Oh sorry I mean sorry.

Good morning, everyone.

It's nine thirty-four.

We're gonna go ahead and call um this public hearing to order.

Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilman Geary.

Councilman Chapman.

Councilman El Newby.

Here we go.

Okay.

Um we have quorum, so we will begin.

I think we are expecting Councilman Chapman.

Um unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, we will not have Councilman Green joining us this morning.

Our first order of business is to begin with the public hearing.

As a reminder, the purpose of this meeting is for conducting uh the business of the council.

We welcome public participation, so signs are welcomed, um, clapping, snapping, all those things are, but we ask that we as soon as you finish, um please sit down quietly so that we can transition to the next speaker.

If we do have public outburst or disturbances that prevent the meeting from moving forward, I will issue one warning, then I'll issue a second, and then if the behavior continues at that point, we'll ask um a member of APD to escort you out.

The other thing is we have to have the aisles and back clear at all times.

So if more people come in and there's not a seat, we do have an overflow room available.

Um I think that is everything I need to say.

So with that, we will begin with our first speaker, and that is Martha Schnell.

All right, hello, good morning.

Martha Shawn's here.

Glad to join you all today to provide this month's Environmental Policy Commission update to Council.

First though, we need to start by wishing you all a very happy pie day.

3.14, very big day.

Hope you're all celebrating later today.

All right, let's get to it.

Considering it's budget season.

I'll start with a budget letter recap reminder.

We shared EPC budget priorities back in November, focused on maintaining budget for all items related to Eco City Alexandria goals and targets in the EAP and the ECAP.

We are keen to see the Office of Climate Action keep moving the kneel on the big scalable things like community choice aggregation, utility kind of arguments up in down in Richmond, things of that nature.

And then also seeing other departments across Eco City focus on relevant activities as well, whether it's DGS and their equipment electrification efforts, whether it's Tesla's flood action efforts, RPCA's park and resilience improvements.

You know, the list goes on.

And so we want to see that stay study.

Our February EPC meeting for a recap focused on PFAS and the Potumics uh Potomac sewer spills.

Fairfax Water presented on PFAS levels in the Potomac and Aquaquan Reservoirs, which is the two areas where we get our water from.

Potomac is fine.

It's way below the levels of maximum contaminants.

Aquan's kind of close because it's near AM.

The airspace where there's like firefighting plastics of some sort, it's messing up the water.

So Fairfax has until Fairfax Water has until 2029 to meet the EPA's PFAS requirements, and those are like many administrations of EPA requirements, so it's not political in that way.

They're testing removal options, and they're also collaborating with regional research areas, but we're putting a pin in that.

We're watching 2029.

On the other end of things, Alex Renew, haha, other end, is also working on PFAS.

Uh they're investing $355 million to upgrade their biosolids system, and they're gonna try drying it out with this like thermal drying facility, and they're doing RD to see if they can incinerate, like burn the biosolids that have been dried at Covanta or now called Reworld.

Uh they do it in Hawaii, and so they're looking at it here.

We're watching the um the carbon emissions impacts of that, and so we'll stay tuned there.

On sewage with the Potomac Interceptor Collapse, we were really interested from the EPC side of things on the environmental impacts of this bill.

The Alexandria Health Department came in very last minute, gave us an awesome human health update, which is great.

But on the environmental impact side, there's still a lot of kind of questions.

Like we don't know exactly what's happening to like the land that's touched by the water that had all the sewage.

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and Alex Renew are both doing lots of testing along the Potomac.

This feels very weird to say because an epic sewage spill sounds like it would have a dramatic effect on the Potomac.

But based on all the water testing and everything, it's honestly it's a blip uh with respect to the additional sediment and nutrient loading from the sewage spill.

It's like less than half a percent of last year's annual loading.

So it's honest right now, it seems like it's not a big deal, which is surprising.

Last thing, heads up for our March EPC agenda.

We're focusing on housing.

ARHA is joining us to talk about sustainability activities there.

We're super pumped to hear from them.

Alexandria Health Department's gonna talk about the Healthy Homes Initiative, and we're gonna talk through how sustainability can be woven into that more intentionally.

Thank you so much for your time.

One thing I did want to say is um we have been able to work with DC Water, and we are going to do a public town hall on the 19th.

We've also invited um VEDQ, the National Park Service, the Army Um Corps of Engineers, it was looking the health department, but part of the discussion will focus on the environmental remediation and what needs to be done.

So I would encourage members to sign up.

There will be time for members of the public to ask direct questions and get feedback.

So thank you.

Anything the EPC can do to help spread the word about that would be great.

All right, noted.

Thank you.

You'll get commentary on the housing master plan by the deadline.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right, our next speaker is Janice Grenadier.

Um, no, sir.

Oh, okay.

Volume, yes, I can work on the volume.

Overflow.

Okay, so she's in overflow.

Then I'm gonna go to the next speaker, and then we will go back to Miss Grenadier.

Lauren DePina is our next speaker.

Good morning, Mayor Gaskins and members of council.

My name's Lorinda Pina.

I'm a housing advocate, and I'm here for tenants still suffering basic systemic failures.

New board members, yes.

Real change, not happening.

The culture allowed that allowed these failures remain the same.

ARHA leadership recently said, don't focus on the past, focus on the future in an email.

Respectfully, that's not accountability.

If we don't examine how rent ledgers reach nearly one million dollars in deficit, how tenants were wrongly charged, and how residents live in unsafe conditions, this will happen again.

It's worth noting that the same board chair served as city managers for decades while this culture of negligence was developing at ARHA.

So it may be on brand for him to not take concerns seriously or act with urgency.

Christchurch showed up to a board ARHA meeting, sharing that they gave ARHA $80,000 in 2025 to help tenants, but cannot be told or shown how the money was used.

They also share that mismanaged accounts and ledges exist still.

And a good amount of it is our house fault, delayed recertifications affecting rent, vouchers not processed on time, tenants purge from list without any notice, late payments to landlords, and records so confusing that even professionals couldn't interpret them.

And the board.

Dismissed.

Thank you for coming and sharing in detail.

And that was it.

Some staff chuckled while explaining how often they lose tenants' paperwork.

Every time paperwork is lost, they're losing social security numbers, bank account info, children records, addresses, sensitive info.

Every time this breach happens, they say just come back and do it again.

What?

That is a serious breach of trust.

Out of 900 tenants, these numbers are very important.

49% of delinquent are delinquent or behind.

The national average is 15 to 20 percent.

ARHA is not a tenant pro this is not a tenant problem.

This is a systemic problem.

Last week, a tenant got two eviction notices within six hours for dogs, she's never ahead.

Only a cat.

After we proved through her documentation, ARHA said, sorry, just disregard the notice.

But the fear and stress is already done.

There's nothing funny about families living with mold, being charged incorrectly or threatened with eviction.

This is real harm.

Today, City Council, we are calling on you to go into tenants' homes, sit down with these folks, see the mold yourself, look at the rent ledgers, demand a third-party audit, and issue a public apology to every ARHA tenant in Alexandria.

We have asked the board to do the same.

We've also invited them to do community walks with us.

Until the board puts tenants first without question, I am not going away.

I leave you with this.

You cannot say you care about the people of Alexandria while allowing this level of harm to happen to your people.

The question is no longer whether these problems exist.

The question is whether you'll act with urgency.

I put together a nine-page packet of failures just in one year.

If you can hand them to the clerk, then we'll have copies and they'll be available to us.

Thank you for your time today.

Next speaker is Janice Grenadier.

Hello.

Um I'm here today on two issues with uh my personal cases that are in the courts.

One is a divorce that I had that I still don't have a property settlement, and the other one is the de theft of my home by Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders.

Um in reviewing everything and with my newest filing that I need to make, I decided to write a letter to our chief judge, who is now Kathleen Euston.

I found an article on her of Ethics in the Bru on the Bench.

It was written by Michael Lee Pope.

Prosecutors of bad lawyers to take a seat on the Alexandria Circuit Court.

She was the one are the appearances at her time frame at the Virginia State Bar, the one who covered up for divorce lawyer Alona Grenadier, Ben DeMiro of the Marrow Ginsburg, of Andrea Mosley, of Michael Weiser, of all the lawyers who illegally jailed me over legal fees, who lied in court and lied in court documents.

It's all really coming together, the extent of the cover-up of the old boys network and the payback for the favors.

