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biba.fail
Bring Insanity Back to Alexandria!
@biba.fail
120 followers 1 following 100 posts
BIBA stands as an unyielding fortress of like-minded Alexandria residents who've had enough of modern nonsense eroding our once pristine neighborhoods. On Facebook, we are the last line of defense against reckless city policies and frivolous developments!
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biba.fail
Why on earth was the elimination of exclusionary zoning which prevented one-third of Alexandria from housing more than one single family per plot coupled with the issue of affordable housing?

Restricting the housing supply has got NOTHING to do with housing affordability!
Leslie Hagan Did anyone else wonder why on earth the issue of affordable housing was coupled with the issue of destroying single family home zoning? The two issues have absolutely no relation to each other. Last night's vote had NOTHING to do with any solution over affordable housing whatsoever. It was all about delivering single family home zoning into the clutches of developers. I have been asking this question of the pairing of the two issues from the get go. Why was this pairing not stopped the instant it was brought up?
November 30, 2023 at 2:21 PM
biba.fail
Why does the City Council feel that everyone should be able to live in Alexandria?

The City needs to fix our existing problems (like people trying to live in Alexandria) before creating new ones (like allowing people to live in Alexandria)!
James S. Schonberger Here is the question...why does the City Council feel that everyone (social economically speaking) should be able to live in Alexandria? Not everyone can afford to live in Beverly Hills (CA), or Manhattan, or San Francisco; Not everyone can afford a Rolls Royce or Bentley, or even a Benz. If the City wants its employees to be able to live in Alexandria...pay them more; or provide housing to them as some colleges and universities do. The City owns plenty of houses and can allocate some of them to teachers or other public service personnel. This is not an inexpensive place to live, and once again, our 100% democrat filled council has led us down a path that will only bring congestion and higher taxes to all. The land/houses will be sold at a premium to the developers, materials are expensive, and the wages being paid to the crews will all amount to higher sales prices and rents which the demographic the
November 30, 2023 at 2:17 PM
biba.fail
I oppose Zoning For Housing because it doesn't make housing affordable according to the rule that my silent generation parents used to buy their first house!

And besides, these 25-35 year olds *don't even like home ownership*! If they did, then why are they all in apartments?!

(Filthy transients.)
Chuck Raasch Some parts of that package are good. The fact that they couldn’t or wouldn’t break out the more controversial ones for separate votes was disappointing. Two new things of note: private rooftop terraces are now to be considered “open space.” And $800,000 townhouses are to be considered “affordable” James S. Schonberger Author Chuck Raasch SO let's assume (I wish there was a better word) the median income for a 2 person household is $150K (in 2021 the median was $101,162 according to the census - so I'm being very generous), under the way I was taught to buy a house is to use 2.5x your gross income; so, at best, this couple can afford a home (of some sort) that sells for $375,000 (maybe more with a solid down payment)...good luck doing that in Alexandria if $800k is considered affordable. Also, let's consider that the 25 - 35 year olds are not into home ownership, and we will have a city of renters with no skin in the game when it comes to how t
November 29, 2023 at 10:44 PM
biba.fail
The YIMBYs are far-left! And also funded by the Koch brothers and Peter Thiel!

