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The Council Connection
your connection to City Council by:
Mayor Justin M. Wilson
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Alexandria, Virginia
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November 1, 2019
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In This Edition

Council Initiatives
Partners For Inclusive Growth
Housing for Alexandria's Future
Financing For Our Infrastructure
Small Cell Deployment
Freedom House
Refugee Resettlement
Tourism in Our City
Host a Town Hall
Upcoming Issues: Alexandria's Bus Network & Juvenile Detention Home

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Quick Links
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E-Mail Me [mailto:[email protected]]
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Past Newsletters [[link removed]]
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City of Alexandria Website [[link removed]]
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Pay City Taxes Online [[link removed]]
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Review Real Estate Assessments [[link removed]]
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Crime Mapping & Statistics [[link removed]]
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Call.Click.Connect [[link removed]]
(Submit Service Requests to City Agencies)
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Board & Commission Vacancies [[link removed]]
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Alexandria Health Department Restaurant Inspections [[link removed]]
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Report Potholes [[link removed]]
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Schedule Child Safety Seat Inspection [[link removed]]
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Smoke Detector Installation Request [[link removed]]
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Real Estate Tax Receipt Calculator [[link removed]]
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License Your Dog or Cat [[link removed]]
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Report a Street Light Outage [[link removed]]
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Events/Updates
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Vote on Tuesday!
On Tuesday November 5th, Alexandria voters will choose our General Assembly representation
(members of the State Senate and members of the House of Delegates) and the Clerk
of the Circuit Court.
The polls will be open from 6 AM until 7 PM. You can check your polling place online.
[[link removed]]
Today and tomorrow are the last two days to vote absentee in-person at either of
the two locations [[link removed]].
Sample ballots are available online [[link removed]].
See you at the polls!
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St. Rita's 5K
On Saturday November 16th, the St. Rita's School 5K returns to the streets of Alexandria.
Beginning at 8:30 AM on Eisenhower Avenue in Carlyle, the race is fast and flat!
Registration is available online [[link removed]].
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Leaf Collection Begins
The annual City's leaf collection effort begins on Monday.
The full schedule of leaf vacuuming efforts is available online and will continue
for the next few weeks [[link removed]].
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Small Business Saturday
Saturday November 30th is Small Business Saturday!
This national event showcases the many small businesses that are backbones of our
City's retail community.
With deals and events throughout our City, this is the time to get your holiday
shopping done while supporting Alexandria's diverse small retailers. [[link removed]]
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City Tree Lighting
On Saturday, November 23rd, at 6 PM Santa returns to Market Square in Old Town to
light the City's tree. [[link removed]]
With a welcome from the Town Crier and performances of all kinds, this event cannot
be missed!
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Black Friday
Avoid the mall, head to Old Town for Black Friday!
Throughout Alexandria, 50 independent boutiques will offer an alternative Black
Friday experience! [[link removed]]
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ACPS Calendar Input
The Alexandria City Public Schools are working to develop the academic calendar
for 2020 - 2021 and they would like your input.
You can review the three draft calendars online [[link removed]].
You can vote for your preference [[link removed]]
online.
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Alexandria Film Festival
Next weekend the Alexandria Film Festival returns to our City!
Meet the filmmakers at more than 50 film screenings, with the "Burke and Herbert
Family Showcase," "Salute to Service Members Showcase," "Women in Film" and "late
Night Film Noir."
Ticketed and free shows at AMC Hoffman 22 and Beatley Library. [[link removed]]
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Run For Turkey
For the 44th Year, Del Ray will host the best Turkey Trot around!
The 44th Anniversary Alexandria Turkey Trot 5 Miler returns to the streets of Del
Ray and Rosemont on Thanksgiving morning.
Brought to you by the Del Ray Business Association and DC Road Runners, the race
is a regional tradition and last year attracted 5,500 finishers!
Join me on Thanksgiving for a great run through Alexandria [[link removed]].
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Donate Blood
The Inova Bloodmobile will be in Old Town at McEnearney Associates (109 S. Pitt
Street) from 11 AM until 3 PM on Tuesday.
Appointments to donate blood can be made online. [[link removed]]
Thanks for saving a life!
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Community Health Improvement
As the City works to develop our Community Health Improvement Plan, the Alexandria
Health Department will be hosting three community meetings this month.
