City Council - Regular Meeting

Okay, good evening, everyone. It is 6-16. Madam Clerk, we're going to go ahead and call the meeting to order. Can you please call the roll?

Mayor Gaskins. Present. Vice Mayor Bagley. Here. Councilman Aguirre.

Here.

Councilman Chapman. Councilman El-Nubi.

Here.

Councilwoman Green. Councilwoman Marks. Here. All right, Madam Clerk, next item. Approval of electronic participation resolution by City Council. Yes, ma'am. Second.

OK. We have a motion by Vice Mayor Bagley and a second by Councilman Aguirre to approve the electronic participation resolution for Councilwoman Jacinta Greene. Madam Clerk, this is a roll call vote. Please call the roll.

Vice Mayor Bagley. Aye. Councilman Aguirre. Aye. Mayor Gaskins. Aye. Councilman Chapman. Aye. Councilman El-Nubi. Aye. Councilwoman Greene. Aye. Councilwoman Marks. Aye. All right. Madam Clerk, next item. closed session, consideration of closed executive session pursuant to Virginia Code section to discuss or consider the investment of public funds. Okay. Councilman Aguirre.

Madam Mayor, I move that City Council convene in closed executive session pursuant to Virginia Code section 2.2-3711A6 to discuss or consider the investment of public funds where competition or bargaining is involved, where if made public initially, the financial interest of the city would be adversely affected.

There has been a motion. Is there a second? Second. There is a second by Vice Mayor Bagley to convene in closed executive session. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed?

Aye.

All right. The ayes have it. We are in executive session, and we'll be back at 7 p.m. Okay, it's 7-12. Councilman Aguirre.

Madam Mayor, I move to reconvene in open session.

All right, there has been a motion to reconvene in open session and a second by Councilman Chapman. All those in favor to reconvene say aye. Aye. Any opposed? All right, the ayes have it. Councilman Aguirre.

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

All right, there has been a motion by Councilman Aguirre and a second by Councilman Chapman to adopt the resolution that was previously circulated to the council regarding the closed executive session. Any further discussion? All right, Madam Clerk, this is a roll call vote. Please call the roll.

Councilman Aguirre. Aye. Councilman Chapman. Aye. Mayor Gaskins. Aye. Vice Mayor Bagley. Aye. Councilman Elnubi. Aye. Councilwoman Green. Aye. Councilwoman Marks.

Aye. Aye. Okay, the ayes have it. Madam Clerk, next item.

Moment of silence and Pledge of Allegiance.

Okay, it is our practice to begin each meeting with a moment of silence followed by the pledge. If you are able to stand, we ask that you please rise at this time.

presentation of a proclamation recognized in June as Pride Month.

Okay, I have asked Councilman Aguirre to read the proclamation. If you are here joining us in celebration of Pride Month, we ask that you please come to the front at this time.

All right. Good evening, everyone. So I'm going to go ahead and read this proclamation, and then I'm going to pass the mic down so everyone can introduce themselves. And if there's anything that wants to be said, a little extras in there, we could do that too. All right. So, whereas on June 28th of 1969, several thousand broad individuals protested the unjust and violent actions of the New York City police against the LGBTQIA plus community at Stonewall Inn. And whereas the city of Alexandria commemorates the multi-night protests, resisting the police raids across the community, and reducing the loyalty of the LGBTQIA plus movement. And whereas the city of Alexandria honors the advocacy of those who have advanced the fight for equality and affirms its support for current and emerging leaders who continue to navigate and challenge marginalization and oppression, guided by a downy reminder from activist Marsha P. Johnson, that there is no pride for some of us without liberation for all of us. And whereas the City of Alexandria proudly recognizes the Alexandria LGBTQIA Plus Task Force for fostering an inclusive space where LGBTQIA plus individuals and allies convene to build community, share ideas, and advance initiatives that support equity and belonging. And for its ongoing partnership with the Alexandria Library, Department of Community and Human Services, and other community organizations to host the city's annual Pride Fair. And whereas the city of Alexandria recognizes that the broader political landscape has intensified challenges faced by the LGBTQIA plus community, particularly transgender individuals and people of color, and how it forms its commitment to foster an inclusive, supportive spaces for all. And whereas for the sixth consecutive year, the city of Alexandria earned a perfect score of 100 on the 2025 Municipal Equality Index, A national assessment by the Human Rights Campaign, valued in LGBTQ plus equality in municipal policies, laws, and services, and is one of the only 132 cities nationwide to receive this distinction. And whereas, in September 2025, the Alexandria City Council commemorated the one-year anniversary of the adoption of a resolution affirming the city as a safe and inclusive space for LGBTQIA plus individuals and reinforcing its commitment to protecting the rights of LGBTQIA plus Alexandrians. And whereas, the City of Alexandria continues to uplift and support the voices, dignity, and rights of the LGBTQIA plus community. Now, therefore, I, Kanaka Gitter, on behalf of Aaliyah Gaskins, Mayor of the City of Alexandria, Virginia, and on behalf of the Alexandria City Council, do hereby recognize June 2026 as LGBTQIA Plus Pride Month in the City of Alexandria, and I call this observance to the attention of all our citizens, a witness whereof I've hereunto set my hand and cause the seal of the City of Alexandria to be affixed this ninth day of June 2026.

Hi, everyone. Thank you for allowing us to be here. My name is Alex Leiden. I am the secretary and one of our task force leaders for the LGBTQ task force here in Alexandria.

And hi, I'm Jamie Christopher Purse, and I'm a resident of Alexandria and the vice chair of the LGBTQ task force.

Good evening. I'm Erica Calloway-Kleiner. I am the staff facilitator for the task force. And on behalf of the whole task force, we thank our leadership in Alexandria for creating such an inclusive and wonderful space for the whole community. And we are excited to see folks on June 27th at Alexandria Pride in John Carlisle Square Park from 2 to 6. Thank you for everything.

So one time, June 27th, 26th, John Carroll. Hope to see you all there. And we've got flowers and everything. And with that, Madam Mayor, I would move the proclamation.

There has been a motion by Councilman Aguirre and a second by Councilman Chapman. Is there any additional discussion? Vice Mayor Bagley.

Well, thank you all for being here and for the work you do on this. And congrats on everybody who contributed to our perfect score. I just wanted to add for the last few years, I've participated in a Pride ride that will also take off from Carlisle Square this year with a new route. And so stay tuned for some more details on that. But it's really a lot of fun. It's all ages. Ride your bicycle, your tricycle, your e-bike, your unicycle, penny farthing, whatever it is that you have. But come join us and celebrate Pride.

Thank you, Vice Mayor Bagley. I just want to echo the Vice Mayor's thanks to everyone on the task force. We would not be the inclusive and welcoming community that we are without you. So thank you for all the work that is going into our Pride celebration. I would also just say for members of the public, if you go on our website, there are events happening almost every single week, everything from educational events to I think this weekend there's the Radiance Festival. So lots of ways for you to get involved. So I hope that you will join us in celebration. With that, there has been a motion by Councilman Aguirre and a second by Councilman Chapman to approve the proclamation recognizing June as Pride Month. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? All right, the ayes have it, and the proclamation passes. Madam Clerk, next item.

All reports from members of City Council and Boards, Commissions, and Committees for Virginia Railway Express, Vice Mayor Bagley.

So the first five are Vice Mayor Bagley. So I'm just going to call maybe two or three, and then we'll come back. We'll do Virginia Railway Express, the Council of Government's Climate, Energy, and Environmental Policy Committee, and the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. And I'll try to keep things concise. With VRE, I wanted to highlight we are two out of three weekends into our bridge replacement work at King and Commonwealth. I want to direct people, both vre.org and the city's web page has up-to-date information. Right now, they are still looking at a third and final work weekend in mid to late June. But just please keep your eyes open. There's lots of signage with updates sort of near the facility. But the work is going well. And again, I'll reiterate, this is really the first piece of what is transformative work in the Northeast Corridor to expand the volume of trains and the reliability of passenger trains. Once we replace these bridges, add a fourth track, build a long bridge across the Potomac, we are going to be able to just unlock really great improved additional service with VRE. I'll also note that they have brought back for the first time in 10 years the fireworks train. So tickets are limited, but there's going to be one train running on the Fredericksburg line, one on the Manassas line, bringing people into L'Enfant, which is like the best place to see the 4th of July fireworks. I believe tickets are $10. Everybody needs one. But check it out and join VRE for 4th of July fireworks. With that, I'll move on to COG CIPSE. So the Council of Governments, CPC, the Environmental Focused Group, met. I mean, it met. I was there. It met. Come on, girl. There we go. On May 27th, we actually had a very lengthy debate over the mid-course review. This is basically the large analysis of, is the region meeting its environmental goals? I mean, simply put. And are we on pace to meet the goals that we've set out at various checkpoints? And the reality is there is a lot of really good work happening. It's happening in Alexandria and many other jurisdictions in the region. But the concern that many members expressed is it's not enough. And if we don't ring the bell on that in this report and highlight the fact that at our current pace, we will not ultimately meet our 2030 goals, We won't meet them. And so we spend a lot of time sort of wordsmithing and advocating for a more intense statement that we must do more in certain areas. We need certain jurisdictions to step up. While the trends are absolutely positive and there's a lot of good things happening, we need more happening. We need more solar. We need more chargers. We need more people using public transit. We need more electrification of buildings. Like all of these things need to keep happening. We need to keep protecting our tree canopy. There was an intensive discussion about data centers as well, which I know everybody's paying a lot of attention to. Data centers are absolutely the outlier in all of this data because with them in, we are not going to get where we need to be because of their intensive needs. If you take them out, suddenly things look a lot different. And so we really do need to have a separate analysis on the impacts of data centers from an energy efficiency and energy usage perspective. So yeah, so keep an eye out for the final report. You'll be receiving it, Madam Mayor, at COG. And then finally, NVTC. Earlier tonight, I believe my colleague, Councilman Aguirre, was able to attend. There was a pop-up at Burke Library for the Envisioned Round 7 bus rapid transit corridor that would come all the way through Fairfax County, through Paltrow Falls Church, and then end here at the Mark Center. and Southern Towers. And so we held a pop-up at Burke Library tonight. You still have an opportunity to provide feedback if you envision Route 7 is the name of the bus rapid transit line. And it would really expedite and unlock sort of Western movement between Tyson's Corner and the Mark Center for all those users. So we've talked a bit about that. The other big highlight from NVTC, which just happened last Thursday, was There was a long visit and dialogue with Randy Clark, the GM from Metro. The bottom line with Metro is things are going really, really well. Ridership is up. Crime is down. Fairbox collection is up. And they are gearing up for a series of, you know, really big events that are going to be happening on the mall as part of America 250 and other events. And they are feeling very prepared for that. Um, they're about to undertake hopefully the, um, modernization of the red line. The red line is the oldest portion of the Metro system. It was the first like six stations. And, um, a lot of the technology is the same as it was 50 years ago. We are currently celebrating Metro's 50th anniversary. And so we had a long conversation about, you know, the capital needs and the operational needs, um, of the system in its 50th year. Um, but ridership continues to be up. We continue to be above and at 2019 levels in many ways. And, um, you know, lots of, lots of good news in terms of, um, Metro. I'll pause there and actually ask my colleague, Councilman Aguirre, if he wants to add other things. Councilman Aguirre.

I would reiterate the importance of the Envision Route 7. So if anyone has the opportunity to provide feedback, please do so. This is going to be a very transformational bus route for the entire region. I think it spans four jurisdictions, I think. So it's going to be really, really important. The other thing that I would just want to mention quickly, since the vice mayor brought up the GM of Metro, one of the conversations we were having was around fare evasion. And across the system, it's about 70%. But what I want to break down a little bit further is that you have to look at what fare evasion is from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. And then you have to isolate for where is that fare evasion actually happening. And unfortunately, in DC and Maryland, the fare evasion is in the 70th or 80th percentile. Whereas in Virginia, we're actually in the 30th percentile, which is a very huge difference. And not just that, but we will have additional data coming soon on where exactly more of that is. We do know where some of it is, along Roslyn and a couple other areas in Arlington. But I'm personally asking for more information on where specifically in Northern Virginia it is. I would disagree with some of the framing that there's confusion and confusion in Northern Virginia whether we're trying to decide what fair to pay or not and that riders know what fair to pay or not. I think the majority of riders know if they're getting on a blue or yellow bus, it's dash and it's free. If they're getting on a red bus, it's metro bus and they have to pay. I think there's some issues that we have. on what was formerly the 10A, 10B, especially with some students getting on the bus. But that's something that we're working to address very quickly to make sure that we could get our students riding for free on Metro buses very soon. So while there's definitely issues that we could work on, I think we have to be specific with what the real issue is and addressing the root causes, if you will.

Thank you, Councilman Aguirre. I'm going to go back to Vice Mayor Bagley for the Gang Prevention Task Force, Children, Youth, and Families Collaborative Commission.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. So I was able to attend, albeit a little late, I think I was at a Visit Alexandria event first, the Gang Prevention Task Force meeting on May 20th. There was a robust conversation happening about ALX Beyond, which is the website and tool that helps parents and students find out about programs and activities in their communities and how do we both push more people to the site and what's not on the site and how do we engage sort of young people. Um, and so there was a lot of conversations about, um, how do we increase engagement? It was interesting. The ideas that came from the young people are often very different than the ideas that come from those of us of other generations. And that, um, just want to uplift and appreciate that meeting always has a very impressive contingent of young people and peer advocates who are there. And they, they provide really, really good, um, engagement as in this meeting, as at all others. Um, so we talked about that. We talked about the need in middle school, which this body has talked about a lot for more activities. And, and that's the point that you want to, from a gang prevention task force perspective, you really want to engage with youth at that middle school level, because that's sort of when they are being, um, targeted. I mean, ideally, and when they're sort of exposed to those opportunities. Um, we also talked about, they're going to be doing again this year, a soccer tournament. for kids who sort of are involved in some of these programs or are potentially at risk. And so that will be going on in September, October. We'll do some more conversation about that. We also talked about family wellness seminars, international academy challenges. One of the things really valuable about this group is that there's representatives from really everybody who touches youth in the city. And so there was a really good conversation about How do we make sure everybody knows about all the things? I think everybody in this room is aware that Alexandria does a lot, and often families and parents and youth just aren't aware of what's available. And so that was really the focus of the conversation that night is how do we not necessarily build a lot of new programs, but how do we make sure the current programs are reaching the people who need them? Yeah, I'll pause there. And the other one you mentioned, oh, it was Children, Youth, and Families Collaborative Commission. The thing I wanted to uplift tonight primarily is that on our consent agenda is a member of our local business community who is, I'm asking for your support to designate her as my designee on the commission. Ashley Wood runs Solo Studios and other organizations in the city. She attended the last meeting with me and we were able to participate in a work group conversation, which was also about sort of after school and out of school time development with kids. And so I just wanted to flag that for everybody that that's on the consent agenda. And I think Ashley will be a great new member on my behalf for that commission.

