We have our permit from the National Park Service. It’s a go!

Saturday April 25th, beginning at 11:00 in the morning and dispersing by 1:00pm. Just a couple of hours out of a beautiful spring day.

We will be gathering in the south-east quadrant of LaFayette Square, right across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House. And what a great location! Red line Metro stop is Farragut North. Orange/Blue line Metro stops Farragut West or McPherson Square . There may be street parking available, but it will be hit or miss. Follow the Tea Party links on our website to see a map of Lafayette Sqare.

If you’re coming from Northern Virginia, we might suggest parking in the big parking garage at the Ballston Common Mall in Arlington . It’s a couple of short blocks south of the Ballston Metro stop on the Orange line and is not very expensive.

1) The reason the planning staff has increased over the last 10 years, as pointed out in the forum, is that development activity has increased by over 200%. Most new staff have been paid for by development fees. And most new staff in planning and code enforcement were specifically requested by the Chamber of Commerce and the business community to help process the increased workload. It is ironic that the somebody would call for increased development, but would also want to cut the staff that make that happen.

2) The school board has put in place a policy to check residency status of residents using a more rigorous process than previously. It isn’t correct to say there isn’t a policy. There has always been a policy to check whether a student was an Alexandria resident and that process has been audited a few times over the last decade with little finding of abuse (you may want to read http://www.alexandrianews.org/2009/04/civics-101-much-ado/). But that process was not rigorous. The school board (not the city council) has now put in place a more rigorous (and costly) review process. The school administration and most school board members are doubtful that there will be significant savings from this effort. Whether there are savings or not, I think it is worth doing. But it does not change the fact that the city has to address a rapidly growing school population as more families are moving into the city and sending their kids to public schools.

3) As it relates to the budget, I’d point out that the Chamber of Commerce last year supported the council raising the tax rate higher than we ultimately did. They felt we were cutting too far into basic operating services, were not investing enough in needs in the community (for example the fact our Police are not paid as competitively as they should be) and also worried the could put its AAA bond rating at risk.

4) I’m proud of the fact we’ve cut millions from the city budget over the last 6 years (the last 4 most specifically). I put forward a process of reviewing every department and program which has resulted in millions in annual savings.

I am always happy to talk. I have friends on all sides of the political aisle and appreciate getting ideas from a wide range of people.