Alexandria Mayor Shares Possible Common Ground With Youngkin

ALEXANDRIA, VA — As the Jan. 15 inauguration of Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin nears, Alexandria's leadership is preparing for potential areas of collaboration.

Alexandria's Democratic mayor and City Council will have to work with a Republican-controlled House of Delegates, along with a Republican governor. While Republicans last had control of the House in 2018, there have been Democratic governors since 2014. Youngkin defeated former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe in the Nov. 2 election. The state Senate did not have elections in 2021 and remains Democratic-controlled.

On Tuesday, Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson sent a letter to Youngkin congratulating him and outlining areas they could potentially find common ground on. These six issues include accountability for electric utilities, full funding for criminal justice agencies, K-12 education funding, local tax reform, public transit investments, and preserving local authority.

The accountability for electric utilities section highlighted the mayor's frustration with Dominion Energy, Virginia's largest utility provider. Wilson said Dominion Energy's service has not been reliable in Alexandria. One recent incident involved a power outage during the Art on the Avenue, Del Ray's biggest event and typically a busy day for businesses.

Wilson had filed a petition with the Virginia State Corporation Commission calling for Dominion Power's allowed profit to be decreased. The city is also pushing for legislation to require Virginia electric utilities to report electric reliability metrics to the State Corporation Commission annually.

The call for funding of criminal justice agencies focuses on the Alexandria Sheriff's Office and Commonwealth's Attorney's Office, two state agencies serving the city. Wilson said local taxpayers pay nearly $27 million to fund gaps from commonwealth funding for the agencies. The mayor called for full funding of the agencies along with state courts, Indigent Defense, Court Services Unit, and Probation and Parole.

On K-12 education, Wilson noted there is a growing gap between state funding and the cost to provide "a high-quality free and appropriate education to all students." Full funding is sought for Cost of Competing Adjustment for support positions, as well as a state funding formula factoring in extra costs for serving children with specialized needs, such as special needs students, English language learners and economically disadvantaged students.

On tax reform, Wilson said the city supports eliminating limits on localities for revenue authority. The mayor said localities need diversified revenue sources, as localities rely heavily on real estate and personal property (car) taxes.

On public transit investments, Wilson calls transit "a key part of our Commonwealth's economic infrastructure." He called for protecting financial support of transit, including the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.

Lastly, Wilson called for preserving and expanding local authority. Virginia is a Dillon Rule state, which means localities only have the authority to do things specifically granted by the state.