Okay. Thank you, Vice Mayor Bagley. Our next commission is Sister Cities Committee, Councilman Chapman.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I wanted to make this one quick. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that came out to the annual commemoration of D-Day. It is something that the committee puts a lot of time and effort in doing, and it was great to see representatives of each of the U.S. Armed Services as well as allies or representatives of allies that participated in D-Day as well that participate annually in that commemoration. So the next one is Transportation Commission. Perfect. Let me pull up what I have for that. Give me a quick second. Sorry. At our last Transportation Commission meeting, one of the big topics was initial conversation about the Duke Street land use plan, something that councils also talked about. But we also talked had a much bigger conversation about the smart scale applications. And really, it wasn't about the applications themselves. It was really about what we, I think the commission and some of us who have seen how these applications and the system has worked, not necessarily to the city's favor in recent times, what that means and what that looks like. And is there any way for council to speak to others about that when I say others not only the folks that make the decisions but also other localities in Northern Virginia because it's not just Alexandria that is seeming to get the short stick on this it's really some of the other regional partners in Northern Virginia and so we will probably be seeing a letter from the chair of the Commission about not only putting some conversation together for other regional partners but also putting some language in our legislative packet to see how we can drum up additional conversation in Richmond about what smart scale is and how it's being assessed for the Virginia localities outside of that We did have some conversations about bus shelters and I think it was the recent Commonwealth Transportation Board meeting as well as looking at outreach for the Commission to other entities that might be good partners.

Thank you, Councilman Chapman. I will say on smart scale, this is a conversation that has come up a lot at MBTA, and we're going to be convening a conversation with different CTB members, so it would be good to coordinate. I think those are coming up in the next two weeks on that effort. The final board and commission is the Northern Virginia Regional Commission, and this is Councilman Chapman and Councilman Green.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I'll start off with this one. NVRC, for those who don't know, maybe about, I guess it's been almost six or eight months now since Northern Virginia Regional Commission hired a new executive director, Craig Pfeiffer, who was former communications director here in the city. He is now the executive director. And as many organizations do when they have new leadership, they look at their strategic plan and where they plan to be in five to 10 years. And so our last meeting of the Commission was to have a pretty much half a day strategic planning session where we started to talk about all of the wonderful things that happen when we have these types of discussions. You know, looking at our vision, looking at our mission, and whether or not we are kind of need to modernize, which is one of the conversations that came out of that discussion. But the final version of our strategic plan is being compiled now, and I will make sure I share that with my colleagues once we have a final version of that so you can see where NVRC kind of sees itself among the regional organizations that we are part of. And then last but not least, one of the things that came out of some of the conversation with the commission is a willingness by the executive director to look at more strategic initiatives for the commission. And we are preparing a memo that will go to each of you and also probably some follow-up by Mr. Pfeiffer himself to my colleagues and I believe he's already talked to the city manager about some strategic initiatives that the commission is looking at and they are looking for some funding with that. Mr. Pfeiffer is well aware that we have in most jurisdictions have concluded their budget conversations but I think the willingness to ask and see what happens is still where we are hoping to go and so I think they are looking around for around $20,000 which would be Alexandra's portion and he's going basically locality locality talking about the strategic initiatives and seeing how it can get funded in the upcoming year and so there'll be more conversation and more details for you about that.

Thank you, Councilman Chapman. Madam Clerk, next item. City Council General Updates. Okay, I'm going to start with Councilman Green, and then I'm going to Councilman Marks.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Good evening, everyone. I want to say congratulations. to our 900 plus Alexandria City High School graduates. They graduated this past Saturday. I wish them much future success and we will continue to work hard so that they can come back and live and work in the city that raised them. And second, I was contacted by Meals on Wheels, which I volunteer for each month and it's such a wonderful experience. And I know my colleagues also volunteer, but they came to me about a need for volunteers in the summer. So my team is putting together two, possibly three dates where we're going to have teams take over the volunteer teams for Meals on Wheels for three days this summer. So I invite everyone to come and participate deliver meals with us for our seniors in need. I will have that information sent out on email and blasting on my social media as well. And we hope to have you come join us. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman Green. Councilman Marks.

I wanted to congratulate our Alexandria City High School Theater. You know, we congratulate the sports a lot. We congratulate the musicians. We have theater kids in Alexandria. We have one high school. They have two school plays, and I encourage everyone to go see them. This year, for the first time in a very long time, the state's largest high school was finally recognized for our outstanding acting in musical theater production, and we were nominated for several awards. at the region's Cappies Awards, which happened on Sunday. It's a gala. The kids were in their black tie. They were at DAR Constitution Hall, as opposed to the Kennedy Center this year. And the Titans brought home two big awards. Paige Vogel, the star of the musical, brought home the Best Female Vocalist Award. And our own Ailyn Colarulli won the, I think it was the featured actor in a male role. She had a beautiful song. It was amazing. So I encourage everybody to go patronize the Titan Arts. I also wanted to congratulate Weeba on their Best of the West campaign. The Best of West End Festival that they had this weekend, it was wonderful. It was long. So many people came. They ran out of food. Next year is going to be big and best. We also had Taste of Delray, which was sold out and always fabulous. So I encourage everybody to check out our neighborhood small business festivals and see what's out there. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman Marks. Councilman Aguirre.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. As always, it's never a dull moment in Alexandria. There's always so much going on. I will try to be quick with this. So back on the 28th, I wanted to bring to the public's attention that Arise had their final report. You could actually find that on, if you go to the city website and go to the homepage for DCHS, the Department of Community and Human Services, you'll be able to find the final report on Arise, which was our universal income program that we did for two years, maybe a little bit more because I think we extended it. But definitely check that out when you have time. On the 28th, I had the opportunity to stop by Holland Lane and Duke Street where we met with Street Smart and the Council of Governments to talk about the improvements that we've made there. It was very hard for me to give my remarks because I kept on looking back at the intersection and seeing how much it's changed. And I wanted to keep on pointing out to everyone, see, the cars are slowing down. See, the cars are not doing this. See, the pedestrians are... have less space to have to cross. So it was actually really, really exciting to see it all in action. And thank you to everyone who was able to help put that in place. Later that evening, I stopped by Brent Place. Thank you to all the city staff, all the nonprofits, all the groups and organizations that helped make our cookout successful. I had a great time at Brent Place. On the 29th, I want to give a big shout out to all of the graduating International Academy seniors. They had their end of year celebration at the high school on the 29th and also the second edition of their poem book. So the seniors write poems, and then some of the underclassmen then create graphic arts, and they combine that into a poem book. So very cool that I have two volumes now, and I will continue my collection. On the 31st, as Councilman Chapman mentioned, we had our D-Day commemoration, so thank you to Sister Cities and to our Office of Historic Alexandria. Always a great event every year. On the first, it was a very solemn day as we opened the memorial for the collision, where we lost 67 lives. It is a very beautiful sight. And I'm hoping that the families could find some semblance of solace when they are able to visit. and remember their loved ones. And I just want to say, too, that every day that we do not implement the 50 recommendations from NTSB, we are putting the public in danger. So we really need to see some action there. On the second, I want to give a big shout out to one of the teachers at ACHS who won a 250th anniversary constitutional grant. And the mayor and I were able to go to Alexandria Pastry Shop and speak with some of the students from ACHS to discuss What does local government look like? And what's the impact that it has on you? And they had some really good questions, actually. So had a great time. Always good talking with the youth about what we could do to improve our community. On the third, again, thank you to all the city staff and organizations that helped make our cookouts a success. There was lots of folks that showed up to Princess Square. So thank you to everyone for that. On the fourth, I want to say thank you to Hotel AKA for hosting the Croatian embassy to get things going for some of the celebrations. And then we had a larger celebration at the waterfront, which I'll get to. On June 5th, I want to say thank you to the Roadrunners at William Ramsey for having me for career day. Some interesting questions, but lots of fun. Always good to engage kids at a young age so that they know what their local government looks like, because most folks know what's at the federal level. Some folks have an idea at the state level, and almost no one has an idea what's happening at the local level. But that's what has the biggest impact on our day-to-day lives. Also on the 5th, I want to say congratulations to the Honorable Mana Parcham, who was just brought to the bench here in Alexandria, so was able to attend her investiture. So congratulations again, Judge Parcham. That evening was Wear it Orange, so thank you to Moms Demand Action for their yearly event, always very important. On the 6th, there was a lot going on. I want to give a shout out to Jeffrey Bennett, who was presenting at the Black History Museum. He just wrote a new book called The Black Belt of Virginia, Untold Stories of African American History. Had a really good time, some good questions. And a lot of it is very local to here. And so also the Gum Springs community was being talked about. So if you get a chance, check out the book, The Black Belt of Virginia. Also had an opportunity to stop by Good Spirit Cafe to celebrate their opening. They're on Eisenhower Avenue, a great place to create community because I think, you know, we get locked up indoors sometimes, and if we're in apartments, then if we don't really have a place to come and gather, then we can't get to know our neighbors. But by having this cafe there on Eisenhower, it gives an opportunity to create some of that community. I also stopped by Novo Raft's award ceremony. It's pretty amazing what Novo Raft has been able to do with our Afghan community. The seven graduating seniors this year all got full rides to their universities. So very, very impressive. And I think the five that graduated last year all got full rides as well. So very cool to see what we're doing in Alexandria. As Councilwoman Marks said, quick shout-out to WIBA for their Best of the West. It is just getting bigger and better, so awesome to see. And then big shout-out to all the staff who helped to make the Croatian celebration at the waterfront a big success. Tons of people there, lots of Croatian jerseys out there at the event, and best of luck to Croatia in the World Cup. And then on the 8th, which was Monday, stopped by the West End for the groundbreaking aspect. I think just about all of us were there. So it's going to be the first housing development at the West End. So it's not just the hospital. There's going to be a whole city over there AT WEST END SO REALLY EXCITED TO SEE THAT MOVING ALONG AND LAST THING TODAY HAD OPPORTUNITY TO STOP BY EARLIER THE FLORIDA KKC PUBLIC HEALTH AWARD CEREMONY AND BIG CONGRATULATIONS TO ROSIE WHO IS OUR MRC COORDINATOR VERY WELL DESERVED AND SHE'S ALSO ON PARENTAL LEAVE BECAUSE SHE JUST HAD HER BABY SO CONGRATS ROSIE THANK YOU COUNCILMAN AGUIRRE COUNCILMAN CHAPMAN

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I think Councilman Aguirre covered a number of events. So one of the ones that I had the opportunity to hear about, I sent a letter, was not able to attend. was the Alexandria Fairfax 50th anniversary chartering day, where our mayor, as well as school board member Chris Harris, received public service awards from the chapter. So kudos to them. And everything else was covered by Councilman Aguirre.

Thank you, Councilman Chapman. And Councilman Aguirre, very efficient this time. I have three quick ones. The first, I mentioned about a year ago that I was accepted into the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Program. And so for the past year, myself, the city manager, and a core team of staff have been getting coaching and support on data, innovation, and ways that we can better tackle workforce challenges within our community. And so I wanted to introduce that while the program has ended, We have been blessed with an amazing graduate intern, Ashifa, who's sitting in the audience, who will be working with our staff all summer long to help us move from concept development to implementation. So really excited to welcome you. She's going to be living here in Alexandria all summer with us. So thank you. The second thing I wanted to share is tonight we're going to hear about sales on the Potomac, but also this weekend is the start of Jazz Fest. And that will run from the 12th through the 14th. Is free to the public so we would love for you to come and join us on the water There'll be great food and local vendors all throughout the weekend Additionally in celebration of us being a team base camp for the Croatian national football team We are going to be a number of our small businesses are going to be celebrating with an event called shop the checkers That will be June 14th through the 28th It's a number of boutiques that will be decorating their shops and having special sales in red and white And I also wanted to while we are the official base camp for the Croatian team We have also been fortunate that we have another World Cup team team Ghana is also staying in our community For a few days as they move to their base camp later on this week And that concludes my oral reports. Seeing no others, Madam Clerk, next item.

City Manager Oral Report. Cells on the Potomac. Alexandria commemorates America's 250 update. Okay. Yeah.

Mayor and council while Gretchen comes to the table. I did want to make one additional announcement so just for the Council and community wanted to highlight the city's upcoming Juneteenth celebration we have a full day and evening of events, really starting at 10 a.m. with a memorial service at the Douglas Cemetery. At 1 to 3, a Jewelry Voices concert at the Shiloh Baptist Church. From 3 to 8 p.m. is the main festival at the Charles Houston Recreation Center. It includes awards, proclamations, a health fair, and some amazing music and performances. We also have free museum hours at the Freedom House and the Alexandria Black History Museum, as well as a whole series of other things. But I wanted an early heads up on some amazing events for that Friday, June 19. Thank you.

