Vice Mayor Amy Jackson, a career educator, mother and Alexandria native, originally ran for city council in 2018 because she wanted to advocate for the needs of the school system. As she embarks on a campaign for mayor of Alexandria, families and schools are two of her top priorities.
One of these priorities is making sure that schools are fully funded as they continue to work toward closing the achievement gap that developed during the pandemic. Another priority for Jackson ismaking sure that Alexandria is affordable and allows families to thrive.In line with these priorities, her campaign released a statement in opposition to the proposed Potomac Yard arena plan, which has since been rejected.
Jackson shared citizens’ concerns about traffic infrastructure and the actual economic impact on the city. Instead of something like the arena,she thinks the focus should be on creating affordable opportunities for families.With the limited term lengths in city council, one of the challenges of city leadership is striking a balance with the timing of progress, neither moving too quickly nor too slowly.
Jackson thinks some projects, like flood resiliency and climate action, should have been started much sooner. Other projects, like housing zoning and the Potomac Yard arena, should not be rushed.
“Progress does not mean fast, it means forward,” Jackson said. Jackson’s time serving on city council has been fundamentally shaped by the pandemic. As she puts it, no one signed up to be on council during a pandemic. However, she thinks the city council team did the best they could to guide the city through a turbulent time.
If she wins the mayor’s race, Jackson said on her first day in office she would want to sit down with as many people from as many committees as she can and ask what they need. She prides herself on a track record of listening and says this is the approach she would take to mayoral leadership.
“My ear has always been to the ground,” Jackson said. “I have a lot of friends in different walks of life. And when I’m hearing it from all walks of life, I’m not just hearing it from one part of the community. I’m not hearing it from just one neighborhood.”
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Each candidate for Mayor received the same 10 questions from Alexandria Living Magazine, with the same answer-length guidelines and deadline. Read the other Q&As here.
1. Have the current efforts to improve affordable housing been sufficient, and how do you measure whether they are working?
No, I don’t believe they are enough. Our city is still too expensive for many families. I hear from people every day who work in our city and make it run, yet they can’t find housing that is affordable enough to make ends meet.
2. What can be done to make sure the increasing population density in Alexandria doesn’t hurt quality of life?
It will take vision and planning. I believe we need to make sure our schools are fully funded, and that we are investing in public safety. In addition, we need smart infrastructure upgrades that will reduce traffic gridlock and increase pedestrian access.
3. How can the city make public transportation a more viable and attractive option for residents?
It needs to be effective and it needs to be convenient. I think there needs to be a plan for increasing bike options and more safe pedestrian options, but realizing that large families may not be able to use public transportation when parents and guardians are taking their kids to and from extracurricular activities and parents needing to buy a week’s worth of groceries. You need to have time to be able to take public transportation. That’s not something families have much of, which is why unique neighborhoods that cater to a wholistic lifestyle need to be the vision of our city.
4. What do you think is the most important factor in making the roads safer and more efficient for everyone?
First, we must get back to basics and fix the potholes and pave the streets. We need timed lights that assist with pedestrian safety, especially around schools. Speed cameras have been placed in specific city zones to help calm traffic. We need less red tape when it comes to permitting stop signs and traffic lights. We need to educate our residents and businesses on the wholistic approach to traffic calming, public transportation, as well as plan our roads for multimodal infrastructure without traffic jams – such as on Quaker and Duke. Duke Street in Motion will be (and already has begun) 20 minute traffic jams waiting for lights and the infamous ramp at Telegraph Road interchange to flow better. This should have been the first issue to be fixed, but it continues to be ignored or rolled into the Duke Street in Motion Plan. If Duke Street goes down to one lane, we will be in continual gridlock 24/7. I requested the plan be reviewed by December 2023. It’s April 2024 and it still has not been brought back to Council. We approved a plan that was 10% done with a caveat for TES to update the Council. It has yet to be on the docket, but the construction is already underway. This is discouraging that our city staff does not report publicly what the updates are to this plan. I don’t see how a faster bus route will make Duke Street safer. It certainly isn’t more convenient for ridership to take away bus stops, either, again, to make the bus ride faster, but not safer.
5. What are the biggest challenges facing Alexandria’s small businesses and how can the city better support them?
I love ribbon cuttings! Ribbon cuttings are the celebration of hard work and determination on the part of the business owner. It’s the fruition of the dream and culmination of the business proposal and plan and financial backing. Ribbon cuttings are the “We did it!” moment! I could not be happier for the business owner and for our city in the moment that says we both won! I will always work to fight for small businesses. We need to continue to encourage small businesses to open in Alexandria. We need to provide incentives that encourage new businesses to locate to Alexandria by increasing co-working options for remote workers, updating local procurement policies, streamlining the permitting and licensing process, support development and training programs, and create public-private partnerships, etc. We need to be thinking outside the box, being creative, and adapting to what our community needs and how our businesses can provide those needs to our residents. AEDP and our Small Business Resource Center housed under AEDP continue to provide support, training, and grant opportunities to assist in this economic development. We want to remain a business-friendly city and have much to offer to our businesses and for our community.
6. What is something you don’t like about Alexandria that you want to change?
We need to diversify our tax base, so that our residents (at 82% tax base) do not continue along the same trajectory. We must increase our commercial tax base and balance it or close to it at a safer, more acceptable 80/20 level.
7. Do you think the current city staff is able to effectively serve all the development that is happening or do you think we need to hire more people?
I think we need more staff to accommodate more development (but there is not a lot on deck…) and to think strategically about how to make new development work better for the community.
8. What would you tell a resident who doesn’t feel safe living in Alexandria?
I will continue to make public safety a priority. That means I will work to ensure a balanced community police review board, address mental health awareness and initiatives, combat drug addiction, invest in tools to combat human trafficking and gang prevention initiatives, and promote efforts to reduce domestic violence and sexual assault. We are working to attract and retain emergency personnel, and work toward creating an improved law enforcement department.
9. Briefly, please describe your views on the Potomac Yard arena and what your concerns are.
I was the first council member and mayoral candidate to come out against the arena. It wasn’t the right fit for the city. My concerns were for neighborhoods nearby, quality of life issues for all, lack of needed infrastructure (roads, metro), and the financial considerations that risked Alexandria being left on the hook for funding. I want us to use that location for arts and culture venues, housing, retail and restaurant options, and entertainment for families. I want any development at Potomac Yard to improve our quality of life, not destroy it.
10. If you had to convince someone to vote for you in one sentence, what would that sentence be?
I am the Hometown candidate for mayor and I am not using this platform as a stepping stone for my political journey, but will be your full-time mayor in a part time job with the experience and tenacity to get things done, so I would appreciate your vote for early voting between May 3rd to June 18th. Thank you!
