Alexandria Democrats have a long history of insurrection. Back in 1985, longtime Mayor Chuck Beatley was unseated after a messy primary fight that split the party into warring factions. A young vice mayor by the name of Jim Moran won that election, serving five years at City Hall before moving on to decades in Congress. Then in 2015, longtime Mayor Bill Euille was unseated after a messy primary fight that split the party into three warring factions, one of which was led by former Mayor Kerry Donley. Euille and Donley ended up campaigning to the same group of pro-development voters, allowing for the insurgent Vice Mayor Allison Silberberg to unseat Euille and take the top spot.
Now it’s happening again.
Vice Mayor Justin Wilson is challenging incumbent Mayor Allison Silberberg in the Democratic primary this June. But this isn’t necessarily the rise of a new insurgent wing of the party. It’s more like the Empire Strikes Back. Euille and Donley have both endorsed Wilson, who represents the kind of development agenda that is now transforming the Old Town waterfront. Silberberg got her start in city politics by campaigning for City Council to oppose the waterfront plan, which she said was too dense and ultimately not ready for prime time. She won that election and ultimately cast a vote against the plan.
“Like tribes everywhere, the Alexandria Democrats have opposing factions,” says Frank Shafroth, a George Mason professor with a long history in Alexandria politics. “There’s the Old Town tribe, which says don’t touch Old Town because we want it the way it looked in the 1700s. And then there are lots of young people who don’t live in Old Town who want it very different.”
Silberberg found herself in the minority on that vote against the waterfront plan, a zoning change that is now transforming Old Town. And that’s not the only time she’s been on the dissenting side of an issue. Since she unseated Euille in 2015, Silberberg has found herself in the awkward position of leading the council while also being its chief separatist. When other council members wanted parking maximums, she was arguing for parking minimums. When the rest of City Council was supporting a senior-care center, Silberberg sided with neighbors who were uncomfortable with the proposal. When Wilson proposed the largest tax increase in living memory, Silberberg voted against the budget.
“Rather than exercising leadership, the mayor just voted no,” says Wilson. “No is not a plan. No is not a vision.”
Silberberg says her vision for the city is a “Livable Alexandria,” which has become a kind of campaign slogan for her this year. Her approach to government has been frustrating to some, especially the long and meandering public hearings where she would pepper each speaker with questions. After several marathon tell-all sessions, council members took action to restrict when members of the public were given an open mic. Critics say her frequent votes against the majority are an indication that she has failed to build coalitions. When asked about that criticism, Silberberg turned the question around.
“I build coalitions with the people of the city,” says Silberberg. “City Hall should never be separate from the people. City Hall is the people.”
Silberberg is cerebral and meandering. A native of Dallas, she came to Alexandria after grad school and never left. For most of that time she was involved in official Washington, although she took a few detours to write an episode of the TV show Mama’s Family and author an inspirational book titled Visionaries in Our Midst. The contentious debate over the waterfront plan dragged her into Alexandria politics six years ago and ever since she’s remained close to the faction of the Democratic Party that’s critical of development. Talking to her is kind of like walking in the woods and realizing that you’ve lost track of the trail. You’ll take stock of your surroundings and you may even breathe easier. But you’ll wonder how you got there and if you’ll ever get back.
“I want to continue to pursue thoughtful, appropriate development that fits in and is to scale,” says Silberberg. “I will always continue to protect our neighborhoods because we are a city of great neighborhoods.”
Wilson is swift and direct. A native of Springfield, he became involved in the Del Ray Citizens Association 17 years ago—before he even graduated college. He was first elected to City Council in a 2007 special election against Republican Bill Cleveland. During that campaign, Cleveland said his favorite book was the Bible; Wilson said his favorite book was the “Fiscal Year 2008 Alexandria Budget.” Talking to Wilson is like playing a video game on triple speed. You’ll be hit with so many statistics and details that you’ll find yourself gasping for air. When you recover, you’ll find yourself questioning your assumptions.
“We need to go in a different direction,” says Wilson. “I’ve prioritized infrastructure investment and that’s an area where the mayor and I disagree. She voted no repeatedly on those investments.”
Ultimately, voters will be facing a stark choice—and not just in the two wildly divergent personalities of the candidates. They’ll have candidates on the opposite sides of some of the biggest issues facing the city. Silberberg questions the size and scale of development. Wilson supports the kind of development that was the hallmark of the Donley and Euille era. Silberberg wants to make sure new development has a minimum number of parking spaces. Wilson wants to set a maximum number of parking spaces. Although she lives in Parkfairfax, Silberberg’s political base is in Old Town. Wilson built his machine from Del Ray, a group some refer to as the “Del Ray Mafia.”
“I would describe it as, to a great extent, Old Town versus the rest of Alexandria,” says Shafroth. “The mayor is very involved with Old Town folks who have been there a long time and want it to be that colonial city forever. And then you have [Wilson], who seems to work 34 hours a day and is constantly thinking where do we want to be 20 years from now and how are we going to get there?”
(May 2018)
