Republican Bob Wood Running Again for Alexandria City Council

PHOTO: Bob Wood June 14 at Gadsby’s Tavern; photo courtesy of campaign via Facebook

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Republican Bob Wood is running again for a seat on the Alexandria City Council. He and supporters will gather Thursday at 2 p.m. at Market Square to announce his campaign. He held a campaign kick-off party June 14 at Gadsby’s Tavern.

Wood ran for a seat in 2012, garnering 7.94 percent of the vote in a crowded field.

A resident of Old Town, Wood grew up in Alexandria, attending Hammond and graduating from T.C. Williams. After graduating from West Point, he joined the military. He retired in 2009 as a lieutenant general in the U.S. Army.

Wood and his wife, Margaret, have been active in civic organizations, including Alexandria’s Waterfront Plan Work Group, the Historic Alexandria Resources Commission, and the Old Town Civic Association. Wood is also a board member of The Fairfax, a military retirement home. He was appointed by Gov. Bob McDonnell to serve on the Virginia Commission on Military and National Security Facilities, which worked to promote Virginia businesses and save Virginia jobs. In 2014, he helped found CapitolPost, an Alexandria based Veteran Business incubator and transition support center.

Here’s Wood’s initial announcement, made June 13 on the “Bob Wood for Alexandria City Council” Facebook page:

I’m happy to announce that I’ve decided to run for Alexandria City Council. I thank the many residents who urged me to enter the race again. The issues I ran on in 2012 are unresolved or getting progressively worse. It’s time to bring common sense and fresh voices to the politics and planning of this city. Balance, trust, and respect must be restored at City Hall. New ideas, new ways, and new voices are needed in Council, on committees and panels, and public forums.

My priorities are simple and straightforward – protect our history and neighborhoods, build a sustainable future on sound planning, and provide essential city services in an exceptional fashion.

Our neighborhoods and schools across the city are threatened by excessive development, inadequate infrastructure, and disruptive, even destructive planning decisions. The city’s fiscal health continues to grow worse as major investments in schools, infrastructure, and services are deferred or ignored. We must stop the city council’s financial planning approach of “Borrow, Build, and Hope!”

The warning signals of financial concern are everywhere - school needs are increasing, office and retail space vacancies are growing, federal spending is decreasing, even development investment is slowing. Increasing our taxes - both business and real property - is losing the race with the cost of paying for City Council’s gilded, unchecked spending habits.

When these plans are challenged, the answer is always the same. Citizens are told there are no choices except more development to “rebalance the commercial and residential tax base.” That’s only one part. Leadership, vision, and direction built on constructive, inclusive debate in city government is also needed. It is clear that we must stop reinforcing failure and reelecting the politicians who claimed credit for spending largesse when borrowing in the good times as they now ask for forgiveness when predictable debts and borrowing costs mount in today’s economic environment.

It’s not easy to undo the financial problems brought about by years of Borrow, Build, and Hope, but it must begin today. Vice Mayor Allison Silberberg’s recent election win indicates the crescendo of calls for change is building.

Alexandria - its remarkable citizens, neighborhoods, and history - need a new team to restore balance, trust, and respect as we build a terrific future.

There’s important work to do ahead and I’m looking forward to getting to it.

Thank you for your support and I intend to work hard for your vote.

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