THANK YOU FOR YOUR 2,501 VOTES SUPPORT IN THE CITY ELECTION! YOU HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE!
Forming new community: conSENSE.us for our Alexandria movement! We will try to find a common SENSE consensus for the issues of Alexandria and propose solutions to our city lawmakers. Please email me to get on the mailing list. The blogging and action site will soon be up for your participation. My candidacy was fueled by your opinions and viewpoints and I will carry forward our best and brightest consensus. This is no time for extreme partisanship, it is a time for conSENSE.us
I will be writing a column at AlexandriaNews.org called conSENSE.us which will discuss the various issues we bring forward.
News
Taxes: How to Reduce Taxes and Retain Core Services
1. Redefine Core Services with Neighborhood Civic Groups
2. Establish "Pay for Performance" in All City Departments
3. Use Contractors for City Services Wherever Possible
4. Consolidate Inefficient City Services with Neighboring Jurisdictions
5. Stop Using Capital Improvement Funds as a Credit Card
6. Stop Thinking Development Always Pays for Itself
Taxes just went up this week to an alltime high, and this has many voters asking me where the money is going. They don't see more services for their money. I propose the above tax plan as a long term solution to keep our city financially sound, and not have to go back to taxpayers and ask for an increase in tax revenue. The city council works the budget process backwards - they determine how much revenue they can acquire from taxpayers then determine what services to offer. This is evident as we can see taxes have increased from mid 300 million in 2000 to over 500 million for this fiscal year. I'll now briefly give details on each of the above points:
1. Redefine Core Services with Neighborhood Civic Groups.
This is a key element of my campaign - that a city doesn't exist without neighborhoods, and that civic associations are the best way to interact with taxpayers. These associations know their territory better than any at large councilmember does. It is through these bodies that the budget should be taken, services identified, and then established as a "core service". Once all neighborhoods have their say and a central plan is in place for the budget, we then need to determine a fair way for taxpayers to fund the budget. No annual acrimony and fighting, just paying for what needs to be paid.
2. Establish "Pay for Performance" in All City Departments
It is time for city employees to be paid according to their output. Those who are not performing, according to measures that are generated annually, should not be given a raise because of seniority or tenure. We need to retain city staff who are effective at their jobs, evaluate them by a panel of their peers and supervisors, and let those who do not perform adequate leave the city service. Those who remain should be paid and respected as valued members of our city. The city must gather metrics that allow us to measure the performance of our city services in efficiency and effectiveness, then make appropriate personnel decisions.
3. Use Contractors for City Services Whenever Possible
City government must enter the 21st century. Across the country, government is turning to specialists who effectively and efficiently perform tasks at a lower cost than the city can provide. The city must put a bid out for services, then accept the best bid based on performance and cost. Those city employees who manage services or have special subject matter expertise should be retained and rewarded for their value to the city's taxpayers.
4. Consolidate Inefficient City Services with Neighboring Jurisdictions
It is time to take a serious look at consolidating inefficient or ineffective services with our very close neighbors. Pooling resources and gaining efficiencies of scale is a great way to spread large overhead costs with our neighboring taxpayers. When each small jurisdiction builds its own capital assets to service taxpayers, the cost is doubled. Sharing facilities, employees, and finances is a sure way to save money, and offer better services at the same time. It is time to cut redundant services that can be done better with other Northern Virginia jurisdictions.
5. Stop Using Capital Improvement Funds as a Credit Card
Every time a new $100 million project is dedicated, our annual tax bills go up. The percent of our annual budget that goes to pay for debt interest has increased from a small 2% of our budget to near 9% in fiscal year 2010. The city council must realize that even though the principle of these bonds is paid back over a long period of time, the interest is money that could be better spent on our current needs in services.
6. Stop Thinking Development Always Pays for Itself
Add a new townhouse community to our city. We just increased our tax base right? Not always. When we add new residents to our city, they require more services, they add more cars to our roads, they demand more Metro stations, fire protection, police to stop speeders, road maintenance. We need to be more strategic when development is accepted, and make sure that developers are paying for the increased expense their addition to our city causes. We have seen massive development in the last 10 years, however we have also seen taxes go up consistently during that time. Sharing fixed overhead and roads with more taxpayers should make the cost per taxpayer lower, right?? No. We may have reached a "tipping point" on our roads, police, schools, where adding any additional residents can cause us to have to build a tremendously large amount of expensive new infrastructure. This reduces the quality of life for those who already live here - those who pay the bills.