Focused on the three priority areas of Mental Health, Poverty and Affordable Housing,
these meetings are intended to brainstorm ideas to make tangible improvements.
Learn more information or submit ideas online [[link removed]].
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REVIVE Training
Twice a month the City offers free training to residents seeking to learn how to
spot and reverse an opioid overdose. [[link removed]]
No RSVP is required, and attendees receive a free medical kit upon completion.
Help become a lifesaver in our community!
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Real Estate Tax Bills Due
The second half real estate tax bills are due on Thursday, November 15th [[link removed]].
Save a stamp and a trip to City Hall by using the City's eChecks system [[link removed]].
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Census Jobs
As part of the preparation for the 2020 Decennial Census, the United States Census
Bureau is already hiring in our area.
Click here [[link removed]]
or here [[link removed]]
to review the various jobs listed for hiring.
Thanks for joining our effort to ensure a full and complete count!
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Tomorrow, the City Council gathers for our annual budget retreat. [[link removed]]
This is when the Council typically gets our first peek at projected revenues and
expenditures for the upcoming budget year. This information assists us as we prepare
to adopt guidance for the City Manager for his upcoming budget.
We will also work to prepare the Council's work program for the next calendar year.
The public is welcome to attend to watch the Council's discussion.
Last month, the entire Council was present at Beatley Library as the City concluded
a year's worth of observances and events recognizing the 80th anniversary of Alexandria
Library sit-in.
Led by a young attorney, Samuel Tucker, five young Alexandrians applied unsuccessfully
for a library card at the Alexandria Library on Queen Street. After they were denied
due to the color of their skin, the brave young men sat and read books in the library
until the Police came and arrested them. [[link removed]]
After discovering that these charges were never dropped officially, our Commonwealth's
Attorney, Bryan Porter, successfully petitioned the Alexandria Circuit Court to
drop these charges. [[link removed]]
Last month's event featured descendants of the five young men and it was a distinct
honor to present the petition approved by the Court to each of the families present.
[[link removed]]
Let me know how I can help. Please contact me anytime [mailto:[email protected]]
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Council Initiatives
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Expanding the Arlington Partnership
A month ago, the Alexandria City Council and the Arlington County Board held a rare
joint session. The meeting was intended as an initial kick-off of an effort to craft
new joint initiatives between the two jurisdictions to ensure the benefits of our
growth are shared by ALL in our community.
You can watch the entire joint meeting online [[link removed]].
This session was prompted by a proposal [[link removed]]
that I co-authored along with Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey.
An unprecedented partnership between Alexandria and Arlington helped to bring home
the most significant prize in the highest-profile economic development solicitation
in decades.
Amazon is coming to the Crystal City section of Arlington County [[link removed]].
The Virginia Tech Innovation Campus is coming to the Potomac Yard section of our
City [[link removed]].
While these new investments provide significant financial benefits to both communities
[[link removed]],
residents in both jurisdictions have expressed reservations about whether these
benefits will accrue to all residents or simply those who are already doing well
in our community.
It is not a new concern for our region. We live in one of the most heavily educated,
affluent and thriving regions in the country. Employers are attracted to this area
to gain access to the workforce and the high quality of life that we enjoy.
Yet the growth and success that this region enjoys has not been enjoyed evenly by
our residents [[link removed]].
While some may view the paired investments of Amazon and Virginia Tech as a harbinger
of growing inequality, I believe it presents an unprecedented opportunity to do
things differently. But it will not just happen automatically.
While the session this evening will serve as an opportunity for the governing bodies
of each jurisdiction to help craft a work program for the future, our initial proposal
envisions cooperative efforts in:

* Housing Affordability
* Workforce Development
* P-12 Education
* Transportation/Mobility
* SWaM (Small, woman-owned and minority)Business Assistance
While both Alexandria and Arlington have varied programs in each of these areas,
and have even collaborated in some of these areas in the past, we believe
that this moment in our history should prompt new and innovative collaboration.
While the joint meeting affirmed the need to focus on these policy areas, as well
as added a few others, the two bodies prioritized the work on housing, workforce
development and business assistance as the areas of top focus.
I am optimistic this work will help set the example of how a community can harness
economic growth as an engine to reduce inequality, not exacerbate it. This meeting
was the kick-off of this collaboration, with much work ahead of us.
