Local politics in the shadow of the capitol.

These links provide insight into a number of local political developments in the Washington Metro area on both sides of the Potomac.

Alexandria, Virginia, a city of 120,000, founded in 1745 as a commercial entrepot, is a place quite distinct in culture and law from Washington, DC, ten miles away.  I live in Alexandria.  It is a splendid place to live and my wife is a community leader here.

Alexandria is presently ruled by a left leaning political coalition of Northern immigrants, minorities of various kinds (Alexandria =21% Black), and yellow dog Democrats.  The mayor is Black.  The city manager is Black and the city attorney is Black.  The Democratic coalition seems to have about 65% of the vote.  Underlying this political activity is a fact little noted by many.  The stratum of people descended from those who founded the city still exercises a powerful influence.

The Democratic Party primary election for its nominations to the city legislative council is tomorrow.  There are many candidates.  The most interesting of these is a man who spent much of his life as a gay rights activist in Richmond, the Commenwealth capital.  Three years ago, he came to Alexandria, and is now running for City Council.  White people in Alexandria often elect Black people.  That is why we have a Black mayor who has served several terms.  We also have an openly gay male member of the city council. He is well accepted as a rational and moderate man.

Now, we have this transplant from Richmond who is running a campaign for which he has raised $49,000 so far.  This is an unheard of sum for such a purpose here.  As stated in a story below, his lover contributed money to a very new PAC.  This PAC printed and distributed a slick paper scurrilous attack on Boyd Walker, a moderate Democrat whose mother was a long serving liberal member of City Council.

What is this? Is it a concerted effort to tranform Alexandria into an engine of agitation in the Commonwealth?  It didn't work in Richmond, so now it will be attempted in Alexandria?  We have a traditonal of civility in this city.  We will see how this "plays" in tomorrow's polling.

Across the river, in the "Big Uneasy," we have a city government that is collapsing under the weight of federal investigations, indictments and convictions of Black members of city council.  The mayor's future is an open question.  Milloy, a columnist for the Washington Post, has written the column linked below in which he bemoans the possibility that the next mayor of Washington might be White.  Is this not racist?  pl

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/virginia-politics/post/alexandria-city-council-candidate-boyd-walker-targeted-in-attack-ad/2012/06/08/gJQAKwsVOV_blog.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/next-shoe-to-drop-could-make-mendelson-the-first-white-mayor-of-dc/2012/06/10/gJQAFQbFTV_story.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/alexandria-candidates-partner-donates-funds-to-pac-that-ran-attack-ad-on-foe/2012/06/10/gJQAvmo9SV_story.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/10/nyregion/black-leaders-and-gay-advocates-find-ways-to-march-in-step.html

 

Comments

[YT]

Col. sir,

RE: "Is it a concerted effort to tranform Alexandria into an engine of agitation"

Apparently this ploy is a waste-of-time & resources.

It seems the good folk of the American South are, in the words of a [pain-in-the] a$$ociate (of mine) who recently visited Dallas, TX, "neither gullible nor foolish, & regard each other with the mannerisms of Gentlemen."

[turcopolier]

YT

I hope so. pl

[The Twisted Genius]

How do the Alexandria waterfront redevelopment plans fit into this election? I spent a number of years working in Alexandria including several on the waterfront. I really liked the area. I'd hate to see the area turn into an antiseptic, artificial Disneyland. It's a harbor for crying out loud. It needs a little industrial grit to remain so.

[turcopolier]

TTG

If the incumbents or the allies of the present city council win, then the desire to build hotels on the river front will be unabated. There are several legal actions underway in the Virginia courts to block that. Mr. Walker is one of the principals in the movement to block the hotels as is a retired army lieutenant general, Bob Wood. pl

[Twit]

I hope these anti-development forces prevail. I am a native Arlingtonian and my hometown [county] has become exactly the "antiseptic, artificial Disneyland" TTG fears for our elder neighbor.

[YT]

Twit,

"antiseptic, artificial Disneyland"

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/singapore

Man, you should pay a visit to cities in the Far East to see how much an impact Walt Disney's ideas have on the rulers in the region.

[Abu Sinan]

I now live in Alexandria myself, it is much closer to work, but for years I lived out west in Chantilly. I really like Alexandria and wonder what it was like years ago before it under went this change.

[turcopolier]

Abu Sinan

I have lived here now for twenty years, always in the Rosemont neighborhood. The city has grown prettier, more bricked over, and deeper and deeper in the grip of the left coalition that runs the government. My political opinions are my own and have nothing to do with my wife who has to operate here. The left in Alexandria government is closely allied with the developers and re-developers against whom the citizens' associations wage a continuous political warfare. In Richmond, this city is derisively referred to as "the people's republic of..." and with good reason. There is a decades long struggle being waged by the city government and the left generally against the "old boys" who own the "Old Dominion Boat Club." This club's ramshackle building and parking lot are located at the foot of King Street on the riverfront. The federal government sued the club thirty years ago for control of this riparian land. The litigation went in and out of various courts. It was recently settled in favor of the boat club and the federal government was required to pay a million dollars of the boat club's legal costs. Now, the city government is trying to do the same thing. Good luck to them. I should have joined the boat club years ago. Sic Semper Tyrannis. pl

[Abu Sinan]

Thanks for the information Colonel. I know the club you are talking about. I was in that area when I first moved to Alexandria. If memory serves me right there is a small park there with a cannon or two pointing towards Maryland.

Having always moved around, first the child of officers in the military, and then as a member of the DoD and now a federal contractor, I have often been the "outsider" but never felt like I had a need or a right to try and control or change the places I lived in. I didnt do it when I was overseas, dont feel the need to do it here. I have always hated the idea that people think they know what is better for a given area than the locals that were born and raised in the area and have long standing family ties and history with an area. These people will eventually move on leaving the damage in their wake for those who where there before and remain.

I know the Rosemont area, it is very close to work and I drive through it on the way home every day. I live on Seminary Road near 395. Rosemont is a lovely area, with nice houses and tree lined roads. Enjoy your upcoming trip!

[William R. Cumming]

I met the new coordinator for the National Capital Region Preparedness effort the other night at a reception. Oddly the only Regional Coordination position mandated by statute even though many major metro areas are multi-jurisdictional. 28 in the DC area. Sorry to be alarmist but with almost $2B spent on NCR preparedness since 9/11/01 few problems solved. But hey the transportation dependent population grows daily so I guess we have decided Hurricane Katrina effort should be a National and NCR standard. Perhaps free bicycles for all? Last Saturday having coffee in the New Deal cafe in Greenbelt MD met a resident of Arlington [female age 77] who had biked over from her condo in Arlington's Rossyln area. She said she was looking for a place to live that had trees.