It's six thirty one.

We are now going to call to order the Tuesday, March 10th legislative meeting.

Madam Clerk, please call the role.

Okay.

Um, Madam Clerk, next item.

Closed session to discuss or consider the acquisition of real property for public purpose where discussion and open meeting would adversely affect the bargaining position.

Councilman Gary.

Aye.

Any opposed?

The eyes have it.

We are now in executive session.

Councilman Aguirre.

Madam Mayor, move the City Council reconvene in open session.

Okay, there has been a motion.

Is there a second?

There has been a motion by Councilman Aguirre and a second by Councilman Al Nubi to reconvene in open session.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

All right, the ayes have it.

Councilman Aguirre.

Madam Mayor, move City Council to adopt the resolution regarding the closed executive session that was previously circulated to the council.

All right.

There has been a motion by Councilman Aguirre and a second by Councilwoman Green to move the resolution that was previously circulated to the Council.

Madam Clerk, this is a roll call vote.

Please call the roll.

Councilman Gary.

Hi.

Mayor Gaskins.

Hi.

Vice Mayor Bagley.

Hi.

Councilman Chapman.

Councilman El Newby.

Aye.

Okay.

Madam Clerk, next item.

Pledge moment of silence in Prolizer of Allegiance.

Okay.

It is our custom to begin each meeting with a moment of silence followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

Today we have a very special honor.

We in honor of National Girl Scouts Day.

We have several young women here who are going to lead us in the pledge.

So I would ask that if you are able, please rise and we will begin.

We can start whenever you're ready.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

And to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you so much.

We appreciate your leadership and your service, and I know we're going to recognize you in a little bit.

Madam Clerk, next item.

Presentation of a proclamation recognizing March as Women's History Month.

Great.

I have asked Vice Mayor Bagley to read this proclamation.

If you are joining us for Women's History Month, if you could please come to the front right here on the right, and we will begin the proclamation.

I'm gonna like the joining us.

Oh, is that right?

Yes.

All right.

Whereas the City of Alexandria honors the countless women who have profoundly shaped our community's history, culture, and progress in recorded and unrecorded ways, from the founding of our city in 1749 to the present day.

And whereas we recognize the enduring spirit, leadership, and resilience of women in all walks of life in the city who continue to break barriers in business, education, and public service, fostering unity, equality, and opportunity.

And whereas upon completion of a 1974 study on the status of women, the Alexandria City Council established the Commission on Women in order to eliminate gender discrimination and to encourage equal opportunity for women in all aspects of their lives.

And whereas this women's history month, Alexandria celebrates many vital organizations in the city that are founded by women, including but not limited to St.

Rose Institute, 1861, American Physical Therapy Association, 1921, The Twig, Junior Auxiliary of the Innova Alexandria Hospital, 1933, the Campania Center, 1945, Friends of Guest House, 1974, Women in Government Relations, 1975, Rand Construction Corporation, 1989, Alexandria Business Women Association, 1998, Space of Her Own, 2011, Together We Bake, 2012, Vola Lawson Breast Cancer Memorial Fund, 2014, and Alexandria Women for Good, 2022, among many others.

And whereas acknowledging women's history deepens our understanding of Alexandria's past, celebrates present accomplishments, and inspires future generations to pursue leadership and service.

And whereas Women's History Month provides an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to advancing gender equity, economic opportunity, and representation for women and girls in Alexandria and beyond.

Now therefore, I Sarah Bagley, on behalf of Alia Gaskins, Mayor of the City of Alexandria, Virginia.

And on behalf of the Alexandria City Council, do hereby proclaim the month of March 2026 as women's history month in the City of Alexandria, and call upon all residents, organizations, educational institutions, and community partners to observe this month with appropriate programs, activities, and ceremonies that honor the achievements of women and reaffirm our commitment to gender equity and opportunity for all.

And I find every day I'm a little bit more in love with the city.

So I'm very glad and proud to be part of this legacy, hopefully, of working towards a more equitable and safer Alexandria for women and for all Alexandrians.

Thank you.

Hello, everyone.

And I've been serving on the commission for for five and a half years at this point, and I've been the vice chair for the past two years.

I just want to acknowledge joining me on stage today.

We have Commissioner Lexi White, Commissioner Shelley Brown, Commissioner Christophy, and Commissioner Giovanna Rogo.

Sorry.

Yes.

And then we have a lot of our partners from vital organizations in the city that are founded by women joining us today.

So welcome everybody and thank you again for your commitment to the city.

So I thank you so much for speaking so eloquently.

And with that, uh Mayor Gaskins, I move the proclamation.

Okay, there has been a motion by Vice Mayor Bagley and a second by Councilwoman Green to move the proclamation, recognizing March as Women's History Month.

Is there any discussion?

Well, I just quickly want to say first, thank you to the commission for your dedicated work to make sure that as a city, we not only find ways to celebrate the women of the past, but that we celebrate women in our city today who are making history every single day, and that we celebrate all of the young women who are the future of our city.

We thank you for not only providing a space for celebration, but also recognition of how far we still have to go and the policies, the programs, and the initiatives that we need to support as a city to truly recognize the vision of being a more equitable and supportive community for women.

So I just want to say thank you so much for your leadership.

I also want to say, you know, Christine takes the leadership on courting proclamations and coordinating proclamations, just how fitting it is that our future leaders get to see so many women standing in front of them who are shaping and moving our city forward every day.

So whether that's in the businesses you're in, the way you serve our community, the things that you lead.

I just thank you for being an example as well.

So with that, there has been a motion and a second.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye, any opposed?

All right, the ayes have it, and the proclamation passes.

Thank you.

I know.

I was waiting for the ready.

Okay, Madam Clerk, next item.

Presentation of a proclamation recognizing National Girl Scout Day.

Okay, and I have asked Councilwoman Green to read this proclamation.

Hello, ladies, will you stand up and join me?

And face this direction, okay?

All right.

All right.

Hi, good evening, everyone.

All right.

Happy women's history month.

Yes.

Happy almost National Girl Scout Day.

Very exciting.

This is probably my favorite meeting of the year, and I'll tell you a little bit about that in a minute.

But um I do want to say last year we were in uh City Hall and we had over 75 Girl Scouts from here in Alexandria.

Unfortunately, we don't have the space for that amount now.

Um, but I promise you that in a couple years, we're gonna have you back and we're gonna make sure that you celebrate with us in our new city hall, and we're gonna pack the house on National Girl Scout Day.

All right.

Looking forward to that.

All right, I'm gonna read the proclamation, and then I'm gonna get you girls to introduce yourselves, all right?

Think.

All right.

Whereas the Girl Scouts of the USA celebrates Girl Scouts' birthday, known as National Girl Scout Day on March 12th to commemorate the day in 1912 when Juliet Gordon Lowe officially registered the organization's first 18 members in Savannah, Georgia.

And whereas the Girl Scout Council, the national the nation's capital, is the largest in the United States with a retainment of almost 77,000 total members.

Over forty-six thousand of those members being youth Girl Scouts and about 31,000 adult members.

Girl Scouts of the Commonwealth of Virginia has over 10,000 young women, with over 1,600 being in Alexandria City.

And whereas Girl Scout members and dedic are dedicated to making friends, having fun, finding adventure, giving back, leading the way, and learning new skills.

And whereas Girl Scouting encourages young women to embrace their unique strengths, become a trailblazer, and release their full potential.

And whereas the Girl Scouts learn and follow the values outlined in the Girl Scout Promise and Law to learn, help others, and make the world a better place.

And whereas Girl Scouting joins young women and adults from all over the nation and world to encompass the joy of friendship that has banded them together and will continue to for years to come.

Now therefore, I, Councilwoman Jacinta Green, on behalf of Aliyah Gaskins, Mayor of the City of Alexandria, Virginia, and on behalf of the of the Alexandria City Council, do hereby proclaim March twelfth, 2026 as National Girl Scout Day in the City of Alexandria, and witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and cause the seal of the city of Alexandria to be affixed this tenth day of March, 2026.

Yay.

Hello, everyone.

I'm a senior and scouting means to me just giving back to my community and just like supporting everyone around me.

Hi, my name is Adrian Mosley.

I'm also a senior and to me, Scouting means leadership and working together.

Hello, my name is Camille Ivory, and I'm Barbara Brownie.

And what Girl Scout means to me is making new friends and meeting new people.

Hi, my name is Novella.

Um I love selling cookies.

Hi, my name is Naza.

And let's scouting means to me is making new friends.

Excellent, ladies.

Well, I am so happy to have you here with us today.

And what scouting means to me as someone that grew up and went all the way through.

It just uh, you know, is something that stays with you your whole lives.

I have friends that I met when I was a Daisy Scout that I have to this day.

And so making lifelong friends, building leadership skills, and just having fun is so much a part of being a Girl Scout.

So I hope that you will, as I did, go all the way through the higher ranks of Girl Scouts Girl Scouting and just experience the wonderful things that I did and to become the leaders that you are born to be.

Okay.

Thank you so much.

I'm happy to have you here.

And we look we look forward to you coming back next year and celebrating with us again.

Okay.

With that, madam mayor, I move the proclamation.

Okay, there has been a motion.

Is there a second?

Do you want to get all the women?

Uh a second by Vice Mayor Bagley.

Is there any further discussion?

Well, let me just make a quick comment.

First, uh, thank you, Councilwoman Green, for bringing forth this proclamation.

