The Council Connection
your connection to City Council by Mayor Justin M. Wilson
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Jim will formally begin his leadership of our municipal government on January 18th, but he has already been hard at work meeting City employees and preparing to present his first budget next month.
Jim is currently a Deputy City Manager in the City of Arlington, Texas, where he is responsible for a range of City services, including the Fire Department, economic development, the libraries, an airport, a stadium, communication and asset management.
With a planning background, Jim honed his skills in the private sector and in municipal governments in both Raleigh and Cary, North Carolina. I am excited to welcome Jim and his family to our City and look forward to his leadership over the years to come.
I am grateful for the extensive public input that assisted the City Council in making this selection. Your input was an integral part of the Council's decision.
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At the end of October, I joined our City Manager, our Finance Director and other members of our senior leadership team to make our annual presentation to the bond rating agencies.
Much like individuals must have a credit check performed before acquiring a mortgage, a car loan, or a new credit card, the City must go before Standard & Poor's and Moody's to have the two organizations assess whether we are doing a good job managing the City's finances.
Our capital budget is funded primarily through a mix of debt and current year funding also known as "cash capital." Relating this to your home mortgage, the cash capital is the down payment. We also pay interest each year on the debt that was issued in previous years.
In issuing the City's rating, Moody's cited Alexandria's "healthy financial position given strong operating trends and conservative budgeting practices and that the sizeable tax base will continue to grow and diversify."
Standard & Poor's similarly cited Alexandria's "Robust economic growth and management team that proactively manages the city's economy, finances, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks."
This is the first year that the rating agencies have focused on the ESG risks. The agencies cited the City's work managing these risks as a considerable positive, noting the City's work on climate change, flooding and equity.
Alexandria is very conservative with our use of debt.
The median for other similarly rated and sized jurisdictions is 2.42%.
In fact, in the Standard & Poor's analysis, they noted that the City was rated higher than the "sovereign" (the US Federal Government) because "we believe the City can maintain better credit characteristics than the U. S. in a stress scenario."
Debt is a tool that allows us to balance the costs of large capital investments across the generations of Alexandria taxpayers that will benefit from them and to pay for our investments from the returns we reap from them.
It is important for us to maintain the careful stewardship that will protect our taxpayers and our City's infrastructure long into the future.
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On the new Council, I have retained some of my current assignments and added a few new ones.
I will be continuing on the City's Health and Safety Coordinating Committee. Joining me on this committee will be to-be Vice Mayor Amy Jackson. This group consists of representatives from the City's public safety agencies, Code Administration, Alexandria City Public Schools, Health Department, Housing, and the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority. We use this meeting to track and coordinate activities that work to improve and maintain the high quality of life that our residents expect.
I also remain on the City Council/School Board subcommittee. Joining this group on the new Council will be Councilman John Taylor Chapman, the School Board Chair and Vice Chair, as well as the Superintendent and City Manager. The subcommittee coordinates joint activities and projects and serves as the primary interface between City government and the Alexandria City Public Schools.
I will be retaining my spot on the City's Commission on Information Technology. This group has now been re-purposed as a body focused on the City's broadband efforts. I will be joined on this group by to-be Vice Mayor Amy Jackson.
I will be a member of the City's new Audit and Finance Committee, This group provides the Council supervision of our annual financial audit as well as employee pension and compensation issues. I will be joined on this committee by Councilwoman Alyia Gaskins.
Both Councilman Chapman and I will remain on the ARHA Redevelopment Work Group. This group is focused on working with the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority (ARHA) to manage the orderly redevelopment of aging ARHA properties.
I will be joining a relatively new committee that was set up to manage the Combined Sewer Outfall work in cooperation with Alexandria Renew. On this committee I will be joined by to-be Vice Mayor Jackson.
I will also be remaining on the City's Legislative Committee, which oversees the development and implementation of the City's Annual Legislative Package. On this committee I will be joined by Councilman Kirk McPike.
I will also remain on a new Landmark Community Development Authority Board of Directors along with 4 of my colleagues, to help steer part of the new property holdings on the Landmark Mall site.
Additionally, I will be representing the City on the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA). The NVTA is the regional entity that disburses approximately $300 million annually across the region to projects designed to alleviate traffic congestion.
I am excited that the assignments I have taken on will provide me with the opportunity to best serve the residents of our City.
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American Rescue Plan Update |
In March, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan into law. This sprawling and comprehensive piece of legislation provides significant resources to Alexandria's residents, our businesses, our schools and our local government.
The American Rescue Plan included three criteria for how the local government funds may be used:
- To respond to the public health emergency with respect to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) or its negative economic impacts, including assistance to households, small businesses, and nonprofits, or aid to impacted industries such as tourism, travel, and hospitality
- For the provision of government services to the extent of the reduction in revenue of such metropolitan city, nonentitlement unit of government or county due to such emergency
- To make necessary investments in water, sewer, or broadband infrastructure.
This is a "once in a generation" infusion of money for Alexandria's City government and our school system. We must ensure that we not only spend every penny that the Federal government has provided to our community, but we also must use these resources wisely and to the long-term benefit of our community.
