To the Editor:
Many Alexandrians have an important choice on Tuesday, June 9: Our choice for delegate of the 45th District. Rob Krupicka has represented us well over the past four years as an essential progressive voice in the Virginia House of Delegates. To continue this strong representation of results, we are joining Rob in supporting Julie Jakopic.
We are Julie’s neighbors, friends and colleagues. We are teachers, community leaders, business consultants, and parents. In each of these perspectives, we’ve grown to know Julie as a focused and determined leader who fights for all. Our Commonwealth currently faces many issues, spanning from economic equality to women’s rights and a quality education or affordable healthcare and expansion of Medicaid.
Julie Jakopic has spent her life working tirelessly for the needs of others. She has fought for decades to expand early childhood education and mental health services, fought to protect women's rights and strengthen economic opportunities for families.
We support Julie because:
She wants all kids in Virginia to have access to full-day kindergarten and pre-K opportunities in environments that parents can rely on and find safe, and to ensure that all children start school ready learn. That's why she helped Hopkins House build two new schools.
Julie believes we need to ensure that teachers and administrators have training and tools to provide alternative methods to engage troubled kids. She respects those professionals who keep students safe and provide students career and workforce readiness skills every day.
Julie sees access to quality affordable housing and affordable health and mental health care as crucial services. That’s why she led the Alexandria Community Services Board to acquire $15 million in affordable housing for people with disabilities. She fought to protect the services they provide and she fought for women to be in charge of and have access to quality safe medical care.
She knows how important economic stability and opportunity are and she will continue to work for fair wages, to increase the minimum wage, to strengthen utility regulation and end usurious payday lending practices, as she has professionally and as chair of the Alexandria Economic Opportunity Commission.
Julie is a management consultant who has worked in over 40 states, helping to advocate for and increase the effectiveness of programs that help families. Through this work she has learned strategies to bring people with differing perspectives together to creatively solve problems.
Julie has shown she will work until every member of our Commonwealth has an equal opportunity. We urge you to vote for Julie Jakopic for our Delegate in the Democratic Primary on June 9.
M. Junior Bridge, Beau Brincefield, Diane Crawford-Batt, Melissa Feld, Gina Gargano-Amari, Norma R. Gattsek, Amber Gordon, J. Glenn Hopkins, Betty Livingston, Eileen Cassidy Rivera, Debra Marie Roepke, Matthew Stensrud