Let me know if you have thoughts as we embark upon this effort. [mailto:[email protected]]
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Housing for Alexandria's Future
In September, the Board of Directors of [[link removed]]the
Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) [[link removed]]
unanimously adopted new regional housing creation targets [[link removed]].
This is the first regional commitment to accelerate the development of housing supply
as a means to address our affordability crisis.
These targets commit the City to the creation of additional units, with most of
those units committed to be affordable for low to middle income households. To ensure
that this housing creation does not exacerbate existing transportation challenges,
most of this new housing must be located near job centers and high-capacity transportation
infrastructure.
In September of last year, the Board of Directors of COG accepted a report that
identified that 100,000 additional housing units will need to be constructed within
the region just to meet expected job growth [[link removed]].
That is 100,000 units BEYOND what is already planned to be developed.
The COG analysis focuses on the housing production required to meet the economic
competitiveness and transportation efficiency goals for the region. Even with increased
housing production at the levels recommended, it's unlikely to be sufficient supply
to address affordability challenges.
The recent Amazon and Virginia Tech economic development announcements have stoked
concerns regarding the impacts on affordability that may result throughout the
region. While analysis shows the potential for impacts on affordability, in a region
with over 3.3 million jobs [[link removed]],
an additional 25,000 jobs entering the market over a decade is not likely to have
a dramatic impact.
Yet these economic development "wins" have served to shine a light on an issue that
has bedeviled our City and this region for decades. As the region's job supply has
grown, the housing supply has not sufficiently grown to match [[link removed]].
While the paired announcement of Amazon and Virginia Tech presents risks for affordability
in the region, it also provides some critical opportunities:

* For the first time ever, the Commonwealth included new housing investments in
an economic development incentive package [[link removed]].
* In the aftermath of the announcement, Governor Northam proposed new investments
in the Commonwealth's Housing Trust Fund as part of his package of amendments to
the budget for the 2019 General Assembly session [[link removed]].
* There is some reason to believe that the Amazon/Virginia Tech investment will
prompt new housing production, thus alleviating some of the crunch.
While the national media [[link removed]]
has highlighted the potential impact of this new growth on Arlandria and other vulnerable
neighborhoods, the City recently commenced a long-planned effort to update our plans
in Arlandria and Del Ray [[link removed]].
Housing affordability will be a significant component of that process.
An online survey [[link removed]]
is now available to collect input as this process gets started, and community meetings
are scheduled for Thursday November 21st at 6:30 PM at Cora Kelly School (3600 Commonwealth
Avenue) and Thursday December 12th at 6:30 PM at Mount Vernon Community School (2601
Commonwealth Avenue).
In response to requests earlier this year by Council, our staff returned last month
with revisions to our Interdepartmental Work Program to include a comprehensive
review of zoning tools available to advance affordability, including Accessory Dwelling
Units (ADU), inclusionary zoning, and beyond [[link removed]].
When the City attempts to address housing affordability, it is going up against
powerful economic forces. Employing market-based solutions to these affordability
challenges is where the City can be most effective.
A few years ago, I prompted a bit of controversy by writing an intentionally provocative
take on housing affordability and what the City can do to improve accessibility
[[link removed]].
In late 2015, Jason Furman, then the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers
[[link removed]],
made a speech that drew a direct connection between one of the most challenging
issues for us in Alexandria to one of the most challenging issues facing our nation.
He laid the blame for these challenges squarely at the feet of local policymakers.
In this speech, Mr. Furman addressed the large and growing challenges of housing
affordability in communities. He connected those challenges with growing income
inequality around our country. [[link removed]]
But most relevant to us in Alexandria, he assigned blame for a lack of housing
affordability on local zoning restrictions.
Said another way, our limitations and restrictions on development have driven the
cost of housing to unaffordable levels thus exacerbating income inequality. He even
traces the impact of these restrictions to reductions in employment [[link removed]].
Furman writes "Zoning restrictions--be they in the form of minimum lot sizes, off-street
parking requirements, height limits, prohibitions on multifamily housing, or lengthy
permitting processes--are supply constraints. Basic economic theory predicts--and
many empirical studies confirm--that housing markets in which supply cannot keep
up with demand will see housing prices rise."
