Alexandria Mayor Race

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That image is blurry but there's more here if you are interested. https://pycr.blog/

Basically residents of Potomac Yard did a FOIA around the metro mezzanine deletion and found evidence of the city council knowing about the deletion in 2017 (not "just a few weeks ago" as several are stating).

More importantly, the documents show that when WMATA posted an image of the one mezzanine design in early April, city staff worked hard to get it taken down - even as WMATA expressed that it was not confidential under their rules (recall that the city is saying the WMATA NDA is why they couldn't tell the public).

Holy crap... thank you for posting that. If their interpretation of the information holds up, my vote has been changed.

Against Smedberg?

Why against Wilson? It appears he wanted to share the information. But believed (presumably on advice of City staff) that the NDA did apply. And where was Silberberg? Just out of the loop, because well, she is?

What Wilson is advocating to share in that FOIA email is this useless memo about the timeline slipping (which was eventually posted).
https://www.alexandriava.gov/uploadedFiles/Potomac%20Yard%20Metrorail%20Project%20Update%20(002).pdf

He (nor any other council member nor the mayor) ever advocated for actual transparency to the public about this dramatic change. Or if they did, it's not in this FOIA request (which is missing well over half of the responsive documents due to the city continuing to suppress them)

That is the only document that mentions Wilson. I think you are giving it an uncharitable reading.

DP and these are public servants we're talking about. THEY need to prove to US that they are acting in our best interests. They don't just get to have the benefit of the doubt when something of this magnitude gets royally hosed up.

I know the Vice Mayor well enough across a variety of issues that I do give him the benefit of the doubt. Sorry.

The fact that you like him does not mean that he has been even remotely honest on this important issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That image is blurry but there's more here if you are interested. https://pycr.blog/

Basically residents of Potomac Yard did a FOIA around the metro mezzanine deletion and found evidence of the city council knowing about the deletion in 2017 (not "just a few weeks ago" as several are stating).

More importantly, the documents show that when WMATA posted an image of the one mezzanine design in early April, city staff worked hard to get it taken down - even as WMATA expressed that it was not confidential under their rules (recall that the city is saying the WMATA NDA is why they couldn't tell the public).

Holy crap... thank you for posting that. If their interpretation of the information holds up, my vote has been changed.

Against Smedberg?

Why against Wilson? It appears he wanted to share the information. But believed (presumably on advice of City staff) that the NDA did apply. And where was Silberberg? Just out of the loop, because well, she is?

I keep seeing this justification for everyone's actions. Meanwhile, the City has stated that there is no written documentation of the direction they got from WMATA that this was confidential, as the guidance was supposedly given in meetings, over the phone, and face to face.

To that I ask: why was there not a thousand pages of emails from the city hammering back at WMATA saying "justify to us why we need to lie and deceive our constituents?" If WMATA didn't provide that guidance in writing, there should at minimum have been an abundance of evidence of one of these blowhard council members, Vice Mayor, Mayor, or city manager screaming back into the void saying "this is completely screwed up and you can't tell us not to let our constituents know!!" Where was the advocacy on their part to demand that the city residents be given the information they deserve? Oh wait, it isn't there. Because they didn't.

So they are either a) lying about WMATA telling them it's confidential b) completely incompetent or b) entirely uncaring about their constituents. So which is it?

1 They trusted their City Staff and staff lawyers.

2. They did not want to delay the procurement further

3. They had a lot of other things to do - among which, deal with school funding, CSO's, affordable housing, etc (also they have full time day jobs). I mean I know that to you the question of the southern entrance to the metro station is huge, but I think a thousand pages of emails is asking a lot.

Also of course the VM and the City Manager are not known to be blowhards.

You are literally changing the hearts and minds of no one with responses like this. But ok, keep acting like none of them did anything wrong. That they produced not a single email from someone within the city saying "hey, this isn't cool" is telling, whether you want to admit it or not. And acting like the PY metro is just some tiny project that isn't/wasn't on their radars? BS of the highest and stinkiest order.