To the young women who are standing in front of us, I thank you for coming to today's meeting.

Um, thank you for your leadership.

Thank you for your dedication and service to our city.

It's amazing to see your commitment, not just to the Girl Scouts, but to building a better Alexandria at such a young age.

So I hope that this will not be the last time we see you here.

If there are service projects that you have in mind or ideas you want to put forth, please reach out to anyone on this council because we'd love to help you make it a reality.

And so with that, there has been a motion by Councilwoman Green and a second by Vice Mayor Bagley to approve the proclamation recognizing National Girl Scouts Day.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

All right, the ayes have it, and the proclamation pass vote.

Could you come together a little more maybe?

Thank you.

Okay, Madam Clerk, next item.

Four reports, City Council reports on boards, commissions, and committees.

Council of Government's Board of Directors, Executive Committee, Mayor Gaskins.

Okay, this one's me.

The Council of Government's Board of Directors actually meets tomorrow, so I don't have an update on that.

What I did want to share with the public is that the Council of Governments has been very engaged in the conversation related to the Potomac Interceptor break and the impact on the Potomac River.

Previously, there have been community hearings in both DC and Maryland.

And so I just wanted to extend a note of thanks and gratitude to the COG for helping myself and city staff work to organize a town hall here in Alexandria.

And so on March 19th, there will be a Potomac Interceptor Town Hall.

It will occur at the Lee Center from 7 to 9 p.m.

It will include both DC Water as well as other major agencies that have been involved in the response and our health department as well.

An opportunity to better understand how we got here, what is the work that has been completed to date, and what is the work to prevent something like this from happening in the future.

And so I just encourage our residents, you can find out more information on our website as well as on social media on how you can join the town hall and even provide comments and feedback as well as lift up your concerns.

So with that, the next um body is the legislative subcommittee, and this is myself and Councilman Chapman.

We're also heavily focused on the budget.

And so city staff continue to focus on some of our city's budget priorities, including funding for Freedom House, funding for Wamada operating and capital funding, as well as funding for our schools.

We have mainly focused on lobbying the budget conferees as well as our delegation and the administration, making sure that we're providing key information on how each of these things impact our city.

As it relates to WAMATA funding, we've also engaged in direct conversations with the Secretary of Transportation, and we're working hard to coordinate with other regional agencies such as NVTA and NBTC and VRE.

And so really making sure that we're raising and elevating the importance of WAMATA to the Commonwealth.

Another thing that I will update folks on is today myself along with Fairfax, Loudoun, and Falls Church have been working on, and Arlington have been working on a letter related to skill games.

Skill Games legislation continues to make it through the General Assembly, as has been raised by almost everyone on this body, including Councilman Ageary, who actually went to Richmond and testified on this issue.

We recognize the harms that skill games impose on our community, and we have been strongly against them.

And so now we are continuing to partner with other jurisdictions to push back and at a minimum make sure that localities maintain the authority to decide what can and cannot go in their communities.

That's everything.

Councilman Chapman, anything.

Okay.

Then the next committee that we have is the city school subcommittee.

The city school subcommittee met about two weeks, two weeks ago.

That is myself and Councilman Chapman.

There were two major items.

The first was a review of our schedule for the year, and so mapping out when we will hear updates on major items.

The second piece was going through the scope of work for the update to the long-range facilities plan.

All of you should have received an email from the city manager with that draft scope of work.

If you have feedback, please send that directly to the manager.

But it sort of outlines the process that we will go through, the um what they are looking for in a consultant, and what sort of information that we could expect back.

It also outlines sort of how staff from our two bodies, both ACPS and the city, um, will work together in order to do that facilities assessment, but more importantly, sort of that long-range assessment of potential land and opportunities for coordination.

Finally, um we ended um myself and Councilman Chapman sort of um with two updates for the body.

The first was um an invitation or an extension of an invitation to ACPS, letting them know that we would love to find a way for our two bodies to have a deeper conversation about federal law enforcement in our community and the impact on youth and families.

And then second, we first introduced the council's discussion and intent to discuss sort of transitioning the ways in which we fund ACPS from a lump sum to a major classification model.

Anything else?

Okay.

Moving right along, I think this next one is not me.

And so the next one is the Alexandria Gang Prevention Community Task Force, and that is Councilman El Nubi.

And then you can go right into workforce development center.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Um this one is about uh the gang prevention task force uh work group.

Um what we started um as a task force is we um are implementing uh a work group model.

So last uh meeting we had in January, um, we chose three strategic directions, and this work group that I am part on is focusing on the um expanding the after-school opportunities um for youth.

So we met uh and these these directions um are part of the child youth and community plan.

So we met yesterday, and our focus is going to be um looking at gaps and barriers that exist uh in after school programming.

Um, what is preventing um the targeted youth from accessing these programs?

Um so the first step is we're going to try to identify what has what work has already been done.

Um we're gonna look at the existing reports and assessments on related to us school programs.

We're going to try to talk to groups and other stakeholders who may be doing um work in that space.

Um then, yeah.

Then we're going to see if we can join forces with any of these groups or build on any of the work that has been done.

I will go into the next one, which is the workforce development center.

So the workforce development uh committee met on March 3rd.

We're trying a new meeting format now.

So previously our meetings were more structured and we had more of a presentation and update um type meeting.

Now we're shifting into more like a work session model that's more focused on strategy and problem solving.

The meeting uh focused primarily on the summer youth employment program.

The program currently is funded for 170 youth, but more than 600 applicants or more than 600 applications have already been received, um, which highlights the strong demand and the need to grow the program.

Staff are working to expand capacity through public private partnerships with goal of supporting 10 additional youth.

So far, ALX Renew and Goodwin Living have committed to sponsoring six youth positions.

We also discussed several potential program improvements, including exploring pay card options to make it easier for youth uh to receive wages, especially those who don't have a bank account.

Um we looked at um considering a lottery model um in um admission uh in um selecting uh applicants instead of for scum for surf, we think that would be more equitable, but that's looking for next year, not this year.

Um I would what I would add is we're still looking for employers to host youth.

Um council members, you can host youth if you want, um, help them during the summer.

It doesn't cost anything.

Um it helps the youth actually gain real life experience.

So anyone who's interested um we'd be happy to have further conversations.

And all two events coming up, the Job Fair on April 8th, and the virtual transferable skills workshop on March 31st.

And that is it.

Okay, thank you, Councilman O'Nuby.

The next uh update is Councilman Chapman, and it's the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership Board.

I actually I'm gonna hold off on that because we've got the workings uh conference.

Okay.

Uh the next one is also you.

It is the Northern Virginia Regional Commission.

Councilman Chapman and Councilman Green.

Yeah, I just wanted to share that um over the last probably four meetings.

We've been talking about how we shift our focus as a commission uh to be a little bit more strategic in nature.

Uh this last meeting was really about um workforce development, the future of that, and what does that mean for this region, particularly uh considering AI.

And so we've had some strategic work sessions.

We had one on housing, uh, we have one coming up on transportation as well.

Uh just making sure that we keep uh modernizing the role of North Virginia Regional Commission uh with new staff that we have.

We just want to make sure we are doing what we can to play a real part in moving forward, moving this region forward.

Thank you, Councilman Chapman.

Um Councilman Green, anything to add?

Okay.

And last but not least, we have the Health and Safety Coordinating Committee.

This is myself and Councilman Green.

Councilman Green.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Um the Health and Safety Committee met on March 6th, on Friday, March 6th, and we were happy to be joined by Councilman Alnubi at this meeting.

Um we always have a an update on the reduction of harm um from eviction, the eviction process, and then we always go into a legislative update has as it has to do with um housing.

Um we then had an update from on the state of health from the health department, and then follow-up um discussions and data reports.

Our next meeting will be on Friday, May 1st at um 8 30 a.m.

And you're very everyone is welcome to join us at the Lee Center.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman Green.

Madam Clerk, next item.

City Council General Updates.

Okay.

Are there general updates from the council?

Councilman Algier Aguirre.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Uh I want to start off with Victory.

Victory.

Um, I remember going back to my first year on the council, um, looking at different proposals uh for the Victory Center, and you know, this goes back several decades.

I'm sure Councilman Chapman had to deal with this in his first years on the council.

We won't say how many years ago that was.

Um but just hats off to everybody, the the city staff, uh the partners, uh, the community that has been waiting patiently to try and fill uh this space.

Uh you go down there and you basically had a sea of parking lots.

Uh people would go there to learn how to drive.

Um there just wasn't anything going on in that section of Eisenhower, and we all know that there is so much opportunity and so much potential along the Eisenhower Corridor.

So I'm really, really excited for where what we're gonna be able to do down there.

Um not just affordable housing, but deeply affordable housing uh thanks to some of the investments from Amazon.

Uh we're gonna have community space, a potential polling location.

Um it's just uh a huge, huge boon to the city.

So uh again, kudos to everybody involved uh for making this happen.

Uh a couple days later I had the opportunity to stop by uh Commonwealth One, uh right around the corner from here, actually, for the opening of their newest branch.

Uh, like I always like to say, we like to have not only good neighbors uh when we bring businesses in, but also uh businesses that share our values and Commonwealth One.

Uh I've been working with them a long time, going back to my days working in the school system and doing financial literacy.

Uh so really appreciate how they uh like to be a community partner.

Uh later on, we also had uh the chair reception uh for the incoming chair for the um Alexander Chamber.

It was a rocking good time.

