Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The school board has issues because the Council has major issues. It is a problem of demographics. The City have completely squeezed out the middle class so the City is now a place for the wealthy and the poor. So the wealthy will continue to see their taxes go up to completely support the poor.

That is absolutely not true. There are middle class people all over Alexandria, from older SFHs in West Alexandria, to THs in Warwick Village, to condos in Landmark, to apartments in Del Ray.

As for taxes, the property tax rate just went down, and is lower than in Fairfax.

Please be more careful, PP. It's important to speak the truth.

Regarding Alexandria City residential property taxes, the majority of Alexandria City assessments went up (see below). However, in light of an election year, our Council just voted to kept our residential real estate estate tax rate the same @$1.13/100 assessed (March 14, 2018).

At the Feb. 13 City Council meeting, information on assessments was released. Locally assessed real property continued to increase, this year by 2.35 percent, from Jan. 1, 2017 to Jan. 1, 2018. The highest increases are in the residential tax base, which increased 3.4 percent or $751 million. The commercial tax base increased by .93 percent, or $225 million.

http://www.alexandriagazette.com/news/2018/feb/19/assessments-alexandria-residential-properties-incr/

WASHINGTON — The Alexandria City Council voted unanimously against any 2019 tax increases for real estate, vehicles or business tangible property

WASHINGTON — The Alexandria City Council voted unanimously against any 2019 tax increases for real estate, vehicles or business tangible property.

https://wtop.com/alexandria/2018/03/alexandria-council-votes-against-2019-tax-increase/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The school board has issues because the Council has major issues. It is a problem of demographics. The City have completely squeezed out the middle class so the City is now a place for the wealthy and the poor. So the wealthy will continue to see their taxes go up to completely support the poor.

That is absolutely not true. There are middle class people all over Alexandria, from older SFHs in West Alexandria, to THs in Warwick Village, to condos in Landmark, to apartments in Del Ray.

As for taxes, the property tax rate just went down, and is lower than in Fairfax.

Please be more careful, PP. It's important to speak the truth.

Regarding Alexandria City residential property taxes, the majority of Alexandria City assessments went up (see below). However, in light of an election year, our Council just voted to kept our residential real estate estate tax rate the same @$1.13/100 assessed (March 14, 2018).

At the Feb. 13 City Council meeting, information on assessments was released. Locally assessed real property continued to increase, this year by 2.35 percent, from Jan. 1, 2017 to Jan. 1, 2018. The highest increases are in the residential tax base, which increased 3.4 percent or $751 million. The commercial tax base increased by .93 percent, or $225 million.

http://www.alexandriagazette.com/news/2018/feb/19/assessments-alexandria-residential-properties-incr/

WASHINGTON — The Alexandria City Council voted unanimously against any 2019 tax increases for real estate, vehicles or business tangible property

Anonymous wrote:
The school board has issues because the Council has major issues. It is a problem of demographics. The City have completely squeezed out the middle class so the City is now a place for the wealthy and the poor. So the wealthy will continue to see their taxes go up to completely support the poor.

That is absolutely not true. There are middle class people all over Alexandria, from older SFHs in West Alexandria, to THs in Warwick Village, to condos in Landmark, to apartments in Del Ray.

As for taxes, the property tax rate just went down, and is lower than in Fairfax.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will vote for Justin Wilson for Mayor, and the incumbents for council (though if I were to drop one, I suppose it would be Del Pepper) , Of the challengers I have heard Dak Hardwick is good, not sure what I will do for the remaining slot.

PP, question: what's the difference between the current mayor and Silberberg? They both seem to tolerate and make excuses about the nasty city bureaucrats and the dumb decisions like three years of lawsuits over the little restaurant, they both seem to just do whatever the school board wants even though the schools are awful, and they seem to pay attention to stuff that positively no one cares about while services suffer. Can you say how they're different?

Silberberg IS the current Mayor, so I am not sure what you are talking about.

I have met several city bureaucrats and I do not find them to be nasty.