April 27, 2009
April 18, 2009
Rich Williamson Opening Statement at Business Debate
MORE VIDEOS
April 13, 2009
Rich Williamson: Virtual CandidateMention in Washington City Paper
April 3, 2009
Does Rich "Get Cycling"?Mention in local blog: Alexandria City Council Candidates - do they "get" cycling?
April 5, 2009
Constituent Issues Discussed.Please read updates on my Constituent Q&A Page.
March 28, 2009
We Must Fully Fund Schools and Critical Services!It became clear during debate 2 just how out of touch the incumbent city council is with our population. The City Council has cut 3% of the budget for schools, and cut critical services for the elderly, mentally challenged, and citizens who are most in need. In a recession, its more important than ever to keep our students learning, in order to be competitive in an ever more competitive world.
March 27, 2009
Stop the Machine Politics!! (Article in Gazette Packet)
Services, Not More Buildings!! (Article in Gazette Packet)
March 22, 2009
Read responses to Washington Post Candidate Questionnaire.
March 15, 2009
Alexandria = Neighborhoods
Is a city a set of legal boundaries, a collection of buildings and roads, or government services? No. The people are the city. Without the people there are no taxes to collect, no services to provide, and no culture or vibrancy. How do the people organize in order to express their needs, preferences, and views? Well, in the 21st century, a single person “going down to city hall” is not going to do any good. Citizens have learned that to protect the quality of life for themselves, they need to band together into neighborhood civic groups. Having been a neighborhood President, I understand that it is truly these groups where the city grows, has identity and the greatness of the city is protected from exploitation and expropriation. It is my belief then, that city decisions, ordinances, and spending priorities should come from the neighborhoods. In Alexandria, however, all seats are elected at- large, which means that when no candidates are elected from a specific neighborhood, the viewpoint of that neighborhood is silenced. How can we reconcile this? Well, I propose 2 methods to repair this: one in the short term and one as the long term solution. Short term: When the city is going to take action on zoning, spending or services, an impact assessment needs to take into account those neighborhoods which will be affected by such things as traffic, construction, or land use. Those affected neighborhoods need to be given an active role in crafting the action, not just advisory. The neighborhoods affected need to be given a real seat at the table, to assert their property owners and business owners’ viewpoints, and to consider this the new way of doing business. In the long term, the city needs to overhaul the way its council members are elected. We need a ward system, where each neighborhood has a specific voice and a specific person who will address constituent services. The at large system was scrapped in most cities in the 60’s when it was shown that decisions in cities where groups or portions of cities with more population or clout would attempt to speak for all. That’s not representation, that’s removal of voter and property rights. The city is a rich mixture of neighborhoods and it is the neighborhood where power should be returned. When elected to city council I will make representing neighborhoods my paramount concern.
-- Rich
March 3, 2009
Press release: March 3, 2009
UPDATE: Independent City Council Candidate Rich Williamson Files Candidacy at Alexandria City Hall
TIME: 9:30 AM
Former Colonial Heights Neighborhood President and City Environmental Policy Commissioner Rich Williamson will officially file a petition to appear on the May 5th City Council ballot at 9:30 this morning.
Critical Issues
Traffic
Alexandrians must take back our roads! Many of us spend too much time trying to use our own roads right after work. We need to synchronize major roads so that if, driving a consistent speed, we will not stop traffic. We need to prioritize use of roads for Alexandrians those who work in Alexandria, not regional commuters who drive through our city on the way out to other counties.
Taxes
Many constituents have mentioned that their taxes have gone up for 10 years, only to recieve no new services. This year, real estate taxes went up again - with some citizens paying 1,000 or 2,000 more this year. The city needs to freeze real estate taxes to 2008 levels for all citizens during a recession, when families are trying to make ends meet. Determine key priorities, and then create the budget to reflect those priorities without keeping Alexandrians guess how much they will owe in taxes.
Pollution
The current city council supports the continued pollution and industrialization of our city, only 50 yards from a playground and elementary school. We need a new course in our challenges with pollution and how we protect our citizens and students.
Keep Our Commitments
We are cutting school funding for things such as fire alarms, new school buses that won't break down, and laying off 150 city employees. Yet we continue to fund massive infrastructure "improvements" that will not offer our citizens any additional security or services. Its time to keep our commitments before we move onto new investments.
