiscal year 2021 budget on Wednesday night — a $56.4 million reduction from the budget he unveiled in February.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced Alexandria to drastically change its budget over the course of the last month. Preliminary cuts include eliminating the previously proposed 2 cent real estate tax increase, implementing a city hiring freeze [except $2 million to hire new Health Department staff], deferring raises for city staff and reducing the multi-million dollar transfer to Alexandria City Public Schools.

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Interview: Mayor Justin Wilson on Working Through COVID-19

By James Cullum

Published March 27, 2020 at 10:15AM | Updated May 27, 2020 at 12:28PM

There were four members of the city council present at the meeting at City Hall on Wednesday, including Mayor Justin Wilson and Vice Mayor Elizabeth Bennett-Parker. (Staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson is full of praise for the city’s COVID-19 response efforts, but the hard times are just beginning, he told ALXnow in a recent interview.

“Everyone is trying to find so many different ways to give back,” Wilson said. “It’s been very gratifying and we’re gonna need it because the need is only going to be exacerbated over the next couple of weeks and months, if not longer.”

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City Manager Directs Staff to Make $100 Million in Budget Cuts

By James Cullum

Published March 24, 2020 at 3:15PM | Updated March 25, 2020 at 2:37AM

Alexandria City Manager Mark Jinks said Monday that the COVID-19 pandemic has created the worst financial crisis he’s ever seen, and has asked staff to make $100 million in budget cuts and prepare for a $35 million revenue shortfall in his fiscal year 2021 budget.

“We crashed, and we don’t know how long this is going to last, when we’re going to come back up,” Jinks told the City Council/School Board Subcommittee in an online meeting. “I’ve told staff we need $100 million in cuts and savings between the current fiscal year and next fiscal year, is my rough guess. That will be savings and looking at capital projects and seeing what we need to cancel or what we need to reschedule to a future year.”

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City Manager: COVID-19 Will Have Major Impact on City Budget, Capital Investments

By James Cullum

Published March 19, 2020 at 4:30PM | Updated March 20, 2020 at 2:05AM

City Manager Mark Jinks says that his proposed fiscal year 2021 budget will be deeply impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and predicts that proposed capital investments will take a hit.

“There will be notable changes in the budget, probably I would suspect capital investments,” Jinks told ALXnow. “We’ve got projects related to city facilities, school facilities that we could do differently. Maybe we talk to Arlington about how the Glebe Road Bridge could stay up as it is for another year. Maybe it can’t.”

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City Council to Suspend Dining Tax and Transient Lodging Tax Penalties

By James Cullum

Published March 19, 2020 at 11:45AM | Updated March 19, 2020 at 4:13PM

The Alexandria City Council will suspend the city’s dining and transient lodging taxes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

City staff said at an emergency meeting last night (Wednesday) that they will present the Council with legislation to not penalize businesses for not paying their dining tax and/or transient lodging tax, and would then work out a payment plan for missed months at a later date.

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Alexandria Declares State of Emergency Over COVID-19

By James Cullum

Published March 14, 2020 at 6:20PM | Updated March 14, 2020 at 7:15PM

Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson in City Hall (Staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria declared a state of emergency on Saturday, and the City Council also approved measures to assist the community as it weathers the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mayor Justin Wilson said that the actions taken by City Council on Saturday are only the beginning.