And please never ever tell me they are working on affordable housing and that's why they couldn't pay attention to a silly little issue like this. I live in an apartment complex the city ok'd for redevelopment, a complex where a huge number of the city's low income residents live and one of the few large pockets of affordable housing in Alexandria. Meanwhile the landlord stopped doing any maintenance/upkeep and essentially tried to make the place unlivable until redevelopment could occur. And the city? Did nothing. Didn't care. Just hyped up the redevelopment. Who cares about the current residents or preserving any of this affordable housing when Mixed Use! Green Space! Redevelopment!

So take your faux affordable housing concern and put it in your compost bin.

Sounds like this is a market rate building, so yeah, a problem given that landlords can upgrade and raise rents by right, so denser development is the only way to get committed AH units. If the landlord violated code that is up to staff to address, I don't know wha t happened with your complaint.

but of course my point was merely that the debate (which has been vigorous on AH) might actually have taken up some of their time, along with many other issues.

It does seem we are becoming polarized and its harder and harder to engage with each other. I am trying to respond in good faith however.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That image is blurry but there's more here if you are interested. https://pycr.blog/

Basically residents of Potomac Yard did a FOIA around the metro mezzanine deletion and found evidence of the city council knowing about the deletion in 2017 (not "just a few weeks ago" as several are stating).

More importantly, the documents show that when WMATA posted an image of the one mezzanine design in early April, city staff worked hard to get it taken down - even as WMATA expressed that it was not confidential under their rules (recall that the city is saying the WMATA NDA is why they couldn't tell the public).

Holy crap... thank you for posting that. If their interpretation of the information holds up, my vote has been changed.

Against Smedberg?

Why against Wilson? It appears he wanted to share the information. But believed (presumably on advice of City staff) that the NDA did apply. And where was Silberberg? Just out of the loop, because well, she is?

What Wilson is advocating to share in that FOIA email is this useless memo about the timeline slipping (which was eventually posted).
https://www.alexandriava.gov/uploadedFiles/Potomac%20Yard%20Metrorail%20Project%20Update%20(002).pdf

He (nor any other council member nor the mayor) ever advocated for actual transparency to the public about this dramatic change. Or if they did, it's not in this FOIA request (which is missing well over half of the responsive documents due to the city continuing to suppress them)

That is the only document that mentions Wilson. I think you are giving it an uncharitable reading.

I disagree, as a person who has read the entire set of FOIA documents as well as the FOIA request itself (as as someone who by must accounts is a Justin Wilson supporter actually!).

If any members of the council/mayor/vice mayor advocated for pushing back on WMATA's NDA, it would have been responsive to this request - and it's not in here.

Now I do think Wilson gets a bad rap because he puts more in writing than the other council members. I have every reason to believe the mayor knew everything the vice mayor did - she just doesn't respond to emails, so she was unlikely to write it. But I fully believe either could have pushed back on this and that neither did.

Now did that happen because they were too trusting of city staff and abdicated their oversight responsibility here, or because they thought life would be easier without public knowledge of this change...? That I can't say.

See I don't get the motive for the latter. I mean it was coming to come out sooner or later, obviously. Only case I have seen is that there was an upzoning that might not have gone through if this were known. But its an upzoning on one parcel, and given that there IS likely to be a short path to the north entrance, and eventually a south Mezzanine I think the upzoning might have gone through anyway. I just don't see that as motivation for some nefarious plot to hide things from the public.

What are you basing this "there IS likely to be a short path the the north entrance" on? Real movement in that direction would mute my screaming dramatically, but:
--it was not included in the July 2017 RFP revision, even though it could have been
--it is not scoped or funded at this time, nor will it be part of the contract awarded this month
--There are two big retaining ponds in the way of that solution right now, plus the need to rise high over the CSX tracks to meet the north mezzanine - at an ADA compliant angle. None of this has been studied at this point in terms of feasibility.

So like...sounds great, but without a plan to buy it or pay for it...I remain skeptical.

It is to be proposed by the bidder. They want to do the design process with the community, and could not have done so until the issue became public, AFAICT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That image is blurry but there's more here if you are interested. https://pycr.blog/

Basically residents of Potomac Yard did a FOIA around the metro mezzanine deletion and found evidence of the city council knowing about the deletion in 2017 (not "just a few weeks ago" as several are stating).

More importantly, the documents show that when WMATA posted an image of the one mezzanine design in early April, city staff worked hard to get it taken down - even as WMATA expressed that it was not confidential under their rules (recall that the city is saying the WMATA NDA is why they couldn't tell the public).

