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Age: 51
Occupation: Marketing Consultant
Bio: Did not answer.
Rank the following issues from most to least important:
- Ethics
- Other – Public education
- Affordable housing
- Commercial tax diversity
- Environmental protection
- Crime/safety
- Equity
- Historic preservation
- Economy/inflation
- Increasing density
What’s the biggest problem facing Alexandria right now?
Diversifying our tax base to improve our city’s fiscal situation, while shifting some of the burden off residential taxpayers. If we can address this problem, it will have a ripple effect and will help ensure that Alexandria’s residents can afford to live, work and raise a family here. Our current level of reliance on residential property tax is not a sustainable arrangement.
What’s your top policy priority?
Access to safe, affordable housing is something that I struggled with when I moved to Alexandria 21 years ago. For our city to be the best, we must ensure all residents have access to housing whether it is being able to afford to rent your first apartment or buy your first home. We need to address the lack of safe affordable housing, so our young professionals, police officers, educators and nurses can afford to live here.
What qualifies you to be elected?
My experience in government and business as well as my decades of community involvement in Alexandria will allow me to hit the ground running on day one and fight for the things that matter. I spent more than 20 years in corporate America and 10 years as an independent business marketing consultant, who works with businesses of all sizes.
What’s the city’s biggest long-term challenge?
Mitigating the impacts of climate change, which is critical for the safety and prosperity of our city. I am committed to enhancing sustainability and resilience, adopting smarter approaches and developing effective and feasible mitigation plans to ensure Alexandria is prepared to respond to and recover from disasters.
What is Alexandria’s greatest strength and how would you utilize it?
Its diversity. My goal is for every Alexandrian to live and thrive in our city. We still need to reduce and eliminate disparities and inequities that continue to exist. A variety of cultures and backgrounds is important and brings about creativity and innovation.
How should the city work to diversify the commercial tax base?
Our level of reliance on residential property tax is not a sustainable arrangement. I think incubator spaces and hubs for business support could be very useful. We also need to make sure that our existing businesses, especially our small businesses, have the resources and support they need to thrive. It is imperative we ensure our tourism industry remains strong because it is an asset.
What policies would make Alexandria safer?
We need to ensure that our public safety officials have the resources and training they need to do their job and do it well. We need to make sure we are tackling the root causes of crime: economic instability and the shortage of services in our community. If we underinvest in our communities on the front end, we will pay for it on the back end.
Do you think Alexandria has too much density, about the right amount, or not enough?
The right amount.
What should go into Potomac Yard now that the arena plan was pulled?
I would like to see something like what has been done in areas across the region like Shirlington, the Mosaic District and the Wharf. We need to try to make use of the forthcoming Virginia Tech Innovation Campus. It provides a unique opportunity to attract existing business and cultivate new ones, especially in the technology sector.