You can learn more about Bob at www.woodforcouncil.com

Since there are only 15 Republicans in the City of Alexandria, and only 14 members of the Alexandria Republican City Committee, and Bob Wood is now the 'latest and greatest' of their group to throw his name in the hat to run for Alexandria City Council, isn't it just sad that this group can't even put forth even six potential candidates to run? Yes, Frank Fannon, in my opinion, is the ONLY Republican worth voting for, at all, but he's the lone exception. It's just sad to see this band of Don Quixote's chase windmills in Alexandria, thinking that they are somehow going to win any elected office. Sure, Frank Fannon and Alicia Hughes won in 2009, but that's because people started to see through the failed policies brought forth by members of the entrenched and ensconced Alexandria Democratic Committee, who have shepherded a group of feckless lemmings to follow their whim wherever it mistakenly takes its citizenry. To truly 'Reset City Hall', the City of Alexandria needs to have candidates of true vision, candidates who have an understanding of how to run a business, of how to manage a budget, of how to forecast urban planning so that there are good schools, and good transportation, along with affordable housing for everyone. Don't get me wrong, Alexandria is quite a nice city to live in, no question, but it could be much better. It's future though shouldn't be predicated on the misadventures of the ARCC or the ADC, both who leave anyone with any intelligence in wonder.

Mr. Miller, you are correct regarding what attributes are required to Reset City Hall. Please learn more about Bob's candidacy. He is looking forward to the opportunity to introduce himself to concerned and thoughtful citizens such as yourself regarding the future of our home town. Bob firmly believes it is policy not politics that will bring our community together for every citizen. If you would like to speak with him one-on-one, ask him the tough questions and gauge for yourself what he has to offer that can be arranged. You may request a meeting directly at http://www.woodforcouncil.com/contact.html

'Wood for Council', no offense, but if I thought that Mr. Wood would have a viable chance of even winning a seat for the Alexandria City Council, I would make an attempt to take an opportunity to have a dialogue with him concerning many issues that will have to be addressed by the next council. Mr. Wood may be a great man, and he may mean well, especially with his theme of 'Reset City Hall', but everyone knows that Republicans are vastly outnumbered in Alexandria and that he doesn't have much of a chance to win in November. Alternatively, the Alexandria Democratic Committee has four candidates, two incumbents, Smedberg and Pepper, two woeful has beens, Lovain and Wilson, who will be running against Mr. Wood and Frank Fannon. I would be shocked if Alicia Hughes has the gall to run for reelection, but, like a bad penny, she always shows up, late, too. By the way, Alexandria voters are, and should be, very thankful, that Frank Fannon is a true moderate, and not a whack job right wing conservative zealot or a Republican ideologue, or he would have never got elected in 2009. As a progressive Democrat, I can easily support Fannon because of his expertise in the business community with SunTrust Mortgage that gives him a strong edge over others because he can help to fiscally manage Alexandria through the tough recession we're in right now. Initial observations by me, and other Democrats, is that Mr. Wood is a hard-to-the-right Republican conservative. Conservatives don't win here!

Additionally, I, for one, would seriously like to know, why the Alexandria Republican City Committee is always deemed as a 'non factor' in Alexandria politics. The Alexandria Democratic Committee, as sadly managed, and as rag tag as that bunch can be, had fourteen candidates run for six slots in the Alexandria Democratic Primary last Tuesday. Regardless of my thoughts of their leadership not having a firm grasp of how to run their organization, they at least had a wide spectrum of potential candidates from all four points of our city, men, women, black, white, hispanic, gay, different religions, etc., which gave Democratic voters in Alexandria many choices of who they wanted to see get elected to City Hall this November. The ARCC chose to have a party canvass. For what? For two and a half candidates of Frank Fannon, Bob Wood, and the half going to Alicia "Always Late" Hughes. How embarrassing is that? Seriously. I must admit of my interest in supporting Fannon in his effort to get reelected, only because I don't feel that having a full slate of people from one party, Democratic, will be efficient for our city. Look, two weeks before the 2009 election, Lovain, Wilson, Smedberg, Pepper and Euille ALL voted to raise residential property taxes. That was the tipping point, I feel, why Lovain and Wilson got tossed out of office. But now, in 2012, the ADC must be licking their chops at beating Bob Wood, who's a right wing conservative, and Alicia "Always Late" Hughes. Sad.