Thanks. Good evening. It's a pleasure to be here. Gretchen Bolivar, Director of Historic Alexandria. Madam Mayor, Madam Vice Mayor, members of council, it's great to see you. Thank you for the opportunity to give you an update and share with the residents of Alexandria information on sails on the Potomac this weekend. We've been planning this event for several years now, and it's really quite an honor to be part of the Virginia Sail 250 Virginia Affiliate Harbor Program. So we're the northernmost affiliate harbor and the largest event in Northern Virginia. sales on the potomac will take place this june 12th through 14th so that's thursday friday and saturday nope that's friday saturday and sunday along alexandra's waterfront it is a free event that includes tours of four tall ships the 48th annual jazz fest with live music all three days two 250th History Villages with over 30 local museums and history organizations from all over Northern Virginia, and a special fireworks display, which I'm particularly excited about, at 9 o'clock on Saturday. And these fireworks will be launched from a barge on the Potomac River. The festival is open 12 to 6 every day. It does stay open a little later on Saturday with music going till 9 PM as we launch the fireworks. Other special activities include the VA 250 Mobile Museum, a performance by the Alexandria Pipe and Drum, student poetry readings long games and ship building demonstrations by the seaport foundation this will be a truly special 250th celebration and we really appreciate your support mayor gaskins helping us launch the event on friday at noon so that will be our formal opening celebration the first I forgot all about my slides. Here's our four tall ships. The first of our four tall ships will be arriving tomorrow afternoon. The Kalmar Nickel will be docking around 4.30 PM at the GH Pier, which is the northernmost pier on this map. The Sultana and Gazella will go under the bridge at 4 AM on Thursday for those early birds and early joggers in Alexandria. They'll get the first look. And of course, our very own Tall Ship Providence is already here. The Tall Ships will be docked along the city marina from the GH Pier just outside Founders Park all the way down to Robinson Landing and Robidoux Park. Timed tour tickets. Are now sold out which is awesome for us, but don't fear there are walk-up lines at every ship that you should still take advantage of and the last opportunity to get on a ship each day is at 445 So to see the event schedules and ways to enjoy the event, I'd love for you to look at our website. It's alexandriava.gov slash sales with an S 250. The website has just a lot of great information, everything you would want to know for coming down to Waterfront Park, especially information on public transportation, rideshare locations, and the parking garages in Alexandria. This event is being organized by Historic Alexandria with support from the Office and the Arts of the Events Team and Visit Alexandria. And I would also like to acknowledge the additional partnership and great work from OCCE, TESS, DASH, APD, and numerous other city departments. While I'm up here, I would also like to highlight just a few additional commemorative items. We are opening the 250th exhibition at the Alexandria History Museum at the Lyceum this Friday. It's called Stories of Us. Collections capture our history. The exhibition labels are in English and Spanish, and I hope that you will stop by and visit. It is open for at least a year, so you have just a little bit of time. Our 2026 historic Alexandria ornament is featured in the middle of the slide, and it is the bicentennial tree along Holmes Run, an over 320-year-old massive willow oak that was a living witness to the American Revolution. We are also releasing a new guide, updated guide to historic Alexandria arriving later this month. The last one was published in 1999 with the 250th celebration of Alexandria. So this was a fitting time to do those updates and a special shout out to the beautification commission who have been coordinating red, white, and blue native species gardens throughout all of Alexandria. Plus we're participating in the Virginia two 50 passport, and we have great commemoration items in our museum stores. So later this summer and into the fall, we will hold a 1776 sing-along, a symposium, specialty tours, and continue our historic happy hour series that we launched in January. Thank you to our many planning partners who are listed here, who have supported Alexandria's commemoration of America 250. So we look forward to sharing Alexandria's history with you and the community this weekend, and we hope to see you along the waterfront. Thank you.

Thank you, Director Bulova. Are there questions? Well, no, we're just really excited. And I will just put another plug for the historic happy hours. I went to the one at Vola's, and it was standing room only. I couldn't even get inside. So just a lot of people turning out to learn about our history and the very important role that Alexandria has played in shaping our country.

So I should it's Councilman Chapman, so I don't know this might be for another staff member but I think one of the things that we talked about was how we were gonna probably look at transit or Maybe the trolley being able to be flexible with its route to try to help Individuals get across the waterfront or through that area. Do we know if there's been any movement on that?

The trolley route is the same as far as I know, but our department with the events with Office on the Arts and DASH and TAS have a whole coordinated transportation program. Okay. Right, and we have a shuttle going from the Eisenhower Metro. Right. Okay. Yeah, and it's all laid out on the website. Got it.

I guess to that point, though, Mr. Manager, in our previous conversations, we talked about amplifying and doing additional promotion on those different transportation plans. Can you give a timeline as to when that will start to roll out?

Yeah, I think some of that has already done that, but I think we are, there's a plan, I think, to do it today, tonight, in the next couple of days to really push people. It's got the potential to be very busy, which is great. But we really do want to encourage people to use alternative means. transportation to the extent that they can or to park in areas closer to the Washington Street corridor so I can get OCC to push out some more aggressive information

Yeah, I think that would be great. I think the expectation was that given all of the events happening this weekend, the more proactive and aggressive we can be on all of our channels, I think especially now as people are starting to arrive. All right. Thank you. Thank you.

Madam Clerk, next item. Alexandria Police Department update.

Good evening. Madam Mayor, Vice Mayor Bagley, members of City Council. The purpose of today's presentation. Well, hold on. I'm sorry. Let's get to the presentation. Yes, the purpose of today's presentation is a continuance of the previous public safety plan. Earlier, we talked about the annual crime report. Again, this is going to be a continuation of that requested by Mayor and Council. Today, we're ideally seeking feedback from you all, and we'll discuss next steps at the conclusion of our presentation. In 2024, the Alexandria Police Department launched a series of community listening sessions to strengthen engagement with our residents and better understand their concerns. We continued those efforts in 2025 with our community through outreach implemented targeted operations that combine crime reduction strategies with meaningful resident engagement. During this period, several themes resonated with the police department. Number one, our community desires crime reduction and increased feeling of safety. Number two, Alexandria desires roadway safety. The third one is that our community also desires a police department that is transparent, not only accountable, but also through data. And then the fourth thing that emerged is that Alexandrians desired an engaged police department. Today's presentation reflects both what they have told us and also Mayor and Council's priorities. Today I want to talk about what our public safety plan is. And that plan will be defined by a total of five pillars that our command staff will be discussing. The first pillar is going to be geographical policing and accountability. The second pillar will focus on relationships. The third pillar is evidence-based strategies and enforcement. The fourth, assessment. And then the last pillar is going to be technology. As again, I have an illustrious executive command here today that is going to talk about each pillar, and then I will conclude the presentation.

Good evening, Mayor, members of city council. My name is Jason North. I'm the assistant chief of patrol operations. Under the first pillar of the public safety plan, geographic policing and accountability, the starting point is understanding service demand. Last year, APD responded to 67,000 calls for service. But as council and community know well, our responsibility goes beyond simply responding to calls. We must understand where demand is occurring, what issues are driving it, and what resources are needed to address those issues effectively. As Alexandria continues to grow residentially, commercially, and as a visitor designation, APD must continue evaluating whether service demand, workload, crime and disorder trends, and patrol boundaries still align with the realities of the city we serve today. Where adjustments are needed, realigning beats and sectors will allow APD to position our workforce and resources where they are needed most. Once officers and resources are better aligned with service demand, the next step is to strengthen APD's geographical policing model. Geographical policing is designed to establish clear ownership and accountability at every level of the organization by assigning officers, sergeants, lieutenants, and commanders to specific areas within the city. This creates accountability to ongoing and emergency public safety challenges while also allowing personnel through consistent presence to build familiarity, trust, strong communication, and collaborative problem solving with community members and stakeholders. When personnel consistently work the same areas, they are better able to identify re-occurring issues, understand those root causes, and work with the community and our city partners to produce those long-term solutions we all desire. In simple terms, APD's goal is to put the right resources in the right places with officers who know their area, understand the issues, and are accountable for helping to solve those problems. This model moves APD beyond simply responding to calls. It supports a more proactive approach focused on prevention, partnership, and accountability. Thank you, and I'd like to pass it to Assistant Chief Laguna for the next pillar.

Good evening.

Sorry. Good evening, Madam Mayor, Council. Tina Laguna, Assistant Chief of Police over the Community Support Bureau. So relationships. We know that APD has a long history of community policing, so this concept is not new. However, the second pillar in the public safety plan focuses on building public trust and enhancing programming in our neighborhoods, the business community, the clergy, and with our youth. Why? Because effective public safety is built on trust, partnerships, and collaborative problem solving. And to achieve this, we must be able to meet people where they are. Many are familiar with our Coffee with the Cop program and the community cookouts. These programs have been vital in allowing us to engage with more residents and communities in Alexandria. Additionally, the department received national recognition for our national night out activities from the National Town Watch. However, we want to continue expanding our community engagement efforts, focusing on strengthening relationships across the unique neighborhoods we serve. An example of future planning activities includes a bilingual police academy, which will allow us to connect with residents and their preferred language. Feedback from the business community led to the creation of the Alexandria Tourism Oriented Policing Unit, or ATOP. This unit focuses on tourism and retail corridors in Old Town and Potomac Yard, hosting quarterly meetings to provide crime prevention education, conduct security assessments, and coordinate targeted enforcement efforts. This relationship has resulted in significant decreases in larcenies in Old Town. And while there was a slight increase in Potomac Yard, apprehension of these individuals increased, including the arrests of several individuals associated with an East Coast larceny ring. Earlier this year, APD launched the Barbershop and Beauty Salon Connection Program, conducting five community conversations directly inside these businesses. With over 100 shops across the city, we have a unique opportunity to break down barriers, build stronger relationships, and gain a much deeper understanding of what matters most in these neighborhoods. Our community continues to face ongoing challenges, and APZ recognizes that the clergy and our faith-based communities play an important and trusted role in strengthening relationships between law enforcement and the community. while also supporting the mental and emotional support of our staff and the residents. Through established relationships with the clergy, the department will enhance its ability to connect diverse communities, improve communication, and strengthen the broader foundation of community police relationship building. And of course we cannot forget our youth APD partnered with ACPS administration at George Washington middle school for our Alexandria initiative on mentoring or aim program that supported the social and emotional development of 21 young men across the communities. Pre- and post-surveys from participants, parents, and school partners show documented improvements in confidence levels, peer-related decision-making, and positive perceptions of law enforcement. APD is committed to working alongside ACPS to institutionalize complementary school programs while designing new learning opportunities, including a youth police academy and an expanded police explorer program. These proactive initiatives are vital in early positive relationships with young people while providing structured mentorship, hands-on learning, and hopefully future recruitment pathways into public safety careers. While these are only a few examples, APD recognizes that focused community engagement strategies are essential to strengthen relationships across all communities and reduce disparities in programming through consensus building approaches. Enhanced community program will be critical in sustaining expanded events. Through geographical policing, the department will continue working with neighborhoods and businesses to identify programming that supports relationship building tailored to the unique needs of our communities. I would now like to pass it over to Assistant Chief Mike May.

Madam Mayor and Council, I'm Assistant Chief Mike May, Investigations. I would like to speak to our third pillar, Evidence-Based Strategies and Enforcement. This pillar focuses on using research, data, and analysis to reduce harm and guide police action. Employing evidence-based strategy reduces community harm by using scientific research, data analysis, and rigorous evaluation to identify which policing strategies are most effective and which may have unintended negative consequences. Rather than relying on assumptions, which may have unintended negative consequences. Rather than rely on assumptions, tradition, or experience alone, APD uses proven methods to focus resources on the people, places, and behaviors most closely associated with crime and disorder. By utilizing data to identify specific locations as crime hotspots, we focus interventions on those micro locations rather than entire neighborhoods. We can address crime where it is occurring while minimizing unnecessary enforcement activity in surrounding communities. This targeted approach helps reduce victimization, improves quality of life, limits the disruption that broad enforcement strategies can have on residents. As we continue to modernize enforcement strategies to reduce crime, there are similar applications to reduce vehicle crashes. By using crash data, traffic studies, roadway design information, and citizen input, we focus efforts on where they are most likely to prevent injuries and save lives. Rather than conducting enforcement broadly across the entire city, The department will enhance analysis of where serious crashes, various movement violations, and pedestrian incidents are occurring and deploy resources to those locations. In practice, evidence-based traffic enforcement shifts the focus from the number of citations issued to the reduction of community harm. The primary goal is not enforcement for its own sake. but the prevention of crashes, injuries, and fatalities through targeted, data-driven interventions that improve roadway safety for drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists. As we work toward Vision Zero, we continue to view data weekly, integrate community input into our planning, and educate our residents on how strategic intelligence informs our deployment decisions. By sharing not only what we are doing, but why we are doing it, we can build greater understanding and trust in our decision-making process. Our goal is to reduce community harm by applying the right intervention in the right place at the right time, based on research, data, and community input. That demonstrates the greatest potential to improve public safety outcomes. Thank you. Dr. Engel will discuss assessment.

Good evening. Madam Mayor and Vice Mayor and City Manager and members of City Council, I'm Dr. Robin Engle. I'm here from the Ohio State University, if we have any Buckeyes in the room, hopeful. But I'm a senior research scientist in the John Glenn College at Ohio State. Previous positions include Vice President at the University of Cincinnati for research Safety and Reform, and also Director of IACP, the International Association of Chisa Police. their center, their research center for policy and research. So I've been asked to visit your beautiful city to talk about the fourth pillar of the APD's public safety plan, assessment. Now, assessment, I believe, is more than just collecting data or even making that data available to the public, although both of those things are important. But assessment really involves a dedicated and rigorous empirical study. into what works in policing and public safety. Now, you might be wondering, why should agencies focus directly on assessment? Well, I think we can all agree that we want our police agencies and officers to make decisions and engage in strategies that are the most effective, most efficient, and equitable as they provide public safety services in our communities. So from my perspective, the purpose of assessment is to create an environment where continuous organizational improvement is expected and can flourish. In fact, assessment is the underlying theme that ties together each of APD's five public safety pillars. Assessment can be viewed both internally and externally. For example, internal assessments can be conducted by personnel within agencies in real time to prioritize their problems and allocate resources. In contrast, external assessments are independent and can identify strategies and approaches that are working by establishing benchmarks to measure change. Oftentimes these are conducted in partnership with a law enforcement agency but are still conducted independently. This feedback helps the agencies determine which efforts to continue and expand and others that may be less effective or have unintended consequences that should be altered. Only robust assessments can really provide this type of information to support public safety efforts. Now, I've spent my entire career working directly with police agencies and communities across the country and around the world. And we've conducted many external assessments. But I also work directly within agencies to train officers and professional staff to conduct their own independent assessments. And I am so proud to represent our research team at Ohio State that's partnering directly with APD to do exactly that, develop scientifically rigorous assessments of police activities, strategies, performance, and technologies, for example, LPRs, and see how these are related specifically to outcomes, including traffic stops, arrests, search and seizures, and use of force. These assessments will help to ensure that the various pillars that you've heard about this evening of the APD Public Safety Plan are being met with effectiveness, efficiency, and fairness. So over the next year, my team will assist APD with the collection, cleaning, and structuring of their data in meaningful ways to produce public-facing reports that also take into account the context in which officers make decisions. And this context is incredibly important. Examining it will help better explain patterns and trends. In closing, I look forward to working directly with the men and women of the APD, but also with the Office of Alexandria Independent Policing Auditor, political officials, and members of the public. So thank you so much for the opportunity to support this beautiful city. And now I'll turn this back over to Chief McGuire so he can describe the final pillar, technology.

