Help us with the GW Community Gardens Project!

George Washington Middle School Community Garden

Over the past decade, there has been an increasing awareness of the benefits of local food production. As in many other communities, citizens in the Rosemont and Del Ray communities of Alexandria have become eager to grow their own fruits and vegetables. Many of these individuals, however, have little or no land for gardening, and there is a waiting list for the limited number of community gardening plots in the city.

In the fall of 2009, a group of Rosemont and Del Ray citizens began to explore forming a community garden. Working with Wendy Sparrow, ACPS garden coordinator, we identified an available plot at the George Washington Middle School. This space, which has sun exposure and an easily accessed water source, has been underutilized for years. Wendy obtained permission from the GW principle for a community garden trial project to take place at the site.

The proposed site is a portion of the available land, encompassing approximately 400 square feet. This will be the trial garden, with further expansion possible depending on outcome. The garden will be a communal garden, and will not be divided into individual plots. We will grow fruits, vegetables and herbs, initially for the consumption of the gardeners. There is strong interest in other initiatives in the future, depending on productivity. For example, educational initiatives with ACPS, donations to food banks and relationships with local vendors are all long-term objectives.

We are currently in the development phase of the project. Having identified our core group, as well as master gardeners to advise us, we are now creating the structure of the committee and a time-line. We are also investigating a relationship with George Washington University’s sustainable landscaping program, to assist us in the design of the space.

As advised by our master gardeners, it is a priority to prepare the land early, in order to be able to plant in the spring. We therefore are looking into best means of turning over the dense grass, and laying down top soil. We are looking for partners to help us get the site ready to plant. Good soil can cost a significant amount.

We appreciate the support of the City of Alexandria towards environmental initiatives, and look forward to contributing towards the Eco-City initiative with our garden project. If you or your business would like to help support this effort, please let us know by contacting:

Samantha Ahdoot, M.D.

104 West Walnut Street

Alexandria, VA 22301

703-519-6755/571-239-4391

atkinssam (at) yahoo.com

Pedestrian Safety

Recently, one morning near a community school, a car hit a child in my neighborhood while she held her mother’s hand and walked through a crosswalk. The vehicle threw her five feet. Fortunately, the child was OK. But this story and others like it illustrate the need to change driving patterns so that drivers put more care into how they interact with crosswalks. Certainly the driver in this case made a mistake, but this accident speaks to a larger point. For a variety of reasons, more people are walking in our neighborhoods. We need a clear set of rules so pedestrians using crosswalks don’t have to guess what a driver is going to do. We need greater awareness of pedestrians using our cross walks. The Virginia General Assembly has a chance to make some simple changes of law to help clarify the relationship between cars and walkers.

Safety, health and budgets are forcing us to re-think our approach to walking in Virginia. A recent study by Transportation for America and the Surface Transportation Policy Project shows that Virginia is one the least safe states in the country for walking and biking. The National School Board Association recently held a conference with several sessions focusing on the connection between the fight against childhood obesity and encouraging children to walk and bike to school. About 30 percent of children between ages 10 and 17 in Virginia are currently identified as having unhealthy weights. In addition to concerns about obesity, it’s clear that more children in Virginia will soon be walking to school. Many areas of Virginia are looking to cut back on bus routes in light of growing school budget challenges. Many localities are also using Safe Routes to School grants and stimulus funds to improve sidewalks and crosswalks. All of this adds up to more walking in the next year and years to come.

The General Assembly can, through a very simple clarification of pedestrian laws, take steps to address obesity by encouraging and improving the safety of children walking and biking to school.
For several years, the General Assembly has debated a new pedestrian safety law that would require cars to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks. It has passed the State Senate multiple times and has often failed in the House of Delegates by only a vote or two. Many people are surprised to learn that in Virginia, a driver does not have to stop for a pedestrian crossing the street within a cross walk. He can steer around the pedestrian or take other evasive actions to avoid the pedestrian, but he doesn’t have to stop. This year, Senator Barker and Delegate Herring are introducing legislation to require cars to stop for Pedestrians in cross walks.

