May the Schwartz be with you
May the Schwartz be with you - destroying wetlands, creating “Tyson’s on the Potomac”!
Water protection hearing was just another disgrace for Alexandria City...
Alexandria City Mayor Justin “Scooter” Wilson, ex-Councilman Paul Smedberg, Canek Aguirre, Ex- Mayor Donley and City Manager Mark Jinks conspired with development villain/ attorney Stewart Schwartz, Founder and Executive Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth to destroy parks/wetlands to turn Alexandria City Waterfront into “Tysons on the Potomac”.
This group’s latest effort to pave the last remaining land in Alexandria City, ignoring the will of the public, dismissing 'all' citizen comments and science at the hearing, choosing instead to build the Potomac Yard Metro Rail Station on park/wetlands. The City had the option of 4 locations to place the new metro station. The City chose the only option that builds on wetlands. This is the City that has presided over ever increasing Alexandria Waterfront and George Washington Parkway floods, and the dumping of tons of gallons of raw sewage into the Potomac river (FOIA Fecal count on city floodwaters pending).
At the hearing, The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ) hearing representative delivered the bad news that the City will be responsible for flood remediation at the metro site. Why not, the City has done such a great job on the often flooded City Waterfront.
Where is the Sierra Club and other concerned groups? Saving the rainforest? How about our own backyard.
At the recent Virginia Water Protection (VWP) Public Hearing, Wilson and Jinks ignored the environmental protection goal of the hearing and gushed over the financial/ economic rewards of the controversial site selection. Arrogant city manager Mark Jinks started off his comments by proudly boasting that Alexandria City is the densest City in Virginia with an expected growth of 40% in the near future. Paul Smedberg was obviously a coordinator at the hearing, playing a role in orchestrating testimony against citizen’s environmental concerns.
Ex- City Councilman Paul Smedberg was fired by Alexandria Citizens for lying about Metro operations and turning Alexandria’s historic Waterfront into an overdeveloped, traffic congested, flooded, polluted, side show act. Smedberg was recently rewarded with a Chair on the Metro Board for his allegiance to developers and for covering (lying for) Mayor Wilson and City Manager Jinks. And where is “Eco City” Councilwoman Del Pepper been hiding? Pepper is another dinosaur council person... who has been conning citizens on the environment for too long. She will hopefully be following Smedberg out the door. You can smell her failures at the waterfront after every rain and low tide.
Interesting how Smart Growth attorney Stewart Schwartz’s head keeps popping up in controversial high density development projects. He was another character who provided testimony at the hearing, touting his usual high density BS for developers and the City. His dealings with the City are the subject of an ongoing FOIA request. Stay tuned for what is revealed....!
Signed
Another Anonymous Alexandria Citizen
If you have any relevant information, please don’t hesitate to share, with this site. Anonymity is assured.
If you care about our environment and corruption in our city, please take a moment to review highlights provided by concerned citizens.