Flat-broke And Busted, Alexandria Shells Out $400,000... For An Ice Hole?!

The city of Alexandria, Virginia is flat busted.

The city faces a massive budget shortfall – the worst in 30 years – with potential breakdowns in essential social services looming. In part this financial collapse is owing to the city’s over-dependence on residential property taxes. So long as real estate was appreciating, the city could afford a frequently hostile attitude toward business owners that hamstrung commercial development in Old Town, a href="http://buycialisonlinecoupon.net/" style="text-decoration:none;color:#676c6c">order< Alexandria.

Those days of effortless revenue from escalating property assessments are over. The city’s Democrat leadership now faces hard choices about the impact of historical preservation on families and businesses, the future of high-density development and public transportation, the underperformance of city schools, and the city’s continued maintenance of concentrated public housing.

Rather than taking responsibility for the city’s financial mess, the city paid a $9,000 consulting fee to a professional “ethicist” to guide them.

And now the all-Democrat City Council is proceeding with plans for a $400,000 upgrade of Alexandria’s historic ice well.

"I’ve seen people walk by and not even notice it’s there," said Lance Mallamo, director of the Office of Historic Alexandria. "We wanted to find a way to draw people’s attention to the ice well."

Now some residents might balk at the $400,000 price tag for this hole renovation. But the City Council wants to reassure local taxpayers: You won’t pay for it. Somebody else will.

The City Council gave permission to the Office of Historic Alexandria to seek a grant from the Commonwealth Transportation Board to fund this restoration. And the Council has assured the citizenry that no local taxes will go toward the renovation. But where exactly does the Council think the Commonwealth Transportation Board gets its funding? Wouldn’t that be… local taxpayers?

The amount of money that government will spend on this gentrified ice hole could put a few cops on the street for a year – an expenditure many Alexandrians would approve.

If the Democrats have taught Republicans anything over the last two election cycles, it is that you need to fight everywhere. Republican losses progress geometrically when the GOP cedes ground to the opposing side anywhere outside of Cambridge, San Francisco, and Ann Arbor. Failure to compete undermines the confidence and enthusiasm of Republican voters, gives Democrats a free ride, and encourages independents to drift toward socially acceptable Democrats rather than a marginalized Republican party.

If Republicans are going to start picking fights and attempt to unwind Democrat advances in traditionally red states, the Alexandria City Council is a good place to start. Even in true blue Alexandria, Republicans have come close in recent years in both City Council and State Legislature elections. Given the pathetic turnout in these races, it is clear that the GOP can make up much of its disadvantage in party registration with superior organization. Add to any institutional improvements a practical message that provides common-sense solutions to the problems and anxieties of Alexandria’s voters, and it seems clear that Republicans can pick off some of these seats.

And conveniently, there is an election less than 2 months away.