There were numerous Democrats and Independents at Bob Woods campaign launch event on Thursday which was extremely well attended. I would really encourage you and others to take the time to get to know Bob as I believe (and Democrats supporting him) that he is a fantastic candidate and about as non partisan as they come. I believe that Bob has a great chance at winning a seat on council. Jim thanks for the dialog. I do believe that it is constructive.

John, the perception is that Bob Wood is an ultra right wing conservative Republican, who may be a very nice and likable man, but, even so, conservative Republicans don't have a chance of winning even if the Alexandria Democratic Committee put up a dead guy to run against him. Ten of out ten elections, the dead guy that the ADC would put up against Bob Wood, would win, and BIG TIME, too. If Bob Wood comes off as not being as conservative, as perceived, than he might have a chance. Frank Fannon is clearly a guy who is absolutely not a right wing conservative wing nut. That's why Frank Fannon won in 2009, because he's very much a moderate who has to pander to the conservative tilt of some people in the Alexandria Republican City Committee, so he doesn't lose their support. That's a part of Frank Fannon's overall appeal to people in Alexandria, or so I have investigated from talking to friends and checking out stuff on him on the Internet. Fannon seems to be very well liked among everyone in Alexandria, white, black, Hispanic, Asian, straight, gay, bi, transgender, all religions or creeds. I've talked to many people who have told me that Frank Fannon is a guy who truly just cares about people, and he wants to help solve issues that people have, to genuinely want to help people. That's the perception that Bob Wood is going to have to have to even have anyone look at his long-shot candidacy. Also, stay away from Alicia "Always Late" Hughes because she's just trouble.

I have no idea where Bob Wood is on the spectrum of Republican opinion on national issues. As a Democrat, I can not claim to be an expert on that spectrum anyway. Mr. Wood was appointed to the waterfront working group which met for months, most of the time at 7 a.m. He came on time and worked hard to improve the waterfront plan. The Mayor appointed three people, including Wood who were from Old Town and four people from elsewhere in the city. The four member majority prevailed on most votes, of course. Because I attended the meetings as an observer, I can say that Mr. Wood worked hard on trying to improve the waterfront plan. He was one of the two co-authors of the report the work group made. Once the meetings ended and the report was submitted, the Mayor and Council accepted their report and then mostly ignored it. In retrospect I think appointing the working group was only ploy to encourage people to lose interest in the waterfront issues. It did not work, the public hearing last January went on for 12 hours.

Like I said earlier, my sense is that Bob is about as middle of the road as one could be. He has had a very impressive career and I am grateful that someone of his calibre who clearly loves this city a lot (he went to TC), is willing to run for council and serve the community. Jim would you be willing to sit down and speak with Bob then report back to this group as to your impressions of him?

John, as a progressive liberal Democrat, I actually feel that there should be balance to City Hall, that we can't have a pack of idiots making group decisions together all because they're of the same party, Democrats, so I feel that there definitely needs to be some Republicans on board to keep an even keel, or we might go even deeper troubles with the likes of Tim Lovain, Justin Wilson, Del Pepper, Paul Smedberg or Bill Euille. By the way, I like Bill, he's a very nice guy, but he's mainly around to cut ribbons and to give grand opening speeches, than to provide effective forward thinking leadership. And the other four that I mentioned? Feckless. It's like they think it's their right to be on the Alexandria City Council, especially with Lovain and Wilson, who got thumped by Frank Fannon and Alicia "Always Late" Hughes. If Bob Wood is a moderate, he's going to have to be more effective in stating his case to that fact. Everyone in Alexandria knows that Frank Fannon is a left-leaning moderate, which shows how smart he is because he couldn't win as a conservative Republican wing nut in this town. Bob Wood would be wise to learn as much as he can off of the Fannon Playbook, as to being a true 'man of the people', which apparently Frank Fannon does quite well. As for me, I am just one person, so Bob Wood needs to impress a much wider audience, to tell his story to the Alexandria Times and Alexandria Gazette Packet, to let voters know he's not a big conservative nut job!