Not only that, she sat on the jerk committee who oversaw the complaints I filed on the judges that never went anywhere.

So the question becomes in this article, he writes how somebody could balance disciplining judges and lawyers and become a chief judge.

Or did she actually do the cover-up to become the chief judge?

And those are the kind of things we have to look at.

And it takes this long.

This is a 35-year process for me for being treated poorly by the courts.

And I'm still standing up and speaking out, illegally jailed and held in solitary confinement for 14 days in 2014 for two purposes.

$8,100 in legal fees that Judge Clark wanted to collect for his friend, Michael Weiser, while I was filing bar complaints and our new chief judge was covering them up, apparently, or possibly.

She wasn't the only one involved.

What we have in the state of Virginia, it's not just here in the city of Alexandria, is a situation where our judges are elected.

The um the jerk committee, which oversees them, is oversaw by the Supreme Court of Virginia.

It's all they're all in bed together.

We the people have nowhere to go.

I've gone to our police, and our police is doing nothing.

They won't even return my calls.

I've filed these type of reports with risk management.

Because we're supposed to be, if your employees of the state and of the city act inappropriately and mislead us there to be a good thing.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for your time today, Ms.

Grenadier.

Okay.

Our next speaker is Ariana Villatoro.

Good morning, Mayor and City Council.

My name is Ariana Villatoro, and I am here this morning speaking on behalf of my mother, Leticia Iraeta, who is standing beside me.

The city became aware in September of 2025 of how some tenants have been living under ARHA.

In October of 2025, my mother and her family were displaced into a hotel because of the mold conditions in our home.

That displacement has had serious consequences for our family's health.

My brother Lester has a disability, and since all of this begun, he has suffered four seizures.

The stress, the instability, and the conditions have been forced to live in have taken a toll on him.

In October of 2025, my mother was shown one unit.

She did not accept that unit because it was too small.

The room would not have been large enough to hold all of Lesser's medical equipment and the things he needs every day.

Since that time, my mother has not been shown any other units.

Last month, my mother became or came here and shared everything our family has been going through.

Unfortunately, nothing has changed.

We have not been shown another apartment, and our has not followed up with us to move this process forward.

Since then, the conditions in our home have actually gone worse.

The mold is still there, and now there are even more mice in our home.

The mice run around constantly.

They are not even afraid of us anymore.

Sometimes it feels like when we sit down to eat, they want to pull up to the table to eat with us.

That is disgusting.

No family should be able to live with that.

My mother has been a tenant for 30 years, and all those years she has paid her rent on time every single month.

She has never had a late fees and has never had issues with paying what she owes.

She has done everything she is supposed to do as a tenant, but in return she has to live with mice chewing holes in our furniture.

If you flipped over our couch right now, you should you would probably find mice underneath it.

This is not an exaggeration.

This is how we are living.

It isn't acceptable.

It is affecting our health, our mental well-being, and our dignity.

So today we want to leave City Council with two questions.

First, when will the city put the necessary pressure on ARHA to ensure that tenants like my mother are treated with respect and relocated to save housing?

And second, would you allow your own mother to live like this?

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Villatoro.

Our next speaker is Ronisha Parker.

Okay.

We do not have Ms.

Parker.

Our next speaker is Bob Wood.

Good morning.

My name is Bob Wood, and I am a longtime resident of Alexandria.

I speak today at the as the leader of the FuturePort Planning Group.

I passed around a flyer.

You should have some information on the one-pager on the planning on Futureport.

We are a citizen-based team comprised of recognized city planners, senior managers, and futurists.

Our board is set.

Advisors are ready.

We are incorporated in Virginia, and we are in the final steps to become a 501 C3.

David Brown, a member of the City Planning Commission, first introduced the idea of a future-oriented project to most of you at last year's economic summit.

This is the coordinate continuation of his work.

We thought it appropriate to update our city's leadership today.

We are on task in moving forward as we strive to help Alexandria capture a unique opportunity to build and sustain a vibrant future.

We strongly believe that Alexandria stands at a defining moment with the approval of the Alex Ford Economic Development Strategy, the expansion of Virginia Tech's innovation campus, Arlington's launch of the national IQ, and the ideally located innovation district at North Potomac Yard.

The city is uniquely positioned to create a nationally recognized catalytic destination for innovation, education, and economic growth.

Futureport is debut Futureport is designed to be that destination.

As the Port City of Alexandria helped build and sustain our nation's past, Futureport can help define and empower our nation's future.

Future Port will be a landmark, a national destination and regional jewel where the public, industry, academia, and government converge to imagine, design, and experience what lies ahead.

It is a launch pad, an iconic space that showcases future-oriented, groundbreaking ideas, inspires the next generation, powers the regional entrepreneurial system, and builds Alexandria's reputation as a hub of forward-thinking creativity.

In the budget discussions ahead, our group hopes to see investment in community-based discussions and financial support for development of such a futures-based development as Future Port.

While traditional real estate offers depend uh provide dependable short-term fiscal returns and predictable uses, Futureport offers strategic, high impact, long-term economic and civic transformation.

It would brand Alexandria as a global visitor destination, and an epicenter of innovation exchange, generate sustainable knowledge in uh knowledge economy jobs, strengthen the region's position as a bridge between policy, technology, and education, provide far-reaching economic multipliers via tourism, entrepreneurship, workforce development, and academic collaboration.

We look forward to continued progress and further coordination with all those who can help build our city's future.

Bill Dickinson, a team member, is signed up here today to speak later in the budget session and add details on coordination to date.

Thank you very much for your attention.

Thank you so much for your time today.

Our next speaker is John Backra.

Do we have John?

I did not see John online.

Okay.

Then our next speaker is Frank, and I do not have a last name.

I asked you not to start the clock until just give me a second to say.

Yeah, the clock starts as soon as you start speaking.

You'll have your three minutes.

I'd like to start by saying everything I'm going to say today is verifiable online.

Everyone here knows who I am, so I'm going to introduce myself to you.

My name is Frank, and I'm the founder of Alexandria Accountability.

It's a grassroots organization to promote transparency and accountability in our very community.

I'm here to speak about former D.C.

Police Officer Valentin.

Former Officer Valentin was indicted on rape and sodomy of multiple women in Alexandria recently.

To make things worse, like a serial killer, former Officer Valentine allegedly collected 15 trophies recording his victims as he committed these heinous crimes.

A couple days ago, I heard Chief McGuire state in a press conference that there's no evidence that Officer Valentine engaged in this type of illegal activity as an officer.

I'm paraphrasing.

You see, Officer Valentine left DCPD four years ago at the age of 26.

That short career in itself indicates there was a problem with Officer Valentine.

Around the same time that Valentin was leaving DCPD, I was assaulted by a DC police officer on camera.

That's online.

You can verify it.

I found it virtually impossible to file criminal charges against this officer, even though it was recorded on camera.

Again, much like a serial killer who develops their sick craft over many years, alleged serial rapist Valentine was likely engaging in criminal activity while he was a police officer.

Because the DC PD complaint process is corrupt, it creates an incubator for activity that grows over time.

You're asking, how does this relate to Alexandria, Virginia?

Well, our chief of police of Alexandria Police Department has created a similar incubator.

It's verifiable.

He's been intentionally violating APD complaint policy for over a year by not releasing the disposition of sustained complaints against officers.

In plain terms, it's impossible to verify if officer misconduct is being taken seriously.

Chief McGuire's conduct reveals him to have low professional integrity because he values the careers of officers who engage in misconduct over the safety of the citizens of this community.

Not the majority of the good apples that we hear about so often.

Let's talk checks and balances.

City manager Parajan is the direct supervisor of the Peter.

Thank you for your time, sir.

Our next speaker is oh, there's follow-up question.

No, no, no, no.

Thank you for your time.

Vice Mayor Baggins.

Sir, sir.

Sir, this is warning one.

I'm done.

Thank you.

Vice Mayor Bagley.

Thank you.

I just wanted to take a moment to their serious uh the situation mentioned with former Officer Valentin is uh there was a press conference on this, and I wanted to extend um what was discussed.

If anybody in Alexandria is concerned that they might have been victimized, um we are um aware and and have victim services available.

Um I'm sorry, I I'm trying I had the website up in front of me.

Hold on one sec.

I wanted to give the phone number um for our victim services.

So 703 6837273.

If anybody is concerned that they might have been victimized by the actions of that individual.

