Letter: Next Stop: Audits
I support our schools and our teachers but, like many, question whether we should increase school budgets unless we know the school system is squeezing out waste and operating efficiently.
Letter: Appreciates Precinct Officials
Sometimes it’s difficult to realize how good you have it until you see how bad things are for other people.
Letter: Smokers: Ready To Quit?
Thursday, Nov. 15 marks the 37th annual Great American Smokeout sponsored by the American Cancer Society. The Smokeout encourages smokers to use the date to make a plan to quit, or to plan in advance and quit smoking that day.
Letter: Thanks for Civic Participation
As I was collecting the yard signs this past Wednesday, I was struck by this thought. I thought about our fellow citizens that expressed themselves by running in the municipal and school board elections.
Letter: Election Creates Community Loss
Tuesday’s election had a very serious shortcoming … one of the hardest working, most innovative, most caring, most committed ACPS Board members, Helen Morris, didn’t get reelected.
Letter: Is City Hall Listening?
Once again Alexandria elected officials and city staff are "playing head games" with citizens and planning their first "community dialogue" meeting with city residents in order to listen to citizens and hear what we have been telling them what we want for the past several years as it relates to development and transportation issues.
Letter: Was Honored To Serve
It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as your city councilman since July 2009. Unfortunately that will come to an end on Dec. 31, 2012 as the votes did not go my way in Tuesday's election.
Letter: Analyzing Voting Results
How is it that the official election results show the City Council’s top vote-getter Allison Silberberg with only 12.30 percent when she got almost 7,000 more votes than Andrew Macdonald with 39.91 percent in losing to Mayor Euille?
Letter: A Matter Of Respect
Veterans Day is often taken for granted; too many don’t give a thought about what it means. The freedom so many hold so dearly and yet so close to heart came from the many who gave their lives for our country.
Letter: Volunteers Make Democracy Work
During my last canvassing on Nov. 5, I met a young female canvasser who truly exhibited outstanding determination in participating in the Get-Out-To-Vote effort of the Obama campaign. I spoke to Natalie Erdossy, and learned that Natalie brought her three very young children along during the canvassing, and that her husband was doing a second tour in Afghanistan with the State Department. She said that she was recruited by her neighbor Ellen Graves and she wanted to do her part. What I find so outstanding is that she was driven by a purpose greater that her immediate personal comfort.
Commentary: Reflections on the Elections
“Oh, no!” many may exclaim at the idea of hearing any more about the elections. But I believe it is instructive for the future to consider what happened and why. As residents of a battleground state, Virginians were inundated with telephone calls, television ads and slick mailers. Interestingly, the guys who spent the most money did not win. Virginia is a state that had just a few years ago elected Republicans to its top three statewide offices, majorities in the House and Senate, and eight of its 11 congressional representatives. Yet President Obama won the state handily. And former Governor Tim Kaine won a seat in the U.S. Senate even though 30 million in outside dollars were spent against him. How can this happen? Some of my thoughts on the question follow.
Column: Elections 2012—Role of Big Bucks Going Forward
Happy post-election to you all. Before I return to our discussion of our flawed election process and the role of the big bucks, I want to congratulate a good friend and fellow Restonian. Aaron Williams recently resigned after three years as director of the Peace Corps, one of America’s finest organizations. When this Reston resident, a former PC Voluneer himself, took over the Corps, it faced some major issues.
You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby
March 4 is a great day. That’s the day, back in 1970, when Willa* moved from Jamaica to the States, following many of her friends who had done so in the ‘60s. First living in Fairfax, Willa and her husband moved to northwest D.C. after he joined her here in 1976.
Making a Difference
ACT for Alexandria (ACT) joins community foundations across the country in celebrating National Community Foundations Week Nov. 12-18 to recognize our role in promoting charitable giving and engagement to build a stronger Alexandria.
Letter: Hit the Pause Button
Nov. 7 letter from majority of council members calls for compromise, alternatives at Brickyard.
The following letter to County Executive Isiah Leggett and Board of Education President Shirley Brandman is shared with the Potomac Almanac.