To the Editor:
Each time I pick up the newspaper I become more depressed. This city is poorly managed. Council is hugely committed to the affordable housing cause. Mayor Silberberg yammers in support of; Vice Mayor Wilson repeatedly falls on his sword. Yet neither has proven her- or himself a leader.
As your July 21 article “Market Affordable Homes in Freefall” accurately states “an increase in property taxes is forcing” owners of market affordable housing to increase their rents. The result: more money is available to pay for social services, less market affordable housing remains in inventory. Council's alternative: not rent control, but an increase in committed affordable housing. ARHA’s forthcoming Ramsey Homes proposal is an example of the latter.
My family opposed last spring's 3-cent tax increase for no other reason than it was outrageous. The city manager proposed a penny tax increase. Silberberg championed a 2-cent increase and Wilson demanded a 3-cent increase.
Good policy is a matter of choice. As members of Alexandria’s middle class we struggle. When I first arrived in the Washington area I was one of four bachelors who shared a rental unit. Housing was not a subsidized entitlement.
When I consider council’s recent policy choices, I shudder. Public housing is problematic. Jefferson Houston School remains half empty. Neither meets stated expectations and both have ferocious carrying costs attached.
Add affordable housing to the mix and I am reminded of deceased City Manager Vola Lawson’s most recent public statements. The city cannot afford committed affordable housing at the level it now seeks. My change pocket is worn inside out.
If City Council insists on more affordable housing, then it can at least demand the manager cut the city budget and, in turn, next year’s property taxes. He can save money by improving staff efficiencies; staff productivity, supervision, and output. Next he can tell ACPS to do likewise. Finally public housing parents can learn to cook, Depression-style like my grandparents. Volunteers cannot be expected to bag and deliver lunches to public housing when schools are closed for snow.
City Council is undisciplined. Its tax increases, the resulting spending philosophy, is without proper focus. Housing policy repeatedly cycles with no credible end in sight.
David Harrison
Alexandria