Uh yes, that was a lame joke because everybody got to wear a uh rock and roll or band t-shirt and it was a good good time.

Um also want to say congratulations to the newest recruit class for our fire department.

Uh we had several folks that were able to graduate, looking forward to um getting them further trained up and retaining them here uh thanks to some of our new collective bargaining agreements.

Uh also uh had the opportunity to go into DC for uh the Commonwealth Coffee, so thank you to Senators Warner and Kane uh for their yearly celebration of African American History Month.

Um also uh for Wamada Um we have the Virginia headquarters here in Eisenhower and uh it was the first ever youth advisory council that was hosted in the Commonwealth.

Uh and I think that's a big deal because nothing against having the uh the meetings in DC, but that's not always accessible for everyone.

Yes, I understand it's next to a metro station, but time length, uh comfortability with traveling uh the system, so it was nice to actually see it uh rotate into Virginia.

Hopefully we do something similar in Maryland.

Uh but it's an important way to get youth voices involved with how the system operates and how to make it more efficient uh from a youth perspective.

So thank you to all the modest staff uh for putting that together here in Virginia.

Also have the opportunity to stop by the uh Lease Center for another series of the housing master plan.

Uh very well attended, several very informative sessions as well as um panels letting everyone know why we're doing this, what it's gonna look like, what some of our hopes are, and what some of the challenges are.

Uh and then we had uh a very fun weekend with lots of activities.

Uh we had the Delray Chili Cook Off, which is always one of my favorites.

Um the only problem was empty bowls was the same night, so shout out to a live.

I was stuffed.

Um but if you went to one or both, you know they are great events in Alexandria every single year.

Um also want to give a shout out to Bombay Canteen uh who just opened on Eisenhower.

Um they are a slightly returning business owner along with another group uh fulfilling a dream to open a restaurant.

So congratulations to them.

I also like to just mention that the uh mayor has a wicked slider when it comes to coconut throwing.

Um I wasn't gonna mention that part, but it was uh it was definitely fun to behold uh the throwing of the coconuts, uh, which is good luck.

And uh I I will say credit to the mayor though, and and to everyone who threw the coconuts like myself, they all broke, which is good luck for the establishment.

Um also wanted to say uh thank you to the Juvenile Detention Center staff and the board for the invitation that they extended and uh giving me a tour.

This was uh the third tour, I believe, during my tenure on the council.

Um it it always strikes me uh the amazing work that we're doing at our juvenile detention center.

Uh artwork is the first thing that jumps out to you.

You you go into a detention center and a lot of times you it's a lack of windows, it's a lack of uh sunlight, it's a lack of just kind of emotion and feeling.

But you walk into this juvenile detention center and you can see that the staff not only cares, but that they're trying to bring a different approach to um what we're doing, especially with youth, uh given all the artwork that goes up on the walls, given um how involved the kids are in a variety of different uh areas, uh not just your day-to-day learning, which of course they are doing as well.

Uh so kudos to the detention center staff for all their hard work that they're doing and making it uh one of the best detention centers in the Commonwealth.

Um to the bike buses that uh participated in the St.

Patrick's Day Parade.

Several of us were able to stop by to witness some of their decorating.

Um I've not heard back, but I wanted to congratulate the Dash bus operators who participated in this state bus rodeo.

Uh we have a history of performing very well, so I'm looking forward uh to some positive news to share at the next uh oral report.

And the final thing that I'd like to say um it is tax time folks, and in this very building, Wednesdays and Saturdays, uh, we are giving free tax filing if you qualify.

So uh I myself was a beneficiary of this program, so I always like to mention it and um do so every single year.

But Centro del Pepper, Los Miércoles in la noche, los sábados in la mañana, soy califica van a ser sus impuestos completamente gratuito.

And with that, Mayor, uh that is my update.

Thank you, Councilman Aguirre.

I have to say the groundbreakings and the ribbon cuttings were definitely more exciting this year.

First time swinging a sledgehammer and first time throwing a coconut.

Are there other oral reports?

Councilman Green.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

I just wanted to let everyone know that on International Women's Day this past Sunday, um, I along with Alexandria celebrates women and the Ivy Foundation had a magnificent uh women's empowerment uh health forum.

It was called Empower Her.

And we had over 200 uh women come through that were able to learn about health issues that affect women of all ages.

Um it was a wonderful time.

Everyone had a really good time.

We also had wellness activities and over 30 vendors.

And some of the vendors, um actually quite a few of them were very new to Alexandria.

So introducing them to the city.

Uh we also had some of our city departments that were there, and thank you so much, the city manager and deputy city managers Baker and Purdeaux that attended, and also um our city attorney and Coco, thank you for stopping through as well.

It was a fun time.

Um we look for oh and Dashbus as well, they brought their um women's history month bus there for the ladies to uh to see as well.

So it was a good time.

I look forward to um next year where we're going to make it even bigger and better.

We're already in the planning process.

So thank you so much for that.

Thank you, Councilwoman Green.

Are there other oral reports?

Okay, Madam Clerk, next item.

CD City Manager oral report presentation on workforce development from the Brookings Institute.

Okay.

All right.

Um well for our state of the economy this month, we actually have a special guest.

I'd love to invite up Tracy Hayden Lowe from the Brookings Institute.

Um you can have a seat right here, and I think there should be a clicker.

If not, it is coming.

Looks like I just sat in working.

You know, this is a new space for us, so we are still adjusting uh to it as well.

But one of the and speaking with the manager, um, I actually had the opportunity to see Tracy present at the Council of Government.

And I think every month we've had the opportunity to hear from the manager on the overall state of the economy.

One issue that keeps coming up is around workforce and what is happening across our region and how things are changing specifically for our city.

And so this is an opportunity for us to get that deep dive and context, especially as we dive deeper into our budget.

So we're excited to welcome you as a guest.

And with that, I will turn it over to you to begin.

Thanks so much.

Is this is this on?

Yeah, great.

Um before I get started, I I do just want to recognize that not in my day job capacity at the Brookings Institute, but by night, I'm uh member of the Metro Board of Directors, and that Councilmember Gary is a valued colleague of mine.

And so it's really fun to be on the wrong side of the table from you and to um have a chance to learn more about what you do by night.

Okay, but let's let's jump into this day job stuff, which is uh regional macroeconomics.

Okay, so I'm a fellow at the Brookings Institution where I study regional economies.

Um to be honest with you, workforce development is is not usually a topic that I focus on a lot.

But I think we all in the past year have found ourselves, you know, pulled in directions that we weren't necessarily expecting.

And so, you know, this is not a complaint, but more just an observation that sometimes growth opportunities come from the directions we least expect.

So, you know, thinking back to a year ago from now, um it was kind of just after the inauguration that it it became pretty clear pretty fast that the second Trump administration was not going to be like the first one.

And that a big priority of the administration was going to be making dramatic cuts to both federal employment and federal spending on grants and contracts.

So the numbers that I'm showing on the slide are national numbers.

This is for the country as a whole.

And a big question I think we all had at first was how is this gonna land in the DMV?

But in 2025, I think we also wondered, you know, is this just like the beginning of a new administration trying to brand itself?

How durable is this disruption going to be?

And what we've seen is that actually a lot of the changes that the Trump administration has made administratively are being codified into law by Congress.

And so there is going to be at least some durability to a lot of these changes.

And so we decided to do a research project that would monitor on an ongoing basis to not treat this as a flash in the pan or one-time disruption, but to monitor on an ongoing basis the DMV region's economy and how it's evolving because of all of these new policies and practices.

So we do think there's a national case for caring about the DMV, but I don't know that that's going to sell so well on the road.

So the prosperity of Virginia is the prosperity of the DMV.

And what happens to this regional economy, which is a regional and national powerhouse, really matters.

And so I would ask leaders at that spatial scale to pay special attention to the graphs that I'm about to show.

Because what this is about is not just me having fun working at a think tank making the perfect graphs of the most incredible data that I was able to find.

This is really about partnering with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, who's been an incredible partner on this project to bring the leaders of our region together across sectors.

So not just our elected officials, but also the private sector and philanthropy so that we can act.

Because the changes that are happening right now don't just have to be something that happens to us.

I believe at least there's always something we can focus on and control as well.

So in partnership with COG, we've pulled together a really unusual data set.

We've created a web-based dashboard of 25 indicators, tracking the region's economy.

I'm going to show you, I'm not going to make you sit all through all 25.

You're going to get the greatest hits.

The executive summary.

But what I want to flag is that in order to create something that can really give us more real-time intelligence, in addition to using the more conventional public data sets that we're familiar with from the Census and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, we're also looking at private data sets so that you can see the same data that the private sector looks at for business intelligence purposes.

This allows us to have a shared set of facts.

And so we also look at these same data elements for everyone, every other major metro area in the United States, everywhere that has more than a million people.

We look at all these same indicators, all these same trends, so that we can understand is this a lot or a little?

We need context because otherwise these numbers mean nothing.

So let me show you a little bit about that.

So what I'm showing here is that you can see that our region is heading in a different direction than other major metro areas as a whole.

On the left, we see total employment.

And you can see that job growth in major metro areas in the country is still positive.

But our region lost jobs last year.

We lost more jobs than any other major metro area in the United States.

There are counties within our region where job growth is still positive.

So every jurisdiction within the DMV is not being equally impacted.

And so I do think that makes it a challenge for us all to come together and respond.

And rather than hiding that fact, we're just shown it on our website, and we need to talk through it.