Holy crap... thank you for posting that. If their interpretation of the information holds up, my vote has been changed.

Against Smedberg?

Why against Wilson? It appears he wanted to share the information. But believed (presumably on advice of City staff) that the NDA did apply. And where was Silberberg? Just out of the loop, because well, she is?

I keep seeing this justification for everyone's actions. Meanwhile, the City has stated that there is no written documentation of the direction they got from WMATA that this was confidential, as the guidance was supposedly given in meetings, over the phone, and face to face.

To that I ask: why was there not a thousand pages of emails from the city hammering back at WMATA saying "justify to us why we need to lie and deceive our constituents?" If WMATA didn't provide that guidance in writing, there should at minimum have been an abundance of evidence of one of these blowhard council members, Vice Mayor, Mayor, or city manager screaming back into the void saying "this is completely screwed up and you can't tell us not to let our constituents know!!" Where was the advocacy on their part to demand that the city residents be given the information they deserve? Oh wait, it isn't there. Because they didn't.

So they are either a) lying about WMATA telling them it's confidential b) completely incompetent or b) entirely uncaring about their constituents. So which is it?

1 They trusted their City Staff and staff lawyers.

2. They did not want to delay the procurement further

3. They had a lot of other things to do - among which, deal with school funding, CSO's, affordable housing, etc (also they have full time day jobs). I mean I know that to you the question of the southern entrance to the metro station is huge, but I think a thousand pages of emails is asking a lot.

Also of course the VM and the City Manager are not known to be blowhards.

You are literally changing the hearts and minds of no one with responses like this. But ok, keep acting like none of them did anything wrong. That they produced not a single email from someone within the city saying "hey, this isn't cool" is telling, whether you want to admit it or not. And acting like the PY metro is just some tiny project that isn't/wasn't on their radars? BS of the highest and stinkiest order.

And please never ever tell me they are working on affordable housing and that's why they couldn't pay attention to a silly little issue like this. I live in an apartment complex the city ok'd for redevelopment, a complex where a huge number of the city's low income residents live and one of the few large pockets of affordable housing in Alexandria. Meanwhile the landlord stopped doing any maintenance/upkeep and essentially tried to make the place unlivable until redevelopment could occur. And the city? Did nothing. Didn't care. Just hyped up the redevelopment. Who cares about the current residents or preserving any of this affordable housing when Mixed Use! Green Space! Redevelopment!

So take your faux affordable housing concern and put it in your compost bin.

Sounds like this is a market rate building, so yeah, a problem given that landlords can upgrade and raise rents by right, so denser development is the only way to get committed AH units. If the landlord violated code that is up to staff to address, I don't know wha t happened with your complaint.

but of course my point was merely that the debate (which has been vigorous on AH) might actually have taken up some of their time, along with many other issues.

It does seem we are becoming polarized and its harder and harder to engage with each other. I am trying to respond in good faith however.

If their time is being eaten up, then cut down on unnecessary nonsense at meetings.

The PY metro issue is incredibly important. The City induced people to move there, to buy property there, relying on this Metro access. The City know the whole time that it was lying. The whole council and the senior staff clearly knew. That's just plain stealing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Sounds like this is a market rate building, so yeah, a problem given that landlords can upgrade and raise rents by right, so denser development is the only way to get committed AH units. If the landlord violated code that is up to staff to address, I don't know wha t happened with your complaint.

but of course my point was merely that the debate (which has been vigorous on AH) might actually have taken up some of their time, along with many other issues.

It does seem we are becoming polarized and its harder and harder to engage with each other. I am trying to respond in good faith however.

You say you are responding in good faith yet have been incredibly dismissive of just how bad this is or how badly people feel towards the City.

City allows landlords to allow buildings to fall into disrepair while tenants are still there paying rent because the landlord wants to redevelop? Well yea, that happens is your response. Do you understand how dismissive that is and how that leads directly into "yep, city sure as shootin doesn't care about AH"?

And your response "I mean I know that to you the question of the southern entrance to the metro station is huge" - again, so unbelievably dismissive about a situation that is a BIG FREAKIN DEAL to people. I don't even LIVE in PY and I'm impacted by this and upset about it. And a new metro station IS a huge deal for the City of Alexandria. But your responding by acting like people are nuts for thinking the council, mayor, and vice mayor shirked their duty by not doing anything to get citizens informed about the changes.

