Rob Krupicka, Alexandria Virginia City Council Member's Blog

May Council News

Thu, 03 May 2007 15:52:29 GMT

Hello friends,

Last month’s newsletter was long. So, I’m going to keep things short this month. There are some very immediate opportunities in the community for the arts and historic preservation that I point out below. There is information about an opportunity for you to provide input on the Mirant power plant. And I spend the bulk of this newsletter discussing the proposed city-wide smoking ban.

See you soon,

Rob Krupicka

Historic Preservation Conference – This Weekend

Two of the nation’s leading experts on historic preservation issues have agreed to serve as keynote speakers for the upcoming two-day conference, the “Alexandria Historic Preservation Conference and Town Meeting,” scheduled for May 4 and 5 in Alexandria.

Architectural restorationist, White House historian and 25-year Alexandria resident William Seale will address conference attendees during the opening session on Friday evening, May 4, while noted preservation economist, appraiser and author Donovan Rypkema will speak during the luncheon on Saturday, May 5.

“Having two of the most notable experts on historic preservation address our conference is quite an honor and will allow our attendees to hear first-hand some of the latest and most up-to-date thinking on the issue,” said Morgan Delaney, M.D., president of the Historic Alexandria Foundation and co-chair of the event with Ellen Stanton, chair of the Historic Alexandria Resources Commission.

The conference is open to the public for a registration fee of $25 which includes admission to the opening event and reception on May 4 as well as the conference and Town Meeting on May 5. The fee also includes a box lunch for attendees. Pre-registration has been extended to April 27 to be assured a box lunch and conference packet. Registration will also be available at the door on a space available basis. To register, visit the Historic Alexandria Foundation’s Web site at www.historicalexandriafoundation.org or by calling the Foundation at 703-549-5811.

http://alexandriava.gov/town_meeting.html

http://www.historicalexandriafoundation.org

Art Walk in Old Town: All About Dogs -- Thursday, May 10, 2007

Art Exhibition & Book Signing
with special guests Leslie Young and Plaid the Scottie Dog

6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Leslie Young is the author of PLAID: A TALE OF JOY and PLAID: A TALE OF COMPASSION. Ms. Young and Plaid, both Alexandria residents, will be in the gallery to sign books and talk about the art.

Prints and books will be available for purchase.

Refreshments will be served and children are most welcome!!

"All About Dogs" is part of Old Town Alexandria's Second Thursday Gallery Walk for May.
Galleries, retail businesses and restaurants from Alfred Street to King Street Metro will be open and are offering special discounts and promotions.

Elizabeth Stone Gallery
1127 King Street, Suite 201, Alexandria, VA 22314
PHONE 703-706-0025 FAX 703-706-0027
elizabeth@elizabethstonegallery.com

Opportunity to Provide Input on the Mirant Power Plant

The Mirant power plant is presently operating under an interim federal order that will expire June 1, 2007. A replacement state order or permit is presently being considered by the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board.

Citizens may provide written input to the board by e-mail or regular mail.

Further information can be found at

http://www.deq.virginia.gov/air/permitting/Mirant.html.

Comments by others can be reviewed at http://www.deq.virginia.gov/air/permitting/Mirant2.html

THE INITIAL DEADLINE FOR INPUT IS MAY 4, 2007

The City of Alexandria has asked for three things as part of this review:

1)The establishment of a Local Air Pollution Control District for the plant.

2)An interim order or permit that is fully protective of our health and in full compliance with the law.

3)Ultimately, a comprehensive operating permit that limits all emissions from the plant to the greatest extent feasible.

Send e-mail to: maharvey@deq.virginia.gov

mail to: Ms. Monica Harvey

629 East Main Street

P. O. Box 1105

Richmond, VA 23218

The Board will also hold a PUBLIC HEARING MAY 22, 2007 HOLIDAY INN ALEXANDRIA 2460 Eisenhower Avenue Alexandria, VA 4:00 pm to 9 pm

At this time ADDITIONAL CITIZEN VERBAL INPUT WILL BE ALLOWED. Citizens are also encouraged to contact the Department of Environmental Quality by e-mail and/or mail.

Smoking Ban Proposed in Alexandria – What do you think?

While the Governor’s efforts to ban smoking in restaurants across the state failed, Alexandria continues to move forward with consideration of the Mayor’s proposal that we use our zoning powers in order to respond to the health threats posed by second hand smoke as well as to encourage a competitive restaurant environment for our tourists, visitors and residents.

Health Concerns

While some dispute the health effects of smoking, the Federal Government has made a good case for the health risks.

Secondhand smoke has been classified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a known cause of cancer in humans (Group A carcinogen).²
Secondhand smoke exposure causes disease and premature death in children and adults who do not smoke. Secondhand smoke contains hundreds of chemicals known to be toxic or carcinogenic, including formaldehyde, benzene, vinyl chloride, arsenic ammonia and hydrogen cyanide.³
Secondhand smoke causes approximately 3,400 lung cancer deaths and 22,700-69,600 heart disease deaths in adult nonsmokers in the United States each year.⁴
A study found that nonsmokers exposed to environmental smoke were 25 percent more likely to have coronary heart diseases compared to nonsmokers not exposed to smoke.⁵
Nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke at work are at increased risk for adverse health effects. Levels of ETS in restaurants and bars were found to be 2 to 5 times higher than in residences with smokers and 2 to 6 times higher than in office workplaces.⁶
Since 1999, 70 percent of the U.S. workforce worked under a smoke-free policy, ranging from 83.9 percent in Utah to 48.7 percent in Nevada.⁷ Workplace productivity was increased and absenteeism was decreased among former smokers compared with current smokers.⁸