Some have even suggested that removal of some local authority over land use can
help address the affordability issue [[link removed]].
Others have ascribed even more nefarious motives to how zoning restrictions are
applied [[link removed]].
Late last year, Minneapolis approved one of the more radical approaches to addressing
affordability, by rethinking the entire construct of "Single Family Zoning." [[link removed]]
A recent analysis looked at similar approaches in our region, including Alexandria
[[link removed]].
All of this leads us to the fundamental question as to whether Alexandria's efforts
to address affordability are helping, hurting or having no effect.
Our discussions on affordable housing have generally been focused on funding questions
[[link removed]],
debates about the impacts of individual projects [[link removed]],
and the contention between affordability and other City priorities [[link removed]].
We adopted the Housing Master Plan [[link removed]]
which gave the community a series of tools with which to tackle the challenges of
affordability.
Yet, if Furman and other economists are to be believed, we in Alexandria have rarely
tackled the fundamental root of housing affordability. Most of our efforts are aimed
at creating or preserving housing that will ultimately be in the public domain or
under nominal public control. However, it is through our zoning authority that we
can truly impact housing affordability in privately owned housing.
Obviously zoning restrictions have a place and serve a need for our community. I
would also suggest that we have done some things right.
For instance, in 2015, the City Council adopted new parking standards for multi-family
housing [[link removed]].
By rightsizing parking, we significantly reduced the cost of construction for multi-family
residential development, provided new incentives for the use of transit, and freed
up resources for alternate community investments.
However, these new standards went even farther, by providing steeper parking incentives
for restricted affordable housing units. The City essentially adopted our largest
financial incentive for the creation of new affordable housing [[link removed]],
while also reducing the overall cost of private housing development.
In 2017, at the suggestion of Councilman Chapman and myself, the City expanded our
"density bonus" program for affordable housing [[link removed]].
The program essentially trades additional market density with landowners in exchange
for new committed affordable housing.
As we work to implement the City's Housing Master Plan, we must seek to comprehend
and be willing to address all of the factors that challenge affordability in the
City. Amazon's arrival and Virginia Tech's expansion doesn't dramatically change
the affordability challenge in our region, but it does perhaps give us the impetus
to make the difficult decisions to address it.
Let me know your thoughts! [mailto:[email protected]]
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Financing our Infrastructure
Last month, the City Council unanimously voted to authorize the issuance of $200
million of new General Obligation bonds [[link removed]].
This new borrowing will be used to finance the construction of the Potomac Yard
Metro station as well as other projects in our Capital Improvement Program.
Each time the City goes to borrow money for its capital budget, it must go before
the rating agencies to have its credit worthiness evaluated, which guides market
valuation. Next week, I will be accompanying our staff to New York to meet with
the agencies and present information on the City's newly planned borrowing.
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.
.
In May, the Council adopted our 10 year Capital Improvement Program, covering fiscal
years 2020 - 2029. [[link removed]]
Over the 10 year period, the program calls for $1.618 billion in capital investment
throughout the City. A third of this funding goes to City and School municipal facilities.
Another third goes to transportation initiatives.
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.
Alexandria is very conservative with our use of debt.
In issuing the City's last rating, Moody's wrote: "The stable outlook reflects the
likelihood that the city will maintain its satisfactory financial position due to
proactive management, sound financial policies, and continued tax base growth and
diversification."
Standard & Poor's similarly cited that the City's "...overall net debt is low" and
noted that the City's "debt and contingent liability profile is very strong."
Arlington County limits its debt to 4% of its Fair Market Real Property Value. Both
Fairfax and Prince William Counties limit their debt to 3%. Alexandria's self-imposed
limit is 2.5%, and this budget year we achieved 1.60% [[link removed]]
.
The median for other similarly rated and sized jurisdictions is 2.42%.
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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Small Cell Deployment
Last year, I provided an update on the City's deployment of a municipal fiber network
[[link removed]].
Our work continues with procurement activities for the fiber build efforts occurring
later this year.
Yet the broadband-dependent applications of tomorrow will be delivered through a
variety of different technologies. The next iteration of cellular technology is
known as 5G [[link removed]],
which will be capable of delivering broadband capabilities far beyond current deployments.
