As chairman of the Alexandria Area Young Republicans (AAYR), I would like to congratulate the young candidates of both parties for running for office this year. While the races for City Council and U.S. House District 8 did not turn out precisely the way we wanted, Kevin Dunne and Thomas Oh are two young Republicans who are committed to representing the City of Alexandria. They have shown us that the next generation is ready to seek and hold elected office for the benefit of us all. We hope they return to the ballot very soon.
Even though they are not Republicans, we at AAYR look forward to working with the young members of our newly elected City Council (Elizabeth Bennet-Parker, Mo Seifeldein, Canek Aguirre) on the issues of mutual importance in our city. These include: ending the “Tale of Two Alexandrias” where we have some of the very best schools in the same city as schools that are failing or are unaccredited; instituting better transparency and accountability within the City Council; not waiting until the city is in violation of federal standards to fix our infrastructure (water and sewer specifically); creating a better business climate in our city; looking to manage city expenditures before raising taxes; and helping those most in need of medical care, food, and housing with non-governmental solutions, to name a few.
We at AAYR would also like to explore a more direct form of representation so that all citizens of Alexandria have a member of council that is local to them. As champions of democracy, we should all strive for a city that represents all viewpoints in positions of government rather than having one political party controlling everything.
Congratulations again to all and we at AAYR look forward to working with the young people of Alexandria on these and other issues that matter to the people of our fine city.
Andrew Lund
Alexandria