A common argument against requiring cars stop for pedestrians is that pedestrians will purposely step into the street to hold up or infringe on the right-of-way of cars. Yes, opponents of the bills that would require drivers to stop have expressed concern that pedestrians would put their lives at risk and rush into crosswalks in order to hold up car traffic. This argument against requiring a driver to stop doesn’t hold water. Cars, weighing multiple tons, have the power in any interaction with a pedestrian. No matter what the law, pedestrians will always have to be cautious.

Other jurisdictions, including Maryland, Georgia, Washington, and the District of Columbia, have “stop for pedestrian” laws (Washington, D.C. enacted its law in 2005). There are no reports of pedestrians jumping into cross walks to stop cars. It is working in many other places, and it can work in Virginia.

Building crosswalks and sidewalks and encouraging more walking or biking is good for our health. In this economy, more walking will also be forced upon many of us by our restrained budgets. Virginia can take a very low-cost step to improve the safety of people walking and biking around the Commonwealth by finally passing the stop for pedestrians legislation. It’s a small step, but an important one for combating childhood obesity, ensuring the safety of those walking to school and encouraging the enjoyment of our communities.

Rob Krupicka is a member of the Alexandria City Council, the Virginia Board of Education and is Chair of Virginia’s Safe Routes to School Network.

Children, Youth and Families Plan

The draft children, youth and families chapter of Alexandria’s strategic plan is looking fantastic.  It puts in place a strong, accountable, evidence-based strategy to to better align city and school efforts in order to improve graduation rates and address other important elements of a child’s success.  Thanks to all who have helped write this.  You can read the current draft on the city web site.  Its the Strategic Planning Goal #4 Final Draft Template.

West End Traffic Planning

Turn out at the west end transportation meeting last night was great — it was fantastic to have Sen. Webb and Rep. Moran represented as well as planning staff from Fairfax County. Traffic does not get solved in a vacuum — everybody has to be at the table. http://alexandriava.gov/planning/info/default.aspx?id=24266

Great Teachers Make for a Great Education

I’m happy to see that Delegate Englin filed my idea to create a new Commonwealth Teachers program to help attract great teachers to struggling school districts. The most essential piece of a good education is a good teacher. http://www.richmondsunlight.com/bill/2010/hb266/

In Response to GP article on BRAC, Winkler and Traffic

The recent GP article about the Council deliberations on transportation issues related to BRAC perpetuates the zero sum game mindset that leads to bad planning and bad outcomes. To present the transportation issues as gridlock versus the Winkler preserve demonstrates a lack of vision and also grossly misrepresents the Council’s actions. Vision is exactly what we need to address west-end traffic challenges. Fortunately, our transportation master plan and the recently adopted Landmark plan give us a place to start.

I concur with the criticism that the City should have been explicit in supporting Eisenhower over Mark Center for Brac-133. But I don’t support the idea contained in the GP article that since BRAC is here, we need to harm the Winkler preserve or make additional bad planning choices to address it.

We have known for 15 years that the Mark Center was going to have a high-density commercial use. That was decided with zoning changes in 1995 and was detailed in the SUP decisions for the site in 2004. The original zoning also called for a new off-ramp from 395. In 2004 VDOT, because of funding limitations and a lack of federal support, told Alexandria that an access ramp into the Mark Center wasn’t an option. So the city planned around it, and relied on what I believe was a flawed transportation analysis to try and make up for the access ramp. With BRAC here, VDOT has brought the access ramp concept back because they believe that the federal government will pay for it.

Funds for an access ramp are on the table. DOD is better at requiring transit use for its employees than private property owners. And DOD has asked for less parking than was ever expected in the Mark Center. Given this, we have a chance to come out of this project with a commercial site similar in scale to what was zoned for in 1995, but that has greater reliance on transit, less parking and a better total transportation system than was every envisioned.

The Council’s recent action reflects a focus on the entire transportation system. First, the Council asked to take transportation options that harm Winkler off the table. Second, we asked that two options that provide modest relief to Seminary Road be considered, but not in isolation. We also asked that VDOT work with city staff to develop additional options that would take further traffic pressure off of Seminary Road. We have to look at these things together. We can’t expect silver bullet traffic solutions. We have to look at the entire system of traffic surrounding Mark Center.

