To the Editor:
As most of us know, the three basic tenants of local government are the health, welfare and safety of its residents. The issue at hand is the Eisenhower West Fire Station, #210, which was approved by the mayor and council in 2008 and has been constructed on Eisenhower West and to date, remains empty. A little bit of history is needed to explain this major faux pas. The Eisenhower East Small Area Plan was adopted by council on March 15, 2003 when Eileen Fogerty was director of Planning and Zoning and the question was raised about the need to have a fire station to meet the needs of that area and its surrounding developments. However, for whatever reason, our elected officials at that time let it slide by and no funding was made available. Unfortunately, the Eisenhower Valley development did not include all of Eisenhower Avenue, so only Eisenhower East was developed. So here we are in 2015 wherein fire station 210 on Eisenhower Avenue West remains empty and continues to not be part of the city manager’s budget for the past seven years.
Of course there are lots of fingers of blame to go around which includes Mayor Euille and all members of council along with acting city manager Mark Jinks, previous city manager Rashad Young along with city staff who assist in drafting a budget based on the supposed “guidelines and direction” from Mayor Euille and all members of council.
Based on the new paradigm for Mr. Jinks’ current budget, he and his staff have divided the budget up into four areas, one of which is related to safety and experienced staff. This is not rocket science and the safety of this West End neighborhood apparently is off the screen for our budget folks, elected officials and senior staff. When 911 calls are made to respond to a fire on the Duke Street side of the West End, Station 209 (Potomac Yard) is the first fire station to receive the call and hopefully they have trucks available to respond. Should there be some kind of ethanol explosion at the Norfolk Southern site, fire station 209 is where the foam equipment is located and the most experienced firefighters are located to fight an ethanol incident. That being said, if foam is needed and if 209 is the closest and not already occupied, and Potomac Yard fire station 209 is the only thing available why not keep this equipment, trained staff at the already existing empty fire station 210 located on Eisenhower West?
Where are our city’s priorities? Too busy spending taxpayer dollars on issues not related to the health, welfare and safety of our citizens and increasing taxes via fees? How can the city expect any businesses to move into the West Eisenhower neighborhood knowing that any calls for fire assistance or medical help will be dispatched to fire station 209 at Potomac Yard. This is totally unacceptable, but not surprising from all of our current elected officials and those from the past seven years who voted to build fire station 210. Are we safe in Alexandria and especially in the Eisenhower Valley or does keeping fire stations open in Old Town and other parts of the city more important? The money is there.
Time to delete the $1.8 million set aside for AEDP. Time to delete the $3.8 million set aside for ACVS. Time to reduce the increased spending for ACPS. These are wants, not needs and do not comply with the basic responsibilities of city government. Shame on all of current and past elected officials, those who have known about this matter since approval for fire station 210 was done in 2008 .
Annabelle Fisher
Alexandria