While we continue our focus on the resources that will be directly appropriated to our local government, we must also commit resources to ensuring that each of our residents and our businesses avail themselves of portions of the legislation that might benefit them. The Rescue Plan is a large piece of legislation and our government can assist our residents and businesses in navigating its complexity.
From the beginning of this crisis, it has been clear that the two levels of government, local and state, who are required to balance our budgets annually, could not address the immense financial need that has been created. Only the Federal Government could provide a sufficient amount of money to address some of these challenges.
As we put COVID-19 behind us, the hardship faced by our residents and businesses will continue for a while to come. The City will continue to find ways to provide the support required. I am hopeful we will take this opportunity to use these resources to wisely shape our future.
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The Torpedo Factory Arts Center is an iconic presence on the City's waterfront. Bringing a half million visitors into working artists galleries, the Factory is a economic development engine and unique arts resource for our community.
The City of Alexandria purchased the Factory from the United States Government in 1969. The Arts Center was opened in 1974 and has been a model for similar centers around country.
Yet for the past several years, the challenges of the Factory and the possible solutions to those challenges have been divisive.
Our staff brought a few proposals for the future of the Torpedo Factory to stakeholders for input, and last month brought those proposals to the City Council. You can review those proposals online.
These principles call for an entirely new structure to strategically manage the Torpedo Factory and the many new arts assets that the City is bringing to reality as part of the Old Town North Arts District.
Alexandria is an arts destination, but that destination is broader than one building. I am excited that Council has now endorsed this vision to expand our commitment to arts real estate in our City, with the Torpedo Factory as a focal point of that expansion.
This report recommended more changes to the governance, the management, and vision of the Factory.
Candidly, the future of the Torpedo Factory has been studied to death. We have used the divisiveness of this issue as an excuse to avoid making a decision on its future. Unfortunately, inaction is a decision in and of itself.
My focus is on deriving a structure for the operation of the Factory that:
- expands the vitality of the Factory
- improves its financial sustainability
- improves its diversity
- ensures the success of Alexandria's premier arts destination long into the future.
I am confident that working together we can achieve these goals.
Ensuring the presence of a diversity of arts and artists in the Torpedo Factory Arts Center on our Waterfront is a priority of mine. I look forward to working with our community and various partners to bring this vision to reality.
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Just after World War 2, the political scientist V. O. Key described Virginia as a "museum of democracy," with all of the vestiges of a representative and responsive democracy, but without the representation and responsiveness. Several decades has brought considerable change to Richmond.
Two years ago, we were prepping for a switch of party control for the first time in 22 years in the House of Delegates and 8 years in the State Senate. The regular session of 2020 was extraordinary with significant legislation enacted, and it was just a prelude to an extended special session, which addressed legislation and budget decisions related to COVID and numerous reforms to Virginia's criminal justice system.
For the past two years we enjoyed an unprecedented level of influence for our City. Our delegation boasts BOTH Majority Leaders (Senator Saslaw leading the State Senate and Delegate Herring leading the House of Delegates) and a few committee chairs.
With the recent election results, things will change dramatically. With a new Governor and a flip in partisan control of the House of Delegates, the only legislation likely to make it to the Governor's desk for signature, will be changes that enjoy bipartisan support.
In a week and a half Virginia General Assembly returns to Richmond for the so-called "long-session." The General Assembly alternates between a 45 day session in odd number years and a 60 day session in even number years. Five days later, Governor-Elect Youngkin will take the oath of office as our 74th Governor.
Every year, the City Council adopts a Legislative Package for the upcoming General Assembly session. While the state government is certainly a significant financial supporter of the City's budget, Richmond also sets a legal environment that affects how we provide services to our residents.
Along with now former-Vice Mayor Elizabeth Bennett-Parker, I serve on the City's Legislative Committee, which recommends the Legislative Package each year to our colleagues.
Yet we do have specific asks within the legislative priorities, including:
- Funding and Authority For Infrastructure Investments
- Protecting and Expansion of Local Authority and Funding
- Projecting our most vulnerable residents
- Promoting Access, Equity and Equality
- Combating climate change and promoting clean energy
We have included a specific list of legislative asks to support our efforts to address inland flooding, including efforts to regulate the stormwater impacts of smaller infill development and ensure new state resources to support the necessary infrastructure investments. We have included requests for increased regulation of Dominion Virginia Power, funding for abandoned cemeteries, broadband investments and efforts to support building safety.
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- In October, DASH experienced 256,000 systemwide boardings. This was the highest single month since February of 2020.
- Total DASH ridership increased by 50% between August and October.
- Our October ridership represents about 72% of pre-pandemic ridership.
- West End ridership presently exceeds pre-pandemic volume.
Prior to COVID, on an average weekday, about 14,500 people board Metrorail at one of our four stations (Braddock Road, King Street, Eisenhower Avenue and Van Dorn Street). It is certainly an important part of transportation in our City.
Yet our four Metrorail stations (soon to be five) serve only a small portion of our 15.5 square miles. On an average weekday, almost 24,000 people board a bus, either DASH or Metrobus.