Look, you obviously are pro VM. Maybe you know him personally and know him to be a good man. But he, along with the rest of the people involved, massively messed up here. And pretending they didn't isn't doing him any good. This is a moment for a come to god, We Messed Up And We're Sorry response, not "why are you so mad, bruh?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

See I don't get the motive for the latter. I mean it was coming to come out sooner or later, obviously. Only case I have seen is that there was an upzoning that might not have gone through if this were known. But its an upzoning on one parcel, and given that there IS likely to be a short path to the north entrance, and eventually a south Mezzanine I think the upzoning might have gone through anyway. I just don't see that as motivation for some nefarious plot to hide things from the public.

What are you basing this "there IS likely to be a short path the the north entrance" on? Real movement in that direction would mute my screaming dramatically, but:
--it was not included in the July 2017 RFP revision, even though it could have been
--it is not scoped or funded at this time, nor will it be part of the contract awarded this month
--There are two big retaining ponds in the way of that solution right now, plus the need to rise high over the CSX tracks to meet the north mezzanine - at an ADA compliant angle. None of this has been studied at this point in terms of feasibility.

So like...sounds great, but without a plan to buy it or pay for it...I remain skeptical.

It is to be proposed by the bidder. They want to do the design process with the community, and could not have done so until the issue became public, AFAICT.

There's no reason they couldn't have asked bidders to study feasibility and present options for the community though, as part of their July 2017 RFP amendment.

The fact that they did not... is meaningful, I think.

We also know the city can't find anything in writing from WMATA saying this was confidential (and one email to the contrary) - so as far as I'm concerned, "until the issue became public" was in Alexandria's hands to control.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That image is blurry but there's more here if you are interested. https://pycr.blog/

Basically residents of Potomac Yard did a FOIA around the metro mezzanine deletion and found evidence of the city council knowing about the deletion in 2017 (not "just a few weeks ago" as several are stating).

More importantly, the documents show that when WMATA posted an image of the one mezzanine design in early April, city staff worked hard to get it taken down - even as WMATA expressed that it was not confidential under their rules (recall that the city is saying the WMATA NDA is why they couldn't tell the public).

Holy crap... thank you for posting that. If their interpretation of the information holds up, my vote has been changed.

Against Smedberg?

Why against Wilson? It appears he wanted to share the information. But believed (presumably on advice of City staff) that the NDA did apply. And where was Silberberg? Just out of the loop, because well, she is?

What Wilson is advocating to share in that FOIA email is this useless memo about the timeline slipping (which was eventually posted).
https://www.alexandriava.gov/uploadedFiles/Potomac%20Yard%20Metrorail%20Project%20Update%20(002).pdf

He (nor any other council member nor the mayor) ever advocated for actual transparency to the public about this dramatic change. Or if they did, it's not in this FOIA request (which is missing well over half of the responsive documents due to the city continuing to suppress them)

That is the only document that mentions Wilson. I think you are giving it an uncharitable reading.

DP and these are public servants we're talking about. THEY need to prove to US that they are acting in our best interests. They don't just get to have the benefit of the doubt when something of this magnitude gets royally hosed up.

I know the Vice Mayor well enough across a variety of issues that I do give him the benefit of the doubt. Sorry.

The fact that you like him does not mean that he has been even remotely honest on this important issue.

No, but given that the discussion here is speculative and circumstantial (not one document from that FOIA request shows him lying, or discussing being dishonest, or even being flippant about the needs of the public) I think it justifies the priors I use in interpretating his actions.

Just as though I don't like the Mayor, I don't think she is a closet Republican, say, or motivated by anything other than her sincere (though IMO misguided) beliefs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Sounds like this is a market rate building, so yeah, a problem given that landlords can upgrade and raise rents by right, so denser development is the only way to get committed AH units. If the landlord violated code that is up to staff to address, I don't know wha t happened with your complaint.

but of course my point was merely that the debate (which has been vigorous on AH) might actually have taken up some of their time, along with many other issues.

It does seem we are becoming polarized and its harder and harder to engage with each other. I am trying to respond in good faith however.

You say you are responding in good faith yet have been incredibly dismissive of just how bad this is or how badly people feel towards the City.

