AlexandriaNews

Alexandria’s School Board members received an unexpected piece of news late last week when Superintendent Morton Sherman informed them by memo that the schools would have a surplus of approximately $16.2 million projected at the end of the current 2013 fiscal year on June 30. Our research has shown that the total fund balance has grown every year since 2007 when it was a mere $4.9 million. Accumulating surplus funds may or may not be a good thing in public administration. The budget that is adopted in the winter and refined in the late spring for the next fiscal year (July 1 ...

Residents and Landowners in the West End of Alexandria have united to ask the City to expedite the Small Area Planning Process for the Eisenhower West area. These groups and individuals have seen their area subordinated to the Waterfront, Landmark Mall, and Beauregard. Those plans are done and they do not want to be postponed further.

City Council adopted the Fiscal Year 2014 budget on Monday night. The all Democratic Council increased the real estate tax rate by 4 cents to a total of $1.038 per 100 of assessed value. Other taxes such as those on auto personal property and some utilities also increased. Some user fees increased as well.

Projecting student enrollment in a public school system is one of the more challenging management tasks in public administration today. The mobility of modern American society, the changing economic circumstances and the free-wheeling nature of the enrollment process combine to create a vortex that distorts projections as soon as they are made.

ACT for Alexandria just concluded its third Spring2Action online fund drive for 97 nonprofit organizations in our city. Despite holding the event just two days after many citizens gave generously to the IRS, ACT for Alexandria helped raise more than $650,000.

City Council’s Public Hearing last Saturday focused on the zoning changes necessary to begin the implementation of the Beauregard Small Area Plan adopted 9 months ago. As expected, there was a lengthy public hearing.

Alexandria made a bit of history last month. A jury in circuit court found in favor of a dismissed City employee, Henry Lewis, in the first lawsuit brought under the 2011 expanded protection for whistleblowers under the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act. Mr. Lewis will receive back pay and other compensation for wrongful dismissal from his position as the supervising construction manager in the building of the new Police Headquarters.

Howard Hughes Corporation, owner of Landmark Mall, has submitted plans to redevelop the mall as a mixed use project featuring restaurant, retail and residential apartments between the existing Sears and Macy’s stores.

Following the School Board has become significantly more interesting as this year has progressed. Last Thursday’s meeting provided insights into the changed operations with the new members and the new leadership.

Even before the City Council public hearing on the waterfront text amendment started last Saturday, residents of Del Ray took the podium during the public comment session to complain about a change coming to their neighborhood. Walgreens, the drug store chain, has a contract to purchase the property at 1509-1517 Mt. Vernon Avenue. This property, which is located at the southeast corner of Mt. Vernon and Monroe, now houses five small businesses.