In This Edition

Scheduled to step off at 1:00 PM, this event is designed to celebrate our first President and Alexandria's unique history. 

I will see you there! 

This 10 week program allows residents to learn and interact with our Alexandria Police as they continue their mission to keep our community safe.

Having participated in the program myself,  it's a wonderful way to learn about and meet the men and women in the Department. 

In addition, Metro will be hosting a number of public hearings to collect input in person. 

Take the time to weigh in!  

The event will be held on Wednesday February 12th from 9:30 AM until noon at Beatley Library. 

The session will cover new innovation in senior housing and should be an informative session.  

During last year's General Assembly session, former Governor McDonnell came together with the Senate and House of Delegates to pass a historic transportation funding package. The adopted package increased a variety of state and regional taxes to provide billions of new dollars to fund transportation efforts. 

This is a historic opportunity for our region. 

The funds for Northern Virginia are allocated to the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA), a regional body charged with distributing these new revenues. Of the funds collected, 30% will be sent directly to the member jurisdictions (like Alexandria) while 70% will be expended by the authority on projects of regional significance. 

As the funds are now being collected, the NVTA has requested each jurisdiction submit requests for expenditure of the 70% funds--the projects of regional significance. For Alexandria, our adopted Transportation Master Plan gives us a very clear roadmap for new transportation investments. 

The request adopted by the City Council last week covers the next 10 years and includes $69 million for the Potomac Yard Metro, $19.5 million for an East-West Dedicated Transit System, $62 million for a North-South Dedicated Transit System on the West End, and other important mobility investments. 

In addition to bringing the City's planned transitways to life, using these NVTA dollars for the Potomac Yard Metro will significantly decrease the financial risk of this vitally important project. 

Overall, this is a significant opportunity for our City and the region to demonstrate the substantial benefit to our residents derived from transportation investments. 

One of the consequences of being an old and historic city is that we have laws in the City Code that have long outlived their usefulness.

Working with volunteers in the community, our City Attorney's office and applicable City staff, we have worked to develop a list of old laws requiring repeal or update. 

Last month, the Council completed the first phase of that effort, repealing several laws that were purely obsolete and inappropriate. A second phase of this effort will follow this year, where obsolete laws requiring replacement will be handled by the Council.  

A provision in our City Code requiring all new north-south streets to be named after "confederate military leaders" has generally gotten the most attention from the media. However, the first phase of this effort also repealed a City ban on cohabitation, a ban on shoeshines or a "bootblack," as well as regulation on "rebound tumbling," and other codes that were past their expiration date. 

While this is certainly not the most important work done on City Council, expensive litigation has been waged by the City due to mistakes in the Code, and it is always important to ensure that the laws we enforce are frequently modernized. 

Alexandria would likely not exist if not for the Potomac River, but the waters from the Potomac threaten property around our City. 

Roughly 20% of the land in Alexandria is mapped as part of the floodplain, and many of our residents are required by their mortgage issuer to purchase flood insurance. While most of the threatened property is along the banks of the Potomac River, some residents far from waterfront property find themselves at flood risk. 

The National Flood Insurance Program has a Community Rating System (CRS) to assess voluntary actions by  communities to manage their floodplains and reduce the risk of flood damage. The more efforts that are performed, the higher the discount for those residents purchasing flood insurance. 

Alexandria was recently reviewed and our class was lowered from 7 to 6, which means Alexandria purchasers of flood insurance now receive a 20% discount on their policies. Alexandria is now the first and only jurisdiction in Virginia to have obtained such a rating, which means we receive the highest discount. 

In the City's recently adopted legislative package, the Council included a request for partnership with the State to continue our efforts to lower our flood risk. In response, Delegate Krupicka has proposed a budget amendment that will partner with jurisdictions to assist in lowering CRS scores further. 

For a little over 20 years, the City has held its coveted AAA/Aaa bond rating from Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investor Services. These ratings allow the City to borrow money for capital improvements at a rate lower than all but a handful of cities and counties in the country. 

In 2011, while maintaining the City's perfect rating, Moody's Investor Services changed the outlook for the City's rating to Negative. This change was widely regarded as a prelude to a downgrade. 

In their analysis Moody's did not cite any weakness in the City's fiscal management. They did not note any looming City investment. In fact, the explanation for their outlook was not even focused within our borders. They gave Alexandria a negative credit outlook due to concerns about the fiscal management of our federal government and the potential effect that might have on Alexandria. 

Moody's did remove the negative outlook last year. While their caution was likely misplaced, it clearly demonstrates the degree to which Alexandria's financial fate is affected by the collective actions (or inaction as the case may be) of the U.S. Senate, the House of Representatives and the President.