Friday, February 04, 2005
February NewsletterFebruary, 2005 Winter finally arrived, didn’t it? It has been great to see people sledding down the Masonic Temple grounds. I just returned from a National League of Cities Sustainable Cities conference in Savannah, GA. While I hoped for warmer weather, it was cold and wet there as well. Even with the cold, the Spanish moss dripping from the old live oak trees and the many and varied gardens and sculptures were inspiring. There were some excellent presentations focused on how communities create sustainable cities. I was pleased to see that Alexandria is doing a lot of the right things – long term strategic visioning, community-based planning and more. I also know we can do more. A large part of the conference focused on community participation and engagement. The Global Community Initiative (www.global-community.org) presented information on holistic community planning, and consensus building. I left the conference with new thoughts and ideas that I hope to employ in my work on City Council.Following the Savannah conference, I participated in our region’s "Reality Check" exercise. This event brought together over 300 community leaders from the DC Metro area to talk about regional growth, and how we manage the additional 2 million people and over 1.6 million jobs anticipated over the next 25 years. While the conference did not come to any concrete answers, it did start a much needed regional discussion about the challenges we face and the kind of region we want to be. All of us are in this together and we have to come up with a regional vision for how we grow. For this process to work, we have to engage every resident of the Metro area in a long-range visioning process. I have enormous confidence in the residents of Alexandria and believe the residents, not just elected officials and government staff, must be intimately involved in the creation of a regional vision. More at www.uli.orgLast month I was named chair of the Washington Metropolitan Council of Governments Committee on Noise Abatement and Aviation at National and Dulles Airports. This committee works on overseeing and managing the way the community interacts and responds to the benefits (economic strength and competitiveness) and the impacts (noise, pollution, etc.) of our regional airports. If you have specific thoughts on these topics, please feel free to share them. Best wishes to you and, as always, I encourage you to send on your thoughts, questions, comments and ideas. Rob Krupicka ** Budget Season Almost Here Budget season in Alexandria officially starts this March with the presentation of the City Manager’s proposed budget. This process will go through May when the City adopts its budget and sets the tax rate. You can find out the schedule for the budget process on the City web site at www.alexandriava.gov.The dramatic and long period of increasing property values in our region means that we need to pay close attention to the burdens that have been placed on home-owners, on their ability to make ends meet and ultimately on their ability to live in our community. Recognizing and responding to this has to be one of the highest objectives of our budget review. One of the guiding principles of our City is that Alexandria is a caring community. We are committed to helping our neighbors and making key investments in the future success of our City. With this in mind through the budget process, I hope to focus on: * Reducing the real estate tax burden, with a particular emphasis on seniors, the disabled and those with moderate and low incomes. * Simplifying the tax structure for small businesses – so it is easier for them to operate and succeed in our City.* Ensuring we are making the best and most strategic investments in the youth of Alexandria, so they have all the tools they need to succeed in school and beyond. * Evaluating the most effective ways to address affordable housing in our City and region. * Making sure we are making the appropriate investments in our parks, recreation centers, transportation infrastructure and programs to ensure a high quality of life in our neighborhoods. * Ensuring that we are following our Strategic Plan and establishing the needed benchmark and performance metrics that will enable us to properly evaluate and improve City operations. And I know there will be more. What areas do you want us to focus on? ** Improve Your Neighborhood The City's Neighborhood Partnership Program is open to all neighborhood civic associations within Alexandria. The program offers matching grants of up to $5,000 for small neighborhood improvement projects, including small capital improvement, beautification and community building projects. Grants must be matched by the same amount of volunteer labor, donated materials and supplies or cash donations.
The deadline for submitting the proposal review form is by 4 pm on Thursday, March 24. The deadline for submitting the grant application is by 4 pm on Thursday, May 19. Successful applicants will be notified by Monday, June 27, and will have one year to complete their projects.
Complete instructions and applications are available online at alexandriava.gov/neighborhoods or by contacting the City's Office of Management and Budget at 703.838.4806, extension 382.