Thank you all. So, Mayor and Council, you know, I know it's been like 23 and a half years ago since I became a police officer, and I will tell you that when I became a cop, they assigned me, right, the weapons that you see are the tools that are on our gun belt. They also gave me a pager, right, for notification. That was the piece of technology that they gave me. I would probably argue that the young men and women that we are hiring today don't even know maybe what a pager looks like or the big block cell phones of technology that were inside of vehicles back then. Fast forward, when we look at 2015 when there was a national presidential task force on policing and police reform, it was noted that the nation needed officers to have body-worn cameras. It was a very highly controversial issue, but what we have known over time is that body-worn cameras have the ability to give us real-time information, validate whether complaints were present or not, if an officer's misconduct was present or if a citizen's misconduct was present. And so technology has continued to expand, and we have to expand and to be modernized with the practices to get us to where we need to be as an organization. You all just talked about earlier, we have Croatia here, right? We have citywide events. I would probably say hundreds and thousands of people will be within our city over this weekend. We don't have enough cops to be everywhere, and we have to leverage right technology to ensure the safety of the city. Henceforth, you know, each one of these pillars complement a mayor and council priority. And when we talk about the retention of our workforce, I think it's critical that they have the tools to do their job moving forward. We want to expand our crime analysis tools. We want to expand technology as it relates to evaluating drones and evaluating real-time information. And in doing so, we will come back again before this council working through the city manager's office to provide what their technology plan looks like for the department. I think most importantly, you know, you heard Dr. Engel talk about the assessment of our organization, but I think it's also important that we are being accountable with the technology that the community entrusts us with. So part of that is ensuring that we have strong policies and that we're doing the things that we need to do to solve crime and keep the community safe. I will share just kind of next steps. You know, on the 18th, we're having a public safety invite-only summit with key community stakeholders. Post that summit, we plan to roll out this plan in certain segments of our community to get additional feedback as we work to finalize it. And I will pause there, subject to Mayor and Council's questions. Thank you.

Great. Thank you, Chief, and thank you all for the presentation. Are there questions from the Council? Councilman Aguirre, followed by Vice Mayor Bagley.

Chief and Assistant Chiefs, thank you for being here. Appreciate the presentation and where we're going with this. I guess timeline-wise, when do you think we could get a follow-up readout to see kind of where, how we've progressed or what we're seeing?

Well, I think this will be kind of like a continual assessment. I think there are certain benchmarks that we're working to establish. More specifically, you know, I'm open to giving, like, updates, right, whether that's electronically to mayor and council just to let you know the progression of the plan. I think annually this will be a part of what our updates are. I think the other thing is you heard Dr. Engel talk about just kind of key assessment pieces annual about the department. She is now looking to analyze our data quarterly based off the metrics that she was just speaking of. And then that will be in an annual public facing report to mayor and council. So we're working to identify timelines and benchmarks as it relates to the plan. But ultimately, I think, you know, by email and also we will continue to publicly speak about this and educate the public about what those certain key indicators are for success. Very helpful. Thank you.

Before I go to Vice Mayor, I actually have a data question, if you don't mind. I'm curious, Chief, so there's the data that you guys are collecting. There's also the data that we ask you guys for every quarter for the Health and Safety Committee. There's other data and indicators that we hold you to through the budget process. It might be too early, and this might be a question for Ms. Ingle, but how are we coordinating to make sure that every time you come before council, we don't have a different set of metrics that we're using to evaluate the performance of the police department?

So, number one, I think that we are consistently working with the city manager's office, right, to ensure that our data is aligned right through exchange as it relates to dashboards. And then I know that you're aware that, you know, through the COG there have been some regional changes Data points that we try to to align as relates to you know, what our technology is But but we're we're working to fact-check that information. I think what's important is Not just for mayor council, but also public education to know when data is updated right on a monthly basis that translates from APD to to the city manager's office, especially when it is public-facing. And so I think that, number one, education, right, about when the data is being updated is important, but to also know that we're trying to consistently work to ensure that the transferring of that data is in a timely manner. I think, Mayor, what's going to be critical uh which I just you know spoke to Councilman Aguirre about uh is us identifying the cadence uh when we will publish data based off of the assessment of this plan uh kind of moving forward and I think we're going to be committed to that especially doing it in a timely manner and also in the community okay I guess my hope would be as you guys establish that cadence let's just make sure we're making sure there's alignment with those other reports because I would hate for

In the budget, we get those indicators, and that's February. And then if you guys are coming out with a different report in March, and we've already received one set, then just making sure that at least the timing for each of the data is aligned. I guess along that, I'm curious. I know there's currently the crime map that many of our residents use and can search. Is that a tool that might also be updated throughout this process, and as you guys are identifying specific areas?

Yes, I think in two part, right? This is a framework to communicate all of those items. What's going to be critical as we realign our beats through GIS mapping, we're going to be able to look at call density. It's going to allow us to be more efficient. But I think a key part is that we look at crime on a weekly basis. And we will have a plan and a strategy to take our crime review meeting to the community. And that way they can also kind of participate in what we know to be a CompStat process to ensure that our captains and our lieutenants and sergeants, some who are represented here today, are taking that ownership and that accountability and working cohesively with communities through that neighborhood engagement. So I think that... It's not just putting it up on a dashboard for them to review and evaluate, but it's also their community connectivity where they will have a better understanding of the data and also be a part of that informed decision-making. So I think there's a dashboard that's a resource, but it's also connecting with those communities, again, through a cadence on whether it's a monthly or quarterly basis to ensure that they not only see the data, but they understand it as it relates to the crime mapping.

Thank you. I'm going to go to Vice Mayor Bagley, Councilwoman Marks, and Councilwoman Green.

Thank you all, and it's good to see you. I think it's your first presentation with new members of your executive team, so congratulations to you both. I was curious, I'm going to jump around a little bit. National Night Out was mentioned, I think, and I'm curious if some of the beat realignments and things would be in place by then, and might there be an opportunity to use National Night Out to sort of have people where they will be moving forward. I see some smirks and nods. Maybe I'm on to something here.

I'll be very transparent. No, ma'am, I do not think that we will be there. And I want people to, well, not people, just further express what kind of beat realignment looks like. Number one, we are able to look at and evaluate right now where our calls for service are. But also part of that is understanding what we have our officers responding to every single day in high volume times. And then the realignment of mapping, which will take us working with DEC to go into our GIS mapping system and protocol to re-establish what those dispatch calls and priorities are. So I would love to say that we could accomplish that goal within two or three months. But I think that it's immediate action that we're already trying to work on, especially for our service members in the department. So it could possibly be at least a year out from now.

OK. No, I appreciate the transparency about the time that this will take. Um, so a separate point is as we're talking about assessment and data and, um, what relationship, if any, will that data analysis have to our independent police auditor office? Because I presume some of what the data might reveal is then becomes a conversation about policy and how do we adapt policies and rethink our approaches. So I'm curious if Dr. Ingle has worked with that style of position before or a public body like that, and if there'll be some interplay with your work and that office.

Thank you for the question. I'm smiling because that's my life. I actually work all the time with other external groups or oversights, monitors. I've been working with independent monitors in many of the cities that I work in. So this will be no different. And actually, I've already had an opportunity to meet. That was a couple of months ago, I think in March. So part of my role is really just to start assessing the data itself and making sure that the data is of quality and that it's being produced and collected and cleaned, analyzed appropriately, merging different data sets together. But what I'd like to do ultimately is a lot of that is time intensive work to get that right and then sharing that so that we're all operating from the same base of truth, if you will, in terms of the data so you don't have different databases floating around or used by one group versus another so that you don't have competing narratives of what's happening with the assessment. So absolutely, working in partnership I think is the only way to make that a success.

That's great. I appreciate that and I'm glad to hear it. In a similar vein, and I apologize if I sort of missed it in the slides, but there was talk about the clergy and other community connections. I know we have SROs in the schools and we have that program. Does any of these pillars, the realignment, are we going to see any changes in the relationship in the schools and how we're approaching that relationship given the analysis that's happening here and some of the other changes in the department?

so i think you will i think i think what's most important is we want to expand and have meaningful programs right with young people within our community and also that comes through partnership right so i've been in communication with the current superintendent at acps we don't we don't get into gw middle school right last year without their level of engagement. I think that you heard, you know, Chief Laguna talk about two buckets of information. Number one, the desire to expand programs. So a lot of times we focus on adults in certain areas, but to improve and have a youth citizens police academy similar to our adult police academy program. i think would be phenomenal i think the second thing is is uh you know you she also talked about a youth explorer program uh this this more of a national model that we know that is effective not only in building relationships with young people in schools but also a pathway into a partnership in public safety And so I think that we will have to work with ACPS, whether it is in a club model or a formal model. You know, I've spoken to the current superintendent, and we've been discussing this problem for the past six months. So I think that we will continue to see progress in outreach and engagement.

Thank you. And I think my last comment on that point is just I'd like to see the, I like the commentary about the quality of data, not just that there is data, but the quality of it and what you're measuring and how you're measuring it. My hope is that the SRO data that were provided, I think, quarterly is subjected to the same sort of rigorous analysis because that's been sort of a persistent point of concern is, yes, we see where responses are, but there's a layer beneath that, which is when the SRO is being tapped in or understanding sort of the, yes, we see numbers and they're going up or down, but why? And is something underreported? So I don't know if it's within the scope of your work, but I think it would be great to know that that school level data is undergoing the same kind of qualitative testing.

Well, just to address that directly, it's not currently in our scope of work. That's not to say that I can't work with APD staff directly, with officers and professional staff, in order to set them up for success so that they can report both quantitative but also qualitative and do that deep dive and that analytical look. and trying to start answering some of the more complicated questions. So it's not something that my research team would be doing directly, but part of what the research team is doing is helping to train and teach so that you don't always need someone from the outside and that you'll have the expertise in-house to be able to look at a lot of these issues.

Okay, Councilman Marks, Councilman Green, Councilman Newby. Hi.

Welcome. Thank you all so much for being here and for this thorough presentation. For those joining us from home, as a new council member, I have the benefit of getting to meet everybody now. So I've had the pleasure of meeting with the chief and seeing this presentation, well, most of the presentation already. So thank you so much for going through SPECIFICALLY THE GEOGRAPHIC POLICING AND ACCOUNTABILITY PORTION WITH ME IN ANSWERING MY MANY QUESTIONS. SORRY. THE VICE MAYOR AND COUNCILMAN AGUIRRE ASKED SOME OF MY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE INDEPENDENT POLICE AUDITOR, QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW THIS INTERACTS WITH OUR RACE AND SOCIAL EQUITY OFFICE. BUT WHAT I'D LIKE TO ASK IS MORE FOCUSED ON THE TECHNOLOGY SECTION AND COMMUNICATION AND INFORMING THE PUBLIC. And my question is, I hear a lot about Alexandrians being concerned about crime, being concerned about public safety for themselves, for their kids, for their neighbors. And I'm wondering if you can talk about, if you need to talk about under the umbrella of technology in this specific slide or otherwise, how you decide and in what ways you communicate what is happening in terms of crime with the community at large directly through the press? How are those decisions made? And is anything changing with these new plans and processes you're putting in place?

So I think as far as public communication, especially as it relates to major crime and major issues, we have a responsibility to let the public know not only what happened, but also the outcomes. And this current administration, I can tell you that when those events happen, I, as police chief, have done more press conferences here within the city than I desire to do so. But I think it's important that, number one, we get it out there, right? So the media is a resource for that. I think also we also have social media engagement, not just the formal media. print media. And I think when it's appropriate, we also sit down with local media personnel to try to communicate what the main educational factors are that we're trying to share with the community and public. I think the second thing is you heard me kind of talk about a little bit earlier about Our team has been deliberate about trying to educate the public before we advance any type of law enforcement capacity. So we've called community meetings since 24, 25, especially as we roll out crime initiatives, and we go meet with those people in the neighborhoods that it's going to directly impact. and we seek what that feedback is before we enact what those plans are. And so we will follow that same process, but also I've learned that we have multiple voices, right? And so we're always trying to to adapt to what that change is. But from a focus standpoint, we try to provide information where our operations are going to directly occur. I'll just kind of give this example. There are times we also have covert activity that is going on as it relates to crime in neighborhoods. which we will not forecast or share that information. But I would share with anyone, if you go and look on our social media right now, even as it relates to serving search warrants and arrest warrants, we immediately notify the community. Officers go and knock on doors to try to communicate with those that are directly impacted. So I would say it's a multifaceted approach.

OK. So I assume there are circumstances after a major crime where it's not appropriate to share details directly after? What is the process there?

Yes. So we may not directly share information, subject to it being a, if it's a public safety risk, right, it may be critical. But also, if it's an immediate action to where we have covert members in the community, right, we're trying to apprehend the person, right, immediately. It's not as if there are no resources that are directly within that area. And once that's done, depending upon the time between the incident that has happened and occurred, we may reach out directly to personnel in that neighborhood or, as we've learned, a constituent that can share that information.

Thank you. If I could, just to add just a moment about technology specifically, I know that that's been an issue in cities across the country. And I just want to be able to serve as a resource for the city and for the police department specifically. I currently serve for the city of Denver on their surveillance technology task force, where we share and look at other policies, procedures from across the country. I do similar work in the city of Austin. And so when we're thinking about all of these types of how you interact with the media, but also with members of your public, what those policies and procedures and best practices look like, I know that Chief McGuire knows a lot of folks across the country, of course, and has access to that. But we can also pull for you what's happening in other cities that are what we would consider best practice.

Councilman Green.

Thank you, Madam Mayor, and thank you, Chief, Assistant Chiefs, and Dr. Engel, and Dr. Engel OH.

Oh, IO, I'm ready.

Sorry.

I was like, is she going to respond?