Click Here for More on the Health Impacts

Business & Economic Concerns

While the health issues related to this issue can’t be ignored, the economic development arguments are worth discussing. Some fear that a smoking ban will hurt business in Alexandria. With 21 state bans in place, some have suggested that many tourists coming to Alexandria expect restaurants that are smoke free. The smoking ban in Britian has been identified by some to be a benefit to their tourism industry. Commenting on the loss in a British paper, Local Glyndwr Jenkins, sitting with a pint of Guinness, accepted the change. "I don't smoke and if it means a better environment then so much the better," he said. "A bit of the soul has been lost from this place. But the tourism has helped our economic development and a smoke-free pub is a part of that."

After Boston’s smoking ban, restaurant business grew and some of that growth was attributed to the ban (click here for story).

Community Input

I have heard from many, many residents excited by the potential ban. I have also heard from tobacco industry lobbyists as well as residents that have concerns; they have voiced a strong feeling that they have the right to patron the restaurants they want and that people who don’t like smoke can go elsewhere.

I certainly know there are restaurants where I love the food, but I don’t patron them because bar smoke whiffs throughout the establishment. A few years ago, I had strong doubts about regulating smoking. I believed the businesses and patrons should be able to make up their own minds. I grew up with parents who smoked and saw it as a basic right. And the idea of more government regulation concerned me greatly. Since then, scientific health data as well as economic data have piled up. My concerns about the harm to business viability have been weakened by the ample evidence that the risk of economic harm is not there and the fact that there may be economic benefit.

While patrons do have a choice to go somewhere else, I am concerned about employees who must work in an environment that could literally give them cancer. The idea that people have endless choices about where to work does not hold sway with me. Somebody ultimately has to work in restaurants and bars. As somebody who has struggled to find summer jobs or work during college that accommodated my class schedule, I don’t believe that employment options as wide spread as some would say. And to quote one Alexandria resident and restaurant employee that contacted me recently,

” Sure, one could work some place else but why should one have to? If the office building or factory or courtroom other workers were working in were hazardous and it was proven that the workers were on a regular basis being exposed to something that was known to cause cancer and other health problems would one expect an accountant or a factory worker or a judge to just go work some place else? “

I have heard people express very legitimate concerns that stopping smoking in our restaurants will cause Old Town and other neighborhood streets to become crowded with smokers and cigarette butts. That is a fair concern that we have to look into as this proposal is considered.

Legal Issues

Even with the examples of other locations, and the clear national and international trends in this direction, I think concerns about the use of Alexandria’s zoning powers to implement this ban are worthy of close review. We use zoning laws to regulate health code compliance, noise, smells, hours of operation, alcohol sales, parking strategies, and to monitor the ownership of an establishment. Even so, the proposed approach to use zoning to force a ban has many people expecting Alexandria to end up in Court with very little opportunity to win. State law says indoor air quality is regulated by the State, not local government. While some lawyers believe the proposed zoning approach may get around that, many who support the idea of a ban, believe the proposal is destined to fail in court. Alexandria has recently lost a few high-profile state supreme court cases where we used our zoning powers in a way the Courts found to be inappropriate. The results in those cases certainly give me concerns that using the zoning law to ban smoking will ultimately lead to a few years of legal battles, legal costs and an eventual loss at the state supreme court.

As the Council prepares to look at the smoking ban, I’d be interested to hear your views. Send me an e-mail. The matter comes before City Council at our next public hearing.

A Poem

Councilman Gaines spearheaded an effort to establish a Poet Laureate for Alexandria. A Committee of residents selected Mary McElveen. She is a great choice. Below is her inaugural poem.

City of Songs

History wrote refrains here--
The rattle of carts, the chime of churchbells,
The muffled drum of famed footsteps
Reverberating on our cobbled streets;
Old rhymes writ with images
Glimpsed through a rippled mirror--
Songs of remembrance.

Today is an unwritten poem
Crackling in the nighttime air.
Rhythms ride the streets on Harleys
Staccato beat on “high”,
And couplets crowd the corners
With their conversations
In raucous bar-time voices.

Monuments punctuate the traffic
That flows in measured time,
Crawling in iambic meter
(Stop, start. Stop, start.)
Toward the beltway’s perpetual rondo
That repeats, repeats, repeats
Each day and night.

But the river remembers a slower song
Flowing like an eecummings poem
Unhindered and peaceful
Past lordly houses stacked
Like syllables in haiku formation,
Shouldering for space along its banks.

We are tomorrow’s unwritten poems:
Homeless and builder,
Tourist and truck driver,
Lawyer and artist-- all of us
Speaking our souls to cellphones
And singing to the empty air.

Who listens for our voices?
Who speaks the soul of the city?
Who is history’s troubadour, the future’s oracle?
Alexandria is an unwritten poem:
Pick up your pen.
It’s our turn now.

-Mary McElveen-
April 11, 2007

Looking for Alexandria School DAta

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 15:40:06 GMT

There are multiple reports on the ACPS website which detail increased test scores. I think a good place to start is the strategic plan which includes accomplishments through May 2006: http://www.acps.k12.va.us/board/strategicplan.pdf The first few pages detail several examples of increased student achievement.

