This spring, Alexandria Living Magazine sent the following questions to every person running for City Council as of May 2024. The answers from Sarah Bagley are below. See links to all other candidate questionnaires here.
Bagley currently serves on City Council in Alexandria. Her campaign website is at sarahforcitycouncil.com.
Have the current efforts to improve affordable housing been sufficient? Why or why not?
The current efforts have been necessary and a step forward but are not sufficient. Nationally and locally, we have spent years not creating enough housing and committed affordable housing and that cannot be corrected with one policy change or one funded project. Rather, we must continue to create more supply at all price points so that those who are able and seek to move are able to find what they are looking for while creating opportunities for those earning lower incomes to see rent stabilize and housing conditions improve.
What can be done to make sure the increasing population density in Alexandria doesn’t hurt quality of life?
With new Alexandrians we get new business opportunities, new neighbors, new ideas and new energy to meet with and join our wonderful existing community. We must ensure that new development contributes to our transportation network, supports our climate goals, and offsets any impacts from development such as stormwater and flooding. We must continue our record of investments in new and renovated schools to be sure we can accommodate student populations equitably in all parts of Alexandria. We must continue to expand and improve our communication skills and tools with current and new residents, so we understand the impacts of developments and the changing needs of the community that come with development.
How can the city make public transportation a more viable and attractive option for residents?
Our DASH service has become a model not just in Virginia but nationwide for how to build ridership, setting ridership records each month going back months. We have done this not just through our fare free service but through data and equity informed decisions about route placement and timing. We need to continue investing in service, so it is frequent and reliable and therefore a viable option for an expanding group of residents. By adding the Potomac Yard Metro in May 2023 we have given residents a new way to access Metro with a beautiful facility that is also accessible by bus, bike lane and walking path. As a region, we are investing in expanded VRE service to include weekends and fare free ridership for youth under 18 beginning in FY25 to allow families and visitors to use public transportation on the weekends to visit the area. These connected solutions are key to inducing Alexandrians to make safer, more climate sustainable and affordable choices to use public transport.
What do you think is the most important factor in making the roads safer and more efficient for everyone?
Infrastructure changes on our roads is key to creating safer streets. We need to continue implementing designs that place equal emphasis on all users, pedestrians on sidewalks and crosswalks, cyclists in bike lanes, and cars. With proper infrastructure, road users will more naturally take more caution, drive slower, and be more aware of their surroundings. These changes include wider sidewalks and bump outs, raised crosswalks, and separated bike lanes.
What are the biggest challenges facing Alexandria’s smallest businesses and how can the city better support them?
Small businesses, particularly those new first businesses, face challenges in access to capital and managing the complexities of the building, permitting, and licensing process. Our small business division in AEDP has been expanded and will continue to develop its relationships with new businesses to support them through those steps. We can continuously improve our processes for licensing and permitting to reduce the stressors and the time necessary to open your doors and begin serving customers.
Do you think Alexandria should return to ward representation? Why or why not?
No, our current method of electing six councilmembers city wide results in a council responsive to the entire city, shaping budgets and solutions that work for everyone and not leaving behind areas of the city where problems may be particularly complex or expensive such as the flooding that has plagued several neighborhoods. Our 15 square miles requires any representative to be responsive to all corners of the City and provides residents the option of contacting not simply “their” member but all members.
What is something you don’t like about Alexandria that you want to change?
Clearer recognition of the neighborhoods and diversity of our West End. What we broadly call “the West End” represents many neighborhoods, housing types, cultures, and ethnicities. There is so much unlocked potential in better recognizing and including the areas and neighborhoods and people that populate our City west of Quaker Lane. While Old Town and Del Ray will always be key historical, cultural, and commercial neighborhoods in our City, we have so much more to offer and by tapping into the unique individuals corners of the West End, we can only benefit as a City.
How do you feel about the fate of the Potomac Yard Arena development proposal and how do you think the city should go about developing that location?
The Arena opportunity never fully addressed the serious questions raised by councilmembers and members of the community and failed to deliver the labor and transportation commitments we sought. A full and complete dialogue and consideration locally may have delivered those items, but the matter was decided in Richmond ultimately. The benefit of the limited engagement we had though was it opened up an important conversation in the City about development not just in Potomac Yard but throughout other key corridors such as the Van Dorn and Eisenhower Metro areas. Alexandria should continue to follow some of the basic guidance of the North Potomac Yard Small Area Plan and look for ways to create a walkable, sustainable community in Potomac Yard with multi-family residential development and commercial development that takes advantage of many public transit options available. We should be prepared that entertainment and larger scale commercial developments will likely require partnership with the City as we are competing with neighbors on all sides for attractive business and revenue generating opportunities.
Do you think the current city staff is able to effectively serve all the development that is happening or do you think the city needs to hire more people?
We are currently serving all of the development happening but should monitor closely the time it is taking projects to go from initial conversations to submission to approval. Prolonged administrative processes increase the costs of a project and can make a difference between a project happening, opening on time, or including the types of amenities we value, such as committed affordable units and public spaces.
What would you tell a resident who doesn’t feel safe living in Alexandria?
Any resident that doesn’t feel safe, please contact us, either through 311, the police non- emergency number at 703-746-4444 or email me at sarah.bagley@alexandriava.gov We need to understand what circumstances are causing that uncertainty so we can address those issues. We have taken strong steps in the Council to address public safety and we will continue to pursue others. Our collective bargaining agreement with police has helped to grow recruitment and improve retention allow staffing levels to improve. We have invested in new technologies to both address crime, assist in enforcement, and expand the ability of our first responders to preempt and resolve criminal activity.
If you had to convince someone to vote for you in one sentence, what would that sentence be.
My track record as both a private citizen and on the Council is one of service and preparation that produce tangible results; gun violence prevention advocacy and tools, housing investments and rental inspection funding, expanded funding of our team implementing safer streets, and support for ongoing investment in infrastructure and increased support for our schools.
