City Responds to Concerns Outlined by North Alexandria Residents Coalition

The City of Alexandria has sent a letter to the newly formed North Alexandria Residents Coalition refuting claims that problematic public housing neighbors have caused crimes to increase and their houses’ values to decrease, among other things.

The letter to coalition lead Jennifer Smith from Acting City Manager Bruce Johnson also outlined that the city wishes to “make our entire community an inclusive, safe and enjoyable and peaceful places to live” but the task “has been made more difficult in your neighborhood as recent events have led to an increasing polarization between some residents.” 

The coalition had expressed concerns published in a newspaper article that residents of Chatham Square have been experiencing a “growing sense of lawlessness” in their neighborhood due to a lack of good police presence and other issues.

That Alexandria Gazette Packet article prompted a July 14 meeting at Charles Houston Recreation Center organized by public housing resident Lenny Harris. He said the problem was not as severe as outlined by homeowners in Chatham Square, which is an expensive townhome community located next to the Hopkins-Tancil public housing.

The coalition was not invited to that meeting, according to the letter sent to the city from Smith, who expressed frustration that the city and the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority would put together such an exclusive meeting.

The City Manager’s Office in its Friday letter to Smith said in fact the city did not put together the meeting and “did not organize, encourage or promote” it.

The acting city manager’s letter concluded by calling for a new meeting between stakeholders in the issue.

“I hope that working together we all might be able to address the differences between neighbors that have arisen...We believe the best mechanism to move forward would be to have the Chatham Square Work Group expanded to include representatives from Hopkins/Tancil. However, if a larger, new group composed of representatives from your group, the North Alexandria Residents Council (sic), and those who met on July 14 needs to be formed, city staff would be willing to participate in such a joint effort as well.”

The city also on Friday sent along to Smith an editorial by Alexandria Police Chief Earl Cook published in the Gazette Packet on July 14 explaining that his department's data do not show an increase in crime in the area during the last three years, and some real estate data showing home values have not decreased.