Um also we have a domestic violence hotline 7037464911.

Um we take the matter seriously, and we are aware that there might be additional victims in the city of Alexandria.

So please contact APD or either of those numbers if you feel you might have been um victimized um in those circumstances.

And then uh I wanted to lift up the Office of the Independent Auditor exists in Alexandria.

If anybody uh is concerned about the actions of our office, um we sort of lead the commonwealth in one of the earliest creations of an Office of Independent Auditor.

Um that it I just googled it real quick, but you know, if you Google Office of the Independent Auditor, Alexandria, you'll be landed on the web page.

There is um uh a button that says submit an email.

Uh, there's a phone number, um, our auditor's name is um Amaratu Kamatu.

Uh I'm not Kamara, sorry, I'm Ratu Kamara, and um uh you can follow up on either of those methods if uh if any of these issues um apply.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Dana Karuli.

So my seat is always looking at the same.

Okay.

Can we um keep the discussions in the crowd to a minimum?

Morning.

Okay.

Good morning.

Uh morning.

Uh seat right there.

There's a seat right there.

Yes.

Sir, this is warning two.

We're gonna for the disruptions.

All of these seat right there.

All of the seats are reserved in the front.

They point at you to a seat.

Okay.

I was.

Okay.

Then we'll have we'll have that gentleman move.

We'll have that seat there.

We'll make sure everyone has a seat, and then that way we can move forward with limited disruption.

All these open seats and you guys are playing games.

No, they are reserved for the staff who will be coming right there.

So thank you, sir.

Thank you.

Okay.

Now we will continue.

Morning.

Sir I just want to be fine.

I got that.

Okay.

Thank you.

Next.

Morning.

We'll keep things going.

Uh Madam Mayor, uh members of the city council, I'm Dana Calaruli.

Uh I'm the I currently serve as the chair of the uh City of Alexandria Parks and Recreation Commission.

Um thanks for giving uh the commission a chance to uh talk about the budget uh and particularly around parks.

Uh the commission's been briefed by the department uh and has reviewed the budget, and we appear today to express support.

Um by the way, I'm glad that you got to start with Marta Schantz.

Uh we work very well with the EPC and with the beautification committee uh uh commission.

Uh I'm really excited to learn that it was Pi Day today because I had forgotten myself, so everyone please celebrate appropriately.

Um we support the budget.

Um I want to highlight a few things.

We included a letter that we sent to the city manager last November and highlighted seven items.

Um I'll I'll hit a couple of those, but I won't read through the whole thing.

Um I said last year um as a reminder in the city, our parks and open spaces and a lot of the services provided by the department are uh either uh the only or perhaps the strongest connection that our citizens have with the city.

Um so the continued investments uh in these things are critical, particularly as it gets to spring.

I'm reminded that these are great places that make the city livable uh and enjoyable uh and attractive for people to move here.

Um but we also need to find ways for neighborhoods to have a stake in their small parks and facilities near them.

Uh to that end, uh early this year commission approved uh matching proposals that were submitted by the committee uh by the community.

Uh that includes uh uh little league sign at Ben Brennan Park, uh community gardens.

Um we're continuing to look at uh how to improve their skate park.

Um so those are things that we're excited to do and things that I think really touch people specifically in the community.

Um but we know there's more that we can do uh so that folks have a stake.

Um the seven items that we had uh that we highlighted uh last uh fall, ensuring the availability of sports fields and open space, um, updating citywide parks improvement plan uh that's now a bit dated, increasing our RCPA maintenance budget uh and uh revisiting resource allocation.

I'll touch on that uh in a second.

Um, supporting uh our RCPA's employee needs, starting community engagement to discuss the future of Cameron Run Park, I'll also mention that.

Uh ensuring adequate funding for bike uh trail maintenance and uh uh with the uh looking at Duke Street and updating the street, there's lots of opportunity to support park improvements along uh that corridor as well.

Um we believe the new director is doing a great job, uh uh Hashem uh now a year in, but he needs his support and staffing.

Um so you'll see that in the budget.

We support that.

Our affiliate agreement hasn't been updated now in about 10 years.

Um so we're moving forward on that.

There's certainly a resource allocation portion of that, uh, but it's also it's a partnership.

Um so the policy uh needs to reflect that the city has a responsibility as well to support these uh these folks.

Um last, um Cameron Run, uh our lease is going to expire soon.

We're really eager to move forward and talk about that.

Thank you, Mr.

Crowley.

Um thing not for today, but I think that would be helpful as we go through budget deliberations.

Um in the budget, one of the proposals to help balance the budget is to increase fees at Parks and Rec facilities, and I think some of that is even related to out-of-school time programming.

I guess it would be helpful if the commission could just send their thoughts or letters on those fee proposals.

And then the second would be um last month when we approved the development that is across, I'm blanking on the name that is across the street from the skate park.

One of the things we asked the developer to do was to go back with staff to determine if instead their contribution could be used to accelerate the improvements at the skate park instead of being used elsewhere in the city.

So it would also be helpful for the commission to uh to weigh in on that proposal as well.

And a letter or um just an update from a meeting discussion would be great.

We'll take back both of those.

Um we also invite the members of the council to come to a parks meeting.

Okay.

Thank you, sir.

Appreciate it.

Our next speaker is Scott Corzine.

He's online, he just needs to unmute his phone.

Okay, Mr.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Yes.

Good morning, everyone.

I'm Scott Corizon.

I live at 300 Queen Street.

I'm among the many residents surprised at the outcome of the waterfront park pump station effort.

As a matter of public interest, I encourage the city and the staff to provide answers to five questions for curious residents like me.

First question: a letter to a private Alexandria citizen could never provide the legal basis for the city's momentous decision to proceed on the pump station.

Did the city rely on the letter in January 2025 from the National Park Service to a private citizen as a basis for proceeding with a pump station plan that we now know was impermissible?

Was the letter ever vetted by city attorneys and brought to the attention of the city manager and council?

Question two.

That letter seems to parrot the city's talking points in support of the project and never addressed oppositional points.

Did the city employee provide those talking points to the National Park Service and not provide them a full picture so the letter would support the city's goal?

Question three.

A letter from Sidley Austin on behalf of the Historic Alexandria Foundation in April 2025 detailed to city attorneys exactly why the pump station proposal was illegal.

This letter was a counterfactual that used the same legal citations that the National Park Service used in its letter to the city manager last week, refusing permission for any pump station in the park.

Did city attorneys decide to ignore the April 2025 letter?

Question four.

Did the city attorney advise the city to pursue the pump station in the park, knowing that it failed the test of being one of the nine open space park uses that were clearly and exclusively permitted by the consent decree agreement?

And number five, all this resulted in unnecessary legal fees, salaries, and time.

It resulted in lots of pro bono legal work on behalf of residents in opposition.

It resulted in the effort to obtain thousands of signatures on a petition, a 150,000 dollar study, and several contentious city council meetings.

It seems that all this turmoil could have been avoided if the process had been more transparent from the start and residents made a meaningful part of a good faith decision making process.

How do we make sure that expensive breakdowns like this don't happen again?

Thank you.

Thank you for your time.

And sir, the communications that the city received directly from the National Park Service all are found on the website outlining sort of what information we had to be able to move forward and then the communication that we most recently received.

Our goal is to make sure that every communication was posted so that we can be as transparent as possible.

Thank you.

Are there any speakers who signed up there?

Okay, so that is the end of the public hearing.

Is there a motion to close public hearing?

There's been a motion by Vice Mayor Bagley and a second by Councilman Chapman to close the public hearing.

Any discussion?

Hearing none.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Okay.

The ayes have it.

Madam Clerk, next item.

Action back it, roll call consent item number five.

Move approving the item five.

Okay, there has been a motion by Councilman Aguirre and a second by Vice Mayor Bagley to move approval of action item number five.

Madam Clerk, this is a roll call vote.

Please call the roll.

Councilman Aguirre.

Vice Mayor Bagley.

Hi.

Hi.

Councilman Chapman.

Councilman L.

Newby.

The ayes have it.

Madam Clerk, next item.

Public hearing on the city managers proposed annual operating budget for FY2027, including schools in the proposed capital improvement program for FY2027 to FY2036, including school CIP and the proposed tax rate recommendations.

Okay, we are now going to go into our budget public hearing.

The same rules apply as the previous public hearing.

So I'm going to begin with calling our first speaker, and that is Julie Harris.

