PRSRT STD U.S. Postage PAID Alexandria, VA Alexandria Permit #482 Gazette Packet Attention Postmaster: Time-sensitive material. Address Service Requested To: 1604 King St., Alexandria, VA 22314 25 Cents Vol. CCXXIV, No. 44 Serving Alexandria for over 200 years • A Connection Newspaper October 30, 2008 Missing Officer Found Officer’s body discovered 100 feet from last known sighting during Krafft/Gazette by Louise Photo training exercise. By Derek B. Johnson Gazette Packet he body of 2nd Lt. Frank Stecco of the Fairfax County Police was Tdiscovered Saturday, Oct. 25 in Pohick Bay. Stecco, 42, went missing four days earlier on Tuesday, Oct. Judging Energy Sources 21 while participating in a helicopter res- Co-founder of the bio-tour Alan Palm talks to a group of high school students about alternative energy cue exercise at Pohick Bay Regional Park. sources and the math involved in determining if the alternative source provides more energy than it takes Drowning was listed as the cause of death. to create it. On Monday, more than 150 students from 26 area schools convened at St. Stephen’s & St. According to a Fairfax County Police re- Agnes School for a sustainability conference organized by the school. The event kicked off with a letter of lease, Stecco’s body was found approxi- support from The Honorable Al Gore and a proclamation from Mayor William D. Euille in behalf of the mately 100 feet away from where he was City of Alexandria. Keynote speaker Mike Tidwell of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network praised the last seen before disappearing. The exercise, intent of the conference and encouraged the participants, saying, “We are starved for student leaders. conducted by the Fairfax County Police De- Students need to be at the center of this issue.” partment, was designed to coordinate simu- lated rescues between boats and aircraft for potential victims of boating accidents. At Declining revenues collide with approximately 2:47 p.m., Stecco was re- ported missing. A $45 Million Hole increased cost of doing business. Air, water and ground search teams were dispatched to locate the officer once he went Michael Lee Pope cies will not be filled. City officials will even collect about $5 million less than last missing. For four days, police and fire de- Gazette Packet slash $31,000 out of the budget to go after year because the value of automobiles partment boats, helicopters and personnel delinquent taxpayers. Last weekend, City is dropping. State-funding levels are from Fairfax County, Alexandria City or city budget officials, the concept Manager Jim Hartmann presented City expected to go down for warehous- combed Pohick Bay and Pohick Regional of a “status quo” budget is an impor- Council members with a list of $10 million ing federal prisoners at the city jail, Park, with technical assistance from the U.S. F tant benchmark to make judgements worth of cuts to the current operating bud- and money that would have other- Coast Guard and Federal Bureau of Investi- about next year’s funding levels. But time get. Making those gation. Canines trained to detect human does not stand still, and next year’s budget same cuts to the scent scanned the grounds. is likely to be unlike anything experienced “status quo” budget “We may have to look at increasing the It is unclear at this time what role Stecco in recent memory because of the worldwide for next year had was playing in the exercise, as well as financial crisis and a housing market that been estimated at average tax bill at the rate of inflation.” whether he was on a boat or in the water. has tanked. So the “status quo budget” $20 million. But — Councilman Tim Lovain He was wearing a dry suit designed for cold- looms like a ghost from a more lucrative making the same water temperatures at the time of the exer- era haunting City Hall — a recurring night- cuts to next year’s budget that have already wise been collected from recordation cise. He was not wearing a breathing appa- mare that will grow more gruesome as bud- been made to the current budget brings the taxes will freeze up as a result of a ratus and police department spokesperson get cuts slash city services. additional money needed down to $10 mil- housing market that has become well Tawny Wright said his role did not require Already services have been reduced for lion. chilled. Adding together the $35 mil- one. senior citizens and the homeless. The Po- Meanwhile, revenues are vanishing. lion revenue shortfall with the $10 The incident is under investigation by the lice Department has cut back on spending Declining property values are expected to million needed for what budget offi- Fairfax County Police Department, which is levels for its Domestic Violence Unit. DASH yield about $23 million less