The most recent SAT report was Dec 2006, so the increased test scores from Spring 2006 are not included: http://www.acps.k12.va.us/mes/sat/2006satreport.pdf

Please remember that most school accreditations are a result of improved minority achievement: http://www.acps.k12.va.us/mes/sol/2005soloverview.pdf

April Newsletter

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 18:11:44 GMT

Dear Friends,

Thanks to the many of you who came to A Likely Story last month to participate in the St. Baldricks Foundation pediatric cancer research fundraiser. Delegate Englin and I were asked by Jill Cetina to support this event and we were happy to do it. Jill’s three year old daughter, Camille, has kidney cancer. On the day of the event, her daughter was getting treatment for her cancer, so she wasn’t able to join us. The St. Baldrick’s foundation raises money to help find cures for children like Camille. If you missed your chance to witness the shave, you can still help out: http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/shavee_info.html?ShaveeID=7940

This is a long newsletter this month, so I’ll dive right in, below, with the many items for your consideration.

Happy Spring!

Rob

(If you would like to be added to the list, simply send a message to newsletter@krupicka.com with “Add” in subject line.)

Greening Alexandria: An Update

An Inconvenient Truth

As a follow-up to my recent showing of An Inconvenient Truth, I know a number of people are still interested in seeing the movie, or in seeing it again. For this year’s Earth Day, there will be a free viewing of An Inconvenient Truth on Friday, April 20th at Mount Vernon Community School (7 - 9 PM). Alexandria’s Earth Day Committee booked a presenter from GMU who was personally trained by Al Gore through The Climate Project.

Earth Day

Our Alexandria Earth Day Celebration will take place from 9 to noon on Saturday, April 21, at Ben Brenman Park, 4800 Duke St., Alexandria. For information about the event, call 703-838-4844.

Environmental Discussion

A number of people have asked me about an opportunity to sit and discuss environmental issues in Alexandria and what Alexandria’s role and response to global warming should be. I have set up an informal community discussion about the “Inconvenient Truth” and Alexandria’s environment. It will be held at My Bakery and Café on Saturday, April 28^th from 10AM to 12 Noon. Address: 3839 Mt. Vernon Avenue. Phone: 703-842-7554. So we can have a general count of people that plan to show up, please send me a quick note if you are planning to attend.

Putting the Numbers Together: City Budget Update

The Process

Last fall, Council set aggressive budget targets for the city manager. This was done to lower the baseline operating cost of our city government in order to help us better manage city spending. This was a new approach to our budget. In the past, the budget proposed by the city manager was an “all things” budget that fully funded a broad range of efforts. That type of budget lets the elected officials cut the budget down in a few places and essentially “look good” by saying they tried to manage spending. Many jurisdictions still do it this way. But I think this approach fails to provide for transparency and collaboration and instead makes it harder to fully evaluate the city budget.

With the new budget process, the council made a conscience choice to move to a model where the budget process begins with a base-line budget draft from the city manager. This enables staff, which has the benefit of close proximity to the actual spending, to take the first cut at finding efficiencies and proposing spending reductions. However, the budget process does not end with the target or staff’s preliminary proposal. The target is the starting point. The council and the community have a responsibility to evaluate and debate the merits of those cuts and to determine which of them make sense and which don’t. While not perfect, the process has worked. The city manager has lowered the baseline operating cost of the city by reducing staff and programs. The schools, with many cuts in staffing and expenditures, have also reduced the baseline cost of the schools.

We have spent the last two months evaluating the many cuts proposed by the targets. There will be an effect on city services, but in general I think the city staff has done a good job of minimizing changes to service quality. As one example, we are going to pave many of our streets with only an inch of asphalt instead of two inches. We are told this won’t create future maintenance issues. Some hours of operation for city services may be modified. And some services that were free or almost free may see fee increases. We are cutting back the work-force for the first time in a number of years. And there are infrastructure projects that are being slowed down or delayed. Depending on how frequently you interact with city services, you may or may not notice any changes, but they are there. The city won’t be doing as much next year, and some projects may take longer than they used to, but in general I think city staff has done a good job of minimizing harm to core city services.

Tax Bills

The Council goal has been and is to keep the average property tax bill lower than last year’s. Working with averages is always a challenge as some owners have seen sharp value declines while others have seen property value growth this year. Despite a desire to treat everybody the same, property taxes are never going to rise and fall at the same rate across the community.

There are two major activities that help us keep tax bills down this year. The first comes from commercial property growth and new development. Those two areas of revenue generation for the city make up a significant piece of new revenues this year. The second activity involves program cuts. The final budget will include a substantial number of program cuts, staff reductions and project delays by both the city and schools. At this point in the process, it seems all but certain that the average residential tax bill will be down. It is also clear there will be changes to programs and a reduction in city and school staff. How much the average tax bill will be down and the final composition of program changes is now the question.

Cost of Living Adjustments

The preliminary budget draft did not include funds for a cost of living increase for staff salaries (COLA). Everybody on the council has talked about the need to provide city and school staff with some form of a COLA to ensure that we retain good employees. Our region’s rising cost of living, the strong competition from other localities for teachers and police officers, the competition from federal jobs that often pay more than local jobs all factor into our analysis of staff salaries. It has become easier and less expensive for city employees to buy homes outside of Alexandria, and when the jobs are available, it is easier for them to work closer to their homes. Moreover, we have started asking city employees to pick up some of their health care costs. That change, which began last year, is being phased in over three years. In light of regional costs and the fact that we are asking our employees to pay more for health care, we should be able to provide them with some type of cost of living increase.