We need to talk through it.

Because I think that the macro challenge is something that unites us, even if the micro challenge is not the same in every jurisdiction.

And actually, I think the graph on the right illustrates that.

That actually federal job loss has not been concentrated in the city of Alexandria.

Our region has been very disproportionately hit by federal job loss, even though the federal government is the nation's largest employer, and we might think that federal job loss would be spread all around the country.

This isn't sequestration.

We're not talking about across the board cuts.

These cuts have been targeted, and they've very disproportionately impacted this region.

But to be 100% real, Alex got off super light compared to pretty much every literally actually everybody else.

And there were quarters where the city of Alexandria, and I'm sure you guys have seen the headlines actually gained federal jobs in some quarters of this year.

And so I know that you guys feel kind of both sides of the trends that are going on right now and can really relate to, you know, listen, there's, you know, data element A that says we don't need to come together.

There's data element B that says we do.

And you understand, you know, there's a lot of nuance around this.

And that's why we end up with 25 indicators.

But also why, you know, we need to take this kind of holistic look at the big picture in order to understand what it what is it that we're talking about and what are we trying to act around.

For the city of Alexandria, the concern is the private sector.

So you know, on the story of what's happening in the DMV in terms of the economy is not just about direct federal employment.

It's about the impacts to the private sector that come from cuts to federal grants and contracts.

But also there are second and third order impacts, even in pieces of the private sector that you know aren't really that directly related to the federal government, just because they're located in the DMV, maybe it seems like there's an uncertainty or proximity effect.

And so that's why our when we just look at private employment, we see that our region is still adding jobs in the private sector, but that um that's only in some subsectors.

Other subsectors were seeing really serious losses, and those subsectors are very present in the city of Alexandria.

And so the city of Alexandria lost more private sector jobs than almost any other jurisdiction in the whole DMV last year.

And as a result, you know, unemployment has surged.

So the all the job data that I was showing you is about the geography where a job is located.

Unemployment data is measured by the jurisdiction where the worker lives.

And we are an integrated region in which even a jurisdiction like, for example, Arlington that has jobs housing balance, that doesn't mean that everyone who lives in Arlington has a job in Arlington, right?

Actually, we know half the population works somewhere else, and all those jobs in Arlington, half of them are held by people who don't live in the county.

So in terms of unemployment regionally, we see it's way up.

Uh unemployment has dramatically surged in our region relative to the country as a whole.

And when we look at the microemployment picture for every jurisdiction in the region, we see that the city of Alexandria's residents have been hit harder than any other Virginia jurisdiction.

I do want to take a deep breath here and note that when we're talking about what's happening with unemployment, the big picture is that these impacts are very disproportionately concentrated in the district in Maryland.

So everything is relative.

And this is why context is so important.

But I think there is a unique case for the city of Alexandria to care about what's happening in DC and Maryland and in this particular situation.

Especially because these what's happening in the economy is making inequality worse.

And there's there's just kind of no way to sugarcoat it.

You know, here I'm showing that the unemployment rate for black workers has gone up over two percentage points in just one year, while the unemployment rate for white workers has gone up less than one percentage point.

This kind of inequitable and disproportionate impact is consistent with the national trend.

So this is not unique to the doge story.

This is just how the economy in a society that hasn't achieved the ideal of equality works.

And we see similar disproportionate impacts along gender lines.

This is very inefficient, and there are kind of bad macro impacts for productivity.

And so our region is going to take a big hit from this that we are structurally unprepared to absorb.

It creates an overall environment of uncertainty in our region that has to be something that's on the mind of any employer that might consider locating or growing within our region.

And so what we're seeing is more cautious hiring.

While hiring remains positive nationwide, we're seeing that it's a lot more lukewarm in our region.

And we're seeing, again, a very disproportionate impact on opportunities for young people.

And so what I'm showing in this graph here is that while internships are down nationwide, they're down almost 30% in our region.

This is a crisis for young people.

If you have a young person in your life, you probably have already heard about this.

But this is not an anecdotal experience that is happening to one young person.

What I'm showing here is systematic data about what young people are experiencing right now, which is that they are being shut out of opportunity in our region.

And that extends to young firms.

We've seen a collapse in venture capital flow to startups in our region.

This is in part because 2024 was one of the best years ever for startups in the DMV.

And when you're very high, you potentially have very far to fall.

But I think we all know what's happening nationally in terms of the trend in startups, right?

This is the AI moment, right?

The stock market is surging kind of against a lot of other macro indicators that might suggest slower growth, and that's because of the AI opportunity in the AI moment.

Our region is one of just five AI star hubs in the United States where we have all the right ingredients for massive growth around innovation in the AI space.

But the dollars are not arriving to capitalize those raw ingredients.

And so to me, this is a five-alarm fire from an innovation economy perspective.

No one jurisdiction within the DMV can solve this alone.

This is not about any one jurisdiction and what their policies are.

This is something we can only address if the whole region came together, and I'm not even talking about all the governments.

There is no way to even understand what this graph truly means without sitting down at the table with the private sector.

We need to understand what's driving this and if there's anything we can do to address it.

The visitor economy has also taken a disproportionate hit here in our region.

It's obviously been a very chaotic few years for the visitor economy for obvious reasons.

And so very low RevPAR growth nationwide follows actually like several years of declines.

But we are seeing actually like an acceleration of decline in our region, which is counter to the national trend.

And these impacts are disproportionately felt in the core jurisdictions of the DMV, right?

So this is basically this is a graph, but you can read it as a map of the region, right?

In which the core jurisdictions are on the left and the outer jurisdictions are on the right.

And we can see an inversion of what we would usually expect in terms of trends for hotel demand.

And this, I show this graph, you know, in part because you may be hearing from partners and stakeholders in the hospitality sector about what they're going through.

If they're screaming, it's, you know, sometimes you wonder like, are you screaming because you stubbed your toe or because you broke your leg?

I, you know, I asked this question, I'm a mom.

Okay, and so some, you know, sometimes like you scream really hard about like the teeny boo-boos.

Um in this case, I would say big boo-boo.

And uh I'm sure my kids wish they could get independent third-party nonpartisan verification of the size of each boo-boo, but that's part of what we want to do with the DMV monitor.

When you're hearing from trade associations and they're showing you scary data, you have to wonder is it real?

Or are they just trying to seize a moment?

And you know, here we I can say I have absolutely nothing to gain or lose from the hospitality sector.

This is just what we see in the data.

And I think the big question for everyone is are people leaving because of this?

And we are still struggling with how to answer this question, but what we have done is look at homes for sale in the DMV, and what we're seeing is that um our region has a bigger increase in churn than any other region in the United States, except for Charlotte, which is a very rapidly growing region where there's a lot of home sale churn because of growth.

We've had a huge increase in home sale listings.

And those increases have been concentrated in the Virginia suburbs.

Dramatically so.

It's really the I find the numbers juxtaposed with the District of Columbia's numbers to be particularly striking.

Where there's a seller, there's a buyer.

So it's hard to interpret this graph.

I'm not here to tell you this means something good or bad, even.

You know, it's this is that's why we have so many data points.

So we did go ahead and take a look at the price data as well.

And what we see is that the actual sale prices of homes have fallen more in the city of Alexandria than any other jurisdiction, the DMV, and that we see a negative price trend in homes across the region in every jurisdiction, except way out there in fuck here.

And that uh while prices are softening nationwide, that's to be expected, right?

Persistent high interest rates.

You know, buyers have less purchasing power, like sellers need to be real.

This this is what you expect.

Um, you know, interest rates are national.

The trend that we see is local.

I have one graph that has good news on it, which is that crime is down in every jurisdiction in the region since last year.

Um this is what people want to see, this is what we need, this is good news.

And I think we should celebrate the fact that crime is down more in the city of Alexandria than any jurisdiction of the DMV, and I congratulate each and every one of you.

Um, you know, this is outstanding stuff.

And many people wish they could put these kinds of points on the board, but here you are.

I think the crime trend shows that our region has enduring value and has some very strong fundamentals.

So now that we're informed, you know, the idea should be that we come together and act.

So, you know, when we think about the impacts on young people, for example, um, this is an area in which I think workforce development policy can make a really big difference.

And um we need to work with employers in order to try to address um this really rapidly emerging trend that we're seeing in the data.

We're already starting to see some of that.

Maybe some of you have heard about um the council of government's new initiative, talentcapital.ai.

I know it's kind of sounds lame to say like the region came together and made a website, but I want to be clear like talentcapital.ai is more than a website.

It's a career coach in which if you're looking to transition sectors and you're trying to figure out how your skills can translate to job descriptions that maybe use different acronyms, um different vocabulary than you've had to use.

Maybe you're really used to KSAs.

Well, now you got to learn about KPIs.

And this is a website that can help you translate your skills to new opportunities.

And so it's it's really much more than just a regional job board.

It's something I encourage everyone to check out.

And it's an example of the region coming together.

Because we don't need a job board for the residents of the city of Alexandria and one for the residents of the District of Columbia and another one for the residents of Montgomery County.

We just, it's one labor market and we need one job board, and now we have it.

And so I think there's much more that we could do together.

If you want to, if you're a big nerd, like some people, uh there's a website where you can go look up some more data.

But also if you don't want to look up more data, please feel free to email me and I'll do it for you.

Well, first, thank you, Tracy.

Um, to my colleagues, I think you can see now why I wanted Tracy to join us.