This is an internally consistent world view!
Dan McLaughlin How does a controversial plan which has the potential to upend the essential character of the city, pass unanimously, yet is opposed by nearly 80% of the citizenry? It's because the other 10% or so is organized and well funded. The present government system richly rewards those inside players, and not one councilor or mayoral candidate is jeopardized by their vote, and they know that. Political ly speaking this was a no brainier for them. Keeps the far left happy for now, because you can never ultimately please them. Reap $ from the building trades and developers, and then get reelected. Like it or loathe it , that's our system. Vineeta Anand Dan McLaughlin The YIMBYS are funded by the Koch Brothers, and by Peter Thiel. Hardly far left.
November 29, 2023 at 10:04 PM
biba.fail
Smug lonely transient YIMBYs "celebrating". Total clowns!
Devon Runyan Wells Admin The Yimbys “celebrating.” Karen Johnson they have been gloating all day and of course making fun of the opposition -- the usual stuff, they are very smug. Chris N. Weymont $20 says those 4 dudes end up moving in the next few years. It’s the way of the YIMBY. M Sue Reid IF they even live in Alexandria now! Vineeta Anand Right. Keith Reynolds Admin Total clowns - I’m looking to buy a few houses on Aspen and Ellicott Phil Cefaratti If it was such a mandate with overwhelming support by us commonfolk, why are they there by themselves?
November 29, 2023 at 9:46 PM
biba.fail
I demand Sleepy Aguirre send me the first text message!
Bill Rossello Author Admin Shouldn't Aguirre have reached out to CLA? Who represents who? Kathy Bond McAfee Was so sad to watch the well rehearsed statements by McPike. Aguirre saying association mater and he was disappointed that CLA did not reach out to him🙄 Sandra Nance Putzu Kathy Bond McAfee Pretty sure he was asleep.
November 29, 2023 at 4:31 PM
biba.fail
The herd just fell in line behind one openly corrupt sociopath with immense political ambitions!
Mark Williams Council does NOT actually believe that anyone should be able to live in Alexandria. That implication was an intentionally misleading message from Council, intended to blunt opposition to ZFH by making it seem like a harmless public-benefit policy. In fact, Council was simply falling in line behind the Mayor’s position, which favors ZFH because of political and financial advantages that he personally will derive from ZFH. Look and listen carefully to the tape of the meeting: in discussions and Q&A with City staff, not one single Council member was able to accurately capture the substantive content of the legislation. Staff did state quite plainly that ZFH will not, as proposed and drafted, actually reduce the delivered price of rental housing. And indeed it will not. But at least three members of Council repeated claims that the purpose and/or effect will be lowering prices, which simply will not happen. Council has no actual belief that any real benefit will be derived fr
November 29, 2023 at 4:28 PM
biba.fail
Put on your law suits everybody, it's lawyerin' time!
Cara Burke Literally anyone who just went from SFH zoning (so, no one in Old Town, for instance) to . . . This, can claim harm/damages. Looks like the Arlington judge agreed with this calculation of harm. Per the Arlington case (different jurisdiction, but the legal reasoning is sound), there is no need to wait until a SFH is knocked down to claim damages and file suit
November 29, 2023 at 2:01 PM
biba.fail
If at first you don't succeed, flip the table!
Theodore Roach Why don't we vote for our city council by ward? John W. McCauley For the folks that believe there should be a “Ward System”, I agree 100% and suggested it on this page. Unfortunately, I got attacked by members, “Oh you want to screw things up like in DC.” No, I just want accountability and my votes on council persons to mean something other than “At Large”. 📸 Look at this post on Facebook (Link to "Neighborhood WARDS Alexandria!" Facebook group.) Annetta Michelle Catchings This was a great viewing. Loved how Scott started the discussion by giving a detailed history of the evolution of elections in Alexandria. How it went from Wards, to a hybrid to At Large. Michael Mabach was easy on the ear in explaining just how Democratic the Ward system is and how it gives each District better representation. And was he ever on point when he said the At Large system that allows Democrats to keep its stranglehold over the citizens in Alexandria is in fact a form of Tyranny!!!! “When the people fear the government there is tyranny. When the government fears The People there is liberty.” This Democratic one Party Rule system in Alexandria fears NOTHING & NO ONE! But we do fear what IT will usher in next. I do wonder how it is that Darrllynn Franklin can sit as President of the NAACP and have no recollection or knowledge of the organisation’s opposition to At Large systems of government. I suppose that’s why she began her statement with “in my
November 29, 2023 at 1:53 PM
biba.fail
They have no backbone and cannot be trusted!!!
Kathy Bond McAfee Vineeta Anand I agree with you! I know that Chapman and Jackson talked the talk. That is why they were left off!Bottom line they voted for it! They have all lost my vote. I have no confidence in them at all! Vineeta Anand Kathy Bond McAfee Chapman and Jackson always talk the talk. But when it comes to acting, they always vote with the pack. Kathy Bond McAfee Vineeta Anand Which means they have no backbone and cannot be trusted!!! Anna Maria Hollis Vineeta Anand, Amy Jackson loves being Vice Mayor. She must have made a pact with Wilson just like the others. They vote in tandem.
November 29, 2023 at 1:44 PM
biba.fail
You called?
Bill Rossello Admin The Democrats Here No Longer Represent... The Democrats Here! ...or anyone else except the developer ecosystem, the few hyper-progressives, the socialists, and the special interests. (Picture of anti-zoning reform sign, but language changed to "🚫 Gaskins, Aguirre, McPike & Bagley. Vote Them Out! Save Our Neighborhoods from Overdevelopment") Vineeta Anand Also Chapman, Jackson and Wilson.
November 29, 2023 at 1:01 PM
biba.fail
Justin Wilson hoodwinks everyone once again!
Mark Williams The baseline questions from Council were largely pre-drafted by City staff. Staff offered minimal, predictable, talking-points-only responses to those questions. The surprise questions from Council that followed each segment appeared to catch Staff entirely off guard. Staff had to cross-refer slices of the questions to each other. Many of the answers were plainly factually inaccurate. Both Council and Staff made it clear that they fundamentally do not understand what Wilson is directing.
November 29, 2023 at 5:37 AM
biba.fail
Give me what I want or I'll sue!
November 29, 2023 at 5:07 AM
biba.fail
Bagley's dangerous thought patterns will destroy the environment!
November 29, 2023 at 5:03 AM
biba.fail
Such nauseating drama from radical leftist Mr. YIMBY McPike!
November 29, 2023 at 4:39 AM
biba.fail
He's mansplaining!
Sandy Modell Go Amy! Here's Justin. Bullying Amy. Sandy Modell Mansplaining.
November 29, 2023 at 4:38 AM
biba.fail
What a MESS!

