On June 9, election day in Alexandria’s Democratic mayoralty primary, several messages were sent. The second runner-up, the former mayor, had proposed speeding up the pace of development. He got a message that many Alexandrians think the current pace not only is fast enough but probably too fast.
The first runner-up, the current mayor, had implied that he was not interested in standing in the way of what developers wanted to do with their property. The message to him was: Residents want thoughtful and carefully calibrated development, not “laissez faire” for land owners.
Current City Council members have five months before they too must face the voting public. Let us hope that they have understood the messages city residents have sent through the ballot box and comport themselves accordingly during the time they have remaining until Allison Silberberg, the winner who clearly understands the messages, assumes the post of mayor of Alexandria in 2016.
Jack Sullivan
Alexandria