than last year. cials are now calling the “modified not releasing any further details at this time. buses will reduce service. Leaf collection With the automobile industry in crisis, city status quo” is a simple equation. Yet See Missing, Page 7 will be rolled back. More than 100 vacan- budget officials are estimating they will See Difficult, Page 3 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com Alexandria Gazette Packet ❖ October 30 - November 5, 2008 ❖ 1 2 ❖ Alexandria Gazette Packet ❖ October 30 - November 5, 2008 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com Council Notebook News Downside Risk Unemployment in Alexandria is at the highest level in four years, although the city’s rate of 3 percent is significantly lower than Virginia and national standards. Meanwhile the city’s of- fice vacancy rate has spiked to 7 percent, relatively high for Alexandria but lower than the Northern Virginia office-vacancy rate of 13 percent. With the financial system in a period of tur- bulence more severe than at any time since the 1930s, city gov- ernment is trying to adapt to dwindling revenues by identifying efficiencies and slashing services. In his monthly financial re- port to City Council members Tuesday night, City Manager Jim Hartmann explained how the crisis is taking hold in the city. “The U.S. is most likely already in a recession,” Hartmann explained in a memorandum outlining the city’s financial situa- tion. “One manifestation of weakness in the real-estate market is an increase in the foreclosure rate compared to previous years.” According to the Department of Real Estate Assessments, the number of foreclosures in Alexandria rose from 72 during the first eight months of 2007 to 227 in the first eight months of 2008. City officials are quick to point out that Alexandria’s fore- closure rate of one out of every 1,204 properties in August is far less than Fairfax County’s rate of one out of every 306 proper- ties or Prince William County’s rate of one out of every 95 prop- Graph by Stu Moll/Gazette Packet erties. Nevertheless, Hartmann warned that next year’s real-es- tate assessments will decline between 5 percent and 6 percent, contributing to a $10-million shortfall of revenue. Difficult Budget Year “The extreme turbulence in the credit markets creates down- side risk to the city’s current real-estate projections,” the city From Page 1 manager explained. the sum total of the city’s shortfall is a staggering Get Involved figure: City Council members will need to find about The City Council will hold a public hearing on the bud- $45 million worth of additional revenue just to main- get for fiscal year 2010 at 7 p.m. on Oct. 30. The hearing Following the Money tain current operations. will take place in the council chambers at City Hall, lo- The nexus between money and power is as old as politics. But “There will be significant service reductions on the cated at 301 King Street. A community meeting on the horizon,” said Budget Director Bruce Johnson. “The capital-improvement program is also scheduled for Nov. following the money has always presented a challenge at City 6 at 6 p.m. at the Lee Center Exhibit Hall, 1108 Jefferson Hall, where developers bring projects before elected leaders who only thing that would avoid that is if council were Street. For more information, call 703-838-4500. make a final judgment call. Is it possible that an investor in a to raise the tax rate significantly.” project before City Council made a campaign contribution? Do City Council members have a financial interest in a project? Un- DURING THE FIRST five years of this decade, the cult enough without adding more to the shortfall by der current disclosure rules, financial ties between elected lead- average residential tax bill doubled from $2,000 to raising salaries. Elected leaders say it’s too soon to ers and developers remain unknown. $4,000. After Hartmann began his new role as city know for sure if a cost-of-living adjustment is out- But all that might change next year. manager in 2005, the bills continued to rise, but the side the realm of possibility. During a discussion of the city government’s legislative packet, rate of growth became less pronounced. Budget of- “Nothing is outside of the realm of possibility,” said a list of items for the municipal lobbyist to advocate during the ficials say all that’s changed. Now the city’s num- Vice Mayor Del Pepper. “But I must say that the bud- General Assembly session next year, three councilmen introduced ber-crunchers must adopt a new mindset in which get situation isn’t looking too bright right now.” a set of charter amendments they say would create better dis- services will be slashed even as taxpayers kick in City officials are quick to point out that Alexandria closure.