Alexandria Politics

Alexandria Politics

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Alexandria: Building on Giant’s Bones

Despite traffic concerns, Planning Commission green lights North Old Town development.

Currently, the city block between in North Old Town that formerly housed the Giant grocery store sits empty except for a lone ABC store.

Alexandria Brief: City Establishes 12-Person North Potomac Yard Advisory Group

At the Feb. 23 City Council meeting, the council voted to establish an Ad Hoc North Potomac Yard Advisory Group.

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Alexandria: Butting Heads on Ramsey Homes

Sudden reversal in saga of Alexandria affordable housing.

After seven hours of debate, the decision not to rezone Ramsey Homes on Saturday was rendered moot when one City Council member announced three days later that he’d changed his mind.

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Alexandria: Birders Protest Chemical Treatment at Monticello Park

Warbler watch set to begin in this migration spot.

It's almost March 1, the official beginning of this year's warbler watch at Monticello Park in Alexandria.

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Alexandria: Jinks Presents Budget Plan

2017 proposed budget focuses on funding schools, but sets aside pre-k programs.

With Fairfax County looking at raising its real estate tax rate by 3 cents and Arlington County lowering it by a half cent, the main theme of City Manager Mark Jinks’ FY 2017 budget was surviving somewhere in the middle while providing funding to enhance schools, the fire department, and parking.

Editorial: Bad Bills

General Assembly has potential to do lots of damage in a short period.

From pressing for use of a barbaric form of execution, the electric chair, to codifying discrimination, to stripping localities of the major tool for ensuring infrastructure is in place for new development, to hiding more and more critical public information from the public, the Virginia General Assembly is poised to do harm to the Commonwealth.

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Alexandria: And Now for Something Different–Consensus

Council and School Board agree on capacity priority.

Here’s how budget sessions go: the Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) puts together a list of funding requests. The city puts its budget together and tells the school system to get its numbers lower. There’s some haggling over prices and priorities, with the city eventually transferring a little more money into the schools and the schools announcing cuts to various programs or plans to reach the city’s funding requirements.

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Campaign Spending in Alexandria Election

The Virginia Public Access Project compiled the finance reports from the last City Council and mayoral races, giving the public a view of how much running for an office in the city can cost.

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Alexandria: Ethics Reform Roils Council

Progressive transparency or potential witch hunt?

One month into her term as mayor, Allison Silberberg got the process started on enacting a new set of ethics reforms. At its Jan. 28 meeting, the City Council voted to approve an Ad Hoc Study Group to examine ethics reform. It’s the first legislative step forward on an issue Silberberg had put forward as a centerpiece of her election last year. But on the rest of the council, feelings toward the new committee were a little more tepid, some even drawing parallels between Silberberg’s ethics reform and McCarthyism.

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Alexandria: Two Republicans Enter Race Against Beyer

Incumbent gains Republican opponents.

It’s been a little over a year since U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-8) took office, and both the first term congressman and his political opposition have been busy in that time.

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Alexandria Digs Out From Epic Snowstorm

"Obviously this was a historic event that pushed us to the brink."–Yon Lambert

After days of being at a standstill, Alexandria is slowly recovering after nearly two feet of snow paralyzed the city in the worst single storm to hit the area since the Knickerbocker Storm of 1922.

Alexandria City Council Gears Up for New Year

City officials look at challenges and opportunities in 2016.

The Alexandria City Council brought in 2016 with a roar of bagpipes. The City of Alexandria Pipes and Drums played in the auditorium of T.C. Williams High School for the council’s Jan. 4 installation, but soon, it was right back down to business.

Alexandria Brief: Swearing-In Ceremony

The public is invited to attend the formal City Council installation ceremony on Monday, Jan. 4, at 7 p.m. in the T.C. Williams High School Auditorium, 3330 King St.

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Alexandria City Council Upholds BAR Approval

Council upholds approval of Robinson Terminal South buildings.

The most recent bout of developer EYA and a group of Waterfront residents went in the developer’s favor, but it wasn’t a knockout, and the citizens showed they weren’t going down without a fight.

Alexandria New Briefs: Week of Dec. 9

The Dec. 8 City Council meeting marked the last with Mayor William Euille, Alexandria’s mayor for 17 years and the first African-American to hold the position.

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