All right, thank you. My question is also around, Chief, the youth engagement programs. So happy to see them so well laid out and even a couple of the programs that we haven't tried in Alexandria. But I will say this, that youth programming from the police department has come and go, come and gone for many years through different administrations. And I would love to hear what is going to be different this time and where is the renewed interest coming from? And also, how are we going to staff this? Because honestly, if we don't have consistent staffing for youth engagement programs, the programs are really not as effective as they could be. So happy to see that it's in the plan, but really, really wanting to know how this can be continuous. And I love the fact on the question that the vice mayor brought up about, you know, evaluating the programs and data around it, but truly want to hear from a staffing standpoint, how we can continuously keep the program rolling.

Thank you. I think that's a very good question. Number one, I would like to point you back to geographical policing and accountability. The institution of policing and community-based policing means that officers that are in neighborhoods and communities will respond not only to enforce crime, but also to engage residents in non-enforcement capacities. And so on the geographical policing model, number one, the officers, the supervisors that are in and over in assigned to that area will incorporate community engagement on a monthly basis. You know, moving forward, I would invite maybe some of you to come to our weekly crime review meeting. WHERE WE BEGAN TO SEE AS CAPTAIN NORTH, I'M SORRY, NOT CAPTAIN NORTH, ASSISTANT CHIEF NORTH, ASSISTANT CHIEF NORTH LEADING THOSE EFFORTS AND THROUGH THAT AS HE'S GOING THROUGH BEATS AND SECTORS UNDER OUR CURRENT MODEL, WE'RE STARTING TO INTRODUCE THE EXPECTED COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT. So I think that that should be ongoing. The second thing is the formalization of programming and to institutionalize it in the organization. So I think that we will have key programming under those areas as a police department. And that will come from on-duty staffing and personnel through a geographic policing model, and then volunteering. The AIM program is representative of officers, number one, some that are on duty, but others that volunteer because They know that that is a part of what their job is. And so when it comes to funding, right, there's on-duty personnel, which is no cost to the organization. And then we have had support funding through grants that have supported officer engagement expanded beyond the hours that they are working. And so my commitment to this council is that we won't have a lot of activities, but we will formalize key activities through the pillars that we have outlined to sustain youth programming and to formalize it inside the police department in partnership with the community. Okay.

Thank you. I'm going to ask a quick follow-up, and then I'll come into you, Councilman O'Neill. Chief, in previous years, presentations as it relates to youth programming. One of the things that was pointed out are that the officers that may have been working in specialized units, they've received specialized training as it relates to youth engagement. I think what I'm hearing from the example you gave is like, this is everyone's responsibility. Does that mean then that everyone will be receiving sort of a new training as it relates to specifically engaging with our young people? Or what does that look like?

I think in certain areas there is applicability. So when we implemented the AIM program, right, there was training for those people or officers that participated in that program on what mentoring is, right, how to communicate certain things, how to communicate with parents. So that was formalized in the training process, right? But in an informal setting, for example, when a police officer is driving down the street, which we have been, and they decide they're going to get out of a car and join a basketball game, I think that would be something that is informal to where it is just basic regular engagement and interaction. When you talk about our SROs working in schools, right, not only required by the Commonwealth, right, through state law, there are certain regulatory authorities that we have to impart. But I think it would be contingent upon what the programming is, right? And so the youth mentoring component of it is a formalized system and process. But then we'll have you know, informal roles where we're just engaging youth, right, or playing with them at a community cookout that will not necessitate that type or level of in-depth training.

Council Member Newby.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. To continue on the youth piece, Chief, the youth resource unit, does it still exist? Is it going to continue to exist under that? I think I know the answer based on what I've been hearing. And if not, what is the alternative going to be?

No, we have dissolved the youth resource unit. We're working to formalize some of the strategies that you just heard, Chief Laguna. talk about. I think that there are opportunities in ACPS to support that social work environment and structure. I do think that as we kind of move and advance forward, then we want to again institutionalize formal programming that is going to build a different style of relationship with students to help them better understand the importance of the relationship between police officers And they're themselves so for example the Explorer program The citizens the youth police academy.

I think those are alternative models that we're going to begin to impart into the schools Thank you for that shifting gears technology last time you were here we talked about flock a little bit and license plate readers and Are there other, or have we looked, or is there opportunity to look at other providers out there that may not have the same things that concerns have been raised about in terms of data sharing and things like that?

Yes, so since these issues are kind of coming up and continue to come up, we are starting to see other companies such as Exxon start to work on developing additional technologies as it relates to LPRs and license plate readers. We also know that body-worn cameras are also changing as well through translation tools for police officers. And so I think we see a broad breadth of technologies that are continuing to be in advance. And so I think that'll be part of this technology pillar as we look to look at what is best as it relates for the city and kind of where we're going to be at five years from now.

Great. Thank you. Good to hear. Last question. Traffic stops, traffic citations. Is it true that they've been down almost like 50% of they were almost like 10 years ago? And if so, what may be the reasons for that? Are drivers getting better? Or are we applying different strategies? Or is it a resource issue? What is it?

Well, I think when you talk about like the last 10 years, I think you can look at nationally of impacts as it relates to police traffic stops, not only through the pandemic, right, but also through police reform. And so when you look at the reduction of traffic stops, I think you have to look at non-hazardous violations that are no longer a focus, right, of the issuance of citations. But it's also about, I think, what Captain Mike May was speaking. I'm sorry, I keep calling them captains, right? Assistant Chief Mike May was talking about earlier, right? And it's how do we do meaningful traffic enforcement in areas where it's needed the most? Because tickets are not about fines and fees. Tickets are really about correcting driver's behavior. And so that's why officers have the ability and opportunity to either give someone a warning, right, or to give them a fine. And so I would say that while the reduction in issuance of citations have financial implications sometimes, not issuing a citation can also have a corrective action from an educational standpoint. I think for our department, what we want to ensure is that officers have the flexibility to issue citations when they are needed. specifically when it comes to hazardous violations on the roadway.

So under this plan, how are we looking at deploying resources to essentially improve traffic behaviors, whether citations or not, but essentially cracking down on speeding on places where people are speeding? How are we going to use the available data or future data to do that? How are we thinking of this?

Yes, I think number one, we're trying to work to do that now as it relates to maximizing our resources. But one key for us is going to be collaboration with other city departments. I think Assistant Chief May talked about this, working with tests, understanding what are roadway plans, ensuring that we're looking at technology through data points that we have, to ensure that we're deploying our officers effectively, not only in areas where we need them, but at the appropriate time of day to ensure that the interactions as it relates to enforcement education is very important. I think the other thing is you've been seeing it all across our social media as it relates to pedestrian accidents. We have been telling people to look, watch before they cross in intersections. We've also had enforcement initiatives as it relates to that. I myself, as a police chief, when I'm downtown, I'm monitoring. I'm telling people don't walk into the roadway if the traffic system does not tell you to. And so I think that, you know, this city set a long time ago. that we have a vision to have zero fatalities. We have a vision to significantly reduce those crash in those areas. And again, through those updates and benchmarks, this plan will build their framework to hold us accountable on reporting for that. Thank you.

I'm going to jump in here. Yeah, I don't want to end up Captain May, but I'll just jump in here. Just say, yes, traffic stops are down slightly, not 50%, but citations are up, which speaks to our focused enforcement, right? We have focused enforcement. The chief talked to it and addressed how we get to that enforcement. But, yes, traffic stops are down slightly, but citations are up. Great, thank you.

And I would just add to that, part of our work with the traffic stop data is getting that long bench line, the benchmark. So I want to look back multiple years, but then also do that deep dive to understand the correlation between changes and accidents and be very specific about particular locations and how that may or may not correlate with changes potentially in police activity, including making traffic stops, what those traffic stops are for, what citations are, and that ratio of stops to citations. All of that will be documented as part of our work.

Thank you. I appreciate that. And I think Chief, you said something very important there. Traffic accidents and crashes sometimes are driver's fault, but they're not always the driver's fault. It's the behavior of everyone in the roadway, including pedestrians and cyclists and everyone that could contribute to these accidents. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Thank you, Councilman Newby. Before I go to Councilman Chapman, I had a quick one on this. I am glad to hear the coordination with TESS. I think given the walk audits they're doing, the crash analysis they're doing, the Vision Zero work, I think greater partnership there would be great. Another department that I would throw out is just 311. I think that this week alone, and it's only Tuesday, seven different intersections emailed to me. I imagine each of us might have a different approach. Some of us probably send it directly to APD. Some of us send it to TESS. Some of us respond to it on our own. And so if there's a way on the back end to be able to pull the data in terms of all of the different intersections people are reporting about, I think that would be really helpful in looking at kind of how the data directly reported from residents is matching also the data in each of these different departmental analysis.

Yeah, that's outstanding. Yeah, and we do look at that 311 to, we move somewhat away from intersections and do more corridors that include several intersections because we found that reduces crashes more for us because there are so many intersections in the city that had three, four crashes and there wasn't a lot of variance there. So we'll do corridors like Van Doren, Sanger to the county line, Route 1. We've been there a lot recently. So yes, but I hear you. 311 is very valuable.

Thank you. Councilman Chapman.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I appreciate my colleagues answering a number of questions that I was thinking about. But one of the ones that I want to touch on, I think the first one I want to touch on is kind of the partnership with ACPS. I would love the chief and the manager, whoever, to kind of keep council abreast. And I think I've said this in prior meetings before. As you hit potential roadblocks with ACPS, I think with their transition of leadership, obviously there's a new opportunity to create a new relationship. But historically, members of council voice this as well. There have been challenges in creating what we believe is a true partnership with ACPS. It's not a personal thing. I think it's structural. And so how we break through that structure to really get what you're desiring in terms of a partnership that's going to really help our youth, I would love to kind of keep a better understanding of how that's going, how it's possibly not going, and what opportunities there are for policymakers to not necessarily insert themselves, but kind of work with senior leadership to ensure that the appropriate partnerships happen. Because I do think creating that better partnership between the city and city organizations and departments with ACPS and their leadership not only bodes well for our young people, but also their families as well. And so however that can happen in terms of regular more regular updates, I think would be super helpful even if it's with One of the Commission's that council members sit on that might be an opportunity as well I want to get into something because I've I remember a number of these conversations. I've been on council a little bit too long. And so I remember former chiefs coming and talking about their strategy, how they're shifting resources. And I want to ask kind of what could be a potential controversial question. But as we look at shifting resources based on data that we're seeing, how do we make sure that we are not getting into a place where we're necessarily over-policing an area? based on that data. I think that I would love to hear an answer from a couple of people, whether it's the strategy, the data we're seeing in response to that, whether it's the messaging and community building that we're doing. I just want to make sure that as we move these resources around and react to data that we're seeing, the community knows that it's not kind of just particularly on them, but we're doing that in a systematic way that

um is flexible based on what we're seeing and adjusting to so i'll just i'll just share a few things i think that are important especially as we talk about evidence-based strategies and the implementation of operations number one i've explained this to staff this way right taking a precision approach to addressing an issue. So when a doctor performs surgery on an individual, sometimes it may be exploratory, but it's also based off a diagnosis. And so they know exactly what they're doing, where they're going to eradicate what the issue is. We know that our number one primary responsibility in the enforcement of crime is to reduce community harm. And so as we look at, you know, whether it's a multifamily property, whether it's a house on a block, we are not looking at addressing the issue from a broader perspective. We have what we call micro beats and micro areas, right? And sometimes that's narrowed down to one apartment in an apartment building. to where we're focusing on eradicating the issue from that apartment building. And so we communicate collaboratively with ownership that owns that building, even post-extracting that person or individual. And at times when we do that, we see a reduction in cost for service. We see improved community relationship and partnerships because we are overlaying community engagement in those specific areas. And then kind of going back to the question that Councilman L. Newby asked earlier, sometimes historically when you talk about policing, many years ago when we saw community harm at a broader level, The notion was is that police departments were going, making multiple traffic stops. They were, you know, subjecting people to arrest based off of minor offenses. And that's not how we're doing things today, right? We are utilizing data. We are informing, taking informed strategies and enacting them operationally. And we're looking at it on a weekly basis through accountability. I think the other thing, the last thing I will say is, again, there are no secrets here, right? We are informing people, meeting with people, whether it be ARHA, whether it be the 7-Eleven on the street corner, right? Our cops are out informing, talking about what we're doing to reduce what their community harm is and what their perception is.

And if I could add just for a moment. So I've done a lot of empirical work, but also practical work, working directly in agencies and in communities, trying to determine, could we reduce racial and ethnic disparities while simultaneously reducing crime? And the answer is yes. And it depends on the strategy that's deployed. And we know now very clearly strategies that inadvertently did more harm in communities of color under the auspice of we're trying to help and reduce crime in those neighborhoods. And so thinking through exactly what those strategies are, but then constantly assessing and taking a look at not just is the strategy effective by a reduction in crime, But are we seeing changes in racial and ethnic disparities in police activity? And what accounts for that? Now, not all disparity, as we know, is because of discrimination or officer bias. But we still need to understand what those sources of disparity are and work collectively to reduce them. And so minimizing harm in communities can mean a lot of things. One thing is certainly reductions in crime, but also minimizing the footprint, if you will, of very coercive policing activities. And I know I know from working with Chief McGuire for years that that's something that would be very clearly not included in this plan, those types of strategies. We just know too much about what works, but also unintended consequences. And so the strategies that would be involved in this plan really are motivated very specifically by improving conditions in our most vulnerable neighborhoods.

Last point is more of a comment or a suggestion. As Chief McGuire, as you look at the Explorer program and probably some youth programming, one of the early conversations I've had with folks in another public safety agency is maybe particularly finding some partnership with the union as well. As you build an Explorer program, obviously it would be great to be able to have that pipeline from explorers to folks working in the union and exploring their profession and public safety. I think those type of programs, and I really appreciate you bringing that as part of your plan, think those are the programs that we are going to have to invest in as a city so that we have some homegrown applicants coming through our departments whether it's yours whether it's other public safety whether it's frankly the organization because I think that for a number of folks that's one of the things that you know working in your hometown and representing your hometown I think is that That thing that separates us from other jurisdictions where that personal pride is something that is going to keep somebody here sometimes. So hopefully that can blossom out of your work. Thank you.