The recently completed Landmark/Van Dorn Plan and the ongoing Beauregard Corridor Plan project provide an opportunity for us to focus on the entire area transportation system. We should start by looking closely at the Duke Street interchange. By making Duke Street an exit and entrance point for high occupancy vehicle and transit use on 395 we can support both the dedicated transit called for on Van Dorn in the city’s recently adopted Landmark re-development plan and we can support the high-capacity transit system on Beauregard described in the city Transportation Plan. This approach would enable DOD to bring busses up I-95 and then over to Beauregard and up to Mark Center and then to the Community College, over into Arlington and ultimately to the Pentagon. This is the transit vision we should be fighting for. Its good for DOD, Alexandria and our region.

For this to work, the transit route must be open to non-military personnel and should connect to Fairfax and ultimately to Arlington and the Pentagon. This approach takes additional pressure off of Seminary Road, makes transit center stage not just for the Mark Center for the entire corridor. And it builds on work already being done with Arlington and Fairfax to create a system of high capacity transit throughout our region. To accomplish this, the Defense Department needs to ensure that the transportation management plan that it is working on is thorough, detailed, viable, and effective.

In addition to studying Duke Street, the Council asked City staff to work with VDOT to look at other options to take traffic off of Seminary Road. Staff will gather community input on these concepts. As part of this review, Sanger Road is going to be evaluated to see if it could support a full or partial interchange without harming Winkler or neighborhoods. Other flyover options into the Mark Center will also be reviewed. Either way, my preference is for a system-wide mass transit approach that not only supports the Mark Center, but that also supports making transit more convenient throughout the West End.

There are a lot of reasons why it could be difficult for a broad approach to work. There are a number of moving parts to keep track of. That is why it is so attractive to find a silver bullet. But silver bullets won’t create the positive outcomes the west -end of Alexandria deserves. By thinking broadly about the transportation needs of the entire Beauregard Corridor we can come out of this with something better than we would have ever expected. Lets bring some vision and creativity to this.

December Council Updates

Dear Friends,

I hope you and your family have had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I am thankful every day for my family and friends and to have the opportunity to serve this great city.  We have many challenges ahead of us related to the budget and economy.  Below are updates on several important transportation, budget, small business and community projects that I’ve been involved in.

Please contact me anytime to share ideas or discuss city issues.

Sincerely,

Rob Krupicka

1)   Major Transportation Issues – On Saturday, the Council will vote on which transportation options it wants the Virginia Department of Transportation to consider to help mitigate traffic from the BRAC project.  VDOT has proposed seven different transportation enhancements to the Seminary Road interchange.  Many of these proposals require VDOT to build roads on the Winkler Preserve.  I’ve been working with city staff and citizens to develop an approach to address our pressing transportation needs that also protects Winkler.  I have long believed that if we step back and review the Seminary Road traffic issues in the context of the ongoing Beauregard Planning effort, we can find a solution that takes pressure off of Seminar Road, protects Winkler and improves traffic throughout the Beauregard corridor.  Last week, the city Transportation Commission voted to look at transportation options that don’t involve harming Winkler.  I was happy to see the city’s Transportation Commission unanimously accept the staff recommendation to ask VDOT to take a broader look at potential transportation solutions to take pressure off of Seminary Road and to avoid harming Winkler.  The Council will vote at its December 12^th meeting whether to accept the recommendations of the Transportation Commission or make changes.  I think the Transportation Commission recommendation is sound, and I intend to support it.

In related news, last month the City Council adopted my proposed resolution in opposition to the I-395 High Occupancy Toll Lanes project. This overturned the city’s previous position which withheld support but did not formally oppose the project.  I think it was important for this Council, with three new members, to strongly affirm its view about the problems of the HOT Lanes project.