Do we have Julie online?

She's online, she just needs to unmute a microphone.

Okay.

Yes, I'm here.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Is that working?

Yes.

Okay, great.

Hi.

Um I am I I am an advocate.

I work with Alexandria grassroots.

I'm here to talk about the budget.

Um we understand, of course, that the city's budget is very tight right now, but we would um like to uh continue to advocate for the uh city council continuing to prioritize um efforts like affordable housing.

We heard earlier today about the concerns of affordable housing, and we understand that in order for anything to move forward in the city and for us to reach our goals, um the city will need to have funding for those things.

Um we also ask for the city to continue uh its focus on uh transit development.

Um we uh like the uh extensions of the uh of bike paths and the expansion of the bike network in the city and the uh bus network as well.

We uh hope that the city continues to provide sufficient support to those areas as they are uh strong returns on investment for the city as a whole.

Um at the same time, we are uh asking possibly if budget priorities need to be adjusted, that the city consider um if need be possibly reducing budgets for you know for certain things that the city is less important for, like some of our traditional incarceration policies.

We would like to uh make sure that the you know we we want to make sure that the city is providing the things that it needs um for positive efforts and uh that we are um moving forward in a positive way.

So thank you.

Thank you so much for your time today.

Okay.

Our next speaker is Tio Phila Gomez and translation services will be needed.

Do you have to feel it?

Wonderful.

Once 14 17.

Cada año la renta sube y aumenta demasiado.

Yo vivo yo gano 1275 la hora in my trabajo.

Tenemos dos anders para poder pagar la renta.

So me gusta Alexandria.

Tengo la mitad de mi vida viviendo in Alexandria.

Tienen ya su vida hecha aquí.

No quisiera irme de Alexandria.

Pero el incremental de la renta que están poniendo los rendadores es exagerado.

So no debemos tener que escoger entre pagar la renta y dedicarle tiempo a nuestros hijos.

Es que escoger entre uno y otro.

So, después de 25 años viviendo in esta ciudad.

Quiero vivir de aquí in Alexandria porque yo ya no puedo pagar la renta.

Quiero que mis hijos tengan que comic to caminar de mis hijos.

Cambi no quiero que mis hijos cambian de escuela, ni de la community donde han crecido.

Ustedes ya han venido a nuestra comunidad, conocen nuestros edificios donde vivimos.

Ando tenemos que venir regresar in tiempo para pedir que nos tomen in prioridad.

No tendríamos que venir a pedir esto todos los años.

Exigimos que tomen action.

Gracias, Miss Coman.

Yes.

Good morning, Mayor and members of the council.

My name is Teofila Gomez.

I have lived in Alexandria for 25 years and I have three kids.

This city has been our home.

I work cleaning buildings.

It is an honest and hard job.

I wake up every early every day to fulfill my responsibilities and contribute to this community.

Every year the rent goes up, but our wages do not.

Many families have to work two jobs just to cover expenses.

But if we work two jobs, we do not have time to uh for our children.

We cannot help them with their homework.

We cannot spend time together as a family, and we cannot be present the way we want to be.

We should not have to choose between paying the rent and being with our children.

After 25 years of living here, I do not want to leave Alexandria because I can no longer afford it.

You have heard directly from us about our concerns and our needs.

You know what is happening.

That is why we ask that as our representatives, you turned what you already know into concrete action.

Invest five million dollars in the rental assistance program, in the housing subsidy program, and in the programs of the Department of Human Services that support our families.

Good morning, Mayor, Vice Mayor, City Council members, and staff.

My name is Ingris Moran, staff of Tenants and Workers United, a four-decade-old organization that has been in the city organizing immigrants, working class families of color for a better quality of life.

I'm also a lifelong resident from Arlandria Chirilawa, who grew up in an immigrant working class household and witnessed housing insecurity myself.

We stand here with community members today on what you should be prioritizing for the budget 2027.

That is housing, family essential services, and the protection of our immigrant families.

This there is currently a lack of deeply committed affordable housing.

While we recognize that there are units in the pipeline that will be 40% of the AMI and below, we know these units won't be enough and will take a couple of years, which is why our community is asking for resources that will support during the houses crisis we're currently in, and we want to keep people in their homes.

In this budget, we are asking to allocate five million for DCHS's emergency rental relief.

There should be more funds and allow families to seek assistance more than once.

Second, expand the current pilot rental subsidy program.

Well, we appreciate you all increasing it last year by 100,000.

We all know that is not enough.

Third, continue to support the rest of DCHS's programs, such as youth and adult mental health services, utility support, other health services, early childhood services, summer youth employment, benefit eligibility programs, and other essential services that are critical for our families in these hard times.

We demand these items because we know firsthand the needs of our community.

In the summer of 24, our staff led a community survey in the city with the support, guidance, and analysis from a professor of sociology at the University of Albany, along with the specialists in quantitative analysis.

We surveyed 582 residents in Chirilawa in the Western neighborhoods.

The surveys were all done in person in their doors.

In this effort, we concluded that housing affordability was their number one issue.

While our families are employed and contributing, yet they are persistently constrained by the con the structural inequities in income, housing affordability, health care access, and the cost of living.

Conditions that collectively undermine long-term stability and well-being for your residents.

I have shared with you, I will share with you a one-pager of our findings.

In addition to this additional fine uh funding, your priorities we hope you prioritize our families.

Please look and assess what you truly are funding and supporting and see what are those outcomes, those metrics and performances.

I'll give you one example.

This cooperation is damaging our families.

We all know that ICE is violating basic human rights, separating families, spreading fear, and racially profiling people of color in our city.

While we know you have made a stand on this, we need more action.

Once again, we hope you can add and expand funding to the items we have mentioned, and we are open to dialogue and willing to meet with you in the upcoming weeks before your add and delete deadline.

Thank you, Miss Moran.

Um second councilman Al Nubi.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Ms.

Moran, thank you so much for your comments.

Um I just want to let you know that um I I met with tenants and workers earlier in the budget process, and I appreciated the meeting and the insight.

I did put in a memo request um to our staff for the rental um assistance program, and I know the mayor also has added another memo to make it continuous um during the last um public hearing, and I'm looking forward to seeing the answers uh to that.

Really appreciate you guys as C and I hear you on the affordability.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Esteban Hernandez.

Uh good morning, Mayor and members of City Council.

Uh my name is Estevant.

I am I am in 10th grade uh student, Alexandria City High School.

And I have lived here in Alexandria my whole life.

I live with my mom and sister in a two-bedroom apartment that costs two thousand a month.

My mom works at a daycare.

And every day I see how hard she works.

She often comes only and very tired after her long shifts.

My sister is also working while trying to go to college, so she can afford both schools and living expenses.

Because everything is so expensive.

My family has to make hard decisions sometimes.

That means cutting back on things just to pay rent.

Today you can see that many of the housing working class students here are not here to ask for more money for our schools, housing issues, our youth issues too.

Many of my classmates and I are stressed and tired about rent immigration and other issues are affecting our families.

And that stress makes it harder for us to focus and do well in school.

Families should not have to move from place to place or worry about losing homes just as in just to stay in Alexandria.

Working class students also deserve stable and affordable housing.

Also as the city to think about its priorities instead of investing millions of dollars in departments like Sheriff's Office that are voluntarily collaborating with ICE and those funds should be reinvested into housing programs that helped working families to stay in the city.

If the city truly wants to invest in the city of young people like me and needs to invest in stable, affordable housing for our families.

Thank you for listening.

Thank you, Mr.

Fernandez.

Thank you.

Okay, our next speaker is Del Delmi Rellenado, and we will need uh translation services.

Gracias por escucharme y gracias también perdon for me equivocar.

Good morning.

Uh, major and members of the city council.

My name is Delene.

I work in cleaning services, and I have 15 years, a 15-year-old son lived in the city of Alexandria for the past two years in the Morgan properties apartments.

Every day I work long hours to provide for my son.

But even working this hard every month, it is a worry to pay the rent.

Food and other basic necessities are also getting more expensive.

Like many working families in this city.

I am doing everything possible to support my family, but it is becoming harder and harder to keep living here.

This is why I am here today.

I ask the city to invest the five million in rental assistance and housing subsidy programs that help working class families like mine stay in Alexandria.

This is not the first time I have come before the council.

Thank you, and thank you, Ms.

Mellon.

Um, good morning, Mayor Gaskin and members of the Council.