Um Tracy, I don't know if I ever shared this with you, but as a council, when we set forth our council priorities, we said that we want our legacy to be building our economic strength, and we want the other piece of our legacy to be eliminating community disparities.

And so when I saw your data, I was like, this is exactly what we need to understand so we can figure out where the places we can be most strategic in intervening.

I think also too, as we go into our budget deliberations.

I mean, just yesterday we had about 20-something speakers talk about the affordability of the region and trying to understand that connection between housing jobs and all of these pieces, your data.

I don't know if it's because I was a big nerd or if I was just like, oh my God, pick on me, pick me.

Um I this is like the first time I've seen it broken out so clearly on what it means for Alexandria and what we should be paying attention to.

So I do want to open it up to see um Vice Mayor Bagley.

Oh, button's missing.

Um thank you so much for the presentation.

Um of the things I was sort of struck by was you're like your opening um slides on the codification of these changes.

I don't know that that had really um sort of been clear to me.

I think I I sort of wondered how transient this might be, and can we just kind of persevere through it?

So one of the things I'm curious about is is this project monitoring or looking into ways that while it might be codifying certain reductions or changes, does it create other opportunities?

Like are there ways for our local economy to sort of shift in response to these codified changes?

Is there a not currently within scope of this project, but this is an open-ended and ongoing project.

And I've reached out actually to a bunch of um potential contributors to the project to try to say, like, listen, I've kind of done the data baseline piece, like let's bring in a lot of expertise and start brainstorming here.

Because I was the thing about taking the comparative metro approach is that you know, I I now have this sort of mountain of data where I can compare our region to all these other metro areas in the country.

And I'll the fundamentals are still very strong.

Second most educated workforce in the country, lower crime, better credit scores, you know, and like yes, we have a housing crisis, but actually it's even worse in some other places.

You know, I think that there is a lot that we can do.

For example, like I facilitated a panel with the economic development directors of five uh local jurisdictions throughout the region in December.

I was really struck by the fact that all of these professionals who are from jurisdictions where they they compete with each other.

Like these aren't they're not friends.

They're directly competing with each other in a lot of contexts, but they were united in what they thought the number one barrier to growing the DMV economy was.

They did not say Trump.

They all said the cost of housing.

I was shocked.

City, suburb, alike.

Every single one of them said the cost of housing.

And I, you know, I think COG has done a lot to try to urge us to act as a region to address that.

Actually, I think City of Alexandria way out front relative to most other jurisdictions in addressing that.

And so what we need is for more jurisdictions in the region to get on board with that, and we will all benefit.

No, I I appreciate that.

I think um the other uh the other you brought out the um hotel revenue or the the one you referred to as a map, which I thought was a great way to reference it.

And I'm curious, um, did you draw any other conclusions beyond like it's gone up farther away you get and it's gone down?

Is there like a next step to that analysis in terms of like what's next?

Is this just a matter of shifting?

Um is this a result of international relations?

Is this the result of uh conferences, you know, just sort of like that that contraction in the government.

I just I'm curious if there was like a next layer that to go with that data so that we could try to respond to it.

You're not so you're so right to ask that question.

Um I do I do need to look into this more because it's actually a little bit contradictory.

Overnight visits to the DMV are up relative to the year before.

That's a positive indicator of demand for the region.

It's just that pricing, right?

Rev par is a is a measure of uh you know, both aggregate demand, but also the intensity of demand.

And so there's something missing in the intensity of demand.

I did do an analysis in December that tried to look under the hood of this a little bit.

And because we're a very big region, right?

Like I went to speak to the Prince William County Board of Supervisors this morning, for example, and it it took me over an hour.

Like this is a very large region.

A lot of the hotel demand in our region comes from within the region.

So we can't the my metric of the overnight visitation, right?

Like you immediately went to the hypothesis of like, is this Canadians?

Which I you're right to be asking these questions.

But uh if we accept that a big chunk of the demand is coming from within the region, then that's consistent with some other elements in the data set that show weakening demand within, weakening consumer confidence within the region.

And so, you know, for example, like let's say I live in Loudoun and I decide like I'm gonna you know pop into town for something.

Maybe I just get a hotel.

Like why?

You know, do you know so this kind of thing is uh is a driver of hotel demand.

You know, oh I'm gonna come to old town for New Year's.

Let's let's absolutely make that a two-day affair, right?

Minimum.

So I think the issue is um uh the calls coming from inside the house on what's happening in terms of hospitality demand.

Councilman Aguary.

Um that point, I think you know it's it's interesting.

I've had some anecdotal conversations to your point around you know, the internal demand.

Um of it is the feds aren't having conferences.

Yeah.

So then they're not doing stuff internally in terms of you know, some of that intensity that you were talking about, and then that has some of the trickle-down effects, you know.

Well, they're not having that conference.

Well, now my group that you know caters to the this federal department, now they're not having their conference and and so on and so on.

Um so it it is uh really intriguing.

Um I just want to start there before I I forget forget that point.

Um but I did want to say thank you again for being here.

I think this information is while while somewhat somber, um I think it does present a lot of uh opportunity and also uh the ability to show off the region's resiliency.

Um because that's one of the things that I've been very impressed with, you know, the 15 years I've been here.

And I remember uh my my first year on on the council, actually the first few months, I hope to pass uh the very first of its kind resolution, which was a regionalism resolution, you know, trying to indicate that we can't do these things by ourselves in a vacuum.

Thank you, by the way, for the shout-out on the housing.

Uh I do believe Alexandria leads.

Um but we're a smaller jurisdiction, we can't do it by ourselves.

We need the surrounding jurisdictions to pitch in with some of the housing, especially some of the jurisdictions that just have land because we we don't have land in Alexandria, but I think that's what's forced us to be very creative with what we do in terms of housing.

Um with uh what you were talking about around the youth also have been hearing a lot of that.

I literally just have this conversation with uh a housing analyst that we here have here in Alexandria, and they're like, hey, you know, if you don't mind me telling you between the cost of living and how much the city pays, and I'm like, say no more.

I'm I totally get it.

And it's just uh a recurring, you know, recurring issue that we keep on saying.

And um but on on the positive side, I do want to say, you know, this council's been very active and trying to look at incubators.

And to your point, you know, the raw materials are there.

We just need to draw in some of the capital.

Um so we we have we actually have an RFP out right now.

Um so hopefully we could get some of that.

And then the last kind of comment I wanted to make too around the the talent capital AI and translating skills.

Um shout out to Don Byer, our congress member here because he had a couple of uh job fairs and He is a big AI nerd.

I'm not gonna do that.

Respectfully, yeah.

Um it pulled people from the entire region, right?

We had our parking lots were completely full.

You go into the into GW middle school, you go into a couple of high schools that they hosted it at.

I mean, it was packed.

Federal workers trying to figure out and they had a whole session on how do I translate what my skills are, you know, from the federal government to say what the city is using, local government, state government, whatever it might be.

So very, very cool to have that tool.

I'm definitely going to check it out for myself, see how my skills translate.

But it it just goes again that there are these things that we can be utilizing that the entire region could benefit from.

So I'm really glad that that's happening.

And the last thing that I'll say is some of the irony around some of what's going on at the federal level and even with our former governor when the current president won put together a whole reel of saying, come live in Virginia.

It's awesome.

And also had, you know, uh a clip of Alexandria and our free dash in it.

And the juxtaposition wasn't, you know, kind of lost on me, uh, but to some of your point where you're saying with uh the housing um market and what's selling and what you know, there's obviously someone who wants to buy, and so um who we're getting to come into the region.

Um matter what, it's still the federal government, and we're still gonna pull some people.

So it's it's interesting what's going on with some of the real estate market.

And I I just want to be clear that I, you know, I'm I'm here on a nonpartisan basis.

I I actually don't have a take on you know, I've I've spent actually like a substantial percentage of my career.

I, you know, I mainly advise state and local governments, and I've spent a big percentage of my career being very critical of the federal government.

And so I'm not here to say, you know, oh, the the federal government should not get smaller.

Um but there's no region that could absorb the macroeconomic shock of this amount of job loss in one year.

That it's just that's not how economies work.

And if we look at other federal transitions that have involved downsizing, for example, such as BREC that have been negative for this region.

Actually, we were able to absorb and and and move beyond because they were thoughtful, they were data-driven, there was a process.

Thank you so much.

And and lastly, I'd be remiss if I didn't say thank you too for your service on Lamada.

Thank you for choosing MetroRail.

I actually so my colleague brought up um one of the things we've just put in an RFP for is a new incubator program.

I look at your slide though that shows just the amount of venture capital dip in the full region.

And you talked about like no one city can absorb that alone.

I guess I'm curious as we think about starting our own program.

Like, what advice would you have for us or how we should be thinking differently about partnering across the region to make something like this actually successful?

So my number one advice is don't ask me for the advice.

Go to the board of trade, ask them for advice.

I'm not an expert on what the best way to run an incubator is.

Um I do think that there's you know, when you're in the startup game, there is an element of like you need the raw ingredients that you can't fake, right?

Like the value proposition, the talent, um, the uh the real estate.

Okay, you're working on like some of that is just already present here, and then you're solving for some other pieces.

And then a bunch of the other stuff is more tacit.

It's like, well, the know-how of like not just to implement my value proposition, but to like, you know, make it a real business plan.

And then also like marketing.

I can't get the venture capital if you've never heard of me.

How can I somehow get myself into the New York Times?