Good points Jim. It seems like there is a great deal of dissatisfaction within the city/voters and specifically within the population of self described democrats in alexandria regarding the current dem candidates. Darn it, it looks like we are going to be forced to cross party lines if we want any assemblance of change in the city. That irritates me but like you, I will likely vote for some R's and I's. I want balance and people on council who are going to listen to me and not lecture me...

Um....there isn't "a great deal of dissatisfaction within the city/voters". The primary results clearly showed that folks are generally happy with the direction the city is moving in. I don't think Mr Wood's message is going to resonate here, especially up against a national Democratic slate in Nov.

Mr. OT Insider, which I'm guessing stands for "Old Town" or "Over Thinker"? If you're satisfied with the way things are, you are either uniformed, uncaring, or simply a lemming who needs to take direction, because quite clearly, there are a host of problems that the Alexandria City Council needs to tackle in the next three years. The potential problem with our balloting process in Alexandria this November, is that more often than not, many voters won't actually go through the whole process of voting everyone on the ballot. In Richmond, in 2008, for example, a traditionally Democratic city, a majority of voters there didn't go down the entire ballot to vote for their city council members, and the very same thing has a great potential of happening in Alexandria, as well. Additionally, there are thousands of voters in Alexandria who don't keep up with how their city is run, let alone have a clue as to who is on their city council. They maybe have heard of Mayor Bill Euille, but other than him, they couldn't name even one council member. The sad fact is that the majority of people who can vote in Alexandria simply just don't care about how their city is managed. That was brought out as evidence with the Alexandria Republican and Democratic Primaries, this past Tuesday, with a record low voter turn out. Voters simply don't care and when they get ambivalent towards Alexandria city politics, like they are now, we're in trouble. But if you believe different, well, wow, okay.

John, thank you for your good points here. Actually, there are a lot of Democrats who are thoroughly disgusted with the 'good ole boy/girl network' of the Alexandria Democratic Committee, who with their rudderless leadership, have made themselves out to be the best thing since sliced bread. They even 'won' a spit cup as a small token of appreciation for all of their, uhm, 'work', or lack their of. Wait? The ADC Clue Phone is ringing, and they're not picking it up. The city has a voter make up with the majority, slight as it is, is Democratic. The Virginia Democratic Committee gives those cups away as token gifts. They don't mean anything. The ARCC recently 'won' a plaque for being the best GOP party in Virginia. Hello? Their clue phone is off the hook! There is a very large block of Independent voters, which tend to often vote Democratic. If the ADC was doing a better job, which clearly they aren't, they wouldn't have been so shallow as to work to move the City Council elections from May to November. That's all because two of their brethren, Tim Lovain and Justin Wilson, got really pissed off and upset that they lost to Frank Fannon and Alicia "You Voted For Me?" Hughes in 2009, with Fannon running as a Republican, and Hughes then as an Independent. By moving the City Council election to November, Alexandria voters are potentially not going to spend time going through the entire ballot. It happened in Richmond in 2008, and it's bound to happen in Alexandria, too.

By the way, Bob Wood has had just, hold on, drum roll please... and may I have the envelope please? Thank you! Wow, he's had just two, count them as "2", the BIG number t-w-o, followers on Twitter, with this publication being one of the two. Ouch! Watch out, Alexandria! We now can see that Bob Wood's campaign is running like a herd of thundering turtles! KMart has more traction with their famous 'blue light specials' than our said, Mr. Wood, has not received in Alexandria. Hey, he may be a very genuine nice guy, but in my personal opinion, he just doesn't have a shot. Frank Fannon, on the other hand, as a Republican, could be the only one of the ARCC to possibly win in November, be even he should respect the fact that the ADC fiefdom screwed him, and Republicans and Independents and Alexandria voters, in general. Plus, wow, God love her, Alicia Hughes. Look, I'm sure in her heart that she thinks she means well, but she has to know that she can't win in November. Even Stevie Wonder can see that. And for Fannon, and now Wood, to be saddled with a habitually late Alicia Hughes, who 'accidentally' got elected in 2009, it can and will bring their campaigns down, the more she orbits around them. But, if Bob Wood wants to convince voters that he's a left-leaning moderate, just like Fannon, well he's going to have to go to the Patch, Alexandria Times and Alexandria Gazette Packet to let them ask him probing questions, so that voters can learn more about his campaign.

