[Archived] Alexandria City Council and Arlington County Board to Hold Joint October 1 Meeting on Inclusive Growth

­­For Immediate Release: September 26, 2019

Building on the two localities’ collaborative success in recruiting unprecedented new investments in National Landing, the Alexandria City Council and the Arlington County Board will hold a joint meeting on Tuesday, October 1, to discuss the development of a formal framework to continue working together on key policy issues that support inclusive growth. The goal is to ensure that benefits from the new Amazon HQ2 facilities, Virginia Tech Innovation Campus and George Mason School of Computing will be inclusive and will serve the entire community. The meeting will be held from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., at Gunston Community Center (2700 S. Lang St.), in Arlington. The meeting will be open to the public, but will not include public comment.

“The exciting National Landing announcement last fall was a starting line, not a finish line,” said Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson. “This opportunity calls for new policy approaches, more formalized collaboration between our jurisdictions, and a sense of urgency to make sure the growth we anticipate is inclusive and benefits our diverse communities for generations to come.”

“Amazon’s HQ2, coupled with the Commonwealth’s significant new investments in transportation and affordable housing, represent unprecedented opportunities and challenges for both Arlington and Alexandria,” said Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey. “It requires unprecedented cooperation between our two communities to ensure that the benefits do not accrue only to a few, while the many cope with the challenges.”

As explained in a memorandum from Mayor Wilson and Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey, Alexandria and Arlington aim to develop a structure that would not only facilitate future work together, but also leverage federal, state, nonprofit and foundation resources. A joint entity could include civic leaders, policy experts and stakeholders in both jurisdictions, and could focus on key policy areas such as housing affordability; workforce development; P-12 education; transportation and mobility; and assistance to small, women-owned and minority-owned businesses. Although the localities’ elected officials and staff already work together daily on many programs and infrastructure projects, Alexandria and Arlington leaders now hope to embark on a new level of regional collaboration.

For media inquiries, contact Andrea Blackford, Senior Communications Officer, at andrea.blackford@alexandriava.gov or 703.746.3959.

For reasonable disability accommodation, email kjacobs@arlingtonva.us or call 703.228.3167, Virginia Relay 711.