Welcome to the June Edition of Krupicka Council News.

As we wind down the Council legislative year, I wanted to thank everybody for their input and ideas over the course of the last few months.  It is great hearing from everybody.  My family and I are getting ready for my daughters’ first camping trip and are looking forward to trips to see grandparents over the summer. I hope you and your family have a great summer.  As always, please feel free to contact me anytime.

Rob

Rob@Krupicka.com

(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.)

*** Alexandria is a Top Arts Destination ***

Alexandria was recently ranked among the Top 25 Arts Destinations (in the mid-sized city category -- populations of 100,000 to 499,999) as voted on by the readers of AmericanStyle Magazine.

*** Mirant Clean Air Activities ***

The Alexandria City Council has authorized the City to intervene in the Clean Air Act case pending against the Mirant power plant in U.S. District Court, in order to protect the interests of the City and its residents.  With the filing of the City’s motion to intervene on May 11, Alexandria formally joins the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Maryland and Virginia in charging Mirant with Clean Air Act violations at the Potomac River Generating Station, located in Old Town Alexandria.

This action gives Alexandria the opportunity to work more closely with the State and Federal government as well as to directly advocate for the health and other concerns of Alexandria residents.

*** Your Input Requested for Online Transportation Poll ***

The General Assembly created Northern Virginia Transportation Authority is presently updating the Northern Virginia 2020 Transportation Plan. You can provide input about your priorities by completing this quick online poll:  http://www.transaction2030.com/survey/survey.aspx

*** Small Business Recognition ***

A Likely Story is a highly regarded children’s bookstore that’s been in operation for 20 years, and is known both locally and nationally for its “story times” and for the vast knowledge of children’s literature by the staff.  When the original owner wanted to retire and sell the business, one of the employees, Dinah Paul, stepped up to purchase the store and continue its unique spirit and reputation.  A Likely Story recently received its fifth consecutive “Best Selection of Children’s Books” and “Best Story Time” from Washington Families Magazine, beating out such national powerhouses as Barnes & Noble, Borders and Amazon Books.  Last year the store manager was also featured on a live one-hour National Public Radio program.  We’re lucky to have such an icon as A Likely Story in Alexandria.  I often take my two girls there – we all love it.

Business:         A Likely Story

Location:         1555 King Street, Alexandria 22314

                  (703) 836-2498

                  www.alikelystorybooks.com

President & CEO:  Dinah Paul dinah@alikelystory.com

*** National Night Out – What are You Doing on August 2nd? ***

The Annual National Night Out is sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch (NATW) and co-sponsored locally by the Alexandria Police Department. 

Each summer, neighborhoods around the City hold cook-outs, parties and other fun events to promote public safety, to thank our Police officer and to get to know their neighbors.  This Year, National Night Out will be Held on August 2nd.

This is a great way to get to know your neighbors and make Alexandria a safer place in the process.  The Police do a great job of helping everybody with their parties and members of Council are known to drive around and visit many of the events.

If you have any questions or would like to set up your own neighborhood event, please e-mail me or contact Charlette Mitchell-Young at 703.838.4520  Charlette.Mitchell-young@alexandriava.gov

*** Making a Difference – The Women’s Giving Circle ***

Alexandria enjoys the creativity and hard work of a number of innovative organizations.  The Women’s Giving Circle is one of them.  The WGC makes it easy for Alexandrian’s to support their community in very meaningful ways.  In a very short time, they have pooled their efforts to provide substantial support to Healthy Families, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to ensuring children and families have all the tools they need to succeed.  This is a great example of how working together can lead to substantial community benefits.

The Women's Giving Circle of Alexandria pools the intellectual and financial resources of Alexandria women with a strategic purpose to serve the Children, Youth and Families of our City.

Take a look at their web site and find out how you can get involved.

http://www.womensgivingcircleofalexandria.org/

*** Budget Follow-Up ***

This was a challenging budget process and I expect few people have come out of it completely satisfied.  We heard from many residents with a very wide range of views about City spending: from the Alexandrians who want us to cut back programs to those who feel we’re not doing enough.  Council doubled the tax cut proposed by the City Manger.  Still, many years of rapidly rising property values are squeezing many family budgets.  We have done a lot to create tax credits and provide relief for residents with the lowest incomes, but these innovative programs don’t reach every resident.  (See if you or others you know are eligible for tax relief programs at www.alexanadriava.gov/finance/taxreliefprograms.html )

Tepid increases in non-property revenues coupled with increasing fuel prices (40 percent higher in some cases), transportation costs (42% increase in the cost of Metro over last year), health care (double digit increases over the last few years) and employee costs (the regions low unemployment is making it harder to attract and retain workers), transportation infrastructure and construction costs, and unfunded federal and state mandates have made it more difficult to maintain Alexandria’s high quality of life.