OT insider, I supported Allison Silberberg because I think that she can be a true force of good in our city for the next three years. She has vision and a depth of experience that will help to have City Hall become much more focused, instead of being as wild and out of touch as the most current City Council has been. Of course, some of that 'wildness' actually comes from Alicia "Always Late" Hughes, who I do believe really means well, but her time is soon to be over, too. I actually believe that there are a lot of good things that the Alexandria City Council has done, not many actually, but a few, and I believe though, that you can't have retreads which the voters rejected in 2009, like Tim Lovain, and Justin Wilson, or Del Pepper, who's been in office since Edison invented the light bulb. Paul Smedberg, well, my only issue with him is that he, like the others I mentioned, were a part of the group that brought us 'BRAC-133' to Seminary Road, which showed that the then Alexandria City Council was asleep at the wheel. Even if there aren't any traffic tie ups yet, the mere fact that the U.S. Government rolled in on the Alexandria City Council, when that elected body could have blocked that location, shows they have a fundamental misunderstanding of how to manage the future of our city. I'm quite sure that there will be hordes of lemmings coming to that gang's defense, too, all who are mistaken into believing that BRAC-133 is a good deal. Really? A good deal? Really?

So I'm to take it that a 'record low voter turn out' in the City of Alexandria means that voters are okay with City Hall? While I can 'maybe' see your point, an overall lack of participation by quite a large block of eligible voters in Alexandria could also mean that they really don't care, as have given up their ability to cast a ballot and have chosen not to participate. People don't vote for various reasons, but I wouldn't include that everyone in Alexandria is neccessarily happy with City Hall. To do so would be misinterpreting how Alexandrians REALLY feel about local politics.

A few observations on the Dem primary: 14 candidates was too many. Some voters were overwhelmed with all the info, calls, mailers, etc. so they just voted for the ones they knew. The devil you know is better than the devil you don't know kind of thinking...

In addition, the rain kept some voters away. It seems a weak excuse not to vote, but it is a factor. So, we had low turnout and it was the same people who always vote in primaries, so we had the same results. If Frank stays in the race, he could possibly pick off one of the Dems, but with huge turnout in November, it's iffy. Rumor is that if David Englin resigns, Frank will challenge Rob Krupicka for that seat. That would be silly of Frank because there is no way he could beat Rob, but that's the rumor. Alicia Hughes is on the ballot, but won't be a factor. I've only met Bob Wood once, and he seems nice enough and intelligent enough, but he was evasive on some issues I asked him about. I certainly won't vote for him, but I admire him for running.

What is the basis of saying "record low voter turnout"? In May 2009 when we elected Council - it was not a primary - 14,419 people voted. Last Tuesday 14,441 voted in the primary. As for people being confused and only voting for people they knew - presumably meaning less than 6 for those who took the Democratic ballot - in May 2009 there were an average of 4.57 selections per voter. Last week there was an average of 5.03. Of course 2009 includes Republicans who did not have a full slate to vote for, presumably lowering the average votes per voter.

