Transportation, Housing and Development

I support community development concentrated around the concept of smart growth, with an affordable housing component and ready access to public transportation.

Budget

I am a strong believer in balancing the budget, and oppose tax increases, generally. My opposition is more stalwart in trying economic times such as those we face currently. While I am grateful to the many City departments and non-profits that provide us with social and other essential services, I do not support the perfunctory award of resources to the same groups year after year, unless proven deserved. Rather, I believe that we should continually, within reason of course, assess the effectiveness of our programs and the efficiency with which they function to meet the needs of Alexandrians. In essence, I advocate public accountability for public dollars. As Americans tighten their spending, so too should government.

Healthcare

Currently, there are approximately 14,000 uninsured Alexandrians and thousands more work everyday, but are underinsured. As a former co-chair of the Congressional Universal Healthcare Task Force Working Group, I am a huge advocate of universal access to affordable health care, and I think we should do our part at the local level to support it in a manner that is most conducive to our government structure.

Education

The roles of City government of paramount importance are: educating our children and providing the best quality of life for our citizens in a fair and fiscally responsible manner.

Early Childhood Education
I am a major supporter of early childhood education and am pleased to serve as a member of the City’s Early Childhood Commission and as a weekly volunteer at the Hopkins House Early Childhood Center. My volunteer work enables me to better understand the policy needs of these little citizens. We must continue to work to set universal benchmarks to determine school readiness amongst our pre-school aged population. This is imperative to ensuring that the mass of our children present to kindergarten ready to learn on day one. School readiness has been linked, in a number of instances, to reducing the special needs population in our schools which in turn, is the difference between public education costing approximately $20,000 per student per year (the average student) versus $100,000 per student per year (the special needs student).

Grade School and Secondary Public Education
As a former secondary public school teacher, a current member of the Alexandria City Public Schools Budget Advisory Committee, and the chair of a literacy program housed in City’s Department of Recreation, I am a huge supporter of education. Further, I believe that our City is only as good as our public education system. As a member of City Council, I look forward to working with Dr. Sherman and members of our school board, within the confines of my jurisdiction, to support the progress of the Alexandria City Public Schools. I strongly support keeping classroom sizes small, with the smallest student-teacher ratios in the earliest stages of education. I believe that Alexandria teachers should be among the most well-compensated in Northern Virginia to ensure that we continue to attract the best teachers and a diverse field as well. I also look forward to supporting initiatives of the School Board to address the minority achievement gap, which I consider one of our greatest challenges.

Importantly, I do not believe we solve the dilemmas posed to our public education system by dousing it with more money. Instead, we must continue to examine the most efficient ways to utilize the dollars that we have. And further, we must continue to seek ways to educate parents about the most effective ways to reinforce what is being taught in our schools at home and to collaborate with them to determine the best ways to meet the needs of each individual child.

Four-Year College Education Tuition Waivers for Foster Care Seniors
I am a major proponent of tuition waivers for qualifying high school seniors in foster care in any Virginia jurisdiction to attend a 4-year public institution of higher learning in the Commonwealth. I have been pleased to work on this initiative with other members of the City’s Social Services Advisory Board over the course of this past year and as a member of City Council, would look to continue work championing this cause from our locality to those in state government for two reasons. First, it is the right thing to do. The public serves as parents to our foster children and therefore, we should ensure their education. Second, making provision for college education for qualified foster children is the fiscally responsible thing to do. A tuition waiver is not a budget outlay, and the same ensures that our foster children will be poised to add to the tax base rather than require continual government assistance well into adulthood.

Campaign Kick Off

News release from campaign kick-off goes here.

Vote

Election Day
May 5, 2009
Voting Hours 6 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Vote Early in Person at:
132 North Royal
Weekdays 8 to 5
and on Saturdays, April 25 and May 2 from 8 to 5

Click here to see Election District Maps and Precincts.

Not Registered?  Click here for details on how to register to vote.

Volunteer

Open Letter to the Constituents

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a little better; whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is the meaning of success.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Dear Fellow Alexandrian:

Welcome to our campaign–yours and mine. As we embark upon this journey together. Together, we will make Alexandria the “Best City in America to Live In.”

Envision living in a City where:

(1) 100% of the population has access to quality, affordable healthcare;

(2) a public education system has one of the highest literacy rates and one of the best quality public educations in the country; and

(3) through public-private partnerships and developer-civic association relationships we make Alexandria one of the best cities for business and create extraordinarily sustainable communities.

These issues are not Republican or Democratic, black or white, rich or poor or old or young.   They are our issues, Alexandria’s issues. My voice on City Council will reflect our collective interests, because that does the greatest good.   Join me to and let’s make this vision a reality.

Give

Alicia, I want to contribute

Alicia, I want to make an in-kind donation

Alicia, I want to host a meet and greet/coffee

Alicia, I want to host a fundraiser/fundraise

Register to Vote

Download Virginia Voter Registration Application Here (.pdf) >> virginiavoterregform

After downloading the application:

1. Print a copy.
2. Read the instructions, fill in the information, and sign the application.
3. Mail to:Office of Voter Registration and Elections
   132 North Royal
   Alexandria, VA. 22314

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