Fantastic! Andrew, now will you tell us why you resigned from Council?
Your abrupt resignation cost all of us taxpayers a great deal of money for the special election to replace you. It would be helpful to understand why so we could consider your qualifications to lead the Council. Thank you!

Andrew was very indecisive as Vice Mayor. Almost every time an issue arose for a vote he would say that "I am not comfortable voting on this. I need to study it more."
Andrew is very good at opposing proposals or demanding delay However, those who govern need to make decisions, often difficult ones requiring compromise.

However much the special election that followed Andrew MacDonald's resignation from Council several years ago cost the taxpayers, the decision of a previous Council to send a letter of encouragement to the U.S. military decision makers, assuring them that an enormous facility on Beauregard St. would work fine has cost vastly more on many levels. The military owns the buildings and thus will not pay property taxes and there will also be many infrastructure and other support expenses that will be borne by the city. Those who were on the City Council when that decision was made are Mayor Euille, Mrs. Pepper, Mr. Krupicka, Mr. Lovan, Mr. Wilson and Mr. Gaines and Mr. Smedberg. Those who are running for local office this year, need to explain why they sent that invitation. Although the letter was signed by a senior staff member, he is still employed and obviously did not do anything he was not directed to do by those office holders.

Delightful news.

Mr. Macdonald's articulate passion for Alexandria the community, especially its history, diversity and small businesses, make his candidacy very appealing.

Our current mayor, a polite person, has brought us enormous density and debt for nice, but not necessary structures and programs.

Worse: our current mayor and his fellow Democrat travelers on city council have now reverted to ruling rather than representing the will of residents. They've been in power too long. 'Tis past time for a new mayor ideally supported by a genuine council of citizens whose decisions reflect the views of the majority.

If Mr. Macdonald runs, then he has my vote

Andrew, please run for Mayor. The City needs a change in leadership. The City also needs new voices on City Council. The objectives of city leaders must be something more than unrestrained growth. City services are underfunded and weak compared to neighboring Virginia jurisdictions. Traffic is bad and getting worse. Alexandria is a rich city that should be able to offer its residents more. I plan to vote against Bill Euille as well as against most of the current members of the City Council. I hope Andrew Macdonald offers a strong alternative, and to do so, he will need to explain his resignation.

I did not say that Andrew MacDonald should not offer more information about his resignation. However, because so much time as passed since that resignation, we can rule out scandal as a reason. We all follow the news and we know that in some cases of an officer holder's resignation, we soon hereafter learn of some awful thing like that person's pending arrest or scandalous personal behavior. Andrew did not move away from Alexandria after his resignation and, in fact, stayed out of news for several years . As a matter of being reasonable, we can ask for a reason for the resignation, but dark hints of scandal should be out of bounds.

Your headline did call out for attention - even for those of us who deliberately keep a distance from both parties. OK - this Macdonald fellow went to the Republican meeting and announced he intended to run as an Independent because the current crop of Democrats is too far to the right and cozying up to waterfront developers. The comment might be "Curiouser and Curiouser."

The professional pundits can calculate the odds of his success, even if he captures 100% of the vote east of Washington Street. He does need to be thorougly vetted. Other than a half term on Council, what type of management or legal experience can he bring to the position?

What we do need is a thoughtful balancing of the need for modernizing the waterfront and maintaining the quality of life for those who live within a half mile of it. I've never been a fan of extended one-party rule and I laugh at Maryland residents' jokes about "the Peoples' Republic of Montgomery County." It IS important to have the marketplace of ideas in Alexandria and consideration of new blood -- including some under age 40 -- for city government. They have a big job ahead of them.

ARROGANCE OF IGNORANCE:
Alexandria Democratic committee Chairman Dak Hardwick said
"We wish him well, but we elect Democrats in Alexandria and we elect good ones”

KATY CANNODY SPEAKING FOR THE INDEPENDENT THINKERS
WHO REMEMBER HOW WE BECAME THE CITY WITH THE WORST GRIDLOCK IN THE COUNTRY.

However much the special election that followed Andrew MacDonald's resignation from Council several years ago cost the taxpayers, the decision of a previous Council to send a letter of encouragement to the U.S. military decision makers, assuring them that an enormous facility on Beauregard St. would work fine has cost vastly more on many levels. The military owns the buildings and thus will not pay property taxes and there will also be many infrastructure and other support expenses that will be borne by the city. Those who were on the City Council when that decision was made are Mayor Euille, Mrs. Pepper, Mr. Krupicka, Mr. Lovan, Mr. Wilson and Mr. Gaines and Mr. Smedberg. Those who are running for local office this year, need to explain why they sent that invitation.