Extremely SLOPPY.

OUTRAGEOUS
Tom Kopko Watching the City Council discussion at 9:32 PM attempt to grapple with the complexity of ZFH. It is apparent they are all confused. I also perceive that Council told staff to come up with a plan, and staff is now trying to describe what they've come up with. What a MESS! Extremely SLOPPY. Residents are not the only ones who need more time to understand this. Council itself actually has very little idea what they're voting on, as a result. Council is learning as they go this very evening. How can they possibly fully understand the implications, let alone citizens understand them? AND they're going to vote on it tonight, too?! OUTRAGEOUS if they do. Tom KopkoAuthor I think just 1 Council member would break this in a "The Emperor Has No Clothes" moment. Just 1 member needs to say, "Colleagues, we are just not ready to vote on something of this magnitude. I will not at this time. None of us should at this time."
November 29, 2023 at 2:59 AM
biba.fail
Too many "Alexandria" voters are just passing through!

Only the landed gentry should be given the franchise!
Bill Rossello Admin It was 2 on 1 for most of the forum. Michael C. Maibach did a great job addressing the many ways in which our election system in Alexandria promotes uninformed voting, often by people who could care less about Alexandria. Most are just passing through, notwithstanding what the historian said. Michael C. Maibach Bill Rossello thanks Bill! 🇺🇸
November 28, 2023 at 11:11 PM
biba.fail
Where are the chain gangs to clean up the filth?!

Thanks, Justin!!1
Celianna Neifert Sienkiewicz I am always complaining about the filth. Don’t we have chain gangs? How about those on probation? How about sweeping the streets v in school suspension? On another note… My kid bought a new car… driving last night she winced at every bump in the road… I just kept saying, “thanks, Justin.” And yet… property taxes are outrageous. Bill Bavin Celianna Neifert Sienkiewicz but those bike lanes are so smooooth. Lots of leaf piles covering them, though.
November 26, 2023 at 11:41 PM
biba.fail
We gathered together yesterday to make the bold statement that Zoning For Housing will not correct the injustices of a more than a century of racist housing policy.