Do I have do I have to stage some kind of do I have to launch a balloon?

Like what's it gonna take here?

You know, and and actually these are pieces where you know you guys have uh a pulpit.

So for example, like you know, DC has like DC Startup Week.

And that I actually went to DC startup week this past fall because I was curious.

I was like, what do governments do?

You know, this is like me essentially going back to grad school.

And it was like it was basically a marketing event where like DC-based startups were meeting with like the funders came because it was like, you know, all the ducks had been all the adorable little ducks had been put into a row for them, and all they had to do was, you know, sit there, and the ducks would just march right by them.

I mean, the the value proposition of that is clear, right?

It's much easier to find a why am I talking about ducks?

Anyway, and an animal to adopt, it's much easier to go to the pound to find one than it is to just wander around a neighborhood.

So uh, you know, I think there's something to be said for just like, well, you know, the public sector can help organize and market, right?

And just, you know, um, you know, help a little bit with the kind of low value um, you know, searching of of where to put the spotlight piece.

Um, but I really think that there are other people who have a lot more expertise in this area.

Uh I will say I did leave DC Startup Week being really heartened that there are so many entrepreneurs in this area that have really cool ideas.

This is not just like some town where everyone wants a safe government job.

Actually, there are tons of people with enormous energy and really innovative ideas.

Thank you.

Are there other questions or comments?

Uh Councilman Chapman.

Excuse me.

Just one kind of comment on one of the things I would bring to the attention of my colleagues.

Given the numbers we've seen here, we are seeing organizations that are already mentioned, Northern Virginia Regional Commission, or seeing other other organizations regionally reorient themselves, taking information like this and saying, hey, how do I need to change strategically so that I can uh adapt my services, my programs, my initiatives to kind of combat the issues here.

I would say we've talked about this for Visit Alexandria, uh Virginia Tourism Commission.

They've taken on a strategic plan uh to really look at how do we continue to bring dollars in.

Um well, let me just say this.

I think the the action item out of that information is that if you are with a regional commission or regional entity like all of us are, I think the common question that we should all be asking is how we how is that regional entity reorganizing itself to attack the issues and the data that we see here?

Well, because not all of them are doing it.

Some of them are doing it, but some of them have not had a presentation like this or uh or not paying attention to the data.

Um and I think that is for me a significant thing.

I I also wonder whether we're thinking enough about the opportunity for collective impact.

Like, for example, I think every local jurisdiction does have a visit, you know, uh entity that is doing marketing.

Um if we combined our dollars and said, you know, this is a region that has something to offer everyone.

Um could we have a higher impact marketing campaign that was a win for everyone?

Um if we uh collectively put together our dollars for purchasing power?

I don't know.

Because I only look at Instagram like once a year, so I don't know how marketing works.

But ask someone who does know how it works if there's an opportunity there.

I think it was a COG meeting where Mr.

Mercer said that the number one ads in Metro stations right now are all from other states saying move here now.

And if we had the same collective power of those states that are trying to pull our talent away to say, stay here now and we'll keep you here, like what would that what would that look like?

So I and the thing is it's not just move, right?

Because I think yeah, we probably have all seen these visit filly ads.

You know, it's extremely data-driven.

Yeah.

Like now that I've started this project, which involves analyzing credit card data, I've realized like there's a it's a really deep hole you can go down.

Those ads are there because they know everything about us.

And they know that we are already going to Philadelphia to look at their adorable art museum.

They're 100% onto us, and are we getting 100% onto them?

Um Councilman Chapman.

And lastly, I mean, I think this is why we did the uh economic summit.

So also reorient what we do in the city.

Um I think with having uh a plan now to execute.

You know, we can try to attack in our own way some of the numbers that we're seeing here.

So thank you very much for the presentation.

Thanks for having me.

No, thank you.

And we really appreciate the time.

I know that we'll be following up and just thank you for taking the time to come and give us this deep dive, but also additional tools that we can go back and dive deeper into.

And we'll be continuing to partner with the council of governments and to update this website, but also just to we want to inform your work.

So I'm also continually looking for ideas for what are the topics, for example, hotel rev par that we need to dive deeper on and get closer to what the underlying driver is.

So keep it coming.

I can promise we will be doing that.

Thank you so much for your time, Tracy.

Okay, Madam Clerk, next item.

Action docket roll call consent items 10 through 17.

Okay, is there a motion?

There's been a motion by Councilman uh Agire and a second by Councilwoman Green to move the action docket items 10 through 17.

Madam Clerk, this well, any discussion?

Okay.

Madam Clerk, this is a roll call vote.

Please call the roll.

Councilman McGurry.

Aye.

Councilwoman Green.

Hi.

Councilman Chapman.

Councilman L.

Newby.

Aye.

Okay, Madam Clerk, next item.

Introduction in first reading, consideration, passage of first reading of an ordinance to on the proposed real and personal property tax rate and proposed effective tax rate increase for calendar year 2026.

Okay.

And we have a very brief presentation by Director Greenleaf as well as some of our other members of the budget team.

Director Route and Amanda Hamm.

Good evening.

Kevin Greenleaf, Director of Finance.

So tonight uh council is going to consider the uh tax rate authorization for the FY27 proposed budget, um, setting the maximum um property tax rates.

The real estate tax rate will be advertised um in the Washington Times, those two times per state code, and then the tax rate public hearing will be scheduled for April 18th, and then council will take final action on April 29th.

This chart shows you the um prior history on the tax rates, and you'll see a couple of those years, FY22, FY20 um uh three.

Um council and twenty um four council proposed uh uh uh set a higher tax rate.

Council can't can set a maximum tax rate.

You can adopt one below that, but you can't go higher.

And you can see a couple of those years you advertise a higher rate, but you kept the existing rate.

And then FY25, you uh advertised $1.15, but you you adopted an increase, but it was only $1.13.5.

And so uh the proposed budget is set at a dollar thirteen five right now, and council will have the opportunity to determine what tax rate is set for F427.

Okay.

Thank you, Director Greenleaf.

Are there any questions for staff?

Okay.

So with that, we can dive right into our discussion, or if folks um have a proposed rate, we can start there.

Councilman Chapman.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Um for staff, if we wanted to do uh uh if we wanted to advertise one cent above the current rate, that would be a dollar one forty-five $1.14.5.

$1.14.5.

Thank you for saying that.

And each value of a penny is about $4.9 million.

Okay.

Um Madam Mayor, I'd like to put that on the table as uh suggested advertised rate.

Okay, do you want to do that as a motion or just discussion?

Yes, please.

Is there a second?

No second.

Okay.

There has been a motion by Councilman Chapman and a second by Councilman Aguirre.

Is there any discussion?

I don't know.

Uh Councilman Chapman.

Uh thank you.

If you've been following uh this particular meeting over the years, uh I usually um just as a customary measure uh like to go uh a little bit over it just to give us another tool in the toolbox, not necessarily saying that we are going to go up one cent or go up half a cent, as you can see with the real estate history.

Um so uh it's really incumbent on council members uh to uh try to uh find dollars if they want to do stuff uh that are already uh in our budget, uh not necessarily new money.

Uh but I do think it is uh not the best case scenario uh to set um uh uh set no increase uh as your um advertiser rate uh because you have no wheel room uh and uh I just don't think that's appropriate way to do that, but um folks can feel differently uh Vice Mayor Bagley.

Um I appreciate my colleague putting um an uh a value on the floor and the discussion and the you know the the concept behind it sort of giving us room to move.

I think what I am uncomfortable with or what I would ask to consider perhaps as a friendly amendment would be sort of splitting the difference.

I think I am not not currently comfortable with the idea, absent for the developments in the process to to actually implement a one cent tax rate, but I agree with you the the idea of maybe a discussion space, you know, through the rest of the process.

So would my colleague be open to a friendly amendment of uh Mr.

Greenleaf, what would what would half of the proposed one cent be as a total?

Be a dollar fourteen.

Okay, even I just want to I mean I can do that level of math.

But it's we'll say it's late.

But it's also I can certainly subtract a point oh five, but I think it's safe.

2.45 million.

My apologies.

Yeah.

No, that's no, I appreciate that.

Um so that's the net revenue.

The rate would be 1.14.

Um and to be clear, that would also produce, I assume, like that mini half bump of one and a half would be available uh uh you know as well.

So I I would prefer uh that be a substitute motion, uh not necessarily from the amendment.

So if there is the will of the council to do that as a half cent, um somebody else can make that motion, but do that as a separate uh motion.

Okay, Vice Mayor Bagley?

Sure, no, thank you.

Um so I'd I'd move um I'd look for a second then for a substitute um motion to advertise 1.14.

Okay, is there a second?

Can I say I can't.

Yeah, I need somebody else.

Okay.

Um there's no second, so we are that motion dies and we are back to the motion that is on the table for a one cent um advertisement of one cent.

Councilman Gary.

I I I'm supportive of of this advertisement.

Uh you know, we we did something similar my first year on the council.

Um there was huge concern from some of the um established council members that whenever an advertisement is made that the council makes a decision to go forward with it.

Um but you know, we showed restraint and uh to Councilman Chapman's point, I do like to have the to be less technical wiggle room uh to see what an additional cent is.

Uh currently where I stand, I wouldn't want to utilize it.

Um, but don't want to take something off the table uh until we get to that point that's needed.

So I'm still supportive of one cent.

Doesn't mean we have to do one cent, one cent is the maximum, could still do a half cent or not do anything.