The tool our City has used for decades to serve the transit needs of most of our neighborhoods has been the bus.
The route structure approved has a short-term vision and a longer-term 2030 vision. This restructuring is designed to:
- Increase the number of Alexandrians near frequent transit (a bus or train arriving every 15 minutes or better) from 27% to 79%.
- Increase the number of jobs in Alexandria near frequent transit from 40% to 75%.
- Increase the number of jobs accessible by transit (within 45 minutes) to Alexandrians by 18%.
- Increase the number of residents in poverty near frequent transit from 29% to 89%.
- Increase the number of seniors near frequent transit from 23% to 74%.
Earlier last year, DASH celebrated 35 years of serving Alexandria. What started with 17 buses and served less than a million passengers, today serves over 4 million passengers with 85 buses. While new routes have been added, and existing routes tweaked at times, the basic construct of DASH's route network has largely been unchanged.
Our effort is similar, designed to re-imagine our bus routes and ultimately increase ridership and route efficiency.
To provide a factual basis for this effort, a "Transit Choices Report" was developed. This report is a compendium of data on our existing transit network, designed to support this significant undertaking.
Throughout the two-year process, DASH incorporated public input to shape the final recommendations. Changes were made to accommodate concerns voiced about changes proposed to the existing AT-3, AT-4 and AT-2 routes.
While the largest implementation was in September, the planning effort informed the service enhancements that were made to the AT-1 and the AT-9 last year.
This is an important step forward as we create a transit system that serves more of our community with more efficient and relevant service. So far, it looks like it's working.
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The establishment of this TMDL imposed a "pollution diet" on the entire watershed, committing to reductions of nitrogen, phosphorous and sediment from flowing into the Bay. To meet these ambitious goals, this TMDL was divided into smaller TMDLs for waterways and jurisdictions throughout the watershed.
Meeting this commitment to the future of the Bay requires extensive, collective action across the watershed. Alexandria is working to do its part.
By 2023, we must meet 40% of the TMDL. By 2028, we must reach 100%.
The City is on track to meet our obligations to the Chesapeake Bay.
One of the most effective ways for the City to achieve these aggressive pollution reduction targets is to make improvements to City-owned properties. In urban areas like Alexandria, achieving these reductions can be challenging, given the limited amount of public land.
To ease the burden on Alexandria's taxpayers, the City has sought funding from the Commonwealth. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality administers the Stormwater Local Assistance Fund (SLAF), which provides matching grants to assist local governments in addressing these requirements.
The Lake Cook project, was the beneficiary of $1.5 million of SLAF funding, and made significant improvements to better treat stormwater and enhance the natural resources at this location along Eisenhower Avenue.
The Ben Brenman Pond project, was the beneficiary of $1.75 million of SLAF funding, and made improvements to better filter pollutants and upgrade landscaping at this location in Cameron Station.
Together, these are very important environmental projects for our City.
At Taylor Run, in addition to protecting a sanitary sewer line running through the area, this project will result in 9% of our required Nitrogen reduction, 30% of our required Phosphorous reduction and 4% of our required sediment reduction.
At Lucky Run, this project will result in 9% of our required Nitrogen reduction, 26% of our required Phosphorous reduction and 57% of our required sediment reduction.
At Strawberry Run, this project will result in 10% of our required Nitrogen reduction, 34% of our required Phosphorous reduction and 14% of our required sediment reduction.
Yet the projects are controversial, with opposition from residents concerned about construction impacts, potential ecological impacts, accuracy of pollution reduction estimates, tree impacts, among other objections. While these types of projects are under way in hundreds of other communities in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, similar controversy has erupted in other communities, including Fairfax County and Arlington County.
At the conclusion of the discussion, the Council gave our staff direction to pause on the projects, do further measurements of all three, engage with the community and the Environmental Policy Commission on other alternatives and return to the City Council for further direction.
The measurements are now complete and have been received by the City and our Environmental Policy Commission. These measurements show that the default formula provided by the Commonwealth's Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to estimate pollutant reductions, over-estimates the pollutant reduction for these three projects, as expected. In the case of Taylor Run, our estimated pollutant reduction rate of $15,000 per pound, will rise to $50,000 per pound. For Lucky Run, it goes from $7,000 per pound to $72,000 and for Strawberry Run it goes from $5,000 to $20,000. If the City seeks to claim to obtain the same pollution credits, using this method, it will now cost more.
The City has important obligations to improve the quality of the water in the waterways of our region. These investments are intended to maintain our commitment to the future of the Chesapeake Bay and address human-caused damage in these natural areas.
We will continue to work to determine the best approach as we move forward.
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Plastic Bag Tax Starts Today |
This legislation provided that local governments who imposed this form of taxation would be required to use the proceeds to fund environmental clean-up as well as the provision of reusable bags to lower-income residents.
As proposed, the tax would only apply to grocery stores, convenience stores and drug stores.
I'm optimistic this effort will help reduce this harmful waste in our environment.
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Paid for by Wilson For Mayor | www.justin.net |
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