** Fishing in Cameron Run? At the last City Council meeting, City staff briefed us on efforts with Fairfax Country to make major improvements to Cameron Run. This is going to be a long-term project, so no changes are imminent. Nevertheless, this is an exciting step. Our goal should be to reintroduce fish to Cameron Run. This goal is very obtainable and would provide an amazing natural oasis in our City. Just imagine, some day you could head down to Cameron run and do a little fly fishing before or after work. I will try to keep you up on events as these efforts move forward. ** Wireless in Beatley At the last IT commission meeting we were told that Beatley Library is now equipped for wireless internet use. Now you can open your laptop, grab a book and surf the internet from a comfortable chair at Beatley. Let me know if you try it out and how it works. ** Chatham Square Comes Alive Most of the City Council took time out on a very cold day a week or so ago to attend the ribbon cutting for Chatham Square, formerly the Berg. Chatham Square is Alexandria’s newest mixed-income community. Located in North Old Town, this project provides needed affordable housing for Alexandria and represents years of hard work by the Alexandria Community. Funding primarily through Federal programs, Chatham Square is one of the most attractive projects of its kind in the Country. You should drive by and take a look – just south of Pendleton Street between North Pitt and North Royal Streets.** Spirit of Alexandria – Small Business RecognitionLocated very close to Cameron Park, Cameron Perks Coffeehouse opened for business the day after Thanksgiving, 2003. In a very short time, they have become a critical part of the Cameron Station community. Family and friends meet there daily to discuss politics, community activities, and interact with owner Mike Fleming. Since opening, the coffeehouse has continued to thrive. On a daily basis over 325 customers are served. In addition to coffee products and a limited café menu, Mike doubled the size of the store in July, 2004 and added a dozen flavors of gourmet ice cream to his menu. Cameron Perks Coffeehouse clientele range in age from 3 months to senior citizens. They offer "Kids Day" twice a month, where moms and dads can relax with pastry and coffee while the kids read stories and participate in educational activities. For adults there are regular home show parties, book clubs and game nights. Cameron Perks is a supporter of the local schools, taking breakfasts to the teachers and turning the coffeehouse into an art gallery for the students to show their creative sides. One of the main goals of Cameron Perks Coffeehouse is to offer the community a safe environment for families to enjoy spending quality time with family and friends. Without question, Cameron Perks is the kind of small business that makes Alexandria a special place. Business: Cameron Perks Coffeehouse Location: 4911 Brenman Park Drive., Alexandria 22304 (Cameron Station) (703) 461-6900 www.cameronperks.comOwner / President: Michael Fleming mike@cameronperks.com
** WaveAid Makes a Difference In response to the Tsunami tragedy in Southeast Asia, a group of enterprising Alexandrians came together to create WaveAid. In just one month, they have raised over $18,000. For a $10 dollar donation, you get a custom crafted bracelet made from glass and steel. The glass represents how fragile human life is and the steel band represents the strength of the survivors. The materials for the bracelet were donated by a local business, Beadazzled, so all proceeds go to help Tsunami victims – through AmeriCares, one of the largest relief and humanitarian organizations in the Country. On top of that, Alexandria restaurants have given discounts to patrons that wear a WaiveAid bracelet. Alexandria residents Cameron and Hillary Wallace and Craig Fifer deserve our congratulations for their thoughtful and caringresponse to this tragedy. Learn more at www.waveaid2005.org** How You Can Help Alexandria Kids Succeed Lend a Hand is a program that provides you with the opportunity to help local schools. You can participate in many ways – by helping kids with their homework, tutoring kids after school, reading to kids or going on fieldtrips. This program is sponsored by Communities in Schools, a non-profit committed to helping kids stay in school and prepare for life. To help out, call Katie Madrigal at 703-798-4352(If you or others want to be added to the newsletter list, send a message to the Newsletter@Krupicka.com with "Add Krupicka List" in the subject line.)
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Last update: 6/5/2005; 8:54:29 AM .