Good points

Haunches accusations about the Mayor and Vice Mayor are scandalous. If you are going to libel them at least use your real name. And just how will they benefit economically if the boat club parking lot is expropriated for a park?

I was Andrew Macdonalds campaign manager in 2003 and 2006, and I think some additional information might be helpful to this discussion. He does owe a more complete explanation of his resignation, but like most decisions I believe their were multiple factors, both personal and proffessional. I can only speak about the politics, and say that even though Andrew won the most votes, and the right to be Vice Mayor, not one other council member congratualted him, or introduced him as Vice Mayor on election night,including the current Mayor Bill Euille. That is just a fact. We continued to press the issue as we heard ideas like a rotating Vice Mayor being floated around, and many people sent letters to the editor untill the issue was resolved. But I do not believe the Mayor and future Vice Mayor have one convesation before the induction ceremony two months later. And I believe this kind of distance and shunning of Andrew continued the whole time that Andrew was on council. So it is very hard to work with colleagues who are not willing to work with you. I also do not believe that the special election cost as much as was speculated above. The party held a caucus at their expense and I have heard the election was more likely half of the 100,000 previously reported in the comments. On the other hand BRAC has cost 60 million in lost taxes, not to mention the low repayment for lost open space. Andrew was the only member of council not to vote for a prior rezoning of the site.

So I assumed incorrectly and apologize for this.

Actualy, I have asked Andrew to withdraw his membership in the Democratic Party, and I will be supporting the nominee of the Democratic Party, who I presume will be Bill Euille. I just wanted to correct some of the misinformation in the comments. I have also learned that local politics is about issues, and that you need to work with everyone. I have tried to build working relationships with other potential Democratic Council members, colleagues I hope to be woring with on City Council.

Boyd, So let me get this right - Andrew McDonald resigned from Council, at least in part, because his colleagues wouldn't talk to him? This seems a rather unlikey explanation though I'll accept that you must have some insight given you were his campaign manager. It is of course hard to work with colleagues who don't talk to you but this wasn't an office but an elected body. Surely there must be a better reason than this for his resignation.

I don't know why he resigned, but I think it is important to look at the entire picture, thats all. I ran in the special election for his seat, unsucesfully. I do think it is hard to do a job without beingn able to work with your colleagues. I, of course, discouraged him from resigning, as I believe did Bill Euille.

Andrew resigned because his feelings were hurt? Wow. And he wants to run for Mayor? Every effort I ever made to reach out to and work with Andrew was rebuffed by him. He and I tried to do a project together to improve tree care in the city, but it was very hard to get any help from him. He spent most of his time criticizing staff and the Council, working on odd projects like trying to create a slush fund for each council member to distribute to their pet causes or trying to add budget funds for a writing coach for city staff. It is the right of any council member to criticize their colleagues, but one should expect it will diminish chances for collaboration. In his last election he didn't campaign for the Dem ticket and he also ran on a ticket with the R's. Again, that is his right. Andrew clearly likes to grandstand. But he's never shown any interest in the hard, behind the scenes work needed to find solutions to tough issues. He barely participated in budget work and skipped some important meetings so he could go fly fishing while at the same time asking that we delay votes at those meetings until he returned. His waterfront work continued this approach. He threatened legal action months before there was a final plan or any final changes were proposed. He never showed any interest in finding a compromise. Again, that is his right. But it isn't how things get done on the Council where you have to work with multiple views and propose concrete solutions.

Edgar- You've been dead for 140 years. How will you miss anything?

Mr. McDonald, running for election will require you to tell the citizens your solutions to problems, rather than just criticizing what the current administration is doing. Your initial position on the CAAWP plan was for the city to buy those properties and turn them into a park. This would truly achieve an Alexandria for only the 1 percent because the debt load of the city would increase nearly 50%.. Do you have similar positions on the issues of affordable housing? How do you handle the rights of property owners? Scattered site housing has been well tested to reduce the need for pubic housing in second and third generations. Density in an urban area is smart growth. Start to enlighten the voter now as to your solutions. Put up a wall around Alexandria and say “No More”? Will your platform be “No Developers Allowed”. For years the City has struggled with a greater than 50% contribution of property taxes being shouldered by residences. Are you opposed to efforts to rectify that by expanding the commercial base? If not the results are truly a 1 percent city with a heavy residential tax burden. Providing good public housing and affordable housing is important to all citizens. Enlighten us Mr. McDonald, what are your solutions? We have problems and our City Council addresses these on a regular basis.