2024's Hits, In-Betweens, and Misses

From The Alexandria Times, December 5, 2024

About Alexandria turned three last month, so it is time to look back on 2024’s columns to consider the hits, in-betweens, misses, and two follow-up items.

The Hits

Potomac Yard, past and future: An April column on how Monumental Sports Entertainment and Governor Glenn Youngkin’s Wizards/Capitals arena project imploded (“Ted and Glenn, We Hardly Knew Ye”), and a May column about Potomac Yard’s future (“Fretting About Potomac Yard”) suggesting locating the City’s arts organizations there, generated significant comments. Outgoing Mayor Wilson has talked about the importance of “big swings,” or major commercial projects, to shore up the City’s tax base, so arena-sized developments may be coming.

A February column on the importance of high school alternative education programs (“Inflection Point or ‘Rinse and Repeat’?”) for students who have difficulty in Alexandria City High School’s large and complex environment generated reactions, as did the description of a teacher who feared for their safety. There were also comments on a September column (“ACHS Academies, Old and New Again”) on the initiative to organize student academies, a variation on an approach tried years ago.

An October column, “ISO Better School Performance Reporting,” on how school performance might be better measured and reported if standardized test scores were deemphasized in favor of longitudinal progress metrics, while not specific to Alexandria, also drew several comments.

The In-Betweens

Columns on local politics seemed to occupy a middle ground. August’s column, “The Big Timeout,” looked at the effects of the City’s quirky election calendar and the negative effects of this year’s uncompetitive election of all nine members of the School Board. “Good for us, bad for democracy,” a School Board member-elect told me.

March’s column, “Checks and Balances,” tried to make sense of former Mayor Bill Euille’s acceptance of a $260,000 check from a local developer and why the matter was not pursued by legal authorities. The column’s explanation for the situation appeared to be confirmed in a letter the Times published from Euille after the column ran.

July’s column, “Leaf Blowers, Alexandria’s Noise Ordinance and the Dillon Rule” tried to explain the gridlock involving City and state officials over regulating gas-powered leaf blowers. Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares has issued an opinion confirming that Alexandria has the authority to regulate these devices.

The Misses

January’s column, “Zoning for Housing: An Afterword” tried to put 2023’s zoning debate in perspective. The column seemed like a good idea at the time, but it landed without much effect. As a practical matter, most people had moved on to the Potomac Yard arena debate and other concerns.

November’s column, “Measured Restraint is the Best Course,” about the planned changes to King Street in front of Bradlee Shopping Center, and the impact of the modernization of George Mason Middle School on the green space behind the school, is probably a “miss.” Both situations seem to have progressed too far for there to be any hope of fresh looks by the authorities.

Following Up

A February 2022 column, “Repair the ACHS Cistern,” urged ACPS to repair the 400,000-gallon underground cistern at the ACHS King Street Campus that will collect and recycle runoff surface water. The projected completion date for the cistern repairs was this past spring, which stretched into the summer.

On Nov. 1, ACPS Executive Director of Facilities Dustin Davis said, “There were delays in fabrication of parts needed to complete the project. The remaining work is scheduled for completion during the ACPS winter break to accommodate a required water outage to install the necessary parts.”

On the stalled installation of solar panels at the ACHS Minnie Howard Campus and Douglas MacArthur Elementary School, Davis said, “There is currently not a projected timeline for solar array installation at Douglas MacArthur Elementary School and the ACHS Minnie Howard Campus. Interconnection requirements with electrical substations have required additional planning to complete the project. ACPS Executive Leadership is actively considering options for a path forward.”

Let’s keep hope alive in 2025.

The writer is a former lawyer, member of the Alexandria School Board from 1997 to 2006, and English teacher from 2007 to 2021 at T.C. Williams High School, now Alexandria City High School. He can be reached at aboutalexandria@gmail.com and free subscriptions to his newsletter are available at https:/aboutalexandria.substack.com

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