Well, as we prepare to close, I just want to say thank you again for the presentation and the plan. It's really exciting to hear more about the direction where we're headed. I know all of us look forward to the summit coming up. I also just want to say thank you for your commitment to our city and to all of our safety. I know there are many officers in the room, but also a number on the street right now keeping us safe. So thank you. And I just want to close with this. I know the city manager and I yesterday, I was going to say earlier this week, had a chance to meet with leadership from one of the teams that is staying in our city. And I asked, how did you pick us of all the places you could stay in the world? And their response was, because it's a safe city. And that is directly attributed to your work, your professionalism, your dedication, and that of the brothers and sisters that you serve with. So thank you. Madam Clerk, next item.

State of the economy.

OK, so Mayor and Council, my pleasure to talk a little bit about the state of the economy tonight. And I brought one of our experts, Kate Garvey, who's the Director of Community and Human Services. is going to join us, as well as our Office of Finance Director, Kevin Greenleaf, and our Management and Budget Director and Assistant Directors are here in support of some of the information tonight. Next slide. I WANT TO TALK AGAIN A LITTLE BIT ABOUT NATIONAL INDICATORS, SOME LOCAL INDICATORS, AND THEN AS COUNCIL REQUESTED, A LITTLE BIT MORE INFORMATION THAT'S REALLY RELATED TO WORK THAT'S BEING DONE IN DCHS. I'll go quickly through some of the main themes so that you can get with Kate to talk a little bit more about some of that work. In the unemployment area, it still remains unchanged, about 4.3%. The job market is still in that kind of holding pattern. There's been some relatively good news recently, but it's still underperforming as it relates to year over year. The inflation, though, unfortunately continues to be a significant problem in the economy. Our inflationary pressures are somewhere around 3.8% in April. And unfortunately, it looks like we're not seeing potential movement downward in that spot. Some of that, as I indicated before, is inflationary pressures related to some of the global challenges that we have in front of us. Next slide. You can see really what we're talking about when it comes to inflation. And that's a tangible issue for every household in our city. The cost of goods and services increase. The cost of goods and services and supplies affect our development industry. And then that translates to the amount of funding we have available to us to provide services and programs to our public. Next slide. Oh, one thing on inflation. There is a new inflation rate that's scheduled to be released tomorrow. So hopefully that will show a downward trend. Oil prices. I almost hesitate to put the title on. It's slightly receded. It's still at literally the highest level it's been in such a long time. It's at $4.42, although I have seen the ability to get to gas somewhere around $4.20. But as you can see, one year ago it was $3.16. One week ago, it was $4.56. So it's volatility that's also creating uncertainty again in the market. On the local side, we continue to see some softening in the sales tax and transit lodging market. Next slide. Before I turn it over to Kate, just quickly want to summarize. We continue, and this has really occurred since September, we've continued to see tremendous uncertainty, and that uncertainty is related to policies that have been in place, changing direction on some things, particularly as it relates to economic policy that has driven people to shy away from spending money on projects, programs, things like that. And so what you're also seeing is not just in the northern Virginia region, but it's much more difficult to actually build a project that could deliver, say, affordable housing or The office market is very soft. Some of the industrial projects require more capital. So that also affects our local real estate market, where with the job numbers, you're noticing some softening in the real estate market right now. It's still a very strong market. But those trends have been around since September, if not before that, since we've been tracking it. And hopefully we'll see some good news IN THE FUTURE, BUT RIGHT NOW THE TREND IS SLUGGISH AND UNCERTAIN.

BEFORE I TURN IT TO DIRECTOR GARBEE, COUNCILMAN NEWBY HAD A QUESTION ON THE FIRST PART.

IF WE CAN GO TO THE PREVIOUS SLIDE. THAT RATE OF DROP, ARE WE SEEING THAT ACROSS THE REGION OR IS THAT JUST ALEXANDRIA SPECIFIC?

I know on the transient lodging, you're going to see that not just across the region, but I think in many different regions, the transient lodging has dropped substantially. Business travel, travel from international partners has dropped substantially.

That's absolutely correct. Kevin Greenleaf, Department of Finance. What the manager said is absolutely correct. The transient is a regional issue. Meals tax is not universal across Northern Virginia right now. But I think we're in the same ballpark sales tax. bumping along, about 1% or less. We're pretty consistent there. I will say that this data is through the month of April, and that's consistent with the monthly financial report. I did look at these through today. We've had slight uptick on sales tax, so we're actually positive 0.62% on sales tax today. So it's not aggressive, but it's I think what the manager said about inflation is also affecting the consumption taxes. People have less ability to go out there and spend when they're spending more on gas and on other commodities.

And as we look at, as we project it for next year, have we taken that softening into effect when we project it for next year's budget? Absolutely.

Absolutely.

To that point, since we've been seeing this, we've also tightened up our current budget, both on the expenditure, particularly on the expenditure side, really asking much more detailed questions. Do we really need to do that right now? In fact, in some respects we've put in some things in place to provide a little bit of A holding of some of that so that we can be sure that if we continue to see this pattern We're able to adjust a little bit quicker Then waiting till it happens and then find that we didn't prepare well for that We've been doing that for quite a while and you know, that's part of the fiscal way that we approach All of our expenditures these days Thank you, thank you, madam.

All right. Thank you. Councilman newbie.

Dr. Garvey Thank you. I'm Kate Garvey. I'm the director of the Department of Community and Human Services. And so I wanted to talk with all of you about sort of our key status related to HR1. And just as a reminder to the community what HR1, what the impact was. So it's both an impact on our residents, but also on our financials and the relationship with the state. And so what is required is for each state to reach a 6% error rate, and the failure to do so will have a huge impact on the funds. In Virginia, we're at an 11.5 error rate, 0.5 percent error rate which would cost virginia 270 million dollars annually if we remain there and so the state has focused on many different activities to address this some of them we have listed here the use of ai really trying to support each jurisdiction to really bring better practices in place to bring that number down. We have seen some real progress in that area, but this is a really important piece for us. The state is working to develop dashboards so each jurisdiction can know in real time. We were asking for some data that we had hoped to provide tonight that we're not able to right now, but by next week, the dashboards are supposed to be available where we would be at a glance, be able to see our losses, the number of people who are no longer receiving the benefits, also looking at the economic impact in each jurisdiction related to the SNAP and Medicaid cuts, and also the number of closures by jurisdiction. having this data and having tools to enhance our our performance are critically important another piece that is really critical for us that remains to be seen is the shifting of the sort of the burden to the local jurisdictions in the budget there is some funding to hold harmless the local jurisdictions and that's related to some aspects of the budget but when it comes to pass-through dollars there is a possibility that we would have a real burden shifted to us so we won't know until the budget passes if that's actually happened I know there were efforts on the part of the department you know VDSS to hold us harmless in total but that was not necessarily going to be possible with all the demands on the budget So just to talk about also the enrollment, you're seeing a steady decline both in SNAP and Medicaid. This is happening nationally and partially because of some of the issues related to eligibility, but also because of fear related to accessing the benefits. Next. Did you have a question? I'm sorry.

It was. These reduction in numbers are not because people are doing better and no longer need these programs to eat or get health care.

That would not be our determination.

Okay. I mean, we're doing our best we can to understand why the numbers are down and we have no reason to think it's because they're actually doing better and no longer need them.

No.

Okay. I think it's worth saying that out loud because I think that's what some of the spin is on something like this. Oh, there are fewer people on SNAP and Medicaid. And like, no, no, no. People are still hungry and they still need health care. They're just not getting it anymore.

And I think a critical thing to counter that discussion is to see the increase in demand related to the food hubs and other areas. So thank you. Thank you. Sure. Next, so just in terms of reiterating what are the federal requirements related to Medicaid, we have a little bit more time in this area, but not a ton. What's the heaviest burden here is the new work requirement that's going to be placed on individuals, and particularly individuals who had been exempt prior. So right now, it has shifted to 19 to 64-year-olds, 80 hours per month. There are various things that can make people compliant so it is not just employment, so it can be education and job training as well as volunteering and community service activities. You see the list of the exemptions, but those are fewer than had been in place before. And I think another key element related to this and part of the reduction in people's participation is a fear about Being able to do this and in some cases just not possible for individuals who are in a state We're actually being employed or carrying on these things are going to be extremely difficult And that is why we've been really working very hard, you know with our community partners to figure out How can we make this requirement something that is manageable for individuals? So you see the requirement begins when the benefit renewal period starts. So this is happening on an individual basis It's not everyone all at once But as someone comes in for a renewal, then this occurs. We are trying to work with the programs and the resources that we currently have to ensure that we're doing everything that we can to engage people in viable work and work that's appropriate for them. So we do have our employment and training. We also have within the Workforce Development Center our focus on older adults, the programs working related to language capability. And a really key piece for us too is the partnership with Volunteer Alexandria, because as we're talking with community partners about possibly being locations where people could be placed, having a way for documentation of hours, and so that it is not a great burden on an organization to do this for us and with us, and so that we could begin to really create a system where someone can express an interest and show what kind of capability they have, whether that's something that's close by to them or an activity that their physical constraints allow them to do. So the team I'm really proud of the CES team that's been working with some and really the response as usual from our community partners the nonprofit organizations the faith community our boards and commissions We've been working with them to show clearly. What is this? What is being required and then how can we work together to think about how we make this not chaotic? Not fearful for people but a way that we can really support people so again working through what are the requirements, what are we looking to do, and then really trying to communicate both to those who are being impacted but also partners who we need to work with us. So this is an ongoing process. I do feel that this is something that we actually can do in this community, offer alternative approaches. We're also looking at the potential, and it does appear that this will be approved, that actual caregiving we have so many families who are providing care to either you know a parent or their children to count that as an appropriate activity and to try to make this something that is not destructive uh or detrimental to others to those who are impacted so that's where we are with with this once we do have the dashboards available we we can provide more real-time information about where we're seeing this impact and we anticipate a more impact as these eligibility reviews are taking place, as well as what occurs within the SNAP correction and bringing down the error rate. That's all I have for now.

OK. Are there questions from the council? Council Member Gary.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I had the opportunity to sit in on a virtual seminar with Secretary Figueroa. And one of the things that he commented is that we as localities know what works best for our community. And if there's anything that we're seeing in terms of barriers or efficiencies that we could do with the state to push it up to them and that they'd be willing partners, I hope that's the case. And so I just want to encourage that, that if we're seeing something at the state level because they want to try and... Buffer leverage whatever they can working with the federal government to then make it easier for us at the local government So just wanted to mention that to you and I would say that's very consistent with the Commissioner He has really focused on how do we do the best things in in your community?

As well as giving us the tools and saying how do how can we strengthen what you're doing? So we've really felt that that was in earnest and very helpful the resources I Had two questions one

So first, Dr. Garvey, thank you for the presentation. I'm really glad to hear about how we're currently coordinating with other nonprofits and being really proactive. I know another partner that we've talked a lot about in our work group meetings with ARHA is just they are also going to be facing a number of different changes and reporting requirements and also work requirements and changes. Is there any intentional conversations with them as well, that as we develop forms on this end, that there may be forms that they can use. And it becomes one form of documentation for all programs that folks are accessing.

We haven't talked specifically about that, but we can. But we certainly have been talking with them about how we would want to engage with them and be sure that their residents are involved. And also, again, too, how can we, or are we counting the one thing, you know, for all the things that are being employed? But we had not talked about documentation, so we can talk about that with them for sure.

No, I think that would be really helpful. And then the last is just a comment. I know in response to a recent article that was in the news about the increase in bankruptcies in our city and the ongoing increases in job loss and unemployment, the questions around what are we doing. And I know DCHS, particularly the Workforce Development Center, has put out a lot of opportunities. But just since we have you, I wanted to give you a chance to speak to any specific strategies that we're deploying and maybe any upcoming events that you wanted to share.

Thank you. The Workforce Development Center has been really focused on this. And this is from the very beginning that we've been working with partners on how do we really respond to federal employees and then others newly in situations with folks who have never been involved in looking for a job at this level. being unemployed for an extended period of time and needing benefits. So really trying to meet people where they are. We're doing, you know, we do virtual, you know, job fairs. We do, you know, job fairs at the site and being targeted in, you know, in demand positions. We are not, we're trying to do the best we can for people to land in things that are actually viable so that they can support their families. I'm sure the group is going to be mad at me because I don't know the most recent thing, but normally we've got at least three or four activities happening each week. And I think the other piece for us is really working with individuals about reformulating not just their resume, but their own mindset about what's possible next and thinking about different strategies as well as careers and the team really wanting to partner with them What are the other, not just soft skills, but what it takes to, you know, this is such an intimidating and frightening time for people. How do you build your confidence? Also, working on networking, too. How do you get together with others who are either in the same boat and or potential for, you know, other support from the business community and others? So I appreciate the opportunity to talk about that.

Thank you, Director Garvey. Well, seeing no further questions, thank you for the presentation and the update. Oh, my apologies. Councilman Green had her hand up. I'm sorry, your little hand thing didn't go up.

Councilman Green. OK, thank you, Madam Mayor. Director Garvey, thank you for the information. I was wondering, with all the factors and things that you discussed, will we be watching to see if there's a rise in homelessness in the city?

yes we watch that continuously and we also are monitoring sort of the causes and so where it is you know related to job loss uh medical um expenses things like that so i think we've always got to watch where when our the financial some of the financial supports are falling out from people we've got to be anticipating those kinds of impacts for sure thank you thank you thank you madam clerk next item

briefing and consideration of a term sheet for a potential public infrastructure investment at 1300 North Royal Street, the former Potomac River generating station site.

Great. Well, mayor, vice mayor, council, and our community, so tonight we want to cover the term sheet for a potential investment on behalf of the city related to the Potomac River generating station redevelopment. I've got Julian Gonzalez, who is our director of P3 Partnerships, Bonnie Brown, who's our deputy city attorney, and Stephanie Landrum, who is our CEO and Executive Director of the Economic Development Partnership with us tonight, as well as we have other people in the audience that certainly can help us as we go through this tonight. as well as representatives of the developer, HRP. So tonight, the agenda, I want to cover the term sheet. This is what's going to be in front of you on Saturday at public hearing. There's been a significant amount of public Involved in public input not just dating back to about a month ago, but for the last three four or five years really with the start of this project and We are getting closer to a decision point which would happen on Saturday for you as relates to the investment The key elements of discussion tonight is going to be the a little bit of more background talk a little bit about that engagement process as well as spending a considerable amount of time talking about the highlights of the term sheet. Next slide. So Stephanie is going to cover this. Sure.