City allows landlords to allow buildings to fall into disrepair while tenants are still there paying rent because the landlord wants to redevelop? Well yea, that happens is your response. Do you understand how dismissive that is and how that leads directly into "yep, city sure as shootin doesn't care about AH"?

And your response "I mean I know that to you the question of the southern entrance to the metro station is huge" - again, so unbelievably dismissive about a situation that is a BIG FREAKIN DEAL to people. I don't even LIVE in PY and I'm impacted by this and upset about it. And a new metro station IS a huge deal for the City of Alexandria. But your responding by acting like people are nuts for thinking the council, mayor, and vice mayor shirked their duty by not doing anything to get citizens informed about the changes.

Look, you obviously are pro VM. Maybe you know him personally and know him to be a good man. But he, along with the rest of the people involved, massively messed up here. And pretending they didn't isn't doing him any good. This is a moment for a come to god, We Messed Up And We're Sorry response, not "why are you so mad, bruh?"

Excuse me. I think the City needs to enfore code, of course. If a building owner is violating code and the City is ignoring it that is a big deal, but I think I would have heard about. If the landlord is not in violation than there probably IS nothing the City can do about it. Unethical of the landlord, but I am not here to judge (unnamed) landlords. rather to discuss the upcoming election.

And, I think the change to PY is unfortunate, but AFAICT not the City's fault. And I am not sure communicating that in 2018 instead of June 2017 IS a big deal. Though I also am far more optimistic about how the station will work for south PY than others are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Sounds like this is a market rate building, so yeah, a problem given that landlords can upgrade and raise rents by right, so denser development is the only way to get committed AH units. If the landlord violated code that is up to staff to address, I don't know wha t happened with your complaint.

but of course my point was merely that the debate (which has been vigorous on AH) might actually have taken up some of their time, along with many other issues.

It does seem we are becoming polarized and its harder and harder to engage with each other. I am trying to respond in good faith however.

You say you are responding in good faith yet have been incredibly dismissive of just how bad this is or how badly people feel towards the City.

City allows landlords to allow buildings to fall into disrepair while tenants are still there paying rent because the landlord wants to redevelop? Well yea, that happens is your response. Do you understand how dismissive that is and how that leads directly into "yep, city sure as shootin doesn't care about AH"?

And your response "I mean I know that to you the question of the southern entrance to the metro station is huge" - again, so unbelievably dismissive about a situation that is a BIG FREAKIN DEAL to people. I don't even LIVE in PY and I'm impacted by this and upset about it. And a new metro station IS a huge deal for the City of Alexandria. But your responding by acting like people are nuts for thinking the council, mayor, and vice mayor shirked their duty by not doing anything to get citizens informed about the changes.

Look, you obviously are pro VM. Maybe you know him personally and know him to be a good man. But he, along with the rest of the people involved, massively messed up here. And pretending they didn't isn't doing him any good. This is a moment for a come to god, We Messed Up And We're Sorry response, not "why are you so mad, bruh?"

Excuse me. I think the City needs to enfore code, of course. If a building owner is violating code and the City is ignoring it that is a big deal, but I think I would have heard about. If the landlord is not in violation than there probably IS nothing the City can do about it. Unethical of the landlord, but I am not here to judge (unnamed) landlords. rather to discuss the upcoming election.

And, I think the change to PY is unfortunate, but AFAICT not the City's fault. And I am not sure communicating that in 2018 instead of June 2017 IS a big deal. Though I also am far more optimistic about how the station will work for south PY than others are.

It's the city's fault. And widely communicating it right away (which the city could have done) would have prevented any claim that the city committed a fraud.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

See I don't get the motive for the latter. I mean it was coming to come out sooner or later, obviously. Only case I have seen is that there was an upzoning that might not have gone through if this were known. But its an upzoning on one parcel, and given that there IS likely to be a short path to the north entrance, and eventually a south Mezzanine I think the upzoning might have gone through anyway. I just don't see that as motivation for some nefarious plot to hide things from the public.

What are you basing this "there IS likely to be a short path the the north entrance" on? Real movement in that direction would mute my screaming dramatically, but:
--it was not included in the July 2017 RFP revision, even though it could have been
--it is not scoped or funded at this time, nor will it be part of the contract awarded this month
--There are two big retaining ponds in the way of that solution right now, plus the need to rise high over the CSX tracks to meet the north mezzanine - at an ADA compliant angle. None of this has been studied at this point in terms of feasibility.