Given our limited funding options and the increased pressures and costs placed on local government, we have to take a hard look at how we prioritize spending across the City.  8% budget growth is not sustainable for our community.  We have to be creative and innovative as we strive to meet our goals of addressing transportation challenges, improving our schools, maintaining public safety and ensuring we have a community that is accessible and provides opportunity for people from all walks of life and every income level. 

The City staff is already working on next year’s budget.  The City Manager has given them a clear charge to identify efficiencies and to take a hard look at every program.

***New Budget Process for Next Year***

The Council established a new budget process for next year.  Instead of being presented with a fully funded budget from the City Manager, the Council will receive a baseline-services budget based on a growth target that we will establish after the fall budget public hearing. We will also add an additional three weeks to the budget process so there is more time for community input, analysis and discussion. There is no question that this will be more work for city and school staff, the School Board, the City Council and the citizens of Alexandria.  This is going to be new for all of us and we will have to work together as a community to make it work.  I am optimistic that this new process will help us better prioritize and analyze the City budget.

***A Few Budget Highlights***

* Savings Through Collaboration – This budget is the first to reflect substantial savings from School Board Member Schmalz’s and my efforts to advocate for increased collaboration between the City and School administrations.  The new budget saves hundreds of thousands of dollars due to intra-agency efficiencies and collaboration.

* Schools – This budget continues our multi-year effort to improve our school infrastructure with investments in facilities like TC Williams as well as the expansion our educational resources so that Alexandria’s children are able to meet the annually increasing expectations built in Virginia’s standards of learning and the No Child Left Behind act.  The budget does not give the schools everything they requested and the community will have to evaluate the un-funded items again next year.  The budget makes improvements to teacher pay & benefits, but given Arlington’s recent 8% increase in teacher salaries and the rising cost of living in the region, we are going to have to take a hard look at what we need to do to keep and attract good teachers.

* Child Care and Pre-School – The 06 budget continues our commitments to child care services and ensuring Alexandria’s Head Start and child care programs are able to provide opportunities for families in our community.  Close to 50% of the kids that go to kindergarten have never had pre-school type preparation experiences.  This has a direct impact on their ability to learn.  This fact ultimately impacts everybody as it makes it harder for our schools to meet Standards of Learning and No Child Left Behind requirements.

* Affordable Housing – Thanks to the leadership of Councilwoman Woodson, the new budget strengthens Alexandria’s commitment to providing affordable housing so that teachers, police officers, senior citizens and other members of our community have an opportunity to live here.  We have a lot of work to do to both utilize the tools we have and to work with the State so that we have additional methods to keep Alexandria a community where a diverse population with a broad range of incomes can live and enjoy a good quality of life.  The new budget also includes a number of tools to allow seniors, disabled citizens and moderate income residents apply for tax credits to offset their property taxes.  More on those at www.alexanadriava.gov/finance/taxreliefprograms.html

* Small Business – Based on input and suggestions from me and others, City Staff created a new, simplified tax system for small businesses.  This new approach simplifies and lowers taxes for small businesses in their first two years of life, the most critical time for their long-term success.  We are the first in the State to do this. This is part of our ongoing efforts to make Alexandria a small business friendly town.

* Public Safety – The new budget includes funds for new Police Officers so that we can enhance our community policing efforts and respond to the increased post-911 responsibilities placed on our police force.  As we look to the future, we have to closely analyze Police compensation.  Other jurisdictions in our region are growing faster than we are.  They are hiring police at a rapid pace and in more than a few cases are paying them more than Alexandria.  Fairfax, as an example, recently increased Police pay by 7%. Just like with teachers, as our region becomes more expensive and traffic gets worse, City employees have more and more reasons to give up their commutes into Alexandria and to work closer to where they live in outlying counties.

* Alexandria's Community Pathways – Pedestrian Safety – The 06 budget builds on the City’s commitment to ensuring our neighborhoods are safe places to walk and bike with our friends and family.  The budget continues our efforts to build and replace sidewalks, cross walks and it begins a multi-year effort to ensure every school is equipped with flashing yellow lights or similar equipment to help slow traffic when children are present.

As always, feel free to contact me anytime.  Have a good summer.

11:47:13 AM