Quality Child Care for the Working Poor

In looking at program reductions, many of us on the council were struck by the over 200 children that are now on a waiting list for quality child care and pre-school services due to federal cuts in funding. We had hoped the governor and general assembly would be able to pick-up this funding, but despite attempts to do so, the general assembly chose not to. These programs were put in place many years ago to help move people off of welfare and towards work. The cuts leave working-poor families with no help for child care. It is a proven fact that children that receive inadequate child care are less likely to show up to school ready to learn and ultimately will require more school resources to help them succeed or pass state and federally mandated tests. I don’t expect our city can cover or should cover the gaps of every federal and state cut. There are programs that are being scaled back this year due to federal cuts. But we are taking a close look at this particular effort and its impact on our work-force. Alexandria should encourage work, not discourage it. Quality child care is an important part of a family’s ability to work. It contributes to the economic strength of our community and enhances the competitiveness of our work-force.

Red Light Cameras

In past newsletters I have heard from many of you about the need to bring red-light camera’s back. This year, the General Assembly passed a law to allow us to do that. For this budget, we are reviewing options to re-install red-light cameras in Alexandria. To install three cameras in the City would cost about seven hundred thousand dollars. City staff believes that we would need at least three cameras to enable the program to break-even over time. While the cameras should eventually break even, they are not revenue generators. The General Assembly specifically set this program up so it would have a difficult time breaking even. The objective of these cameras is to enhance traffic and pedestrian safety, not to generate revenues. In a tight budget year, we may not be able to get this program started, but it is something we are evaluating.

The School Budget

The school budget, comprising about a third of all city spending, has received and will continue to receive the closest review and the most discussion. This year’s school budget starts off more challenging than previous years as baseline school revenues are less than previous years due to state funding changes and a few other factors. To respond to this and the constrained budget outlook, the schools have cut substantially out of their base-line programs, reducing over 60 positions. The schools are also going through a state performance audit right now and we will know the results of that effort later this year.

Some of the factors affecting school costs are worth discussing. Attracting prospective staff members to our community requires us to provide competitive salaries. We compete for teachers with faster-growing school districts in communities like Loudoun and Fairfax where it is less expensive for our teachers to live and where pay is competitive. Those jurisdictions are also hiring teachers at a faster rate than we are.

Over 80% of the school budget is salaries compared to about 50% of the city budget. That difference has a large impact when we compare budget growth rates between the city and the schools. Employee compensation, with career ladder salary scales and cost of living adjustments, grows much faster than non-personnel costs. Salary scales at the federal, state or local level provide higher pay as employees advance in their careers and move up the “ladder”. In addition to career advancement, employees also receive cost of living adjustments so that the salary scale keeps up with rising costs. The school budget, because it is almost entirely comprised of staff costs, will always grow at a faster rate than the city budget that includes more infrastructure and supplies where costs grow at a slower rate.

Compared to the region, Alexandria has a much larger number of free and reduced price lunch students than other jurisdictions. 52% of Alexandria’s students qualify for a free or reduced priced lunch. In Arlington, that number is 37%. According to the Department of Education, this one factor alone increases school costs by at least 30% per pupil over school districts with more economically advantaged populations. Our costs are also higher because we want to properly support children with special needs. Alexandria has a larger percentage of students with disabilities than any surrounding jurisdiction. Considering these factors and their influence on the costs per child and then comparing them to the region, we would find that Alexandria school costs compare relatively well to regional school costs. That does not mean, however, n there isn’t room for improvement. I always believe things can be run better and smarter.

Alexandria schools have improved dramatically over the last six years. It is essential that we not take a step backwards on quality. In the last 6 years we have gone from 2 Accredited Schools to 14. We have gone from 5 schools making the federal “Adequate Yearly Progress” benchmark to 12. We have seen measurable improvement in the minority achievement gap as well as SAT scores, especially compared to the rate of improvement within the rest of the region. Our drop-out rates are declining. And we have done all of this at a time when our percentage of economically less-well-off students has increased. Only a small handful of communities in the entire country can claim these types of results. We certainly have work to do so that our schools continue to improve, but you can’t argue there have not been substantial performance improvements over the last few years.

These results are all facts our community should rightfully be very proud of. We are starting to see the result of school improvement as more families elect to stay in Alexandria and send their children to our public schools. Last fall we saw one of the largest kindergarten classes in a very long time and this year’s class is on track to be very large as well. Keeping families in Alexandria is an important part of keeping our community strong and prosperous. To continue our progress as a community we need new generations to grow up in our community and our schools play an essential part in ensuring that happens. As we see new families throughout our city, we are seeing the results of the improvements at our schools.

I don’t expect the city will be able to provide the schools with every dollar they have requested. There are too many competing needs and revenues are too constrained. The superintendent and school board members have outlined and considered a number of potential program reductions -- some that would impact classrooms and students, and some that would not. I am hopeful that they can review those reduction proposals and perhaps some new ones as well in order to find a way to reduce costs while also taking good care of school quality. I believe the Council is committed to work closely with the school board to ensure we protect classroom quality.

Rainy Days

One final thought on the budget. Looking past this budget, it is critical we recognize that we are likely in for a few lean budget years. Given that, it is important that we ensure we have a strong “rainy day” fund to help us through potential the next few years. As we look at this budget, I think it is important we ensure our reserves are in the best possible condition to help us with likely future lean budget years.