My name is Shelley McCabe, and I am here as AHAC co-chair this morning.

First of all, we support the proposed budget.

However, we are asking you to recommit to providing more housing for those at the lowest income levels and to spend this year using the available tools such as tax abatement, fee waivers, and loan guarantees to generate more truly affordable housing.

And I think the speakers that preceded me made that point eloquently.

Housing that is affordable to people who work here is foundational for our economic development, environmental protections, and quality of life.

Many of our jobs are in support services, hospitality, retail, and health care.

These are lower-paying jobs whose wages often won't support living in Alexandria, which is now the third most expensive rental market in the region.

We're losing our 20 to 34-year-olds, our economic future, in large part because of housing costs.

When employees can't afford to live near jobs, they often must drive rather than take public transportation, and they travel farther to get to work, adding to our traffic congestion, pollution, and diminishing quality of life.

We will follow up with a letter next week that provides more detail, but I wanted to highlight our recommendations for this budget cycle.

First of all, approve the Housing 2040 plan when it comes before you shortly.

And please approve the staffing and resources needed to see it implemented.

Begin the process of issuing at least 50 million in housing bonds in FY28.

There are at least 1,100 committed affordable rental housing units that already have city approvals and are languishing for lack of city funds.

If Governor Spanberger signs House Bill 854, consider moving beyond tax abatement to tax exemption, at least going forward for nonprofit controlled affordable housing.

That will help with more deeply committed affordable units.

Adopt the Virginia Code that allows the city to waive building permit and other local fees associated with the development of committed affordable housing.

If Governor Spanberger signs House Bill 867, Senate Bill 74, evaluate establishing inclusionary zoning in the city, which would be a step beyond the excellent job that staff is currently doing in negotiating with developers on a case-by-case basis.

Finally, prioritize your use of tools like tax abatement fee waivers and loan guarantees for projects that have a higher proportion of deeply affordable units, particularly at and below 60 percent of AMI.

The city's done a great job of leveraging those tools for market rate developments to gain affordability, but that affordability is at higher levels than many of our residents need.

These steps would demonstrate the city's strong support for affordable housing in the city in uncertain budget times.

We look forward to working with you going forward.

Thank you so much for your time today.

Our next speaker is Katie Brownback.

Good morning.

My name is Katie Brownbach.

Thank you for your time.

I'm here to advocate for the 3.5% budget ask from ACPS.

Public schools are the backbone of our country and they're under attack.

They educate nationally, 90% of our kids.

There's no way to have a strong community and an educated and nimble workforce without strong schools.

Good public schools help build children out of generational poverty.

ACPS is doing that work as efficiently as it can with the resources it has.

For example, we reach a long-awaited collective bargaining agreement that improves the ACPS salary scales in a meaningful yet measured way to do that and come in with a total budget request increase of only 3.5% already required significant cuts.

The collective bargaining agreement does require 12.7 million in funds, and some of you had sticker shock when you saw that number and compared it to the raw increase required for your other four city unions.

I understand that instinct, but that's not apples to apples.

There are nearly twice as many school union employees as there are city union employees.

It makes sense that the number would be significantly larger.

And I want you to think about that.

I hope you've all read that JLARC K-12 funding formula study and know that Virginia's antiquated staff-based funding formula drastically underfunds our schools, and Virginia allocates less money for schools than the 50-state average.

Know that schools are already doing more with less than they need.

I see it daily.

I see school leaders working tirelessly to improve structural problems and problems from the past, a global pandemic superintendent turnover, and the overwhelming size of some of our buildings.

I see a division working with local partners like the nonprofit Alexandria Tutoring Consortium that brings in volunteers to every elementary in the school city to work one-on-one with kids that need more support than we can afford to provide with teachers.

I see a division that goes after grants like the VDOE all-in tutoring program that funds targeted intervention for our students who struggle most in reading and need more support than the minimum hours that the state requires.

I see Central Office rolling out an inquiry-based social studies curriculum that has my kindergartner marching through her elementary school chanting use your voice to cap a unit on the civil rights movement.

I see dedicated central office employees like our Amaric family liaison, Mr.

Tessay at nearly every school event at multiple schools, helping connect with our Ethiopian community.

Education policy is complex, but your role doesn't need to be.

The data shows us that qualified experienced teachers help students achieve, and those educators need to be adequately compensated.

We need our school teachers and staff that matter to us just as much, show them that they matter to us just as much as every other employee in the city.

I deeply respect many of you and many of the members of the school board, but the students need you all to move past this poor communication and the poor relationships and just make them first.

Recognize that this is a reasonable ask and the kids can't wait.

Education cuts don't heal.

Thank you so much for your time today.

The next speaker is Christina Hildeby.

Good morning.

I'm Christina Hildebeidel here today in three capacities.

As the proud mother of students at MVCS and at GW.

As the chair of the school board's budget advisory committee, and as someone who's worked in education research and policy for 20 years.

It's within this last role where I can say with certainty that schools are the heartbeat of a community.

When schools thrive, our entire community thrives.

But a heartbeat requires a steady lifeline of support.

As you know, the City of Alexandria is the primary source of funding for ACPS.

And the vast majority of that funding is directed exactly where it matters most, teacher compensation.

Recognizing that this is a difficult budget year for Alexandria.

Remember that the City of Alexandria ranks seventh out of eight among our surrounding jurisdictions in the amount of its general fund dedicated to school system operating expenses.

While we have seen commendable commitment from this council in recent years to prioritize school budgets, the landscape in the DC metro area is shifting rapidly.

We know, and the data proves, that the quality of a teacher is the single most important contributor to a child's growth.

If we don't keep pace with the salary increases being offered by our neighbors, we risk the loss of our most talented staff.

As chair of budget advisory committee over the last year and a half, I have prioritized meeting with you all and school board members to advise and discuss issues at hand.

But today's different.

Today I'm here to ask you to support the 3.5% increase for ACPS to support our teachers to fund the collective bargaining agreement.

Some additional data points that are important in this conversation.

The 3.5% ask compared to the city manager's 1.5% is equivalent to $5.6 million, which is an average of 5.35% increase for licensed personnel for whom the starting salary in Alexandria is $64,000.

The total cost of the landmark CBA is 12.7 million, and while 12.7 million is more than the other four collective bargaining units received this year.

There are 2500 CBA covered employees in ACPS and only 1,400 in all of the other four units combined.

If council is struggling to fund the 3.5%, I remind you that the city manager's report released in just January indicates the city fund balance is currently at just under 24%.

And the report indicates that in order to maintain the triple A bond rating, it must be at a minimum of 15%.

Using the fund balance to provide the 5.6 million would lower that percentage by less than half a percent.

I realize council's relationship with the school board is not great right now.

But please don't make our children and our hardworking teachers pay for that.

I stand firmly with PTAC and the EAA.

Please make the investment necessary to ensure Alexandria is a place where our teachers and our children can flourish.

I also want to say Nick Hildebeidle signed up to speak after me, but he is on a bus with 30 ACHS kids coaching rugby, and so he couldn't join us today.

But he did submit in writing.

So cheers to ACHS rugby.

Good luck to them in Richmond today.

Thank you.

I was gonna um say I butchered your last name when I called you.

I was gonna try and do it better for Nick Correct.

Nick's not here again.

But I won't, I won't have that time.

Councilman Chapman had a uh comment.

Or question.

Quick question.

Um I just want to make sure I'm so in terms of and I should have asked this Ms.

Brownbeck as well.

In terms of the weight of fund the difference.

We want to see us go after the fund balance, not not raise taxes.

I'm not telling you how to do your job.

I'm just telling you you have options.

Sure.

Uh the go using the fund balance would reduce it by less than half a percent.

You have almost 10 percent wiggle room.

And the fund balance exists in the report.

It specifically says what the fund balance is for.

This is almost the definition of what it says.

Okay.

Right.

So we are in a tough budget year.

I recognize the challenging budget year.

But that is one option you have.

Of course.

But the one of the other options, and just to just for clarity's sake and transparency's sake for me.

Um this is, and I think we've expressed this to uh a number of folks.

This is the beginning of uh kind of regular tough budgets.

And so, you know, attacking the fund balance every year uh I think is good would be a challenge for me.

Um historically, I've heard uh advocates come and talk about a tax increase.

I just haven't heard that this year, and I'm kind of wondering why, because that's sustained funding every year.