How to facilitate the deployment of 5G has been the topic of both Federal and
state rule-making and lawmaking. Last year, the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) issued an order attempting to accelerate deployment of 5G by preempting some
local authority over this infrastructure work [[link removed]].
Similarly, the Commonwealth of Virginia adopted new legislation facilitating the
construction of so-called "small cell" installations [[link removed]],
which support existing 4G networks and are often required for 5G deployment.
The City has already received 50 applications for small cell installations around
our community.
Our City staff is working to develop new guidelines and ordinances to allow this
new wireless deployment [[link removed]],
while being respectful of the potential aesthetic impacts to our streetscape.
Last month, the Council approved 5 year agreements with both Verizon [[link removed]]
and AT&T [[link removed]]
to allow their installation of small cell equipment in City right-of-way on utility
poles owned by third parties.
Ultimately, we want to ensure Alexandria not left behind as technology advances.
To do so we must quickly adopt a regulatory framework that supports prompt deployment
of this infrastructure.
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Preserving Freedom House
Between 1828 and 1861, over 100,000 enslaved African-Americans passed through 1315
Duke Street in the City of Alexandria. This building was the headquarters for one
of the largest domestic slave trading operations in our nation. [[link removed]]
Operating from a prominent location, this human trafficking operation brought enslaved
African-Americans from the Chesapeake Bay area to a holding pen surrounding the
building, where they were then forced by foot or by ship to Natchez, Mississippi
or New Orleans.
Today, known as Freedom House, the building has been owned by the Northern Virginia
Urban League since 1996 and is being operated as a museum in partnership with the
City.
Last year, the City extended financial support when the Urban League's finances
prevented successful operation of the museum [[link removed]].
Now, the Urban League has placed the property on the open market [[link removed]].
This property is a significant piece of Alexandria and our nation's history. The
history depicted in the museum today, and the history yet to be unlocked in the
building is a story that must be told. I believe we must work to ensure this history
remains accessible to the public.
The City is working closely with a variety of public and private partners to keep
this building accessible and ensure that we can continue to interpret the history
of this important, and tragic, era of our past.
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Refugee Resettlement
In late September, President Trump issued Executive Order 13888, entitled "Enhancing
State and Local Involvement in Refugee Resettlement." [[link removed]]
This executive order provided direction to the Secretary of State and the Secretary
of Health and Human Services to devise a process whereby local jurisdictions and
states can submit objections to the Federal government to prevent refugee resettlement
activity in their community.
For generations, our nation, our Commonwealth and our City have resettled refugees
fleeing war, famine and persecution. This resettlement activity is performed by
the Federal government in partnership with non-profit organizations, including the
faith community.
Refugees are among the most vetted entrants to the United States [[link removed]].
Those that are admitted have gone through a multi-year process to validate their
status.
Local governments have not traditionally had any role in deciding whether refugees
are resettled in their communities. While some communities, including Alexandria,
provide supports to ensure the success of these individuals, the "approval" of a
local community has not been a component of the process.
The President's executive order attempts to insert local governing bodies in this
process, presumably to prompt communities to declare themselves off-limits to this
resettlement activity.
Refugees have made significant contributions to the success of our City throughout
our history. I do not believe there is any valid rationale for our City to attempt
to prevent refugee resettlement activity in our City.
As such, the City Council unanimously adopted a resolution [[link removed]],
at my suggestion, to affirm the City's posture on this question. We have provided
this resolution to our Congressional delegation, the Secretary of State and the
Secretary of Health and Human Services.
I am hopeful and optimistic that our neighboring jurisdictions will make similar
affirmations.
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Welcoming Visitors to Our City
In a difficult year, with headwinds from the Federal Government shutdown and the
Metro Platform Improvement Project, the investments the City has made in attracting
new visitation to our community has again paid dividends for our taxpayers.
In Fiscal Year 2019, visitors to Alexandria spent $859 million in our City. [[link removed]]
That spending supports 6,583 jobs and provides $27.9 million of tax revenue.
That equates to almost 7 cents on our real estate tax. Tourism in our City essentially
saves the average household $673 per year.
The City achieved a 72.5% hotel occupancy (compared with a 65.5% national average)
and has exceeded 70% for the fifth consecutive year.
As we were recognizing these accomplishments the City was voted by Conde Nast Traveler
Magazine readers the third best City in America [[link removed]]!
