Archives: ‘Editorials’

After the last city council and school board election, the perennial question of voter turnout received more than the usual amount of lip service. A special commission was appointed by the Mayor to investigate ways to boost the turnout for local elections. It duly reported but made no firm recommendations for change. The public did not seem upset.

The pain at the pump continues as gas prices spike to record highs, surpassing $4 a gallon in parts of the country and heading towards becoming the national average by the summer driving season.

The placid city budget process has been disrupted this year by a large number of city employees demonstrating for and demanding a five percent increase in pay.

The Alexandria School Board announcement that the current list of finalists for Superintendent of Schools is being scrapped is a sign the Board is doing its job. By carefully vetting all candidates, the Board is raising the bar for ACPS and appears to be paying attention to detail.

Alexandria Neighborhood Health Services, Inc. (ANHSI) celebrated its 10th anniversary this week. ANHSI operates the Arlandria Health Clinic which served well over 7,000 individual patients last year. These patients made a total of nearly 27,000 visits to the clinic.

Filing your annual tax return with the IRS can be a pain. But this year, the pain will be worth it – even if a person does not have enough income to necessitate filing. That is because if you make under $75,000 as an individual, $150,000 if you file jointly or if you reported no income but received Social Security or Veterans Disability payments, you are eligible for a tax rebate check.

For the second year in a row, City Manager Jim Hartmann and his able staff have presented a budget to City Council that is exactly what council members requested. The manager’s proposed budget provides for most existing services without a tax increase.

We were happy to hear from a member of the Electoral Board that several Alexandrians were quite upset on “Super Tuesday” when they came to vote and found no voting machines. We love to hear that Alexandrians want to vote. That is what democracy is all about.

Something is amiss at the new T.C. Williams High School. It is very dark around the school at night. It is so dark that the police department asked the fire department volunteers to man a mobile light unit during home basketball games so that students and adults would feel safe proceeding to and from the school and the parking in Chinquapin park.

The Alexandria School Board and Superintendent Rebecca Perry came to terms and signed and agreement last week that has allowed her to leave her position and receive her pay through June.

It will give Ms. Perry time to reflect upon her next steps away from the pressures of running the school system and the uncomfortable situation of working with individuals with whom she had a strained relationship.