Cwer, look it up. The election for mayor and Alexandria City Council in May of 2009, was an extremely low voter turn out, as was the recent Alexandria Democratic and Republican primaries. The majority of people in the City of Alexandria are merely following a national trend of giving up on politics. Without baiting any of your neighbors, ask them to name who our mayor is, along with asking them to name all six members on the Alexandria City Council. Most can't do it. I actually tried it out over a 30 day period, recently, where I asked a random 106 friends and acquaintances, all who live within the borders of the City of Alexandria, and only one person, just one, out of 106 people from all four corners of the city, could actually name the mayor and all current members on the Alexandria City Council. A third had heard of Bill Euille, and mostly everyone I knew could only name maybe a couple of current council members. When I asked each person why they couldn't name everyone, each had different reasons, but most said they were just too busy, that whoever they voted wouldn't make a difference in their lives, anyway. It's just a sad testament that Alexandrians are following what is happening all over the country, with a growing malaise towards government. In regards to November, I know for a fact that there will be a significant number of voters who will not vote for every race on their ballots. It actually happens a lot. It happened in Richmond in 2008 and will happen here, too.

Gail, I will also agree with you in regards to the train wreck, Alicia "Always Late" Hughes, who doesn't have a snowball's chance of getting reelected in November. Equally, and more to the point, Bob Wood, too, won't get any traction at all to get any amount of significant votes to even be deemed as a strong candidate. But there are only 15 Republicans in the City of Alexandria, and 14 of them are members of the sad little 'train that couldn't', the Alexandria Republican City Committee. The Alexandria Democratic Committee, an equally inept, but more politically secure organization, has Del Pepper, God love her, running again. Age has nothing to do with Del, but it's merely the fact that she really doesn't do anything of significance anymore. Her time of substance to the council has come and gone, and she has to know it, too. Tim Lovain and Justin Wilson, to political has beens, who both embarrassingly lost in 2009, I sadly think they might have another shot to get back on council this November. The lemmings will vote for them. Paul Smedberg, well, nice guy, who helped bring in BRAC-133, but he had other clowns join him for that three tent circus. I actually voted and support Allison Silberberg, and now John Chapman, too. I think that it would be great if they both got elected to the Alexandria City Council in November, along with Frank Fannon.

Tim & Justin lost in 09 mostly because of the Republican plunking scheme, which artificially inflated Alicia's numbers, but that won't happen again because this will be a huge turnout and everyone knows about Alicia now. They're decent candidates. Tim knows transpo issues and Justin knows the budget cold. John and Allison will make good council members and I think their learning curve will be short. I like Paul and don't hold him entirely responsible for BRAC, which hasn't turned out to be the disaster everyone said it would anyway. I was surprised Del did as well as she did in the primary but like I said, the devil you know... I also agree that a lot of people will vote the top of the ticket in November and walk away. That's why the ADC will be working hard to remind voters of the importance of voting the entire ballot. It's especially critical with the school board this year. We have some good candidates - for a change - and I want to see them elected. They're on the bottom of the ballot, so we have to remind people to turn the page over and vote the entire ballot.

Jim I would really encourage you to look at Bob Wood and speak with him before making up your mind. I am with you though with regard to Frank and Allison. Stay cool out there today!!!

John, I would hope that Bob Wood comes out in the public, in Alexandria, and states that he's a Republican moderate, because that's the ONLY way he can even think about getting any kind of traction in our town. That's why I think that, overall, Frank Fannon is one of the most skilled and adept Republicans around. Frank knows that if he comes off as a right-wing conservative wing nut, that he'll never have a chance of winning over any voters in Alexandria. Frank is also smart by crafting himself as a left-leaning moderate Republican, although someone told me that he has to play along with the conservatives in his party, even though he's truly not one of them. I've found out that the only thing that Frank seems to be a conservative on is in regard to fiscal responsibilities that the City of Alexandria has to deal with in regard to its budget. Frank has worked hard to keep taxes down, while Justin Wilson, Tim Lovain, Del Pepper and Paul Smedberg, along with Mayor Bill Euille, all voted to jack up property taxes, a few weeks before the May election of 2009. I don't know what they were all drinking, but whatever it was, it had to have made that gang loopy. Who raises taxes right before Election Day? Lovain, Wilson, Pepper, Smedberg and Euille all did. In fairness, they probably thought they needed to raise taxes to keep the budget in line, but, with a City of Alexandria budget so bloated that you'd think that the then city council had something to gain by rasing our taxes!