This designation is a significant recognition for the work that our businesses and
residents do to ensure our City is a hospitable place for visitors.
Yet our City cannot rest on its laurels. During difficult times, communities around
our country and particularly our region are working to offer unique experiences
to visitors.
With that in mind, Visit Alexandria will be focusing on expading the King Street
Corridor Initiative, designed to focus on programming, beautification and marketing
of our central business district. New efforts focused on neighborhood promotion
in Del Ray, Carlyle/Eisenhower, the West End and Old Town will be launched, along
with efforts associated with the Tall Ship Providence.
Non-residents account for 71% of the City's consumption-based taxes (sales, meals
and lodging). Hosting visitors in our City not only allows us to show off our wonderful
community, it is also great for our taxpayers!
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Host a Town Hall in Your Living Room!
As Mayor, I am continuing my regular series of Town Hall Meetings.
You supply the living room and a bunch of your friends and neighbors. I will supply
the Mayor who will hopefully have the answers to any of your questions about our
City.
Just drop us a line [mailto:[email protected]] and we'll get a Town
Hall on the calendar! Thanks for the interest!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Upcoming Issues

Rethinking Alexandria Bus Service
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 [[link removed]]
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 Alexandria Transit Vision Plan [[link removed]]
is the City's effort to rethink our buses. Last month, DASH released the most significant
"re-imagination" of its route structure in its history [[link removed]].
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 this 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.
Communities around our nation have done the difficult work of rethinking their bus
route networks to improve frequency of service, reduce route duplication, and ultimately
serve more riders. Houston's overnight route network transformation helped spur
growth in ridership at a time when transit ridership was dropping elsewhere [[link removed]].
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
[[link removed]].
This report is a compendium of data on our existing transit network, designed to
support this significant undertaking.
This is an opportunity for the City to make transit more relevant and vital for
more of our City's residents [[link removed]].
To do so, will require trade-offs around the City. We need your input on those potential
trade-offs and their impacts on you and your neighbors.
A survey will be collecting online input until November 22nd [[link removed]].
On Wednesday November 13th, the DASH Board will be holding the final community meeting
to collect input. This meeting will be held at City Hall at 5:30 PM. [[link removed]]
Let me know your thoughts as we create a transit system that serves more of our
community.
Juvenile Detention Home
Three years ago, I used a write-up in this newsletter [[link removed]]
to address concerns that I held about the City's future relationship with the Northern
Virginia Juvenile Detention Home.
Along with Arlington County and the City of Falls Church, the City owns the Northern
Virginia Juvenile Detention Home [[link removed]]
. Located in Alexandria, the facility has a capacity for 70 children who are awaiting
disposition by the juvenile justice system and 10 children who have already received
disposition. The home is run by a board with representatives from all three jurisdictions.
There is a school run there by the Alexandria City Public Schools [[link removed]]
.
The City spends a little over a million dollars each year to contribute to the operation
of this facility. [[link removed]]
The latest data shows that about 20% of the capacity is being utilized with about
half of the usage coming from Alexandria. [[link removed]]
During recent budget cycles, additional money has been requested to increase staffing
to comply with the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) [[link removed]].
Council chose to defer decisions to allow a larger conversation about the future
of the facility to occur. Do we have the ability to partner with other facilities
or the state to provide these services?
This conversation the City is having is very much aligned with similar conversations
around the Commonwealth. Driven by lower populations of children committed to the
state Juvenile Justice system as well as a desire for better outcomes, the state
has worked to reduce capacity as well.
The Department of Juvenile Justice closed a facility in Culpeper in 2014 and worked
to close two larger facilities in the Richmond area [[link removed]].
The Department is currently executing a "Transformation" plan to redirect resources
and improve the outcomes for our children [[link removed]].
The three jurisdictions are now conducting a study on the future of this facility,
and we would like your input. Three community meetings are scheduled this month,
including one on Wednesday November 20th at 7 PM at Lee Center (1108 Jefferson
Street). [[link removed]]
Additionally, a short online survey is available for your review [[link removed]].
I am also hopeful that the three jurisdictions can work together to chart a new
future for this facility.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mayor Justin M. Wilson
703.746.4500
[email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
www.justin.net [[link removed]]
Alexandria City Hall
301 King Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
Paid for by Wilson For Mayor
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