State Senators Back Silberberg in Council Race

Alexandria City Council candidate Allison Silberberg (D) picked up endorsements Sunday from three state senators from past and present at her campaign kickoff at in Del Ray.

State Sens. Dick Saslaw (D-35th) and Adam Ebbin (D-30th) threw their support behind Silberberg, as did Patsy Ticer, a former Alexandria mayor and Ebbin’s predecessor in the state house.

“[Silberberg] will consider what she is going to say and what she means by what she says, and then she will say it,” Ticer said.

A Dallas native, Silberberg moved to Alexandria in 1989 and has lived in Parkfairfax since 1992. She has served on Alexandria's Economic Opportunities Commission since 2004 and has been the chair of the group since 2010.

During her remarks, Silberberg talked about finding common ground on divisive issues through creating a core vision of what Alexandria exactly is as a city.

Silberberg mentioned an opinion piece she wrote that was published in December in The Washington Post concerning the waterfront redevelopment debate. In it, she proposed the building of a band shell on the waterfront as a compromise between factions who opposed redevelopment and those who favored in the city’s plan.

“To me, Alexandria is Bedford Falls from ‘It’s A Wonderful Life,’” she said. “We’re not Pottersville. … We need to keep [a common vision] in the forefront and then build bridges of compromise.”

Like many of her fellow Democrats running for council, Silberberg said she wanted to pursue growth in the city through “smart, creative development centered around transit.” She also said she’d like to see affordable housing be a part of any development.

Silberberg said she’s made affordable housing a mission of hers in her work with the EOC. She said she’d like to pursue public-private partnerships to solve issues in the city and that she wanted to start “engaging the nonprofit centers.” She also said she would like to pursue a city-wide beautification jobs initiative.

Ebbin, who met Silberberg when both were freshmen at American University in 1981, said his friend, being a Texan, always does things in a big way. He spoke of Silberberg’s numerous fundraising efforts for Washington, D.C. nonprofits. He also mentioned her experience as a tutor and her initiative with the EOC to renovate the city’s homeless shelter.

Silberberg also announced endorsements from former Alexandria Councilwoman Joyce Woodson and former city school board member Eileen Rivera on Sunday.

Silberberg is one of 12 Democrats running for city council. Sammie Moshenberg told Del Ray Patch on Sunday she was planning on entering the race, which would move the total to 13. The deadline for candidates to file is Thursday. Six Democratic nominees will be chosen in a primary scheduled for June 12.

The Alexandria Democratic Committee will before the primary. 

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