So like...sounds great, but without a plan to buy it or pay for it...I remain skeptical.

It is to be proposed by the bidder. They want to do the design process with the community, and could not have done so until the issue became public, AFAICT.

There's no reason they couldn't have asked bidders to study feasibility and present options for the community though, as part of their July 2017 RFP amendment.

The fact that they did not... is meaningful, I think.

We also know the city can't find anything in writing from WMATA saying this was confidential (and one email to the contrary) - so as far as I'm concerned, "until the issue became public" was in Alexandria's hands to control.

I am not quite sure of that, but I am sure we will be hearing more about the details of the procurement process.

And again, I do not see anything in the FOIA documents in which anyone at T&ES actually says "yeah, WMATA says the NDA does not apply" I do not think we have yet seen staff's side of things on this. But anyway, it seems clear that staff's decision not to open a public discussion of 'path C' was consistent with their belief they should not share the absence of a southern mezzanine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Sounds like this is a market rate building, so yeah, a problem given that landlords can upgrade and raise rents by right, so denser development is the only way to get committed AH units. If the landlord violated code that is up to staff to address, I don't know wha t happened with your complaint.

but of course my point was merely that the debate (which has been vigorous on AH) might actually have taken up some of their time, along with many other issues.

It does seem we are becoming polarized and its harder and harder to engage with each other. I am trying to respond in good faith however.

You say you are responding in good faith yet have been incredibly dismissive of just how bad this is or how badly people feel towards the City.

City allows landlords to allow buildings to fall into disrepair while tenants are still there paying rent because the landlord wants to redevelop? Well yea, that happens is your response. Do you understand how dismissive that is and how that leads directly into "yep, city sure as shootin doesn't care about AH"?

And your response "I mean I know that to you the question of the southern entrance to the metro station is huge" - again, so unbelievably dismissive about a situation that is a BIG FREAKIN DEAL to people. I don't even LIVE in PY and I'm impacted by this and upset about it. And a new metro station IS a huge deal for the City of Alexandria. But your responding by acting like people are nuts for thinking the council, mayor, and vice mayor shirked their duty by not doing anything to get citizens informed about the changes.

Look, you obviously are pro VM. Maybe you know him personally and know him to be a good man. But he, along with the rest of the people involved, massively messed up here. And pretending they didn't isn't doing him any good. This is a moment for a come to god, We Messed Up And We're Sorry response, not "why are you so mad, bruh?"

Excuse me. I think the City needs to enfore code, of course. If a building owner is violating code and the City is ignoring it that is a big deal, but I think I would have heard about. If the landlord is not in violation than there probably IS nothing the City can do about it. Unethical of the landlord, but I am not here to judge (unnamed) landlords. rather to discuss the upcoming election.

And, I think the change to PY is unfortunate, but AFAICT not the City's fault. And I am not sure communicating that in 2018 instead of June 2017 IS a big deal. Though I also am far more optimistic about how the station will work for south PY than others are.

It's the city's fault. And widely communicating it right away (which the city could have done) would have prevented any claim that the city committed a fraud.

The change is the City's fault? How? The bids came in too high, and there was nothing else they could cut without bigger consequences. Or are we back to not communicating is the City's fault. See the conflation of different things - anger at the substance, the claims about a "coverup" and the conflation of errors by City staff with with dishonesty by CMs' is one of the reasons I am so put off by the angry people here. It seems of a piece with the kind of free association anger that charecterizes so many vocal people in the City.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Sounds like this is a market rate building, so yeah, a problem given that landlords can upgrade and raise rents by right, so denser development is the only way to get committed AH units. If the landlord violated code that is up to staff to address, I don't know wha t happened with your complaint.

but of course my point was merely that the debate (which has been vigorous on AH) might actually have taken up some of their time, along with many other issues.

It does seem we are becoming polarized and its harder and harder to engage with each other. I am trying to respond in good faith however.

You say you are responding in good faith yet have been incredibly dismissive of just how bad this is or how badly people feel towards the City.

