To the Editor:
No sooner had the Washington Post announced that its two warehouses were for sale than Bingo … council announces that they have had one of their “back room” executive sessions wherein they decided to alter the zoning code on the waterfront. All this with two court cases yet to be decided.
In my many years of following the activities of the council, I have ascertained that most of these non transparent executive sessions have resulted in decisions detrimental to the community. This nefarious mode of operation has just got to stop, as it goes totally against the principles of transparency and fairness in deciding critical community issues.
The city manager has spent the last few months pumping his “What’s Next Alexandria” agenda. This is a program that the manager and his minions have pushed hard in order to re-establish some degree of trust within the community after having made so many bad land use decisions during the last year. Well, Mr. City Manager your program has just imploded. There is no way we will ever believe that you, your staff or even the City Council can be trusted to give the taxpayers a chance to dialogue with them before making critical land use decisions in our great city. All of you deserve a big vote of no confidence and should be replaced at the earliest opportunity.
Townsend A. “Van” Van Fleet
Alexandria