By Abdel Elnoubi

I have been an elected official who is eager to ensure we have a government that works for the people and meets the needs of our constituents. My track record on the School Board includes standing up for representation, accountability and transparency while delivering for our community, a commitment I will continue if elected to City Council.

My journey from living under a dictatorship in the other Alexandria – Alexandria, Egypt, where quality of life is poor and opportunities are few, to delivering pizzas to put myself through college, to finding opportunity and prosperity here in this Alexandria, makes me realize how critical it is to have elected officials who care about the community and are accountable to their constituents – and the difference that makes in people’s lives. I am proud to call this Alexandria home, where my wife and I are raising our two children.

As an engineer who is trained to analyze problems in a systematic way and find optimal solutions, and with more than 11 years of professional experience in transportation, I’m equipped to tackle our city’s complex challenges and improve our quality of life. I also realize that we can’t solve problems in isolation, addressing one may affect others, it’s critical to be strategic.

Before the School Board, I served as a PTA president, Community Criminal Justice Board City Council appointee, grassroots activist fighting for social justice for marginalized communities and working people, Alexandria Democratic Committee vice chair and precinct captain and as a parent soccer coach. I am deeply committed to serving our community.

As a School Board member, I challenged the norm of School Board members refraining from communicating to constituents through the press, asked tough questions and pushed for more use of data and metrics. I spearheaded initiatives to increase teacher pay, create safer streets around our schools, address classroom overcrowding and support student mental health.

On City Council, I will advocate for housing affordability, educational excellence, improved public transportation, resilient and sustainable infrastructure and public safety.

I aim to enhance Alexandria’s quality of life, economic vitality and equity through a comprehensive transportation system. I’ll support multimodal reliable connected accessible transit and safer roads for all residents.

I will champion educational excellence in Alexandria by leveraging my School Board budget expertise, fostering collaboration between City Council and School Board, advocating for competitive teacher salaries, addressing housing and food insecurity for students and providing resources for equitable access to quality education and facility renovations.

I will proactively address Alexandria’s housing affordability crisis, while putting people first not developers, using zoning and land use tools, tax incentives and partnerships to ensure diverse housing options and boost assistance programs to increase affordable housing units, and meet regional and local housing supply targets to meet the needs of all income levels in our city.

I will work toward a resilient sustainable city by implementing the new Energy and Climate Change Action Plan to reduce our city’s greenhouse gas emissions, including by prioritizing sustainability in new commercial and residential buildings and decarbonizing existing units and ensuring we are taking flood mitigation measures and implementing the flood action plan with fidelity.

I will advocate for improving public safety in Alexandria, which requires a well-equipped but also transparent and accountable police force closely connected to the community.

My campaign aims to create a prosperous Alexandria where our community thrives, children receive quality education and everyone has opportunities to succeed.

I hope to earn your support.

The writer is running in the June 18 Democratic primary for City Council.