Getting back to the issue of Bob Wood's potential electability in the City of Alexandria, I would suggest that he sit down for a great Q&A session with the editors of the Patch, so they can ask him probing questions about issues that voters might be concerned about for the next three years and beyond. Try http://oldtownalexandria.patch.com/users/sharon-mcloone or Drew Hansen, with the DelRay Patch, for starters. Oh, and when you're driving that 1955 DeSoto, keep it a bit to the left! ;-)

John, oh, in this heat, I'm definitely staying 'cool'. But, seriously, there are only 15 Republicans in the City of Alexandria, with Bob Wood being one of the 15. I've seen his website. Nothing jumps out as being all that impressive, but I guess his website is a 'work in progress'. Also, John, anytime you've got Alicia "Always Late" Hughes, you're in trouble, and Bob Wood's in big trouble there. At least Frank Fannon has built a great groundswell of supporters who can and will help his campaign. Fannon gets it though. Wood still is in the starting block, so to speak, and Alicia "Always Late" Hughes is looking for a place to park her car. Bob Wood, if he wants to gain any traction, needs to speak to the press, to tell them how he wants to help change the city for the next three years and what kind of impact he thinks he can have to contribute to helping to make Alexandria an even better place to live. Frank Fannon is a millionaire with deep pockets and deep community support, plus, Fannon's got great mojo for a Republican in Alexandria. He's a very likable guy who talks to everyone, the press included. Bob Wood needs to read the Fannon Playbook and follow it. Alicia "Always Late" Hughes, she's still driving around the block, looking for a parking space. Bob Wood needs to be like Frank Fannnon, a left-leaning Republican moderate who is at least palatable to Democrats who don't like the Alexandria Democratic Committee, of which there are many throughout Alexandria.

I would like to ask a very serious question to any of the 15 Republicans who live in the City of Alexandria, of which, 14 of you are in the Alexandria Republican City Committee. Why, with all of her baggage and problems, of which the human side of any person would reach out to help her, does the ARCC support Alicia Hughes as a candidate for the Alexandria City Council in November. Does anyone in the Alexandria Republican City Committee realize how much she hurts your ticket this Fall? The reason I ask is, that it seems like Alicia Hughes, God love her, is spiraling out of control, lately, and my thought was that if there is anyone in the Alexandria Republican City Committee who can reach out to help her, she really needs it. No person can go through the turmoil in her life that Alicia's going through, from all of her legal troubles with her landlord, to her troubles in landing a good job in Alexandria, to her recently trying to run for both the Alexandria City Public School Board and the Alexandria City Council, at the same time, or so she hoped, so she could evaluate which would be better suited for her as she has to devote time to her father's health issue with cancer. Please don't do what the Alexandria Democratic Committee did to Gail Gordon, who left her hanging out in the wind, as the firestorm of controversy and personal ridicule, embarrassment and humiliation engulfed her. The ADC has no shame for doing that to Gail. The ARCC needs to help Alicia, too, big time.

Jim, I asked the same question of a Republican who is very close to Alicia and I received no answer. I explained that personality and politics aside, I thought she needed some sort of intervention, but as far as I know no one has done anything. As being on the ticket, the ACRC only had three candidates vy for six spots, so they couldn't deny Alicia a spot on their ticket. At least, that's how an ACRC member explained it to me. There was nothing he knew of in their bylaws to prevent her form being on the ticket when there were only 3 people for 6 spots.

I would like to seriously know why the Alexandria Republican City Committee is thought of in such low-regard in the City of Alexandria? I know that there are only 15 Republicans in Alexandria, and that 14 of them are members of the ARCC, but why does the Alexandria Republican City Committee, other than Frank Fannon, who of course is a growing political machine, himself, consistently put out candidates that couldn't even win in a race for City Dog Catcher? When the ARCC can't get at least six potential candidates to run for a seat on the Alexandria City Council, it truly shows how weak their organization is as a political entity in our city. I rail on the Alexandria Democratic Committee, for being run by a feckless group of inept bumblers, which is true, but at least they're more out in the public (which, for them, isn't always a good thing) but my point is that they're trying, despite their stumbling, bumbling way that they conduct their organization. For the ARCC, it appears to be a complete non-entity when it comes to local Alexandria politics, which I'm quite sure isn't their intent. My point goes back to the viability of Bob Wood getting elected, which I would have to say is a long shot. And for Alicia, the troubled soul that she is, she doesn't have any chance at all of being reelected in November. Which leaves you with only one guy who 'gets it', Frank Fannon. At least Frank isn't a conservative wing nut, and he'll probably be the only Republican to win in November.

