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Age: 47
Occupation: Executive Director of Chisom Housing Group
Bio: Originally from Virginia, I practiced trial law and became a partner at a local firm. I then transitioned to lead a housing nonprofit, where I serve low-income and senior households. I was an event lead with Moms Demand Action and live in Old Town North with my AWLA dog, Buster.
Rank the following issues from most to least important:
- Affordable housing
- Ethics
- Other – Environmental protection
- Schools
- Crime/safety
- Equity
- Commercial tax density
- Historic preservation
- Economy/inflation
- Increasing density
What’s the biggest problem facing Alexandria right now?
We face significant and expensive infrastructure challenges including school construction, stormwater and flood management and transportation project implementation. We need to develop and implement a cohesive strategy to attract and maintain commercial activity to offset an increasing burden on residents to financially support the existing needs of our city. We need to pursue grants and partnerships that will help expand the pool of funds needed to address and expedite our needed investments in core city services and infrastructure.
What’s your top policy priority?
As a personal goal, I will aim to make our streets and transportation systems as inclusive, safe and sustainable as possible. Over 40% of our emissions result from transportation sources, but we can make a lot of impact in this area with well-designed projects, investments in transit and encouraging residents to shift modes for some of their trips where possible.
What qualifies you to be elected?
I have demonstrated in my first term that I will show up for resident requests, meet with staff, review materials diligently, ask relevant and thoughtful questions, make sure residents understand my point of view, an ability to collaborate and produce results having authored successful budget amendments as well as encourage a successful partnership with the Clerk’s office to expand the distribution of gun safety tools and information.
What’s the city’s biggest long-term challenge?
We need to redirect the trajectory of our tax base and begin reducing the burden on residential property taxes and increase the proportion of our revenues derived from commercial taxes, grants and public-private partnerships. A more diversified tax base not only benefits residents in their personal budgets, but it will create more activities, local jobs, internship and career pathways and more social options for everyone.
What is Alexandria’s greatest strength and how would you utilize it?
Our people. We show up for our city and for each other; that’s evident in the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria, ALIVE, Spring2Action Day, Volunteer Alexandria and so many of the organizations that harness and direct resident skills, funding and time to those in need. We must further empower these organizations, individuals and local businesses who have resources and ideas to partner with the city to bridge gaps and build trust in communities.
How should the city work to diversify the commercial tax base?
We need to develop a cohesive citywide strategy about not only the types of businesses and partnerships we are looking to attract, but also what resources and tools the city can offer commercial partners. We should be clear with the business community about tools we may be willing to use – financing, permitting, tax abatement, direct investment via partnership or infrastructure investments – and how best to position a project to benefit from those tools.
What policies would make Alexandria safer?
Increased enforcement of both parking and moving violations; proper daylighting and signage of intersections to reduce near misses and incidents; continue to lower speed limits and perform safe walk audits around our schools; support our first responders with the technology tools they need and training to be confident they have the support they need; and continue education and access to tools that support safe storage of firearms.
Do you think Alexandria has too much density, about the right amount, or not enough?
There is no magic number of residents or housing units in the city. Each project and parcel should be evaluated on its merits in terms of the community benefits it creates versus impacts to our schools and services. We are fortunate to still have several significant areas of land near transit in the city that can be developed in ways that provide net positives in terms of revenue, housing and other investments in infrastructure relative to the service demands they are likely to create.
What should go into Potomac Yard now that the arena plan was pulled?
We should continue to honor elements of the Small Area Plan that focused on transit-oriented development, walkability and a mix of multi-family housing, commercial and retail uses. We should be open to an entertainment venue as many residents responded positively to that concept. We should foster options that are attractive to transit users. We should also prioritize uses that are in need such as childcare, out-of-school time options for youth, and environments for seniors to socialize, shop and receive services easily.
