Alexandria Politics

Alexandria Politics

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Alexandria: Frontlines Falter

... in city’s affordable housing war.

While the city prepares to gain a little over 100 affordable housing units at Potomac Yard and The Filmore, one of the city’s bastions of affordable housing is in the process of pricing out residents, formerly protected by a rent freeze, who can’t keep up with rapidly rising rent costs.

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Alexandria: Old Colony Inn Faces Setback

Developer and neighbors go toe-to-toe over hotel expansion.

The Old Colony Inn in North Old Town off of the George Washington Parkway has a major upgrade planned. The two-story Best Western Hotel is planning to double its height and expand to include a restaurant on the corner.

Alexandria Brief: ‘At Large’ Representative Sought for Fort Ward

The Fort Ward Management Plan Implementation Monitoring Group is now accepting nominations for an “at large” representative. On July 11, City Manager Mark Jinks announced that nominations could be submitted to Julie Fuerth at julie.fuerth@alexandriava.gov by July 20.

Alexandria and Mount Vernon: Keeping Guns from Criminals

Focusing on private gun sales.

What are you going to do about gun safety and gun violence? These were words I heard over and over again from constituents last year when I first ran for Congress. They couldn’t understand why in the world I would want to be part of a Congress they largely viewed as dysfunctional. And the next words out of their mouth would be an impassioned plea, dysfunction be damned, to reach across party lines and find a compromise — any incremental step — that would begin to make our society safer from horrific shootings.

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Alexandria Mayoral Race Write-In Tightrope

Mayor Euille withholds support for either Silberberg or Write-In Euille.

One month has passed since Allison Silberberg was nominated as the Democratic candidate for nayor of Alexandria over incumbent Mayor William Euille and former Mayor Kerry Donley.

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Alexandria: Development Briefs for the Week of July 8

Development

226 The Strand, recently approved for demolition, may get a second chance at life. A petition to appeal the Board of Architectural Review’s (BAR) decision to approve demolition of the building has gained more than 25 signatures from local property owners in the Old & Historic District. The appeal will be taken to City Council in the fall.

Alexandria: Joy over Court Decision

Members of the Mount Vernon Unitarian Church (MVUC) congregation celebrate the extension of same-sex marriage to all 50 states by Friday's U.S. Supreme Court decision.​

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Mt. Vernon: Surovell fundraiser photo

Cinco de Surovell

Del. Scott Surovell's Sixth Annual Cinco de Surovell fundraising event was held in May in Fort Hunt Park.

Alexandria: Confederate Concerns About Appomattox

Alexandria’s Appomattox statue under scrutiny.

With a national dialogue underway on the appropriateness of Confederate flags and imagery, some Alexandrians have begun questioning whether the Appomattox statue to Alexandria’s Confederate dead should remain on Prince Street.

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Alexandria: Rejoicing on Decision Day

Multifaith gathering celebrates national same-sex equality.

As Rev. Robin Anderson from Alexandria’s Commonwealth Baptist Church discovered this weekend, planning a party around a U.S. Supreme Court decision can be problematic. First, when Anderson began planning the Northern Virginia Multifaith Gathering for Marriage Equality, there was no set date for the decision. Decision day could have been anything between June 25 to June 29. And second, there was no way to determine the outcome of the decision. Hanging a festive banner could make for an awkward situation if the Supreme Court ruled against marriage equality.

Alexandria: Goldilocks Approach

City Council reluctantly approves programming size for Patrick Henry Recreation Center.

A recommendation on the scale of the new Patrick Henry Recreation Center escalated into one City Council member calling on the city manager to fire the project staff.

Alexandria: City Council Brief for 6/26

Pepper Celebrates 30 Years on Council

At the close of the 2014-2015 City Council session, members of the council watched a presentation and recalled where each was 30 years ago. For most, they were memories of playing sports as a young adult or living with their families, Councilman John Chapman was still celebrating a single-digit birthday. But for Council member Del Pepper, 1985 was memorable for an entirely different reason: it was the year she joined City Council.

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Alexandria: Patrick Henry Plan Advances

School Board addresses community criticisms of Patrick Henry development.

A divided School Board moved forward with plans to rebuild the Patrick Henry Elementary School. In a 6-3 vote, the School Board approved construction of a new Patrick Henry School and will begin the planning phase for the new building. Patrick Henry Elementary currently houses nearly 600 students in grades preK-5, but will expand to 800 students as a preK-8 school.

Alexandria: Unofficial Precinct-by-Precinct Results for Democratic Mayoral Primary

Unofficial results show Mayor Bill Euille (E) winning 11 precincts and closely splitting five precincts. Vice Mayor Allison Silberberg (S) won nine precincts and closely split three precincts with Euille (E/S); former Mayor Kerry Donley (D) won two precincts and closely split two precincts with Euille (E/D).

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Alexandria: In Three-Way Race, Silberberg Triumphs

Levine wins 45th District Democratic nomination.

After a tense race with a last minute shift in the polls, current Vice-Mayor Allison Silberberg became the Democratic nominee for mayor.

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