We have another month of budget work to go. As always, feel free to send me your thoughts and questions. I know there are a lot of different opinions and perspectives out there. I always appreciate hearing from you.

Learn more: http://alexandriava.gov/budget/budget2008/proposed/budget2008proposed.html

New Small Business Opens

My Bakery and Café opened recently in Arlandria. I have been there twice already. The Bolivian food is great and the Tres Leches cake is amazing. My daughters couldn’t eat the cake fast enough and they loved the chicken fingers. My Bakery is owned by a local Alexandrian named David Escobar. He owns a few of these around the region, but this is his first establishment in Alexandria. His business started a number of years ago with his mom’s famous Tres Leches cake and it has grown from there. The restaurant offers breakfast, lunch, dinner, baked-goods and evening entertainment.

Address: 3839 Mt. Vernon Avenue. Phone: 703-842-7554.

http://www.mybakerycafe.com/

Economic Development – Landmark Mall

A number of people have pointed out that Landmark Mall’s decline has really hurt our community. This 60-acre site has lost much of its value over the last 15 years. One astute newsletter reader did some research about this:

“I did a little analyzing of the economic presentation you sent me last month, focusing on Landmark Mall. Since it has been a long time since the benchmark assessment ($204.9M in 1991) ,I used the CPI calculator in the Bureau of Labor Statistcis website, a commonly used metric, to see what the reported 2007 assessment of $84M would be worth in constant 1991 dollars. The answer came back as about $56M, meaning that since 2007 dollars are "worth less" -- due to inflation - than 1991 dollars, the actual assessed value is in constant terms has decreased even more than it appears. Simply put, the 2007 assessment is only about 27% of the 1991 assessment.”

Getting Landmark Mall back on solid economic footing is important for our City tax base and also for our quality of life. We could benefit from a high quality retail center that could keep us in Alexandria rather than forcing many of us to drive to Pentagon City, Tyson’s corner or other areas of the region.

Come listen to Gregory Hamm of General Growth Properties and JoAnne Carter of Public Financial Management talk about Landmark Mall and Alexandria’s ability to compete at the next Agenda Alexandria dinner meeting on April 23^rd (reception at 6:30 PM and Program starts at 7:15 PM). If you are interested in attending, contact Sherry Brown at 703-549-4696 or send e-mail to AgendaAlexandria@aol.com

State Transportation Funding Update (from Virginians for Better Transportation)

The first significant transportation funding package for Virginia in more than 20 years was passed Wednesday after legislative approval of Gov. Tim Kaine's amendments to transportation funding bill, HB 3202.

The legislation authorizes $3 billion in transportation bonds for statewide construction projects, as well as regional funding plans for Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia that could raise $200 and $400 million a year, respectively. If all the bill's funding mechanisms are implemented it would result in more than $1 billion a year for transportation.

Virginians for Better Transportation (VBT), an advocacy group consisting of more than 850 supporters statewide who want long-term, multimodal transportation funding solutions, acknowledges the passage of HB 3202 as a significant and workable beginning to solving Virginia's long-term transportation funding crisis and applauds lawmakers for their efforts.

"We recognize and appreciate the hard work and dedication put forth by our Governor and General Assembly members in recent months to generate a transportation funding bill that helps build a foundation for a sustainable solution," said Jeff Southard, VBT coordinator. "This legislation will provide funding to address many of the critical statewide transportation issues, and particularly the growing transportation concerns in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads."

Though the passage of the transportation funding bill is a significant step in moving Virginia forward, there is still a lot of work ahead of us. As recognized by many of the legislators that supported HB 3202, the legislation does not solve Virginia's long-term highway maintenance, secondary and urban road, or rail needs. VBT will continue its efforts in the pursuit of a statewide, long-term transportation funding solution that will improve the quality of life for all Virginians.

For more information about the transportation funding crisis or Virginians for Better Transportation, call 804-237-1399 or click here to visit the It's Time Web site.

Additional Note: The City is beginning to analyze the new funding sources to determine what the best approach will be for Alexandria.

What’s the plan for all of this traffic? Regional Transportation Update on April 19^th:

Alexandria has been re-writing its transportation master plan for the last few years. This isn’t an easy task and it is not without a lot of strong feelings and ideas. Ensuring our community has a stable, convenient and well functioning transportation system for the next 50 years is no small task. This important work should be completed later this year, after much more community discussion and debate. But it can’t and hasn’t be done in a vacuum. Alexandria’s place in the region has as much impact on our traffic as anything we do inside our City borders. With regional traffic making up over 60% of the traffic on some of our major roads, we have to keep our eye on the whole region.

Alexandria’s Mayor William D. Euille and City Council members are inviting the public to attend a forum to discuss local and regional transportation initiatives. The transportation forum will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, April 19, at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) auditorium, located at 600 Dulany St. During the event, transportation representatives from local, state, and regional agencies will share and educate the community on local and regional transportation efforts.

For more information on the City’s transportation forum, call Richard Baier, Director, or Tom Culpepper, Deputy Director, of the Department of Transportation and Environmental Services at 703-838-4966.

Art and History: Some Events to Consider…

1) Empowered Women International presents the concert Traveling the World in Music on Sunday, April 15^th 2:30 - 5 p.m. at the Lyceum, 201 S. Washington Street in Alexandria, VA 22314. The concert features internationally acclaimed artists Alif Laila and Ramon Tasat, and brings unique stories and perspectives in music celebrating the immigrant spirit and the diversity in the arts community of the DC metropolitan area.