2)   Major Ethics Reform Passes– Last year, Councilmen Smedberg, Lovain, Wilson and I brought forward a legislative change to enable the city to increase accountability and transparency in development applications.  We want to make sure, as is the case in surrounding jurisdictions, that potential conflicts between developers and members of council are disclosed as part of development applications.  The Council voted to adopt our proposed ordinance last month.  The ordinance also forbids members of council from voting on items where there is a potential conflict. This is a major change for better transparency and openness in city government.  I was pleased to see it pass last month without opposition.

3)   Three Significant Small Business Reforms Pass – Last month, three of my small business zoning reforms passed.  I had been working on these for much of the last year and was pleased to see unanimous support from the Council.  We passed a new ordinance to make it easier for businesses to open in Cameron Station.  We extended the Old Town sign program (docket item 16) I proposed last year; the program allows businesses on side streets to better market themselves and has had huge success.  And Councilman Smedberg’s and my old town zoning change (docket item 4) to simplify the process for new businesses to apply for store signs in old town also passed last month.  This last changes allows business owners to bypass the lengthy and expensive Board of Architectural Review process for a store signs.  All of these efforts reduce paperwork, save staff time and make it easier for business to operate in Alexandria. These initiatives re-affirm our commitment to making sure Alexandria is a good place to do business, especially in this challenging economy.  I have more reforms in the works for next year.

4) Stimulus Money will help our Economy, Conserve Energy and Improve Air Quality:  We learned last week that the U.S. DOE has approved the City’s stimulus application for $1,372,800, for energy conservation. These funds will help us implement a number of energy conservation projects, such as: energy audits, a green revolving loan program for home energy improvements, street and traffic light LED conversions, and green buildings and fleet programs.  This is a great example of the power of our Eco-City Alexandria plan.  Having a set vision in place makes it easier to apply for and to win grants like this.  We also voted this Tuesday to use stimulus money to help us buy hybrid trolley’s for old town.  These are the first of what I hope will be many hybrid mass transit vehicles in the city.  They produce 70% less emissions than the alternative.

5) Alexandria’s First Soft Room Opens – Your comments really can make a difference.  About three years ago I got an e-mail from an Alexandria resident asking why they had to go to Fairfax County for a soft play room where their very young children can play indoors.  It was a good question.  That question lead to a partnership between the city and a local non-profit group – the Natural Exploreum.  Now, I’m pleased to announce that after almost three years of work between city staff and a group of caring parents and businesses, Alexandria has its first Soft Playroom at the Chinquapin Recreation Center.  The soft room is an indoor play space for children five and under.  Its available for birthday parties and just for playing on a cold, rainy day…or any day.  This was an initiative I started with a group of parents a few years ago.  City staff played a huge role.  Local parents and businesses raised about $30,000 to help buy the equipment for the room.   This is a great story about what happens when committed residents work with the city to solve a problem.  There was a great spirit of partnership from everybody involved.  And watching the smiles on the kid’s faces as they play in the new space makes it all worthwhile.   I should add that my aide, Elizabeth Jones, played a huge role in coordinating all of the activities.  Next time you are at Chinquapin, you should check it out.

6) Even though there are some small signs that our local economy is improving – unemployment rates fell last quarter and home sales are picking up – government revenues continue to decline because of our strong reliance on property values. The next year’s budget will be the hardest in memory and the one after that is poised to be even harder.  Last month, the Council unanimously approved Vice Mayor Donley’s and my proposed budget guidance for the City Manager.  The guidance is used by the Manager to create the first draft budget for Council consideration.  The adopted guidance will clearly require us to make further cuts to services.  It requires every area of government to make sacrifices.  It looks for new, non-property tax revenue options.  It recognizes the pressures on our schools from rising enrollment.  And, for the first time, it requires us to take a longer-term view when crafting the budget; this will help us ensure that when we adopt the budget, we take into consideration its impact on future budgets as well.  We need multi-year budgets to create budget sustainability and to improve predictability.

Our schools are facing rising enrollment and a substantial budget gap.  State budget cuts will be the most severe we have seen.  Employee health care costs are expected to grow by double digits this year.  We know that we are behind on maintenance of important city infrastructure, like our storm water system, fire stations and our transportation system.  We are not adequately staffing our fire department to ensure the highest level of staff or community safety.  And we are not competitively paying our outstanding police department and other city staff; for two years, our staff has not received even a cost-of-living increase in pay, and when you factor in health care costs, they have actually received a net pay decrease.  All of these facts, if left unanswered, will ultimately harm our property values and economic recovery.