Great. Good evening. For background, we're just going to do a quick overview of the opportunity and how we got here. I think everyone knows that the coal-fired power plant that used to be operating on this site represents one of the largest redevelopment opportunities, certainly in Alexandria, but even in this region, given its unique setting on the Potomac River and its visibility from air, water, land. It was identified in the Old Town North Small Area Plan that was adopted back in 2017 as something that we now refer to as a catalyst opportunity, meaning that its redevelopment would spur additional redevelopment in the area, but also would set a tone for the neighborhood and the small area. Following all of that community engagement that led to the Old Town North Small Area Plan adoption, HRP Group, or Hilco Redevelopment Partners, came in and purchased the property. And the community was extremely excited because that company had experience with sites exactly like this. where a old industrial use had been operating and they had figured out how to decommission redevelop and and bring to new life to sites like this so their purchase and entry into this market was seen as a really great development as it came to seeing the implementation of our small area plan They worked for multiple years to go through a rezoning. So they have a coordinated development district and that was approved by the city council at the time in 2022. They also endeavored to do the city's first coordinated sustainability strategy, which was endorsed again by the city council in 2023. There was an infrastructure development special, sorry, infrastructure DSP, which is a development site plan approved in 2023. And then just last week, the Planning Commission recommended approval of the open space and development special use permits for Blocks B and C. And those will be before you on Saturday. So there's a lot of movement. which is great, but what makes movement and economic activity happen is shovels in the ground. And so one of the reasons that we're here tonight to talk through a proposed investment is because the development entity came to the city and requested assistance. So we spent the last two years, I think, as a community talking through how and why we make decisions about public investment. One of the things is its ability to actually generate a lot of economic activity. And so because this site is identified as a catalyst and because the city council itself has a priority around economic strength and creating more housing opportunities, the staff, our staff team deemed that this request was aligned with many of the city and council priorities. We also, as part of the recently adopted Alex Forward, laid out a decision matrix of how we will consider requests for public investment or public participation. And so we have followed that process. And that's what led us to introduce this opportunity a month ago and now tonight talk through the actual term sheet. So why this site in particular? This site has, we talked about this when we first introduced this, this site probably has the most unique set of circumstances and partners and reviewers and people interested perhaps of any site in this region because of its location and because of its prior use. So having to deconstruct, abate, and remediate a coal-fired power plant on top of just the normal cost of development makes the total cost of bringing this site into the 2026 world extremely expensive. And we have been working closely with the owner to find other sources of revenue that would help us with these initial cleanup costs. And there's just not a lot out there. We've talked to the state. We've talked to federal. We continue to look for grant opportunities. But the reality is that there is a significant cost to do the cleanup and abatement. There's not a lot of people willing to give money for that. We also have talked to lots of commercial users and anchors to to have them look to potentially come to the site to build an office or some other sort of commercial use and those markets are very weak right now it doesn't mean that they won't eventually be part of future phases but when you're thinking about getting this upfront starting money these areas are very difficult for us to find resources which then leads to the ask of a tax increment financing district

Before we jump into the next slide, Vice Mayor Bagley needs to make a disclosure.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. So just so I don't dump into the substance at the wrong point. Due to my ownership of a condominium unit directly adjacent to 1300 North Royal Street, I have a personal interest in the consideration of the term sheet for a potential public infrastructure investment because it will likely impact the property I own. However, and live up, However, after discussing the matter with the city attorney, I have determined that I am able to participate in and vote on this docket item due to an applicable legal exception which allows members of a business, profession, occupation, or group of three or more persons, the members of which are affected by the transaction, to participate in the transaction despite having a personal interest. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Vice Mayor.

So I'll just provide a recap of Jim's presentation from April. For the work development to occur, the site would need to be ready, which would require the abatement and deconstruction of the coal-fired power plant, environmental remediation, and infrastructure improvements. The city's participation would be for a portion of the site readiness costs to be provided through tax incremental financing split over two phases. and the creation of a community development authority to issue the bonds and to backstop the TIF. Unlike the city general obligation bonds that are secured by the general fund revenues, the proposed CDA bonds will be secured by a portion of future new tax revenues generated by the project onsite with a special assessment backstop levied only against owners of the project. Various jurisdictions such as Fairfax County, Arlington County, and the city at Landmark have leveraged CDAs to facilitate such kind of development. The request does meet the city's but first standard, as Stephanie was mentioning, that is the project has a funding gap and won't be feasible as envisioned without this investment. The infrastructure investment will result in approximately $290 million in public infrastructure improvements, including public open space, public roadways and street improvements, utilities, pedestrian and bicycle facilities, site readiness and other supportive improvements. The city will structure and facilitate the issuance of $135 million in net infrastructure proceeds from revenue bonds to support eligible public infrastructure improvements associated with the project. No more than $70 million of these $135 million net proceeds will be issued for phase one of the project. The developer must invest a minimum of $110 million in public infrastructure in Phase 1 before receipt of any Phase 1 public infrastructure financing proceeds. The rest of the investment from the city will be provided for Phase 2 of the project provided the developer satisfies all the terms of a performance agreement and related performance criteria. Jim will provide a highlight of the few key terms later in the presentation. These funds can only be used for eligible public infrastructure per statute and not for any private development. The city estimates that once the 320 million debt service associated with that 135 million net infrastructure proceeds are deducted, the city will receive more than 770 million in net onsite incremental tax revenues available for city services. These additional tax revenues will not exist if this redevelopment doesn't occur. Separately, the parties have worked on a pathway for affordable P3 project, which would result in approximately 160 affordable housing units on site. Jim and I will provide some details in the upcoming slides. In total, the realization of the plan would encompass up to 2.5 million square feet of commercial and residential development, with a projected private capitalization of more than $2 billion. There will be more than five acres of publicly accessible open space on site, as well as outside improvements to National Park Service land, Slater's Lane, George Washington Memorial Parkway intersection, and crosswalk improvements. These agreements will give us the timing protections and denote when this work happens, as Jim will further speak to. Phase one includes the abatement and deconstruction of the power plant, associated site remediation, site infrastructure, open spaces on blocks A, B, and C. Anticipated development would be over a million square feet in this phase one. Over 800 units have been recommended for approval for blocks B and C. The developer plans to start construction by end of next year with anticipated completion in 2030. The plant will also be deconstructed by 2029, a year before any vertical construction is completed and operational. Additionally, road A will be open and functional before occupancy of any building. Phase two will include site remediation, site infrastructure, and associated open space for blocks D, E, and F, and the associated development. And speeded completion for that is in 2034. The developer's affordable housing approach is delivered in three forms. There would be 60 on-site units across various phases. As a part of the upcoming DSP approval, there'll be 19 of those 60 in blocks B and C. There'll also be affordable housing trust fund contributions And additionally, to facilitate the onsite affordable housing P3, the CDD had indicated an option to potentially use the affordable housing contributions onsite as a source for funding for the all affordable housing P3 project. Again, Jim will provide some additional details when we go over the key terms. Since we announced the potential TIF last month, there have been various opportunities for stakeholder and community engagement, including a survey form which was in the city's project-specific website. AHAC endorsed the affordable housing plan for blocks B and C, part of phase one of the development. Separately, Planning Commission unanimously recommended the open space DSP and blocks B and C DSPs for approval. HRP held two public meetings with approximately 250 plus attendees over those sessions to get everyone familiar with the project now that the public investment is being considered and talk about the current DSEPs, the TIF proposal, project phasing, arts and cultural uses, environmental remediation, the power plant deconstruction plan, open space, transportation and parking, design, and other community benefits. City staff worked on finalizing the term sheet for council consideration. The term sheet includes performance requirements, enforcement mechanisms, and protections to the city. The term sheet was published with the docket on June 4th. I'll hand it over back to Jim to go over the key terms.

Great. So just a little bit more on the term sheet, some details. I want to cover a little bit on the timing and timing requirements. We say requirements. Those are guarantees. Those become part of the agreements, and they're required to be hit. Financial protections is truly that. It's not aspirational. Those are concrete protections the city puts in place, as well as some additional commitments and protections. What I'm describing to you are not potential opportunities or potential. These are actual agreements that will be signed and documented and adhered to. Julian talked a little bit about the city's obligation to the creation of a TIF as well as the use of community development authority to implement that. But the developer has significant obligations that they must meet in order to tap into any city investment. And I kind of want to highlight that in particular. So the action that's going to be requested by council is to execute those The term sheet and authorized me to do that on or the city to do that on June 13th with the creation of the Community Development Authority in the fall of 2026 next slide There's been some discussion in the community about timing and when we can expect this project. Again, keep in mind this project started several years ago. So these are actual requirements in the term sheet. Phase one, commencement of construction by December of 2027. The completion of construction would be by the end of 2030. And then in phase two, you see it starts in 2030 and goes to 2034. There is a potential, depending upon the progress and what's happening, to extend that period of time. But that has serious requirements to demonstrate the project is truly moving forward. An example of this would be the landmark project recently where in the middle of some difficult economic dynamics related to some of the actions at the federal level that project had to be adjusted slightly to achieve capital markets the enforcement mechanisms that we have for the timing include the eligibility to when to receive public infrastructure fund proceeds as well as our control over when the bonds get issued which is really important Next page. The financial protections, I want to take a couple minutes on this. So tax increment financing, first of all, is a very typical tool for projects of this type of scale and this type of project where it really does have a significant complexity in terms of development. Stephanie talked about the significant environmental remediation that's required, the complexity of all the different various permitting that's required, both at the state, at the federal level, and the local level would be the easiest. But also the scale and the size of this project. That's really difficult. And as I pointed out about a month ago, there are very few developers in this country that can remediate this type of environmental site and build on that site. There are entities that perhaps could do the cleanup, but they're not likely to be able to build, which would mean more time and more delay. And this is not a greenfield site. This is not a site that can stay vacant forever. It has environmental contamination that does need to be removed. So I do want to highlight a number of performance requirements and conditions that are in place to ensure the financial protection of the city. First one is the limited and capped sources of TIF revenues, a portion of the eligible TIF revenues, the real property sales, meals, and transit lodging. ARE ALL GENERATED ON SITE, MEANING THAT NO REVENUE FROM ANY OTHER LOCATION THAT'S NOT OWNED BY THIS DEVELOPER DOESN'T GO TO THE TIF. IT'S ONLY WHAT THEY CREATE SPECIFICALLY ON THIS SITE. THE OTHER TAX REVENUES THAT THE CITY RECEIVES ARE NOT PLEDGED TO THE TIF. THOSE COME DIRECTLY AS TAX REVENUE TO PROVIDE services and support for the things that the city decides they want to do, including perhaps with our partners as well, like ACPS. We have a special assessment backstop. I think this is really important, and it's different than some TIFs. Where TIFs get in trouble is where they overextend or they overexaggerate the revenue, and they don't have an ability to guarantee some of that. We have not one, but two guarantees, additional guarantees. The first one is a special assessment backstop, which the Community Development Authority would authorize a special assessment if those TIF revenues are insufficient to pay the debt service. So the site-generated TIF revenue shortfalls would be supported by the project properties only. So what does that in layperson's terms mean? That means that if the revenue coming off of the taxes doesn't generate enough to pay the debt service on the city's investment, then the developer has to pay that through a special assessment because they're the ones that own the property that are being assessed. The second piece of that, if indeed that part, for whatever reason, there's a conflict or whatever, or the developer walks away, not that I would think that this would happen, the second guarantee is that the city then would be able to step in And those properties would have to be sold in order to cover the debt service. So there's two guarantees, and a lot of TIFs do not have that. In our case, that's what happens here. The other part is that the protection, if you will, our performance guarantee is the city retains final approval over the bond sizing, the structure, the financing terms, the timing of the bond issuance subject to the project meeting milestones. So in other words, if the developer is meeting milestones that are listed in the project, we would be able to move forward with the bond. If they're not able to do that, the bond wouldn't be issued. The developer financial investment is part of this agreement. the minimum developer investment is required prior to bond issuance. So in other words, it's not an upfront. They have to actually deliver and perform in order to get some of those bond proceeds. The developer must invest $110 million before receiving phase one financing proceeds, which is that number Julian highlighted before, which was $70 million. Again, $70 million that they create on their property as development occurs. The CDA governance, the board members would be the city council, so you would have control, direct control over the CDA decisions and the bond administration. The other thing that's a little unique here is that this is a reimbursement model. The developer bears the initial construction costs. bears all the risks of the public infrastructure with reimbursement only occurring after verification of satisfaction that the agreement requirements have been met. And then the phased approach is another condition in this agreement where the phase one financing doesn't obligate phase two financing. In other words, this is all about the performance of the developer. That's why a quality partner matters here because this agreement They will not get to phase two, the extra $65 million, if they do not deliver. And that's the way that this project has been set up. But we're very optimistic that that's going to happen. And we have placed significant incentive in this agreement to do that. Next slide. A couple other key points to facilitate the on-site affordable housing P3, the affordable housing developer procurement process must begin before phase two financing. The developer shall identify and secure city's approval of the affordable housing developer with qualifications and through a selection process as acceptable to the city prior to commencing vertical construction on phase two. The affordable housing contribution may be applied to the P3 project in the sole discretion of the city. and be paid by the developer no later than 2034. It also includes an escalation for applicable affordable housing contributions through that date, with the annual escalation between 3% and 5% dependent upon the CPI. The phase two financing is subject to completion of 15,000 square feet of the 30,000 square feet of arts and cultural anchor space as part of phase one. In terms of workforce development, the developer must invest and partner in local workforce development upskilling programs, including city and Alexandria City Public Schools workforce and apprenticeship programs that benefit residents and students. Those are embedded in the term sheets. There are other protections such as performance and payment bonds for infrastructure that provide additional guarantees. I guess the point I would want to make in the term sheet is with experience in tax increment financing, both successes and failures, what you have in front of the community is a series of protections where the city's bond proceeds, the city's investment, if you will, would be protected at multiple levels, all requiring the developer to go first, to build first, to deliver first, and then being reimbursed for public infrastructure that benefits the community, as well as being required to clean up an environmentally contaminated site that's been contaminated for at least two decades or more so I just want to highlight that for you in terms of the just a quick summary the three points or four points I would want to make this project does increase the housing supply including affordable housing it cleans up the environmental contaminated site in Old Town North which is one of our gems of part of our community will provide an estimated $770 million in net revenue over the course of the project. And it adds significant public infrastructure and open space, including waterfront elements. HRP Group is requesting the city's investment to close that funding gap. and catalyze the redevelopment. I feel as a staff, on behalf of the staff, that there is proper protections in place to protect the city taxpayers and their investment to ensure that it is recouped and fully monetized effectively to help us in the future for multiple decades. So, Mayor and Council, that's a summary. We have plenty of staff that would be happy to answer any questions. I know you've seen a lot of this information before, but I'd be happy to take any questions or comments.