Artists' reception complete with wine and appetizers will follow the program. Tickets are $25 a person, and can be purchased by mailing a check to: EWI, concert 1307 King St., Alexandria, VA, 22314, or by calling 703-778-6310. For tickets online visit www.ewint.org

2) Please stop by the Friends of Carlyle House Annual Herb sale on Saturday, April 21 from 9-4. Our theme this year is “Herbs of Shakespeare”. The sale features herbs from the Mount Vernon Greenhouses, Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia Plant Clinic, The Irish Breakfast Band, the Girl Scout bake sale, herbal cooking demonstrations and the Alexandria Pipe and Drum Corps.

Museum Hours
Tuesday – Saturday: 10 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Sunday: 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Admission
$4 Adults ◊ $2 Children (11-17)

Free Admission for school groups from Alexandria, Falls Church, Fairfax City, Arlington, Fairfax and Loudoun Counties

www.carlylehouse.com

Laura Lippman will read from and sign her newest book, What the Dead Know, at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 3, 2007, at the Lyceum in Old Town , Alexandria , VA. Advance registration for this event is now open. All proceeds from this VWA Distinguished Author Series event will go to support the Wish You Well literacy foundation. Sign up now for discounted admission. Visit http://www.vawriters.org to purchase tickets.

Best-selling, multiple-award-winning author Lippman's Baltimore detective Tess Monaghan has brought Charm City 's mean streets to life for millions of readers.

Regional Growth and Economic Development

Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:20:45 GMT

David Francis, The Examiner
Mar 30, 2007 3:00 AM
Current rank: # 89 of 18,334

Alexandria - Mixed-use centers around the region need to substantially increase the level of development to deal with the growth projected throughout the Washington area, according to a new report.

"New and more intense development will be needed in today's suburban districts to meet the rather sobering projections that suggest nearly doubling the building environment by 2030," Arlington Economic Development Director Terry Holzheimer wrote in a report released this month.

According to Holzheimer's analysis, which he based on data from the Washington Council of Governments, places like Crystal City, Bethesda and areas along the Ballston-Rosslyn Corridor in Arlington are going to become more urban and more dense. He uses the number of jobs and people per acre to define density.

Holzheimer's study indicates that while the District will remain the urban center of the region, suburban areas will continue to attract more people and jobs and also become more urban.

According to a recent report form the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the majority of job growth, especially in the private sector, has been concentrated in Fairfax County. This brings new people and forces the county to search for new businesses to meet the demands of its residents. Fairfax Economic Development Department President Gerald Gordon said the county is seeking ways to keep its competitive edge as it transforms from a suburb to the region's second urban center.

"There are things we will be changing," he said. "Not so much how we market, but who we market to."

Gordon said Fairfax is working to ensure the services demanded by a growing population are met, including bringing in more retail stores and contracting businesses. One tool the county is using its Emerging Business Partnership, a program which aims to bring minority-owned service businesses to Fairfax.

"It all goes back to the idea of diversifying the economy," Gordon said.

dfrancis@dcexaminer.com

Examiner

March Krupicka Council News

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 19:40:31 GMT

Dear Friends,

Bald. That’s right. Bald. The first word of this month’s newsletter is bald. The St. Baldrick's Foundation raises money each year to help fight childhood cancer. Every St. Patrick’s day thousands of people agree to be shaven bald as a fundraiser to raise people’s spirits and to fight this complicated and challenging disease. A local Alexandria woman asked Delegate Englin and I if we would participate this year. We both have young children and we both felt strongly that this was a cause worth losing some hair, and perhaps a little dignity, over. So, on Saturday the 17^th between 3 and 4 PM at a Likely Story on King Street, we’ll be going bald. You can do your part by signing up to join us with the clippers or by just giving a few dollars.

http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/shavee_info.html?ShaveeID=7940

Feel free to contact me anytime.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day,

Rob

(If you or others want to be added to the newsletter list, send a message to newsletter@krupicka.com with “Add Krupicka List” in the subject line.)

Budget Update

The budget process is in full swing. The City Manager put forward his draft budget proposal last month and since then we have been meeting regularly to go over every detail. We still have two more months of that process. Under the City Manager’s proposed budget, the average homeowner would get a tax cut of about $124 dollars. This is accomplished through about $3.5 million in cuts to the city base-line operating budget, including a reduction in staffing, by pushing off some capital projects to future years, by foregoing a cost of living increase for city and school staff and by asking the schools to identify about $4 million more in reductions on top of the $6.2 million in staff positions and program cuts they have already recommended.

There is no question that the new city budget process and the City Manager’s “managing for results” initiative are making a difference. This year’s budget is the easiest to read in years and begins to put in place performance metrics for every city program and function. It will take a few years to get the performance metrics exactly right, but this budget is a big step towards a more transparent and accountable city budget.

Over the last 15 years, the average number of city employees for every 1000 residents has been about 15 to 17. The Manager’s proposed budget has proposed a reduction of 15 city positions and holds the city to 17 employees for 1000 residents.

While the average home in the city lost about 3% in value, new construction and commercial property value growth offset those loses to give us a modest increase in revenues. In total, property taxes make up a little more than 50% of the city revenues (residential represents about 32% and commercial represents about 22%). The other half of the city’s revenues come from other taxes and fees, as well as state and federal aid. The city’s revenues are hampered a bit this year by a reduction in state aid to our schools and a slight decrease in intergovernmental revenues.