We can’t just grow our way out of these budget challenges; the economy can’t be expected to grow at the bubble economy rates of recent years – our country needs to move beyond a dependence on unsustainable, over- leveraged growth.  And we need to understand that state and local program cuts are not going to reappear once the economy improves; it just isn’t realistic to assume property values will grow fast enough to quickly replace eliminated programs.  This downturn is cutting too deep for that – most programs, if they justify restoration, will take years to be restored, if at all.  Given that, Alexandria needs to have a conversation during this year’s budget about the importance of good schools, public safety and basic infrastructure to our city’s future.  I’d argue that all three are critical to our home values, to our economic development prospects and to our overall quality of life.

Knowing we are unlikely to grow the economy, most specifically property values, over the next few years at a rate that will keep up with these needs, we have to have a frank discussion about priorities.  We can’t just kick the can down the road and pray for double-digit property value growth of past years to come back and “save the day.”  We have been cutting programs and services for over four years now. We had one of the largest percentage reductions in city staff in the region last year and combined with a longstanding hold on hiring, city staff is stretched thin.  Councilman Smedberg and I pushed for the consolidation of programs and audits of city departments over the last few years.  Those efforts have saved taxpayers millions a year and must be continued; we need a culture of constant improvement in government and must search for more opportunities.  But efficiency alone isn’t going to provide the resources to hire more fire department staff, fix our flood-prone neighborhoods, repair our roads or metro system, repair non-code compliant fire stations, pay our staff or magically address rising student populations.

Ultimately, we have to decide what we see as important to our economic success and quality of life.  Most reasonable economists predict at least two more years of tough city revenues from declining or flat property values.  And after that, I think its fair to expect that property values won’t grow at the speeds we’ve seen recently. We could adopt a race-to-the-bottom economic strategy focused on deep cutting to schools, infrastructure and public safety, but that approach risks harming our long-term economic competitiveness and our quality of life.

I don’t like the idea of raising tax rates, especially in a tough economy, but I dislike the idea of letting our safety, schools and infrastructure go downhill even more.  We need to be honest about our need to make hard cuts, but we also have to be straightforward about what we value and want to protect.  A race-to-the-bottom economic strategy would have a dramatic impact on our long-term property values and prosperity and isn’t something I would support.  Putting in place a budget that reflects economic reality, our community values and positions us for the future is my top priority this year.  I’ll count on all of you to provide your best ideas about how to do that.

I plan to hold community budget meetings this year as I did last year.  There is a lot to talk about.  If you would like to organize a budget discussion with me and your neighbors, please contact my aide, Elizabeth Jones at Elizabeth.jones@alexandriava.gov

Paid for and authorized by Friends of Krupicka and Rob Krupicka

Keep up with Rob on his blog at krupickablog.wordpress.com

Hybrids for Alexandria

Proud that Alexandria approved its first Hybrid mass transit vehicles tonight! With stimulus funds and some extra city money we’ll buy 4 hybrid trolley’s for old town. 70% less emissions than the alternative. Owning the trolleys will cut down our operating cost (we lease now) — so we can turn some of that savings …into buying another trolley or two to further improve service. Go Eco-City Alexandria.

Big Win for Eco-City Alexandria

We learned today that the U.S. DOE has approved the City’s stimulus application for $1,372,800, for energy conservation. These funds will help us implement a number of energy conservation projects, such as: energy audits, a green revolving loan program for home energy improvements, street and traffic light LED conversions, and green buildings and fleet programs.

Va. keeps focus on early-childhood education, official says | Richmond Times-Dispatch

Va. keeps focus on early-childhood education, official says | Richmond Times-Dispatch.

 

We are making progress and need to keep it up.  This work improves graduation rates, closes achievement gaps, reduces crime, improves the way we use scarce school resources and builds a stronger workforce.