Look at this diverse group of local residents who say so!
Old white people. More old white people. Yet more old white people. Holding a normally-sized sign that still looks too heavy for her and says "NO 🚫!!! ZONING CHANGES KEEP ALEXANDRIA LIVABLE!", quite possibly the oldest and whitest person in any of these pictures.
November 26, 2023 at 11:38 PM
biba.fail
The Mayor forwarding a link to an article with the comment "FYI" is far beyond the worst I had imagined and I had imagined some rather bad things.
Leslie Hagan All of the contact between Council members and developers sounds almost criminal. I am NOT accusing anyone of anything but this is far beyond the worst I had imagined and I had imagined some rather bad things.
November 25, 2023 at 3:30 AM
biba.fail
I'm being attacked by scruffy young men!
Chuck Raasch That attack on the Liveable group is reminiscent of how neighborhood associations were attacked by bike lobbyists in messages to council members before the Seminary Road vote. Bill Rossello Admin Chuck Raasch They did it this time too along with YIMBY group of scruffy young men.
November 24, 2023 at 4:07 AM
biba.fail
If the wicked Council passes these zoning changes, the value of all the improvements to my land will immediately be worthless!

I won't be able to sell my $1.5 million home to fund my retirement somewhere else where I won't have to suffer the consequences of my voting!
Bill Bavin Out of curiosity, how does the City plan to weather the impending shortfall in property tax receipts? If they pass the zoning change, the value of all improvements on current single family zoned properties arguably lose 100% of their appraised value. Any increase in land value won’t offset the loss. New development won’t occur fast enough to make it up. Increasing taxes will retard new development. We could cut school spending, but the schools are already a hot mess. We could cut law enforcement, but there’s not much to cut. Fire department? It’s gonna be a hell of a fiscal train wreck. Probably cost us our AAA rating. Susan Susan They’ll tax us until we have to sell our homes to a multi-tenant developer Leslie Hagan So all of us will lose ALL of the equity we have been counting on for our futures and the futures of our families. I have been warning Council about this since they announced this plan. Not one Council member has replied. Every penny I have assumed I
November 24, 2023 at 4:00 AM
biba.fail
The YIMBYs aren't real Alexandrians like us! They're just a conservative billionaire libertarians conspiracy!

(Please ignore that the Coalition for a Livable Alexandria used a Koch group to find participants for our anti-ZFH survey.)
Chuck RaaschAuthor Per the Alexandria Times piece on the YIMBY access to a couple of council members: is it possible they don’t know about the group’s national funding, and the right-wing, libertarian background of the local leader? Jennifer Rohrbach Chuck Raasch Oh they know. The mayor once said something to the effect of, “it’s the one thing the Governor and I agree on.” Bruce Brown Jennifer Rohrbach one of the interesting things about this whole issue is that a very liberal Mayor and Council are pushing an idea that something conservative billionaire libertarians would like. Vineeta Anand Chuck Raasch Perhaps they choose not to acknowledge it? Leslie Hagan Chuck Raasch oh, they probably know but since YIMBY ideas are what they want to inflict on us, they don't care and like the money that is probably going to fund their next campaigns. Missed the article in the Alexandria Times.
November 22, 2023 at 12:52 PM
biba.fail
I don't understand how people with money and land could support a change in policy to help people who don't have money and land.

What have they drunk?
Vineeta Anand: I don't understand YIMBYs. A young DINK (double income no kids) couple a few doors down from me paid $1.8 million for this house last year. And they're complaining about housing? Their families helped them buy this house that has a wonderful mother-in-law's suite in the basement, which is now the playground for their dog. They have two cars, get milk delivered to their home, and seem quite comfortable. They could've paid about half that and bought a nice semidetached. But no they wanted to live in a SFH. The young family across the street from me also lives in a SFH with a large yard. Yet when I tried to give the wife a Coalition flyer she said they support the proposal. What have they drunk?
November 22, 2023 at 3:42 AM