One way to look at the budget is to compare it to the average income of an Alexandria resident. Over the last 30 years, the amount of money our city spends has hovered around 5 percent of the income earned by Alexandria residents. The proposed budget has spending at about 4.7 percent of personal income earned.

As we look at the budget, I am focused on ensuring we are being as fiscally responsible as we can and are planning ahead for future years of modest revenues growth. I also want to ensure the city services we do provide are of high quality. And I want to make sure we provide our staff with competitive salaries. We will be looking closely at salary choices being made throughout our region to understand the impact of those proposals on the competitiveness of pay in Alexandria. Providing our staff with competitive pay is one of the most important components of managing our city and impacts everything from our school quality to our public safety to the day to day operations in city hall. We live in a expensive jurisdiction within an expensive region. Much of our staff lives outside the city because they can’t afford or choose not to live in the city. It is incumbent upon us to make sure our salaries are competitive. If Loudoun County or other outlying jurisdictions pay more and also have less expensive housing, that can become a significant hurdle to overcome when we are trying to hire police, teachers, firefighters and other city staff.

None of this is going to be easy. There are two more months to this budget process and a lot of pages to review and questions to ask. You can keep up with meetings, public hearings and information through the city web site at:

http://alexandriava.gov/budget/budget2008/proposed/budget2008proposed.html

Global Warming and Alexandria’s Environment

Over a 100 people showed up last month to watch the Inconvenient Truth at the Masonic Temple. It was a great crowd. I want to thank Congressman Moran and Councilwoman Pepper for joining us at the event. Ideas brought up after the show are going to be shared with Alexandria’s Environmental Policy Commission as it works to develop Alexandria’s Environmental Action plan. A number of people have asked for a follow-up discussion and we are working to arrange that. We’ll keep you posted.

In the meantime, if you are interested in learning more about city environmental efforts, these presentations provide a useful overview.

http://alexandriava.gov/tes/DEQ/deqpublications.html

and

http://alexandriava.gov/tes/DEQ/deqnewsandevents.html

Economic Development – The Mayor’s Working Group

Alexandria has lost a few thousand jobs over the last six years. During a period when job growth in our region was skyrocketing, jobs in Alexandria actually declined. If you take out jobs created by the PTO, our job base would have declined by about 10 percent over the last few years. A few of us on Council have talked for years about the challenges of doing business in our city. This job-loss number further amplifies that challenge. Looking at our budget, you will see that the City has become more reliant on residential property taxes and less reliant on commercial taxes over the last few years. The job loss number and the changing revenue mix in the city gives me pause. We either need to change how we work with businesses or we need to understand that our reliance on residential property taxes is going to grow. Arlington and Fairfax are hitting this issue head-on and are adding jobs, some at our expense, like the recent loss of PBS to Crystal City.

The Mayor has put together a work group with a number of distinguished Alexandrians to bring forward ideas about policy changes the city can take. I personally believe we have to re-think our entire approach to economic development. We can’t just rely on property development to fund much of our budget as it is doing this year. We need to work smarter to increase the value of and effectiveness of our commercial and retail property. I’d like to see us finding ways to reduce the amount new residential development and to increase commercial development which, incidentally, puts less cost burden on our tax base. We need to do more to ensure Alexandrians want to shop in our city. And we need to make sure anything we do for economic development complements the character and uniqueness of our city.

I’d also like to see us working harder to attract new commercial businesses that complement our unique community assets. We have done it before. Twenty years or so ago the City worked hard to attract associations to our City. Associations were a good fit because they didn’t require huge buildings or amounts of space and could work within some of our smaller-scale commercial structures. And our proximity to DC made us a natural place for them. We need to do that again, but this time we should be looking at professional services firms like architects and planners, IT firms, and boutique consulting, legal and financial services firms. These firms also work in some of our smaller scaled office space. We have a great quality of life and these types of businesses would benefit from that quality of life as well as our proximity to national airport and east coast transportation corridors.

I am looking forward to the final recommendations from the Mayor’s working group and the much needed community discussion about how we want to respond to the challenges in front of us.

Photo Red Updates on what to do in Alexandria

With the passage of the Photo Red Light bill many people have asked how we move forward with this in Alexandria. The short answer is that we will have to look at this during the budget process. The technology isn’t inexpensive and the legislature has specifically limited the fines to prevent them from generating positive cash flows for the city. The allowed fines are barely able to cover the cost of the technology. This is going to force us to establish a way to prioritize intersections for the technology and to find funding to pay for the installation. As I learn more, I’ll share it with you.

Pre-K Update

The governor’s proposal to create a quality rating system for Virginia pre-schools has been accepted by the General Assembly. This voluntary system will help ensure Virginia parents have the best possible information when they are making pre-k choices for their children. The General Assembly has also provided funding for new pre-K pilot programs to test out the benefits and challenges of public-private pre-k programs.

I serve as chair of the evaluation committee of the Governor’s Start Strong Pre-K Council. The Council expects to have its final recommendations for improving access to Pre-K by late summer or early fall. My committee is working to make sure all decisions we make now and in the future are based on good quality research and evidence about what types of pre-k programs truly help children succeed in school. There is a lot of strong evidence around the country and with Virginia’s existing pre-school programs that good quality programs improve a child’s success in elementary school and ultimately throughout their academic career.

