To the Editor:
Regarding the Alexandria City Council's claim of transparency in its dealings with the citizens, I submit two examples of recent major ethical lapses on their part:
Increased property taxes: During the entire campaign, no member of the current council supported or mentioned a five cent increase to our property taxes in 2017. Even more disheartening was the discussion at the recent council retreat when members of council “war gamed” the public’s reaction to a tax increase — i.e., "if we do the whole five cent increase now, then by the time the next election rolls around in three years, the citizens will have forgotten about it, and it won’t be an issue." This type of leadership does not engender any confidence in our elected leaders.
Pay Raises: In addition to the tax hike, the council also neglected to mention that they were planning a considerable pay raise for themselves. However, a barrage of citizen phone calls and emails to the council along with the firefighters venting their displeasure totally derailed the council’s attempt, resulting in the issue being “tabled” for the time being. Although the Alexandria City Council is underpaid for the time spent carrying out their civic duties, some of that time is totally unnecessary. With better scheduling and management of issues presented before them, the meetings could be of much shorter duration, especially when most of the issues are a "fait accompli." Before any pay raise is implemented, I would suggest that a citizen's task force be convened on this matter, with representatives appointed by a number of the civic associations. The task force would be charged with developing a process for checks and balances in pay raises for the City Council. No government entity should be entirely responsible for awarding themselves a pay raise. In that regard, the fox guarding the hen house comes to mind.
Townsend A. “Van” Van Fleet
Alexandria