Uh Councilman Green.

Uh yeah, that's that's the clarification um that I needed that uh Mr.

Aguirre just said we can go up to one cent with advertising at one cent.

Okay.

Thank you.

Uh I guess I just want to echo because I think my um, you know, it's interesting.

I I think I had um thoughts that it were and with the vice mayor as well as Councilman Aguirre and Councilman Chapman.

I agree, you know, it's helpful to have some wiggle room.

You know, we've only started our budget deliberations and we've only heard from maybe like five different departments, and so we still have a lot more discussion to have.

Uh personally, I was a little more comfortable with where the vice mayor had us, but um and I think ultimately I'm at a place right now where I would not like to see us use this.

Um I think we've been presented a very strong budget at the current tax rate, and we're still finding efficiencies for other funding that we can use for some of our priorities.

And so I'm willing to support uh the motion given that it gives us that wiggle room, but I just do want my colleagues to know my thinking is that as we get deeper into budget adoption, I'm probably leaning very strongly towards no um no increase.

Is there any other discussion?

Councilman L.

L.

Newby.

Um not to repeat what anyone said.

Um I I support it for the same reasons that were previously mentioned, not that I want to see a tax increase this year.

It's a tough year, and we just saw the numbers that were presented to us, and uh I agree with the mayor, we were presented a really good budget uh where we made a lot of cuts to be able to make room for the new spending, and I think it's a pretty good budget.

But I I hesitate to take a tool out of the toolbox early in the process.

So I'd rather keep it there, um, but not necessarily in favor of using it.

Okay.

Um as we prepare to take a vote, just wanted to lift up two dates for the public.

Um so there are multiple more oper multiple more, it doesn't even sound right.

There are additional opportunities to weigh in um via our public hearing on the advertised uh on what is that on the maximum allowable rate that we are setting.

There is the public hearing this Saturday, the 14th, and then there is a specific hearing on April 18th related to um this um advertised maximum rate.

And so there has been a motion and a second.

There's also been discussion.

Madam Clerk, this is a roll call vote.

Please call the roll.

Councilman Chapman.

Aye.

Councilman Aguirre.

Aye.

Mayor Gaskins.

Aye.

Vice Mayor Bagley.

Aye.

Councilman El Newby.

Aye.

Councilwoman Green.

Aye.

Okay.

The ayes have it.

Thank you.

Madam Clerk, next item.

Consideration of a resolution of intent to appropriate funding to the Alexandria City Public Schools by major classification beginning FY2028.

Okay.

Um there is not a PowerPoint for this item.

It is mainly an item for discussion.

As before we dive into discussion, there are just a couple things I wanted to cover because there's been some conversation around this in the public.

I think the first is around the legality of what we are discussing today.

City Council has the authority pursuant to both local and state law to appropriate funds to support the city government and also to our public schools.

That includes the structure by which those appropriations are made.

What we are discussing today is the intent of the council to ask ACPS to submit their estimates broken down by major classifications.

For contacts, this is already a part of the ACPS budget process.

In fact, their audit is submitted based on these categories as required by state law.

One question that we have received is sort of why now, why this conversation.

So there is no change that is being proposed to the FY27 budget.

The idea would be that this would signal intent for FY28, leaving time to bring the public up to speed, time for us to work with various city departments, as well as work with ACPS on kind of what this process would look like.

I know additionally we've even talked about continuing to research and reach out to other jurisdictions on the things that have worked or or did not work.

And I would just say, you know, no, that's a decision that the council gets to make.

What this is and what a resolution is, it's non-binding.

It's an opportunity to signal this is a conversation that we want to have.

And so that might mean, I mean, we have our budget and fiscal affairs advisory commission.

That might mean we reach out to them for a proposal and engagement on what a process could look like.

That might mean that there are work sessions with the school board or town halls or pop-ups.

There are many different ways we can think about what it looks like to provide feedback.

This is not about changing our operational role or changing the operational role of the school board.

What it is is being honest and transparent around how we would like to see information presented back to us, but also how we want the public to understand council's deliberations.

You know, right now we I mean, even just yesterday we got a lot of folks engaging with the budget where they'll say, you know, fund middle school sports or make sure you fund teachers or make sure you fund this element or this element.

We currently don't have a way to be transparent about how are we thinking of that as a council?

What is going through our mind when we're doing those appropriations, and how can the community help us think through that engagement and the pieces that we need to understand?

So I know we'll have much more discussion, but I did just want to take a minute to just assure the public that, you know, of the legal foundation for what we are discussing, but also the opportunity for us as a community to come up to speed to create a process and to really think through together what this looks like and giving ourselves as much time as possible to do that.

So that um are do any of my colleagues have comments or um questions, discussion.

Councilman Alnuby.

I think uh it's probably important to clarify the public.

This is just operating budget.

The capital budget will remain a lump sum, and we can't direct ACPS help spend their capital money, but this is just the operating budget.

Um just want to make that clear for the public, and if I am wrong, please correct me.

That is correct.

Councilwoman Green.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Um within the last 24 hours, I learned that this process was done uh back in the 90s, um, so a little while ago.

But I would love to have information on why they went back to doing it the way that we currently have it in process, and I have as the city manager for that information.

If we could continue to try and find that, that'd be very helpful.

Yes, I think we can find that, and I guess an element that I might add to it is it's there's one conversation that is why they changed.

There's another conversation around what would be done differently as we think about process and what sorts of departments and engagements would we need to have as we understand that further.

Absolutely.

Other questions or comments?

Uh Councilman Agarry.

Just a couple of quick comments, Madam Mayor, and you know, I think you did a really great job of um laying out the the landscape.

So apologies if I'm just reiterating some of what you've already stated, but um number one, some folks tried to say that this wasn't legal.

I mean, that's that's just silly.

Just want to say again, this is very much one of our legal options.

It's literally in the state code, one of the two options that we have.

Um in terms of timeline, again, this this isn't taking effect in this budget cycle.

It's taking effect in the next budget cycle, which is almost a year from now.

And on top of that, we are gonna go through it once, we're gonna see how it goes.

We decide, you know, hey, we need to switch some things around, then we'll do that.

That's we have the options to do that.

Um the categories, again, reiterating existing categories, schools already have to do it.

It's not some major change, it's already what what's there.

And so it's a matter of being able to say, okay, well, if you want this money for collective bargaining, are you actually putting it into that category?

Or are you shifting that money into a different category?

And so it helps with the transparency and the accountability.

Um lastly, uh thank you to uh Councilwoman Green for bringing up uh some of the history because uh for me this goes back uh to my first or second year on council with where it's something that we discussed but didn't move forward with, and I know that it's probably been discussed even much longer before that.

Uh so it it's it's been out there for a while.

Uh so I I understand that some folks in the community are kind of might be caught off guard, but I just wanted to say again, this isn't something that is that is brand new.

Councilman Chapman.

Thank you, Madam Mayor, and I apologize.

I have some throat issues.

So uh my long-winded uh uh discussion about this, uh we'll have to wait to another time.

Um but for me, this is this is a process that has um been on my mind since 2013 when I spoke to the then manager and then city attorney about that opportunity, mainly because of the transparency factor.

I think one of the things I recall uh over a couple of terms is uh different stories around when one money was moved and the community did not really know or understand uh this is an opportunity, a layer uh for the movement of money.

Uh so for example, uh in this new process if if ACPS was to uh take money from uh maintenance and now use it for pupil transportation, there's a layer of of conversation uh that actually has to happen.

Um actually happen has to happen with the governing body because one of the things that's probably gonna come out in this process, ACPS is gonna say say that I need X amount of dollars for this type of work.

Um when they say that to us and they say that to the community, that's something that we will go to believe.

Uh if something changes, then there's an actual opportunity to say something has shifted, what's the shift, what the dollar shift is, and be able to have that conversation right now.

Uh HCPS can have that conversation within frankly and Charlie with staff and then move on and uh report didn't come out until the end of the year if I'm correct, or quarterly to find out uh after the shift has happened.

Uh and so there's an opportunity there to have an earlier discussion uh so the community can understand where where some of the opportunities are or some of the challenges are with our system.

Thank you, Councilman Chapman.

Uh Councilman O'Nebi.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

I can't agree more with my colleagues.

Uh this change is about transparency.

Um we have a budget transparency tool available to us and we're choosing to use it.

Council's responsibilities simply not just write a blank check to the school board.

We have a responsibility to our students, to our families, to the taxpayers, to make sure that the dollars are actually working for our students.

By many metrics, this system right now is just not working.

And we have responsibility to make some adjustments to it.

The community has noticed, I've had a lot of parents, you know, reach out, a lot of residents that are frustrated with some of the decisions and some of the ways the decisions are made on the school side.

Um lack of rigorous analysis and due diligence in some decisions, and there's a growing sense that no one's fully accountable for how the schools are spending their dollars.

That frustration is real, it's widespread, and it's been building.

And we've seen an example of that with the Jefferson Houston vote.

The school board voted, decided to eliminate an elementary school program at Jefferson Houston that serves some of the most vulnerable kids in our system without rigorous analysis and without community outreach.

Their own staff admitted that the community was not made aware that the vote was gonna happen.

And then when the community raised concerns, when council offered to engage and raised concerns about that vote, it was reaffirmed again this year without any further community engagement or engagement with council.

So this change is really it's a targeted change.

It's authoritative adjustment.

We are not making a drastic change to the process.