Not sure what little restaurant you are talking about - do you mean the yacht club?

I am not an expert on school board issues. My belief is that the majority of the school problems are demographics, and while they could be better managed, they are still doing about as well as other systems with similar demographics. And the Council only has say over total school board spending, not details of school policy. I think the increase in spending made sense.

Not sure what your last point means, about stuff no one cares about.

The school board has issues because the Council has major issues. It is a problem of demographics. The City have completely squeezed out the middle class so the City is now a place for the wealthy and the poor. So the wealthy will continue to see their taxes go up to completely support the poor.

Anonymous wrote:I just can't even muster up any interest this time around. The same platform, the same kind of candidates. Nothing will change. I really wish there were some Republican and Independent party candidates in the mix to bring new ideas.

There were multiple Republican Council candidates last time we had a general election for City Council. Every one of them lost.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will vote for Justin Wilson for Mayor, and the incumbents for council (though if I were to drop one, I suppose it would be Del Pepper) , Of the challengers I have heard Dak Hardwick is good, not sure what I will do for the remaining slot.

PP, question: what's the difference between the current mayor and Silberberg? They both seem to tolerate and make excuses about the nasty city bureaucrats and the dumb decisions like three years of lawsuits over the little restaurant, they both seem to just do whatever the school board wants even though the schools are awful, and they seem to pay attention to stuff that positively no one cares about while services suffer. Can you say how they're different?

Silberberg IS the current Mayor, so I am not sure what you are talking about.

I have met several city bureaucrats and I do not find them to be nasty.

Not sure what little restaurant you are talking about - do you mean the yacht club?

I am not an expert on school board issues. My belief is that the majority of the school problems are demographics, and while they could be better managed, they are still doing about as well as other systems with similar demographics. And the Council only has say over total school board spending, not details of school policy. I think the increase in spending made sense.

Not sure what your last point means, about stuff no one cares about.

Anonymous wrote:I will vote for Justin Wilson for Mayor, and the incumbents for council (though if I were to drop one, I suppose it would be Del Pepper) , Of the challengers I have heard Dak Hardwick is good, not sure what I will do for the remaining slot.

PP, question: what's the difference between the current mayor and Silberberg? They both seem to tolerate and make excuses about the nasty city bureaucrats and the dumb decisions like three years of lawsuits over the little restaurant, they both seem to just do whatever the school board wants even though the schools are awful, and they seem to pay attention to stuff that positively no one cares about while services suffer. Can you say how they're different?

Dam is basically a Republican ... it’s doe DSA-aligned candidates!

Anonymous wrote:Del Pepper needs to go. She is so old and out of it, I don't know how she keeps getting elected.

YES. I have no clue why people keep electing her. She also threatens fellow council member and blocks initiatives that hurt her wallet (see: old Eisenhower connector proposal).

I just can't even muster up any interest this time around. The same platform, the same kind of candidates. Nothing will change. I really wish there were some Republican and Independent party candidates in the mix to bring new ideas.

I will vote for Justin Wilson for Mayor, and the incumbents for council (though if I were to drop one, I suppose it would be Del Pepper) , Of the challengers I have heard Dak Hardwick is good, not sure what I will do for the remaining slot.

Del Pepper needs to go. She is so old and out of it, I don't know how she keeps getting elected.

Anonymous wrote:If you care about schools, you want Smedberg off. You also want to avoid the candidates that align with the current mayor's views and approaches to government. I'm hoping that there will be some forums/debates, etc. where some clearer distinctions between the candidates can be made. I do think it's nice to have so many candidates to choose from.

PP, can you elaborate more on Smedberg?

If you care about schools, you want Smedberg off. You also want to avoid the candidates that align with the current mayor's views and approaches to government. I'm hoping that there will be some forums/debates, etc. where some clearer distinctions between the candidates can be made. I do think it's nice to have so many candidates to choose from.

A bunch of new Council candidates - now more new candidates than incumbents running. And I live there, but I have no idea who they are. Any thoughts or comments?