Thank you for the presentation. At this time, I'll open it up to questions from the Council. Councilman Chapman.

Thank you. I've been chatting with a number of community members, both kind of for this and, of course, some folks that have questions, concerns, what have you. If somebody can kind of speak to, and I think I appreciate the manager talking about TIFs, but ensuring folks kind of there's a legal structure to what we do and how we put these things these deals together. So we're not just coming up with some crazy ideas or creative ideas to make things happen. There are some legal structures that we're depending on that kind of lock this deal into place, not only for the city but also for the developer as well.

Sure. Yeah, I can speak to that. So as both the manager and Julian described, to your point, there's the sort of core statutory Virginia code source of law here is for community development authorities. And that's the separate political subdivision, a new entity that will be created that will then be allowed to levy the special assessments as a backstop if we need them, and would also be receiving the tax increment revenues from the city to pay off the revenue bonds that they would issue. in the state code um and that would be then sort of implemented through a series of documents we'll have a performance agreement we'll have an mou with the future community development authority we'll have an ordinance for the community development authority so there'll be a lot of structure built on top of that state code but um yes it is it's it's in the virginia code and it's commonly used throughout um the state that's right and you know as i was talking to somebody i reminded them

You know, this is similar, like I think the manager said, to what we're doing at Landmark. This is not kind of any different from tools that we're already using that, again, as you said, Bonnie, are used across the state. So folks hopefully can rest a little bit easier understanding that this is a commonly used tool. TIFs are used as well, again, with Landmark. We're doing that work, and so we're continuing to build on kind of a practice that we've started with Landmark. And with the opening or groundbreaking of the aspect, we are seeing movement towards development. So hopefully we'll see that too.

Just a follow-up question on state code. In terms of the code, does it outline specifically the structure for the CDA and what types of people or expertise should be on it?

It does outline the composition of the Community Development Authority. There is some flexibility in terms of the number of people and who they are. We've written into the term sheet, as the manager said, that our CDA proposed here would consist of council members. That's not required, but it is something we're recommending because it would ensure alignment between our council and the separate CDA. But yes, I can send you, there's sort of a paragraph of term limits and requirements that apply.

I was just curious because it's a question we received, and I know that has been our practice. That's the same way we've structured this at Landmark, but I didn't know if there were specific guidance. And I think there are other examples across the state, so I wasn't sure if that was just written into the code that that's the expertise that's there.

Correct. There's not a required sort of set of expertise or qualifications of the members, but they can be council members, and we're recommending that they be in this case.

Thank you. Councilman Marks and then Vice Mayor Bagley.

So the questions that I've been getting on this project, I've had answered for me. But I'm hoping to just have you answer one of them publicly here. A lot of what we've talked about tonight is the financing, because we're here to talk about the term sheet specifically. But as there is some public funding, I would love to hear you talk for the people listening at home about what the selection of this specific firm in the remediation process, what that means for the remediation process, perhaps what projects they've taken on before, why we are specifically interested in their prior work on this specific site, and the implications for that on the health of the neighbors and the people who will live there currently during the construction and once the site is built.

I can take that. HRP itself has a lot of experience working on coal-fired power plants and other industrial projects. They have also similar experience doing projects like this as a part of their second committee meeting. They actually went through a lot of details related to that. Some of the examples they provided were the project they're working on at 776 Summer Street in Boston, where they actually provided examples of how they were mitigating, how they do the abatement, making sure, you know, controlling the flow of water, making sure that there's no abatement, no environmental material going off-site, and And also some other projects and then how they actually communicated that to the local community there. They have a web page where they post dust monitoring measures and raise additional measures on site. So they definitely have a lot of experience doing that. And they also voluntarily enroll in the VRP program at the state level back when they just bought the site. And the site previously also has been enrolled in the Petroleum, sorry, I'm losing the acronym here, but way back in 2013, the previous owners of the site had signed up on that program and they have continued that. And as more and more work is done, they'll continue addressing it based on best practices across the state and their experience from other projects across the country.

Okay, and so we can expect a similar dashboard during the construction phase of this project for Alexandria?

Yes, that's what they have shown and committed to.

Thank you. Vice Mayor Begley.

So why now? Can you just speak to that a little bit? We've been talking about this site. We entitled the CDD in 2022. We've already improved infrastructure DSUP. Why is this happening now?

Sure. I'll start, and certainly anyone else can chime in. I mean, the technical answer is that the ownership came to the city and asked for assistance. and essentially said, we have taken this project as far as we can with entitlement. We have been working with economic development, with other partners to find users who would bring capital to start some of the phases. We've been going out to markets to find other parts of the capital stack. And at this point, we have a gap, and we are asking for city assistance. So that is the technical reason why right now. Globally, you know speaking to some of the first couple of slides. This is not Unfortunately, not unique. We have a number of projects that we could probably walk through tonight that have been fully entitled by the city that are not moving forward because there is not capital because the cost of construction the cost of labor and have all increased and are frankly unstable. Those numbers are unstable right now in people's pro formas. There are many developers who have really great track records who are not moving forward with projects right now because of their inability to close gaps. Because this is a catalyst site, Because there are affordable housing, arts and culture uses, the ability to generate a significant number of new housing units, that is why the request was received positively. And also because I think as a community, we just went through a very large exercise about how do we move some of these catalyst projects forward. And then maybe the last thing I would say, given some of the questions you just asked, is the tool that they're asking to use is one that we have used and deployed successfully. We have seen the results of a TIF at the West End project. We saw that it helped move a project that was stalled in a different market. And we're seeing great returns there. And so we, I think, are hopeful and have put in place protections to try to use that tool again to unlock this catalyst site.

Yeah, no, I appreciate the context. I think part of why I ask that is this project, I mean, people move to and from Alexandria all the time. And I recognize that to someone who has moved here in the last two to three years, they weren't here when we entitled the property in 2022. And when the walking tour started in, I did my first walking tour in 2021. And so this has been long in process. and may feel, and I appreciate some of the feedback we've gotten, it sort of may feel like this is a, you know, where is this coming from? And so that's partially why I asked that, just to kind of walk us through, like, why are we at a moment now that we're talking about this funding? And I think arguably, and I invite you to correct me if I'm wrong, but, you know, when the property was purchased in 2020 and then, you know, began the entitlement process, you know, the markets were in a different place. I bought my adjacent condo in 2021 when the interest rates were like 2 and 1 half. So I think that's just other context for why now. You explained a lot of it. What I'd like to do tonight, and I guess I'm just going to say this out loud, is there was a lot of questions from the community and from my neighbors on the point of remediation and process. And I know you touched on all that. But we are going to have the public hearing. We're not voting tonight on this. This is an informational presentation, and it's quite late now. I know on Saturday there will be probably more presentation and more of a breakdown on the process. But I just wanted to acknowledge that this is a site requiring a specific type of developer. And it was touched on in your presentation. And absent this TIF and absent this partnership, What would be the short to midterm future of this site?

I'll point out, too, that not unlike other properties, this site was owned by a company that operated a coal plant when we went through the small area plan. So we were working with somebody who was never going to redevelop this site, was never going to remediate it, frankly. And again, we have lots of examples around the city where A family-owned property knows that there's a higher and better use. They go through the process with the community. But the only way we're going to get to the vision is if somebody comes in and buys it who has that capability. And so to date, we have been successful in attracting HRP to buy this property. And as you just said, the conditions have changed since they purchased it. And they have been working in earnest to get to a point where they could put a shovel in the ground. And they have done every single process of ours. Should we not move forward with this, I would imagine they will sit and wait for conditions to change, for this gap to close another way, and or they will try to find someone else to sell this to. And I think given the specific conditions of this site, I don't think there's a large population of people looking to buy this. old coal-powered fire. I mean, they will inherit the same conditions. So I think the foreseeable future would be the site as is, which is not ideal, is not generating any revenue for us, and is hindering us, frankly, from attracting other sorts of uses to this neighborhood, because this is intended to be the catalyst and sort of the main gathering place. And I said, I think during our last presentation, And I'll say it again just for the record. I am hopeful that there will be a commercial component to this project in future phases. Commercial does not come to places where there's not a clear vision and where there's not investment happening. And so getting this project started, getting the infrastructure in place that this TIF would support is our hope then to get some commercial uses in this neighborhood.

No, thank you for that. And I think it's my expectation to have a little bit more of a deep dive into sort of the process of remediation and deconstruction and the timing of that. I think it's just better suited for Saturday. But I wanted to focus on sort of the financial reasons for why. And so I appreciate the presentation and look forward to finishing the discussion on Saturday.

I think to that point, on Saturday, staff prepared a really good slide that breaks down kind of all the different partners who are involved in the oversight, especially the environmental remediation pieces of this. And so just having that as part of the presentation and walking through would be great. Are there any other questions at this time? All right. Well, thank you for your presentation. As was stated, we will be having a deeper discussion on Saturday. And so look forward to seeing you again in a few days. Madam Clerk, please call the next item.

Action docket roll call consent items 12 through 26. I second.

There has been a motion by Councilman Aguirre and a second by Vice Mayor Bagley to approve roll call consent items 12 through 26. Is there any additional discussion? Hearing none, Madam Clerk, this is a roll call vote. Please call the roll.

Councilman Aguirre.

Aye.

Vice Mayor Bagley. Aye. Mayor Gaskins. Aye. Councilman Chapman. Aye. Councilman El Newby. Aye. Councilwoman Green. Aye. Councilwoman Marks.

Aye. Okay, Madam Clerk, next item. Contested Appointments. Okay, it is our practice for our contestant appointments that I will read the names of all of the vote getters and then announce that the person who received the majority votes of council and then call for a motion to approve the majority vote getters at the end. The first board is for the Alexandria Cone Sister City Committee and it is for one citizen member. Candice Harmon received four votes of the council, that of Marks, Bagley, Gaskins, Aguirre. Christopher Olsen received one vote, that of Alnubi. And Mark Parson received two votes, that of Green and Chapman. Candice Harmon is the majority vote getter. The Beautification Commission, this is for one citizen member. Kristen Fort received two votes of the council, that is Green and Gaskins. And John Mickley received five votes, Alnubi, Marks, Bagley, Chapman, Aguirre. The Commission for Women, this is for two citizen members. Ashley Edmiston received one vote, Councilman Aguirre. Elizabeth Shea Hardin received one vote, that of Councilman Chapman. Mariah Healy received one vote, that of Councilwoman Marks. Courtney Lee received five votes, Elnubi, Green, Marks, Bagley, Gaskins. And Maya Wiseman received six votes of the council, Elnubi, Green, Bagley, Gaskins, Chapman, Aguirre. The community policy and management team, this is for one parent representative who is not an employee of any public or private program which receive funds from the Children's Services Act. Eben Freeman James received all seven votes of the council. The Human Rights Commission, this is for two citizen members. Amelia DePolis received six votes of the council. Green, Marks, Gaskins, Chapman, Aguirre-Bagley. Abdul Wahid Ghilrani received one vote, that of Alnubi. And Matt Harris received all seven votes of the council. Amelia and Matt are the majority vote getters. The next is the Northern Virginia Community College Board. Tammy Ignacio received five votes of the council, Elnubi, Gaskins, Green, Chapman, Aguirre. And Kristen McCall received two votes, that of Marks and Bagley. Tammy Ignacio is the majority vote getter. The Social Services Advisory Board, this is for two citizen members. Christina James received one vote of the council, that is Councilman Elnubi. Benjamin Tolley received seven votes of the council, Alnubi, Marks, Bagley, Gaskins, Green, and Chapman. And then there was a vote to re-advertise the other position from Marks, Bagley, Gaskins, Chapman, Aguirre, and Green. As such, Benjamin Tolley will be appointed to one position as a majority vote-getter, and the other position will be re-advertised. The traffic and parking board, this is for two citizen members. Marcos received four votes of the council, Marks, Bagley, Gaskins, Aguirre. Riley DePiano received three votes, that of Alnubi, Green, and Chapman. And Ashley received seven votes, that of Alnubi, Marks, Bagley, Gaskins, Green, Chapman, and Aguirre. Ashley and Marcos are the majority vote getters. The next is for the Visit Alexandria Board of Governors. There is a position for one at-large member. Stuart Fox received all seven votes of the council. There is also a position for one restaurant owner slash manager representative. And Marcos Panas received all seven votes of the council. Then we do not have the appropriate summary here. One restaurant owner is one vote for Clifton Lee Brown, that is Aguirre, and then six votes for Marco. Is there a motion to approve the majority vote-getters as read into the record and to re-advertise the one citizen member for the Social Services Advisory Board? There has been a motion by Councilman Chapman, a second by Vice Mayor Bagley. Is there any further discussion? Hearing none, Madam Clerk, this is a roll call vote. Please call the roll.

Councilman Chapman. Aye. Vice Mayor Bagley. Aye. Mayor Gaskins. Aye. Councilman Aguirre. Aye. Councilman Elnubi. Aye. Councilwoman Green.

Aye.

Councilwoman Marks.

Aye. All right, the ayes have it. Madam Clerk, next item.

Consideration of City Council Schedule.

All right. Is there a motion to approve the city council schedule?

So moved. Second.

There's been a motion by Vice Mayor Bagley.

Oh.

And I'll call for discussion. Okay. And a second by Councilman Chapman. Any further discussion? Councilman Aguirre.

I was just looking at the look ahead calendar and maybe this is something we're going to do in the following months, but to have VML and NLC on the calendar as well. So it doesn't have to be done this month, but.

OK. OK, any additional discussion? All right, seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed?

Aye.

All right, the ayes have it. Move to adjourn. There's been a motion by Vice Mayor Bagley, a second by Councilwoman Marks. All those in favor of adjournment say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Aye. All right, ayes have it. Meeting adjourned.

Night.

Thank you.