Fossum Announces City Council Candidacy

Longtime Alexandria Planning Commission member Donna Fossum announced her candidacy for City Council at a meeting of the Alexandria Democratic Committee Monday evening at .

“Anything that’s happened in the city in the last 22 years—from land use, to open space and development—I’ve had a finger in it,” said the West End resident, who first joined the planning commission in 1990.

When asked why she decided to run, Fossum told Patch it was about giving the West End better representation in City Hall.

“The West End doesn’t have good representation now that [Vice Mayor Kerry] Donley [isn’t running for re-election],” she said. “And 53 percent of the city lives in the West End.”

Councilwoman Del Pepper is the lone incumbent seeking re-election who lives in the West End.

Fossum said she would like to see more West End residents appointed to city committees. She also said she’s committed to finding “middle ground” on issues to create solutions and believes her extensive knowledge of the city will be a huge benefit.

“I know more about maps of the city, I’ve spent more time looking at them, than anyone on earth,” she said.

Apart from the planning commission, Fossum has served as chair of the Beauregard Corridor Stakeholders Group—a citizen organization that sought to develop consensus around a small area plan in a section of the West End. She has also served on several city boards concerning transportation and high-capacity transit.

Fossum worked as a senior policy analyst with the RAND Corporation from 1992 to 2009 where she served as an advisor to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. She retired in 2009 and now works as a private consultant.

Old Town resident Boyd Walker, a co-founder of the Citizens for an Alternative Alexandria Waterfront Plan, also officially announced his candidacy for city council Monday night. To read Walker’s statement of candidacy, .

Also of issue to the ADC on Monday night was discussion of moving the date of this year's city council primary.

The primary is currently scheduled for June 12, but a pending lawsuit over Virginia’s redistricting and the need for the U.S. Justice Department to approve the new districts might move the primary to as late as Aug. 7.

“There’s a 99 percent chance we will not have a primary on June 12,” ADC Chairman Dak Hardwick said.

The Alexandria Republican City Committee will hold its party canvass on June 2 and Minnie Howard from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Editor's note: The original version of this article incorrectly stated that the ADC would consider holding a caucus instead of a primary at its March meeting. The ADC will hold a primary.