Jim, I enjoy readi ng your comments, and hope that you will continue to contribute to the various threads offered in the Patch. I must say, however, that your opinions are getting rather repetitive and short on backup. You like to say that the ADC is “being run by a feckless group of inept bumblers, which is true” but I have not seen what your reasons are for that opinion. Also your slams of Mr. Wilson and Mr. Lovain could use some explaining to support your opinions. I served on BFAAC for 6 years in which some of those years they did also. I found them to be very sharp in analyzing the budget, asking good questions, and did not seem to have an agenda other than making the City government better. It would also help your opinions if you could tell all of us which citizen committees you have served on. I have found that many people have opinions that are short on a true understanding of the subject they are commenting on. Working on city committees is an excellent way of getting into the details of what these issues are really made up of, and how complex they can be. Your comments about taxes leaves out the economy what has a big effect on the tax rates. You will see in general tax rates were kept down when property values were rising, and increased when values leveled or dropped.

We do need to pay for the services our City provides, and my experience with Mr. Wilson and Mr. Lovain were that they were very much in concert with focusing on efficient delivery of services, which services the City should provide, and in keeping the tax rates as low as possible. They have, and continue to address, the long standing concern about the percentage residential property vs. commercial property taxes contribute to the City revenues. There is a general comment I see in many articles in that citizens want these services, but they do not want to pay for them.

I'm supporting Bob Wood for City Council because our reliance on part-time council members means that tested experience and depth of understanding, not just opinions and good feelings, is critical in engaging peers, staff, and outside consultants.
No other candidate has managed large scale projects, done serious mediation, taught economics at a university, or advanced in their careers because of consistent high quality results. I watched Bob, and the others on the Mayor's Waterfront Work Group, and became convinced that his commitment to achieve the best decisions, his well-tested ability to lead or support complex , team situations is what we need now. There was no evidence of ideological extremism at any time. Listening to everyone and crafting a balanced and fair report was just one of Bob's outstanding contributions - the Mayor thanked him!
Alexandria is a city under stress. Fourteen primary candidates, a record number of citizen filed appeals on city decisions, the battles over transportation projects, and low vacancy rates in commercial sites are examples.
Bob Wood has depth of experience, pragmatism, and knows how to plan and implement large scale projects. Bob's track record results from listening to stakeholders to achieve the best. This combination sets him far above any other candidate.
Finally, incumbants and those who have served, must be balanced by peers with proven capabilties, depth, and fresh outlook - Bob Wood is the only candidate to stand the test.

Kathryn, if what your saying is who Bob Wood is, he most certainly needs to be on the literal doorstep of every reporter who covers Alexandria City politics, so he can tell his story. If Bob Wood is not a right wing conservative Republican wing nut, he might have a chance to gain some traction, but I still think and believe, that Frank Fannon is the ONLY Republican who has a true shot of winning in November.

Keep on open mind. Ask questions. Listen. Talk about it. We need to build a city council with experienced and talented people.
Keep posted for more from Bob - prevailing against the odds is a grand ole American tradition!

Kathryn, I hear you, but Republicans 'winning' is not a 'grand ole' Alexandria tradition.

Kathryn, with all due respect, it is pretty clear when you read the comments by Mr. Wood when on the Waterfront Committee, and his comments while on the riverfront walk, and his comments regarding his time spent on the Beauregard issue, that his perspective is confined to that of Old Town Alexandria. He simply does not relate to, or understand the issues of all citizens of Alexandria. Of course, this is fine with you as your record regarding the waterfront plan is clear in the public record. Leaving Jim’s comments about him being a right wing nut alone, I am more concerned that he does not relate to all citizens of Alexandria. Jim expresses a concern supporting why he will not be elected. I am expressing another concern, that he would not represent all of Alexandria equally. As you know, Alexandria is small enough to have a system whereby Council is to represent all of Alexandria, not to be representative of one area. That is my problem with Mr. Wood.