March 20, 2007 is Climate Crisis Action Day!

Click here to be a part of the Climate Crisis Action Day in Washington D.C. on March 20, 2007, and tell our leaders we can’t wait any longer.

Visit ClimateCrisisAction.org to sign up today – or to find out other ways to take action right now even if you can’t make it to DC.

More On Global Warming

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 13:23:37 GMT

I thought some of you may enjoy these as an add-on to the Movie last month. A number of you have asked that we schedule a follow-up discussion. I will send out information on that soon.

Rob

** Can you commit to finding 10 friends to send a message to Congress demanding immediate action on global warming?

Ask them to visit:

http://algore.com/cards.html

** Warning on Warming

by Bill McKibben

[This piece, which appears in the March 15, 2007 issue of The New York Review of Books is posted here with the kind permission of the editors of that magazine.]

When the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued its latest report in early February, it was greeted with shock: "World Wakes to Climate Catastrophe," reported an Australian paper. But global warming is by now a scientific field with a fairly extensive history, and that history helps set the new findings in context -- a context that makes the new report no less terrifying but much more telling for its unstated political implications. Read More:

http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0220-20.htm

** Gaia Theory Program Announced

Implications for Energy, Global Warming and Other Challenges

Join Martin Ogle, Chief Naturalist from the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, for a multi-media presentation exploring the Gaia Theory. The value of the science and the metaphor of the Gaia Theory will be discussed, especially with regards to energy issues and global warming. According to a program coordinator at Borders Books, this is “fascinating material, expertly presented, and a Smithsonian Associates participant reflected that the program was a “superior presentation." This program, suitable for scientists and non-scientists alike, will be held at the Alexandria Lyceum, 201 S. Washington St, Alexandria at 7 PM on Tuesday, March 6, and is part of the “2007 Lyceum Science Series.”

The Gaia Theory is the scientific explanation of how our planet functions as a single living and self-regulating system. Rocks, soil, oceans, atmosphere and living things are all seamlessly connected in a manner that allows, for instance, our planet to maintain stable temperatures despite the fact that our sun heats up over time.

The program, part of the “2007 Lyceum Science Series,” is open to adults and youth age 14 and older. Reservations are suggested and can be made by calling 703-528-5406.

Place: Alexandria Lyceum, 201 S Washington St, Alexandria. Part of the “2007 Lyceum Science Series”

Date and Time: Tuesday, March 6, 7 PM

Cost: FREE

Contact: Phone: 703/528-5406

e-mail: Potomac@NVRPA.org

** P&P's Climate Action Project

Mission Statement:
The Politics and Prose Climate Action Project seeks ways of abating global warming as individuals, in communities and through political action. Our program includes practical steps to reduce energy use through conservation and energy efficiency.

Politics and Prose Climate Change Teach-In
March 17 -18, 2007

5 pm on Saturday, March 17
Keynote Speaker Tim Flannery, author of The Weather Makers: The History and Future Impact of Climate Change

11- 4 on Sunday, March 18
Teach-In and Resource Fair

Resource Fair
Buy compact florescent bulbs
Find out what resources there are in the community to become energy efficient
Learn what actions are being taken politically that you can become involved in

Panel 12 noon
What can you do as an individual to reduce your “carbon footprint”?
Speakers will outline how each individual can take steps.

Panel 2 pm
What are the legislative initiatives being undertaken at the local, state, and national level to reduce carbon dioxide?
Speakers will discuss what political activities are underway and how you might join in.

Politics and Prose Climate Action Project began in the summer of 2006 after several authors, among them Jared Diamond (Collapse), and Elizabeth Kolbert, (Field Notes from a Catastrophe) spoke at the store.

Climate Action Crisis Day

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 00:05:25 GMT

March 20, 2007 for Climate Crisis Action Day!

The clock is ticking on climate change. Leading scientists are warning we are near “a tipping point” and must act now to avoid large-scale, irreversible impacts.

We get the message. But does the new Congress?

That depends on you.

Be a part of the Climate Crisis Action Day in Washington D.C. on March 20, 2007, and tell our leaders we can’t wait any longer.

Visit ClimateCrisisAction.org to sign up today – or to find out other ways to take action right now even if you can’t make it to DC.

Thousands of concerned citizens will gather at the United States Capitol to tell Congress it’s time to tackle global warming head-on, with responsible energy decisions and protections – not drilling – for special places like the Arctic Wildlife Refuge.

Come listen to politicians, celebrities, religious leaders, and activists from across the country. Then, we’ll give you a chance to go speak with your legislators personally, to make sure reversing climate change is at the top of their “to-do” list.

Global warming is already under way. Hurricanes, floods, and drought are becoming more frequent and intense. As the Arctic ice shelf continues to melt away, polar bears are drowning in their search for food. And all the while, drilling for oil continues to ravage our remaining wild lands.

Let’s call on the new Congress to curb global warming by moving toward a smarter, cleaner energy future. We can’t afford to let the clock tick any longer.

Teach In for the Environment

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 00:04:41 GMT

The 2010 Imperative Global Emergency Teach-In addressing global warming and climate change is an interactive web-cast broadcast live from New York, reaching more than 500,000 students, faculty, deans and practicing professionals in the architecture, planning and design communities in both North and South America.

It is sponsered by the American Institute of Architects, Home Depot Foundation, and the US Green Building Council.

Here is the link.

http://www.2010imperative.org/