And it's not oversight for its own sake, but it's about transparency.

And it's about allowing the community to clearly see where the funds are going and how they are being distributed across all the major categories.

And hopefully creates a shared framework between the two bodies, so we both are working from the same picture when it comes to the budget.

I think the community deserves this accountability.

The teachers, the support staff.

They deserve to be confident that these resources are being used in the right way, and the dollars are reached in the right places.

Because our students deserve to have leaders who are willing to ask hard questions on their behalf.

So this is just another opportunity to deepen the conversation and bridge the disconnection.

It's not controversial.

It's simple responsible stewardship of our public resources, and it's long overdue.

So with that, I make a motion to approve this resolution, Madam Mayor.

Okay.

There has been a motion by Councilman El Nubi and a second by Councilman Chapman.

Is there any additional discussion?

Seeing none, Madam Clerk, this is a roll call vote.

Please call the roll.

Councilman El Nubi.

Councilman Chapman.

Mayor Gaskins.

Aye.

Vice Mayor Bagley.

Aye.

Councilman Aguirre.

Aye.

Councilwoman Green.

Aye.

All right.

The ayes have it, and the resolution passes.

Madam Clerk, next item.

Contested appointments.

Okay.

I see there's a whole stack coming.

Um as is our process.

I will read the commission, the number of members, and then I will name all of those who received votes of the council.

I apologize last time.

I was supposed to say the names of those who voted, so I will I will say that this time.

But if ever I I missed something, we have an amazing clerk who makes sure that all of this is documented in the minutes.

And then at the end, I will uh call for a motion to move the majority vote getters.

The first is the Alexandria Conn Sister City Committee, and this is for one citizen member member.

Timothy Ostan received all six votes of the council.

The next is the beautification commission.

This is for one citizen member, and Brandy Struselin received all six votes of the council.

This is for the Board of Architectural Review.

It is for one citizen member, and Michaela Robinson received all six votes of the council.

Children, youth, and families collaborative commission.

This is for one member with expertise in children, youth, and family issues, public safety, medical slash health profession, or nonprofit experience.

Sierra Norfe Norfleet received all six votes of the council.

Citizen Corps Council, this is for one citizen member.

Kyle Corter received two votes, that of El Nubi and Green.

Lachin Kerr received four votes of the council.

Aguirre, Bagley, Chapman, and Gaskins.

Mr.

Uh Lachin Kerr is the majority vote getter.

Next is the Commission for Women, and this is for one citizen member.

Elizabeth Hardin received one vote of the council, that of Councilman Chapman, and Gina Wood received five votes of the council, Agire, Bagley, Gaskins, El Nubi, and Green.

Gina Wood is the majority vote getter.

The Commission on Aging.

This is for two citizen members who are 60 years of age or older.

Coral Canas received one vote of the council, that of Councilwoman Green.

Richard Merritt received six votes of the council.

Agire Bagley Chapman, oh, six.

Got it.

Trisha Rogers received five votes of the council.

Aguirre, Bagley, Chapman, Gaskins, and El Nubi.

That means that Richard Merritt and Tricia Rogers are the two citizen members.

Commission on Employment, this is for one citizen member.

Lynn Wood Roberts received all six votes of the council.

The Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center Detention Commission received is for one citizen member.

Sonia Brown received all six votes of the council.

Planning Commission, this is for one citizen member.

Susan Harris received five votes of the council.

Bagley, Chapman, Gaskins, Agiri, and Green, and Anderson Verkin received one vote of the council, that of Councilman El Nubi.

The sister cities committee, uh this is for three citizen members.

Lindsay Gazell received one vote of the council, that of Gaskins.

Ashley Hogan received one vote of the council, Ms.

Green.

Kate Mahone received four votes, Chapman, El Newby, Bagley, and Green.

Dale Medeiros received five votes, Aguirre, Chapman, Gaskins, El Nubi, Bagley.

Lisa Rad Radicci received one vote, Aguirre.

Patricia Shersho received one vote, Gaskins.

Lauren Smith received four votes, Aguirre, Chapman, Bagley, and Green.

That means that the majority vote getters are Kate Mahone, Dale Madeiras, and Lauren Smith.

This one looks like we need to do a revote.

This is for uh this is for the traffic and parking board.

We need two citizen members.

Right now, Annie Ebbers had received six votes of the council.

And then Jacqueline Ketteridge received three votes, Agiri Bagley and Gaskins.

Joshua Roth received three votes, Chapman, El Nubi, and Green.

We need to do a revote between Jacqueline and Joshua.

Um what is the best way to do that, Madam Clerk?

Do you want people to just write it down and pass it to you?

Oh, we have new ballots.

Changes, we have a tie.

And then we will keep going until we until we get somebody.

Does it matter that these have different names on them?

Okay.

Oh, yeah.

So we're gonna get a member.

Yeah.

All right, after that.

Another option is to vote to defer.

And well, can you put it on your paper?

Defer.

Madam Mayor.

Vice Mayor Bagley.

Um I just want to check.

Um I just want to check with the city attorney and maybe with the clerk that this particular board won't face any quorum issues if we don't seat a new member until the deferral is, you know, until we it's redocketed.

I don't think that we will, but we'd have to pull up the numbers and verify that.

We can do that real quickly.

Can we wait the moment?

Yes, we can wait the moment.

I don't have any Jeopardy music, but so funny.

We're so close to getting out before nine.

So close.

Um Vice Mayor Bagley, you will face uh not you, the board will face no quorum issues.

Okay, then if everyone can pass the van.

Okay.

I think everyone votes defer except for one.

Yeah, we all wrote except for one.

So, yes, so we'll take it.

Yes.

So the what we will do now at this point is I'm gonna need two motions.

So the first motion that we're gonna take is to um receive the majority vote getters for um I know Madam City Attorney likes when I read it.

To approve the majority vote getters for the Alexandria Collins Sister City Committee, the beautification commission, the board of architectural review, the children, youth, and families collaborative commission, the citizen core council, the commission for women, the commission on aging, the commission on employment, the Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Commission, the Planning Commission, the Sister Cities Committee, the track, and well, just for the sister cities committee.

So move, Madam Mayor.

Okay, there has been a motion by Councilwoman Green and a second by Vice Mayor Bagley.

Madam Clerk, this is a roll call vote.

Please call the roll.

Councilwoman Green.

Aye.

Vice Mayor Bagley.

Aye.

Mayor Gaskins.

Aye.

Councilman Agire.

Councilman Chapman.

Councilman El Nubi.

Aye.

Okay.

The ayes have it.

At this time, yes.

Um, I move to defer the um vote and appointment on the traffic and parking board.

So I think it's two part.

I think you are approving Annie Ebbers as the majority vote getter for one citizen position.

Yeah.

And then deferring the second.

So move to approve Annie Evers and to defer on the other open seat.

Okay.

There has been a motion by Vice Mayor Bagley and a second by Councilman Chapman.

Madam Clerk, this is a roll call vote.

Please call the roll.

Thanks, Mayor Bagley.

Councilman Chapman.

Aye.

Councilman McGeary.

Councilman El Newby.

Councilwoman Green.

Aye.

The ayes have it.

Madam Clerk, next item.

Consideration of City Council schedule.

Okay.

There has been a motion by Councilman El Nubi.

Is there a second?

Second.

And a second by Vice Mayor Bagley to move approval of the city council schedule.

Any discussion?

Seeing none, all those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

The ayes have it.

Is there a motion to adjourn?

So move to it.

Second.

There has been a motion by Vice Mayor Bagley and a second by Councilwoman Green to adjourn tonight's meeting.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

The ayes have it.

I've kind of learned that working here at APD, I've gained hundreds of family members.

We got a little bit of everything.

I mean, Old Town, East End District, towards the water, it's like a city.

I love coming here because it's everybody fucking you and you just feel comfortable.

When I first came in, there was numerous officers that came up to me and like greeted me.

It's just a very welcoming department.

Ever since I was a kid, I always wanted to help others and be that person that people look up to and starting a good relationship with the community.

Prior to joining the Alexandria Police Department, I was an IT.

My job wasn't fulfilling anymore.

Money was there.

Yes.

But that sense of purpose, you know, sitting in an office, dealing with corporations, is just wasn't doing it for me.

This department has an excellent relationship with the community.

Um that's another reason I wanted to join.

Okay, thank you.

Don't look because it's like mine.

It's about making other people feel safe and establishing that trust in order to actually have a flourishing community.

This city has given me a new life.

When I landed here in Alexandria, I fell in love with the charm the city offers.

Right outside the nation's capital.

When we get those 911 calls, you know, it's the worst day of people's lives, and sometimes we have to come in and handle a situation and calm everything down.

In Alexandria, I can guarantee you that if you have a question, if you need help, the most friendly outgoing people work here.

I wanted them to have many options.

And here they have SOT, Vice, Community Options, Motors, everything you can possibly imagine.

I was in the inventory uh sniper for a while.

My biggest botter in the service was when I wasn't doing my job, I'd be sitting there screw crazy.

I know in the military, you're always wanting to do something proactive, always willing to like actively help.

The best thing about police work is there's always something to do.

Everyone's so supportive that detectives are like if there's anything you need help writing a search warrant, you want to learn how to do something new, reach out to me, I'll help you do it.

Good.

I'm a midnights officer, so I I am on patrol.

I've worked my own cases, I've learned a lot, a lot more than I thought I would, and I'm actually really grateful for having the opportunity.