Remarks to the City of Alexandria, VA. Mayor and City Council on the FY 2012 Budget

Remarks to the City of Alexandria, VA. Mayor and City Council on the FY 2012 Budget

J. Glenn Eugster, 4022 Ellicott Street, Alexandria, Virginia

I have followed the discussions about Fort Ward Park closely the last four years. I have read the Fort Ward Advisory Group Report and noted that the members unanimously approved the recommendations and they set priorities for action in the Executive Summary. I support the report and the priority recommendations that were made. I urge you to adopt and implement the Fort Ward Park Report by taking the following actions:

1. Provide FY 2012 funds to continue, if not complete, the historical and archaeological research, for the park.

2. Provide FY 2012 funds to take short-term, low-cost and low-impact stormwater management measures to stop the runoff from parkland that is desecrating the graves and gravestones of the Oakland Baptist Church Cemetery and other African Americans buried in the park.

3. Provide FY 2012 funds to do pre-planning work for the Fort Ward Park Master Plan and Stormwater Plan so that when the historical and archaeological research has been completed these important efforts can be undertaken without further delays.

4. Appoint an interim commission or advisory group to observe the progress being made by the Departments of Recreation, Transportation & Environmental Services, and the Office of Historic Alexandria to implement the plan recommendations and provide public input, access and information to discussions about these actions.

Why should this effort be funded in the FY 2012 budget? The park has suffered from bad management decisions due to a lack of basic park planning, competing interests within City government, and a disrespectful attitude on the part of Recreation Department managers and staff toward people in the community. In some cases these decisions have ignored City and Commonwealth regulations. In other cases these decisions have desecrated people’s graves and adversely impacted adjacent homeowners.

The Fort Ward Report, as well as the February 5, 2011 report on Archeological Investigations at Fort Ward Historical Park by the contractor for the City, gives you facts to move forward to solve these long-standing problems. I urge you to act, now that you know. Please don’t turn your head away from what needs to be done.

(The estimated cost for these four actions is $300,000. These monies can be included in FY 2012 budget by postponing other less important initiatives.)