City allows landlords to allow buildings to fall into disrepair while tenants are still there paying rent because the landlord wants to redevelop? Well yea, that happens is your response. Do you understand how dismissive that is and how that leads directly into "yep, city sure as shootin doesn't care about AH"?

And your response "I mean I know that to you the question of the southern entrance to the metro station is huge" - again, so unbelievably dismissive about a situation that is a BIG FREAKIN DEAL to people. I don't even LIVE in PY and I'm impacted by this and upset about it. And a new metro station IS a huge deal for the City of Alexandria. But your responding by acting like people are nuts for thinking the council, mayor, and vice mayor shirked their duty by not doing anything to get citizens informed about the changes.

Look, you obviously are pro VM. Maybe you know him personally and know him to be a good man. But he, along with the rest of the people involved, massively messed up here. And pretending they didn't isn't doing him any good. This is a moment for a come to god, We Messed Up And We're Sorry response, not "why are you so mad, bruh?"

Excuse me. I think the City needs to enfore code, of course. If a building owner is violating code and the City is ignoring it that is a big deal, but I think I would have heard about. If the landlord is not in violation than there probably IS nothing the City can do about it. Unethical of the landlord, but I am not here to judge (unnamed) landlords. rather to discuss the upcoming election.

And, I think the change to PY is unfortunate, but AFAICT not the City's fault. And I am not sure communicating that in 2018 instead of June 2017 IS a big deal. Though I also am far more optimistic about how the station will work for south PY than others are.

It's the city's fault. And widely communicating it right away (which the city could have done) would have prevented any claim that the city committed a fraud.

The change is the City's fault? How? The bids came in too high, and there was nothing else they could cut without bigger consequences. Or are we back to not communicating is the City's fault. See the conflation of different things - anger at the substance, the claims about a "coverup" and the conflation of errors by City staff with with dishonesty by CMs' is one of the reasons I am so put off by the angry people here. It seems of a piece with the kind of free association anger that charecterizes so many vocal people in the City.

What did the city do to make sure people were informed of the change? Can you tell me one thing they did to push FOR the release of information rather than against it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Sounds like this is a market rate building, so yeah, a problem given that landlords can upgrade and raise rents by right, so denser development is the only way to get committed AH units. If the landlord violated code that is up to staff to address, I don't know wha t happened with your complaint.

but of course my point was merely that the debate (which has been vigorous on AH) might actually have taken up some of their time, along with many other issues.

It does seem we are becoming polarized and its harder and harder to engage with each other. I am trying to respond in good faith however.

You say you are responding in good faith yet have been incredibly dismissive of just how bad this is or how badly people feel towards the City.

City allows landlords to allow buildings to fall into disrepair while tenants are still there paying rent because the landlord wants to redevelop? Well yea, that happens is your response. Do you understand how dismissive that is and how that leads directly into "yep, city sure as shootin doesn't care about AH"?

And your response "I mean I know that to you the question of the southern entrance to the metro station is huge" - again, so unbelievably dismissive about a situation that is a BIG FREAKIN DEAL to people. I don't even LIVE in PY and I'm impacted by this and upset about it. And a new metro station IS a huge deal for the City of Alexandria. But your responding by acting like people are nuts for thinking the council, mayor, and vice mayor shirked their duty by not doing anything to get citizens informed about the changes.

Look, you obviously are pro VM. Maybe you know him personally and know him to be a good man. But he, along with the rest of the people involved, massively messed up here. And pretending they didn't isn't doing him any good. This is a moment for a come to god, We Messed Up And We're Sorry response, not "why are you so mad, bruh?"

Excuse me. I think the City needs to enfore code, of course. If a building owner is violating code and the City is ignoring it that is a big deal, but I think I would have heard about. If the landlord is not in violation than there probably IS nothing the City can do about it. Unethical of the landlord, but I am not here to judge (unnamed) landlords. rather to discuss the upcoming election.

And, I think the change to PY is unfortunate, but AFAICT not the City's fault. And I am not sure communicating that in 2018 instead of June 2017 IS a big deal. Though I also am far more optimistic about how the station will work for south PY than others are.

It's the city's fault. And widely communicating it right away (which the city could have done) would have prevented any claim that the city committed a fraud.