Obviously, it's not politically fun for anybody.

Um it's definitely hard on a lot of people.

Um but I just um I'm trying to kind of understand why I'm not hearing more of that conversation.

I mean, I can only speak for myself and certainly like in my role as back chair have a different perspective than maybe most.

I last year I came and talked to you guys about uh and I I I mentioned the tax increase, and Mr.

Rogier actually said, how do you how do you feel about having a tax increase?

And I said, let's go.

Um I didn't mention it this year because I've been paying attention when you guys say, hey, what's up with the you know we we can't do that, right?

You've been very clear that you don't want to do that.

Um just say I will say I will note uh I personally moved my parents who are seniors and retired to Alexandria this summer, this past summer.

Um I talked to them about this.

How do you guys as fixed income folks feel about a tax increase?

And and they how what is it gonna pay for?

Tell me what it will pay for, right?

And when I explained to them what it would pay for, they were like, let's go.

I'll in.

Right?

So yeah, that's one of the options you have.

I I don't get the sense from some folks that they want to have that conversation, and so it doesn't seem like a helpful thing to comment on here.

Um, but certainly that's another option that you have.

I you mentioned the challenging uh sort of future budgets coming up.

I also like point taken.

I none of us have a crystal ball.

We don't know what's gonna happen next year, right?

There's all sorts of conversation about next year.

I can only speak about this year, right?

I my seventh grader wanted to come with me today to tell you about all of his amazing teachers.

Between my two kids, we have 13 amazing high quality, fast fabulous teachers.

I care about making sure they're here for FY27.

I can't tell you about FY28.

Thank you.

Okay.

Um as much as uh Councilman Chapman and I go back and forth about a tax increase.

I do think I do think it's important for us to talk about it because each of the sources that are being offered have different different timelines.

So our fund balance we typically do on like a one-year time.

If we're talking about salaries, I wouldn't want to allocate money that is for one year, and then the next year not have money allocated.

So I think it's important to have the sources on the table that we need to have a conversation about.

Uh our next speaker is Terry.

I I apologize in advance.

I'm so sorry, to I was gonna say it really fast and pretend like it came out.

Generally.

Good morning all.

I'm Terry Generelli, uh parent of two parent of two Alexandria City public school students, a very frequent ACPS volunteer, and this year, the PTAC president.

Today I plead your support in allocating increased funding to Alexandria City Public Schools for the upcoming school year.

I understand that you all are in a very challenging position.

You are working with a limited budget and many very important agencies and services that need funding to make Alexandria the wonderful city that it is.

The City Council has stepped up in the past to help move us closer to fully meeting the needs of our public schools.

And we need you as champions again for our students and educators this year.

As other neighboring jurisdictions increase their investment in their school system, we must stay competitive in order to recruit and retain the amazing teachers that have been so impactful in my daughter's education.

Over the past 11 years, my children have had teachers who made learning fun and relevant.

These educators have built their skills and their confidence, and they have made school a place where my girls want to be.

Unfortunately, that change will not come in time to impact next year's school budget.

The difference between the city manager's proposed budget increase and the school board's ask is $5.6 million.

However, this impact that money will make to the teachers and the students of ACPS is worth so much more.

This funding would provide an average increase of 5.35 for licensed personnel and an average of 6.42% increase for educated education support professionals.

These are important increases that make sure our high quality teachers and staff have the means to stay at ACPS and teach our amazing children.

In closing, I support the requested the request for a 3.5 increase in the allocated school budget.

I support our teachers and our schools, which means I sincerely hope that we can fund the collective bargaining agreement and the wonderful diverse and important programs that Alexandria City Public Schools offers.

Thank you all so much for your time and the care that you will take while wrestling with these difficult decisions that you make for Alexandria residents, especially our children.

Thank you so much for your time today.

Our next speaker is Sarissa Young.

Hello.

I am a member of the community and I've been following the ACPS budget proposals.

I support the adoption of the resolution to fund ACPS by classification.

Times are tough, and the school district I grew up in did not have nearly as much funding as Alexandria.

We need to do a lot more with a lot less.

And now everyone has to penny pinch since we are in a similar place.

I understand the school board says they don't want to cut staff and sports.

And since they are considering that, it is clear they are in a tough spot.

I've been hearing the school board say that they need to get more money from the city.

So I went through the budget book that ACP has published to get some context.

The first thing I noticed was a lot of figures, but not a lot of detail.

This got me thinking, so I went and looked at surrounding school districts to see where improvements can be made.

There were several key differences.

Mainly areas like Arlington made sure to cut specifically things like printing costs to ensure their health care offsets would not impact educator's pay.

Unless I am misunderstanding something, I feel this would be a good path for the school board to try and emulate to make the most of the funds they are given.

For further context, I watched the joint session between the school board and city council.

In my opinion, it is evident that the city council is doing the best that they can not to take money from youth programs and those in need.

With the current economy, a lot of these funds can impact the direction of entire families' lives, so their efforts make sure that these funds that the money is allocated to the right places, like going towards those struggling to afford rent.

It is noticed and appreciated.

Meanwhile, year after year, ACPS has gotten an increase in their funding, and unfortunately, they are still having trouble guaranteeing the money is uplifting educators and their students.

In the joint session, Mayor Gaskins asked about the possibility and decision making surrounding cutting funds to central office.

The chair and superintendent went back and forth but never addressed the question.

A page in the budget book was referenced, but it also did not answer the question.

As far as I can tell, there is no evidence-based reason to have that department overfunded.

If that is the case, it would be appropriate inappropriate source to regain the money when balancing the budget so the school board can deliver the competitive pay that was promised to educators.

I hope this topic is revisited in the next ACPS work session.

Finally, the school board tried to appeal the adoption of the resolution to appropriate funds to ACPS based on classification.

The number one reason, their number one reason was their intent to deliver on the collective bargaining agreement.

In the same way the city has to deliver for everyone, the school board has to deliver for educators.

I've heard a lot of concerns about the promises made in the in that agreement falling short should the city step in.

But what amounts to a standard annual pay cut pay increase is set to be undercut by the school board's health care offsets.

Given that the stakes are so high, it is my opinion that the city council has to step in if the school board wants to deliver on that promise.

I support their resolution to fund ACPS by classification.

If the school board cannot find a way to get the money to educators, then someone has to ensure that we all reach the same goal that hardworking employees of ACPS get the compensation they deserve.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for your time today.

Our next speaker is David Paladin Fernandez.

Is he online?

Oh, I see the door opening.

I don't see this room leaves so much suspense with all the overflow room.

So never know.

I'm also moving a little slower.

Tweaked my knee at wrestling practice, so on one second.

Ready to go, dude.

Way to go.

We just need a little spotlight on you.

City Council public hearing 2026, y'all.

Okay.

Are we good?

Yes, we are good.

Okay.

Good morning.

My name is David Paladin Fernandez, and while I am here speaking for myself, I do so with the perspective of an ACPS educator and an outspoken active EAA and Alexandria community member.

I'm here because I, along with many others in this community, are focused on the long-term health of our schools and ensuring rank and file educators have a proper voice at the table to help determine the future of ACPS.

We educators believe that voice would come when the collective bargaining resolution passed in March of 2024.

And I want to take a moment to thank the school board, including two members who are on this council and a few who are in this room right now for working with me and many others to get that important resolution passed.

Yet I have heard from numerous rank and file EAA educators that they are unaware of where in the collective bargaining process we are.

And after attending nearly 30 straight school board meetings to help get collective bargaining passed, I am in the dark about vital details educators have the right to know.

The fact boils down to one thing: a lack of intentional union-led communication that resonates with members.

Sure, we can point to the fact that confidentiality was built into the collective bargaining resolution, which was something I warned against two years ago, but I digress.

I would be, though, remiss if I did not state that the school board did not provide, did provide, pardon me, a vital mechanism in the resolution to work around confidentiality.

I cannot recall the exact language, but in layman's terms, it basically stated that the information could be shared with the community if both sides agreed to share said information.

However, last week's update sent to EAA membership lacked information beyond anything beyond tentative agreements to compensation.

This begs the question.

Where is the will to share the rest of the information with EAA membership?

That being said, regardless of these facts, I still believe that it is vital that ACPS educators receive the most competitive compensation in Northern Virginia, if not the country.

I know that can only be achieved by making a purposeful choice to intentionally invest in our educators and thus our students.