Jim- what are your thoughts on having a truly representative government in alexandria ( a ward system)? I think I know what the Euille Lap Dog Corps (ELDC) will say....

Mr. Fitzgerald, I assume the value of your property rose accordingly during that period. As for the rest of your comment, your point if view is self explanatory and needs no response.

John, in a city as small as Alexandria is, a ward system wouldn't be an efficient way of city government. As it is now, you have most council members on council, who are from different parts of the city, who geographically identify with their 'home territory', along with every square inch of the city. Plus, for example, people from the 'Arlington' part of Alexandria, could reach out to any council member, as none who are on council now live close to that part of town. There might be merit for a ward system of government, no doubt, as to the fact that each council member would have a block of territory that they would represent, but let me counter that thought, with saying that not all council members are equally skilled at dealing with any one issue, or any particular facet of their responsibilities of the population as a whole that they represent. The way it is now, people can call, email or contact all of their council members, or some on a case-by-case basis, relying on the known strengths or background of any council member. For instance, Rob Krupicka has a background in education issues, Frank Fannon and Kerry Donley, both have backgrounds in mortgage and financing, so my point being, is that if we did have a ward system, it would or could potentially restrict them from helping people from all over our city. Alexandria is only 15 square miles. It's just not big enough to have a ward system of government, no matter how much people think it would work, it wouldn't.

John, let me be specific, not all of our current council members or future council members, will have an equal amount of organizational skills for themselves, as individuals, or equally, their staffs. If Alexandria had a ward system in place, for instance, you might have some wards being more efficiently run than other wards, which would effect the city as a whole. It just wouldn't be the most effective way to have Alexandria run as a city government, in my opinion. By the way, our city attorney, Jim Banks, he lives all the way out in Leesburg, in Loudoun County, out in the hinterlands, so I'm not too sure he'd be the best person to state the good attributes of a ward system for which he is not a resident of the City of Alexandria, despite his background in Richmond, which has a vastly more polarized population than we do. I see where you're going with this, so try to sell me on why Alexandria needs a ward system, if you think that the current form of government doesn't work. I though, can tell you, that the system in place, offers people from all parts of our city to run, get elected, and be a part of our city's future. I'm no fan of the Alexandria Democratic Committee, every one knows that, and I also think that the Alexandria Republican City Committee is a complete joke of a political organization in Alexandria. The ARCC is a true paper tiger. The ARCC is so small they can hold their meetings in one of Pat Troy's restrooms. Sell me on why Alexandria should have wards.

John, I agree totally with Jim as to wards vs. at large. Alexandria is too small to have wards, and I do not think the issues facing Alexandria would be any better served with a ward structure. In fact, I think it wouldn't work as well. I would like to see a much higher percentage of registered voters come out for elections.

John, let me be more specific here. People throughout Alexandria who want to reach out to their city council members, can and probably usually do, contact ALL of them in regards to a problem, or a specific issue, or whatever situation that they might have. As such, council members then, in turn, probably contact our city manager's office, where he then contacts city staff in regard to the particular issue raised. You now have, as a citizen, a greater voice, or impact, by raising an issue of concern, to the mayor and council members, than if you were to have a ward system in place. Let me say, once again, that not every council member has the same organizational skills as each other. It's just human nature. And that being said, if we had a ward system in place, the administrative staffs wouldn't be all organizationally equal as well. So the spectrum of our city government, governed by a ward system, probably wouldn't have a level playing field. That being said though, I think that I am getting your thought of implementing a ward system in Alexandria, to potentially weaken the current 'one party system' of the Alexandria Democratic Committee, and their so-called, firm grip on all the levers of our government here. The Alexandria Democratic Committee has proven itself to be, unintentionally, of course, to be a stumble bumble group of inept and unskilled political 'wannabes', who do need to be retired, and new fresh voices need to take their place, and not soon enough.