The change is the City's fault? How? The bids came in too high, and there was nothing else they could cut without bigger consequences. Or are we back to not communicating is the City's fault. See the conflation of different things - anger at the substance, the claims about a "coverup" and the conflation of errors by City staff with with dishonesty by CMs' is one of the reasons I am so put off by the angry people here. It seems of a piece with the kind of free association anger that charecterizes so many vocal people in the City.

The city induced thousands of people to rely on that south entrance. When the city chose to hush up (and it was the city's choice, not a confidentiality requirement), the city's behavior was just plain dirty. Whether that decision was the council's or the city manager's or the deputy's or whomever doesn't;t matter. If it was a mistake, there was a year to fix it, and no one even checked. The decision was the city's. Everything deeper than that is just internal finger-pointing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Sounds like this is a market rate building, so yeah, a problem given that landlords can upgrade and raise rents by right, so denser development is the only way to get committed AH units. If the landlord violated code that is up to staff to address, I don't know wha t happened with your complaint.

but of course my point was merely that the debate (which has been vigorous on AH) might actually have taken up some of their time, along with many other issues.

It does seem we are becoming polarized and its harder and harder to engage with each other. I am trying to respond in good faith however.

You say you are responding in good faith yet have been incredibly dismissive of just how bad this is or how badly people feel towards the City.

City allows landlords to allow buildings to fall into disrepair while tenants are still there paying rent because the landlord wants to redevelop? Well yea, that happens is your response. Do you understand how dismissive that is and how that leads directly into "yep, city sure as shootin doesn't care about AH"?

And your response "I mean I know that to you the question of the southern entrance to the metro station is huge" - again, so unbelievably dismissive about a situation that is a BIG FREAKIN DEAL to people. I don't even LIVE in PY and I'm impacted by this and upset about it. And a new metro station IS a huge deal for the City of Alexandria. But your responding by acting like people are nuts for thinking the council, mayor, and vice mayor shirked their duty by not doing anything to get citizens informed about the changes.

Look, you obviously are pro VM. Maybe you know him personally and know him to be a good man. But he, along with the rest of the people involved, massively messed up here. And pretending they didn't isn't doing him any good. This is a moment for a come to god, We Messed Up And We're Sorry response, not "why are you so mad, bruh?"

Excuse me. I think the City needs to enfore code, of course. If a building owner is violating code and the City is ignoring it that is a big deal, but I think I would have heard about. If the landlord is not in violation than there probably IS nothing the City can do about it. Unethical of the landlord, but I am not here to judge (unnamed) landlords. rather to discuss the upcoming election.

And, I think the change to PY is unfortunate, but AFAICT not the City's fault. And I am not sure communicating that in 2018 instead of June 2017 IS a big deal. Though I also am far more optimistic about how the station will work for south PY than others are.

It's the city's fault. And widely communicating it right away (which the city could have done) would have prevented any claim that the city committed a fraud.

The change is the City's fault? How? The bids came in too high, and there was nothing else they could cut without bigger consequences. Or are we back to not communicating is the City's fault. See the conflation of different things - anger at the substance, the claims about a "coverup" and the conflation of errors by City staff with with dishonesty by CMs' is one of the reasons I am so put off by the angry people here. It seems of a piece with the kind of free association anger that charecterizes so many vocal people in the City.

What did the city do to make sure people were informed of the change? Can you tell me one thing they did to push FOR the release of information rather than against it?

HOw does that respond to my comment? That is about the failure to push back on public information, not about the substance of the change itself. And IF staff erred in not pushing back (but maybe they pushed back but not in writing? I don't know) still no evidence that CMs knew they did not.

There seems to be a lot of jumping from "Jinks misunderstood the NDA and didnt push on WMATA" to "its Smedberg's fault we don't have a second entrance".

In a city where we have so many other big issues I don't think the first point rises to very much. The second seems wholely unsupported by the evidence, even in the absence of a detailed response.

[Anonymous]

No one, as far as I can tell, is indicating that getting rid of the southern mezz was the city's call or the "city's fault". What people are upset about is that the city not only did not work to inform the residents of this change but now it appears acted to withhold this information from the public. And PPs insistence that this is all no big deal is not making the VM look better. You've identified yourself as being pro-Justin so this is making him look that much worse by association, whether you intend that or not. A vocal Justin supporter treating people like they're nuts for being upset by how this was handled only does harm to the VM.