As such, I am calling upon you, City Council, to help our friends on the ACPS school board intentionally invest in our educators.

Good day.

I will see you next time.

Thank you so much for your time today.

Our next speaker is Bill Dickison.

Good morning.

I've uh lived in Alexandria for almost 50 years.

And I've seen a lot of things happen here.

And mostly for the good.

And uh one thing that's always struck me about this city is that somehow we come up with a problem.

And then collectively, up and down, back and forth, we come up to a resolution that works.

And I've learned that when you have involved citizens.

Not and bring in experts, but also involve the citizens.

And we can work things out.

I also would like to compliment you on the conference you held, the summit you held back in May last year.

The economic summit.

It was a day-long session that called for community engagement, innovation, and community dialogue to bring appropriate economic development to the city.

That uh and in being there, I realized one thing.

Or a couple things.

One is Alexander is different.

We are unique.

And we have some unique opportunities ahead of us.

At that session, one of our planning commissioners, our former planning commissioners, David Brown, came forward and spoke.

And he had a vision, an idea for what might be happened down at Potomac Yard.

And it was a it was a vision.

It was an idea, and I think he had talked to many of you earlier about the vision.

But a vision is just that.

How do you make it happen?

So I was excited about it.

I reached out to other people, and it this it was not a hard sell at all.

People are saying this is the right idea, this idea of this immersive center where people could see the future of technology.

It fits so well with Virginia Tech.

The whole idea of the innovation tech, it really uses the great asset we already put there with the Potomac Yard station.

There it sits.

It fits with the community.

It creates jobs.

It brings, it's not bringing in, it's not asking you for money.

It brings money from outside here.

This is an idea of the David Spawn.

And looking around the community, we found goodness, right here.

Chuck Kent, he had done work done in Rio de Janeiro on their museum of the future.

Here we have right in our city the expertise.

We don't have to go out and find experts, consultants to tell us we have the capability right here in the city to put an idea together.

So I looked into the budget and the economic development.

And you have 9.2 million or so, which is very similar to what it was in prior years.

And what I asked for is where is the vision, the Alexandria forward vision, how is that going to be funded and where why was it not talked about in the budget?

Thank you so much for your time today.

Okay.

If you have additional comments, we can hand them to the clerk, and then that way they'll be distributed to the full council.

Our next speaker is Michelle Reef.

Good morning.

My name is Michelle Reef, and I'm chair of the Alexandria School Board, a city resident and taxpayer, and the proud parent of an Alexandria City High School graduate and two current Alexandria City Public School students.

I'm here today to ask the City Council to increase the FY27 operating transfer to Alexandria City Public Schools.

I've had the honor of serving on the Alexandria School Board for the past eight years, and a proud moment was on March 21st, 2024, when the school board unanimously passed a resolution authorizing collective bargaining for ACPS teachers and support staff.

In that resolution, the board affirmed that a cooperative relationship with employees protects the public interest, improves the work environment, and ultimately enhances the quality of education for our students.

This year, the school board requested a $9.8 million increase in the city appropriation.

The city manager's proposed budget includes a $4.2 million increase, leaving a gap of $5.6 million.

The school board's request is consistent with the level of support the city has provided to ACPS in recent years, while the city manager's proposal falls below that level.

Before making this request, ACPS took significant steps to reduce costs.

We identified $7.5 million in reductions, including a 5% cut in nonpersonnel spending across the division, eliminating $13.8 positions, mostly central office, and increasing facility use fees and employee contributions to health care premiums.

These were difficult but responsible steps to manage costs while protecting classrooms.

So why is the school board requesting additional funding?

First, we must keep our wages competitive.

ACPS employs 2,700 people, one of the largest workforces in our city, and each 1% pay increase costs $2.8 million.

With the rising cost of living, neighboring school divisions are expected to offer raises of 4.5 to 7.5 percent next year.

If we don't keep pace, Alexandria schools risk losing talented teachers and support staff to those divisions.

Second, this budget will fund Alexandria's first collective bargaining agreements with public school employees.

Support for collective bargaining is a value the City Council has repeatedly affirmed, and the school board shares that commitment.

Finally, I want to emphasize that 100% of the requested increase will go toward wages, not for management, but for the people who work directly with our students every day.

Alexandria's teachers, counselors, social workers, instructional assistants, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, and other professionals who make up ACPS's two collective bargaining units.

These are the dedicated individuals who keep our schools running and support our students' learning and well-being every day.

I asked the council to help close the $5.6 million gap so we can keep compensation competitive, honor our commitment to collective bargaining, and continue attracting and retaining the educators our students deserve.

Thank you for your time and your continued support of ACPS.

Thank you so much for your time today.

Councilman Chapman.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Quick question, similar question that what I asked earlier.

How would you prefer that council close that gap?

And specifically tax increase or uh other tools.

What I will say, uh Councilman Chapman, is that um I think we have real challenges in our city right now.

And I think, and this is something we've been talking about for uh a number of years now, the pressure from the capital budget.

I think we need to really um talk through how we're going to address the challenges because I do think they're gonna grow.

Um I'm supportive of what decisions we need to do to keep our wages competitive because some of the um speakers who spoke earlier about affordability in the city, that's a lot of our employees are experiencing the same thing.

We have a lot of um employees who live in the city who are having a hard time uh, you know, paying rent, paying for housing, and we have a lot of employees who are forced to live, you know, farther away from the city and community commuting in.

So if it's a tax increase, if it's um, you know, additional creative ways that we can find to close that gap, uh, we're here to partner with you.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for your time today.

Our next speaker is Tess McGurney.

Uh good morning, Mayor Gaskins, Vice Mayor Bagley, and members of the city council.

My name is Tess McEnry, and I'm an Alexandria resident.

So this month, you are making decisions about what Alexandria's tax dollars should fund and should not fund.

And I am here because right now our city budget is funding the Alexandria Sheriff's Office's voluntary collaboration with ICE.

Since taking office in 2022, Sheriff Casey has transferred 142 people from the Alexandria jail into ICE custody without a judicial warrant.

In 2025 alone, that happened 54 times.

These are not court ordered transfers.

They are voluntary decisions, and they could stop today.

Yet Alexandria taxpayers are still paying for the system that makes them possible.

This matters because Alexandria should be a place where our immigrant neighbors feel safe and are treated with fairness and due process.

And to your credit, the council has already said that you oppose the sheriff's voluntary collaboration with ICE.

But right now, the budget still funds it.

Alexandria spends roughly 20 million dollars in local tax money every year on the jail, and about 90% of the sheriff's budget goes to incarceration itself.

And I know that budgets require hard choices, but leadership means choosing investments that make our community safer and stronger.

So the question before you today is actually quite simple.

What makes Alexandria safer, helping ICE detain our neighbors, or investing in housing stability, rental assistance, and eviction prevention.

Programs that keep families rooted in our community.

Housing keeps families stable.

Jail cells do not.

So you have already spoken about your values related to the sheriff and ICE collaboration, and now I'm asking you to align those values with the budget.

Use the power of the budget, reduce the sheriff's funding until he stops collaborating with ICE, invest instead in housing and stability for Alexandria families.

I thank you for your time, your consideration, and your service to this city.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for your time today.

It's so funny because I feel like every hearing I usually say no clapping.

Today I said clapping aloud.

It's powerful.

Um next speaker is Nathaniel Cartnega.

Cartagena.

He's online, he just needs to uh mute his microphones.

This is the worst part of the job.

I feel like today's really coming in.

Yes.

All right.

Thank you.

Uh thank you, Mayor Gaskin's Vice Mayor Bagley, members of City Council.

Uh my name is Nathaniel Cartagena.

I am the chair of the Dash Advisory Committee, uh, a group of committed to Alexandria citizens who are residents and regular trans users of Dash.

Um as Dash riders, we want to thank you for your continued strong support of public transportation in Alexandria as an increasing number of Alexandrians depend on Dash to meet their mobility needs.

We thank the city manager for fully funding Dash's current services for fiscal year 2027.

While thankful for the proposed budget with funding for current services, we would like to highlight some service improvement options for consideration in the fiscal year 2027 budget deliberations.

Higher frequency service for Line 32, which operates between West Alexandria or the Alex Transit Center and the Van Dorn, Eisenhower, and King Street Metro stations remains a priority.

We greatly appreciate that the manager's proposed budget includes a one-time funding for 30-minute weekday line 32 service.

That said, the need for all-day frequent service for all of Line 32 has grown, continues to grow.

As such, the need for sustainable funding for Line 32 and other improvements in the Alexandria Transit Vision or ATV plan for fiscal year 2022 network are critical for effective planning and buy-in for residents.

We ask that you prioritize identifying a long-term funding source for improvements to Line 32 and continue to realize improvements in the ATV plan, uh fiscal year 2022 network.

Additionally, we asked the City Council to consider the importance of routes line 103 and 104 as regional ridership has continued to return to pre-COVID levels with return to office mandates in place for the majority of the federal workforce, including at the Pentagon, it's critical that these lines receive the operational investment necessary to remain competitive with single occupancy vehicle travel along the I-394 corridor.

Transit is an important economic engine for Alexandria and the DC region.

Every dollar invested in Northern Virginia transit generates $1.60 in statewide revenue and Dash operations alone contributes $64 million annually in tax revenues.

Each day, thousands rely on Dash for access to jobs, education, groceries, entertainment, and much more.

As the cost of living continues to strain household budgets across our city, access to safe and frequent public transit is a lifeline.

And I want to thank uh thank everyone for members of council for for your interest in the Dash and look forward to ongoing conversation.

So thank you very much.

Thank you so much for your time today.

Uh we have our next and final speaker.

You guys will be so impressed because I'm going to get it right.

Now we have Don Lucas.

Wow.

I'm wagging up over here today.

Greetings, Mayor Gaskins, Vice Mayor Bagley, City Council members, City Manager, City Attorney, City Clerk, and the community.

My name is Don Lucas, and I have been a full-time special education teacher in ACPS for over 20 years.

I'm also the president of the Education Association of Alexandria EAA.

EA supports ACPS's request for a 3.5% increase in the city appropriation over last year.

In fact, we believe that that amount should be higher to account for changes in the health care premium split.

Increased funding is necessary for ACPS to keep and attract exceptional educators and staff.

Without offering competitive compensation, there is a risk of staff leaving for neighboring school divisions that provide more attractive pay packages than those currently available here.

Although multiple factors influence an employee's decision to remain with or depart from an organization, competitive compensation remains among the most significant considerations.

It is noteworthy that within one year, ACPS move from leading the region and starting teacher salaries for those with a master's degree to ranking seventh.

This position may decline further if compensation adjustments are not made to remain competitive with other jurisdictions.

Competitive compensation plays a vital role in improving employee morale, fostering loyalty, reducing turnover, and promoting a healthy workforce.

Stable staffing supports student success and continuity while strong schools build strong communities.

The school board unanimously approved our collective bargaining resolution.

We established clear ground rules and engaged in good faith negotiations to develop competitive compensation proposals for licensed personnel and education support professionals.

ACPS employees have shown patience while awaiting the results of their dedicated service.

They deserve to see the results of their efforts.

Now we need the city to show its commitment to ACPS employees and provide the necessary funding.

Thank you for your time today.

Thank you, Ms.

Lucas.

Councilman and Gary.

Thanks for being here this morning.

Thank you.

With the CBA that you guys came to an agreement with, uh so it's 12.7 million dollars this year.

How much is it going to be next year and the year after?

We don't we haven't negotiated that far into the future.

Okay, because typically with the agreements that we've done with the city, it's over a three-year span.

Uh and this is uh something that I've commented to a couple of the school board members now that it's it's one thing to ask for 12.7 million dollars in one year up front as opposed to saying, hey, we came to this agreement, it's 12.7, and we're gonna do it over the span of three years, so then you can break it up into you know four million dollars.

Um you might hear some grumbles about four million dollars a year or something that the council could wrap their head around a lot easier.

Um but furthermore, if we don't know that this agreement's 12.7 million dollars period, or if it's additional money in the second year and then additional money in the third year, then that's very concerning because then I don't know where we're getting that money from.

And so I I think it's very crucial that that be clarified, uh not just for you all since you you're not sure, but for the council and for the community.

I think we have language to reopen do a reopener to discuss um because we don't know what the budget um is going to look like in future years.

So I think we have um language written into the um contract that what we will come back to the table to negotiate uh for subsequent years.

I I hear that I I think um what my frustration is is knowing that on the city side we've already conducted four separate collective bargaining agreements.

Um it should have at least been a model for what you guys were doing.

I know there are differences, but at least to show okay, is this a one-year thing and then we're gonna come back in three years, or is this a one-year thing paid over three years?

At the bare minimum, we should be able to know what that is.

Thank you for the feedback.

And I should say uh to my colleagues, since we still have not received those details, uh the manager has sent a formal request um requesting that we get additional information so that we can look at those details uh through the budgeting process.

Okay.

Thank you.

Uh Councilman Chapman.

Yeah.

I would add to the comments of my colleagues.

I I guess I'm very surprised.

I assumed you were following similar jurisdictions models as you know, I'm under uh as a regular employee, I'm under Fairfax County uh contract.

And theirs is a multi-year contract.

I just assumed that was going to be the case.

So I'm sorry.

Um I definitely would hope that there is a further discussion.

I I respectfully, the the idea that we don't know future budgets is should not be uh what's used as the the kind of response.

Um Fairfax County did not know that.

Any of the other CBAs don't know that as well.

But they have kind of put a stick in the mud and said this is what we're going for, this is what we can fund, and that helps not only the school board, but that helps the council and the city understand what we have the ability to fund.

And so if you're going back to a rejoiner, uh or that happens, um, and we'll have to talk about that offline.

But um yeah, we we we folks need to really get in the room and talk about this really quickly.

All right.

No, and I will say that what we were really concerned about this year, and we want to make sure that during the course of the budget cycle that we got what we needed for this year in terms of compensation for our employees.

And so um, but yeah, I I I get where you're coming from, and we can have those further discussions.

Uh it's one more comment.

Vice Mayor Bagley.

No, I and it's not Ms.

Lucas, thank you for your testimony.

It's not necessarily directed at you, it's more just part of the dialogue that's kind of developed here is um to this multi-year point.

It's a point that I think I've raised a few times now with regard to what it's doing to our budget, generally speaking.

I mean, with each year, once we began collective bargaining a few years ago, there are three-year links, the fraction of the pie that is sort of up for discussion that isn't pre-locked in is getting smaller with each year.

And that has pros and cons, but from a firm up for a planner, you know, sort of I I think it it has appeal.

So while I appreciate, you know, you don't know what next year's budget looks like, neither did fire, neither did police, neither did professional services on the city side, and neither did the city side negotiators, and everybody sort of acted together to say, okay, we're gonna commit out to these three years.

And so then when our budget office sits down, they have those agreements in front of them, already you know, mapping out what commitments have been made over those years.

Um I I just I share my colleagues' expressions that, you know, as this is discussed about reopening and and how you move forward, um, other departments are under that same forecasting challenge as is the city side negotiators to lock us in in ways that we think are serviceable.

Um I believe this council even was asked during our um public hearing on the the police CBA.

Um we're gonna stick with the model that we have.

So um I I I appreciate the comments from my colleagues and just wanted to give that context.

Thank you.

All right, thank you.

Thank you so much for your time today.

Uh Ms.

Lucas is the last and final nobody else.

Okay, last and final speaker.

Is there a motion to close the public hearing?

Motion to close the public hearing on document six.

Second.

Okay, there has been a motion by Councilman sorry, Vice Mayor Backley and a second by Councilman Chapman.

Any discussion?

And a quick point of discussion.

Uh Mr.

Route, can you just name the next opportunities that people have to weigh in on the budget?

Or director out, sorry.

Um Thank you.

Uh so there's uh opportunity to comment online, which is the first uh way which anybody can do it any time, and then the next public hearing will be on uh April the 18th.

Uh let me double check that.

I think it's the eighteenth.

Uh but that will be the um there will be an uh public hearing on the tax rate and the ad delete list.

Okay, thank you.

Um seeing no additional discussion.

This is a roll call vote.

And clerk please call the roll.

Hi Councilman Chapman.

All right, Mayor Gaskins.

Councilman Agiri.

Councilman L.

Okay.

I'm sorry, I only have one ask on the coffee.

Not a role called votes, but it is the role of classes.

Um items are for discussion.

I will entertain a motion to move to adjourn.

There's been a motion by Vice Mayor Bagley and a second by Councilman Chapman to adjourn today's meeting.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

The ayes have it.

Meeting adjourned.

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