Coming soon

Community questions and comments received over the 1.5-day event

• Accessibility
• Affordability
• Availability

• Community discussion topic
  • English
  • Spanish
• Roundtable discussion notes
  • Accessibility
  • Affordability
  • Availability

•  Monday, March 20 - Speaker Presentations
  • Alexandria's Existing and Projected Housing Need, Helen McIlvaine, Director Office of Housing
  • Zoning and Segregation in Virginia and Housing and the Economy, James Dyke, Jr., McGuire Woods Consulting
  • Alignment of Housing with All Alexandria, Jacqueline Tucker, City Race and Social Equity Officer
  • Housing for All Subcommittee Work, Nancy Williams, Assistant Director Department of Planning & Zoning
  • History of Restrictive Covenants and Land Use Zoning in Alexandria, Dr. Krystyn Moon, University of Mary Washington
• Tuesday, March 21 - Speaker Presentations
  • Zoning for Housing Components, Karl Moritz, Director Planning & Zoning
  • Role of Non-Profit Sector, Jonathan Frederick, President Housing Alexandria
  • Role of the Private Sector, Micheline Castan-Smith, Executive Vice President, Paradigm Companies
  • Role and Benefits of Good Design, John Goebel, Associate Cooper Carry
  • Regional Response to Housing, Michelle Krocker, Vice President Housing Forward VA

• 5 – 6 p.m.:  Doors Open/Exhibit and Light Refreshments 

• 6 – 7:15 p.m.:  Session: The Three A’s of Housing: Accessibility. Affordability. Availability.

  • Karl W. Moritz, Director, Department of Planning & Zoning:  Purpose and Introduction of Moderator  

  • Nathan Macek, Chair, Alexandria Planning Commission:  Moderator  

  • Helen McIlvaine, Director City’s Office of Housing:  The Status of Alexandria’s Existing and Projected Housing Need  

  • James W. Dyke, Jr. Senior Advisor, McGuireWoods Consulting:   Zoning and Segregation in Virginia and Housing and the Economy 

  • Jaqueline N. Tucker, Race and Social Equity Officer, City of Alexandria, Virginia:  Alignment of Housing with All Alexandria  

• 7:15 – 7:30 p.m.:  Questions and Answers 

• 7:30 – 7:45 p.m.: Break 

• 7:45 – 8:35. p.m.

  • Nancy J. Williams, Assistant Director, Department of Planning & Zoning: Housing for All Subcommittee Work

  • Dr. Krystyn Moon, Professor of History and American Studies, University of Mary Washington: Housing for All Documents  

• 8:35 – 8:50 p.m.:  Questions and Answers 

• 8:50 – 9:00 p.m. Closing Remarks by Moderator 

• 8 – 8:30 a.m.:  Doors Open/Exhibit and Continental Breakfast 

• 8:30 – 9:45 a.m.: Session: Achieving Alexandria’s Three A’s of Housing

  • Dr. David C. Rose, Director, Alexandria Health Department: Moderator  

  • Karl W. Moritz, Director, Department of Planning & Zoning:  Forecasting the Need: Population, Households, Jobs and Student Generation and Expansion of the Toolkit: Zoning for Housing/Housing for All  

  • Jonathan Frederick, President/CEO, Housing Alexandria:  The Role of the Non-profit Sector in Meeting the Need 

  • Micheline Castan-Smith, Executive Vice President/Senior Project Manager, Paradigm Development Corporation: The Role of the Private Sector in Meeting the Need 

• 9:45 – 10:00 a.m.: Break 

  • John Goebel, AIA, NCARB, LEED BD&C, Associate, Cooper Carry: The Role/Benefits of Good Design 

  • Ryan Freed, City’s Climate Action Officer: The Role/Benefits of Sustainability 

  • Michelle Krocker, Vice Chair, Housing Forward VA and Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority: The Role of  Innovative Policy  

• 11 – 11:30 a.m.:  Questions and Answers Period 

• 11:45 – 12:15 p.m.:  Lunch 

• 12:15 – 12:30 p.m.: Mayor Justin M. Wilson, Introductory Remarks and Introduction of Speakers: 

  • Leah Rothstein, Co-Author with Richard Rothstein of the upcoming book Just Action (sequel to Color of Law) 

  • Richard Rothstein, Author, Color of Law (Q&A) 

• 12:30 – 1:15 p.m.: Remarks: Leah Rothstein 

• 1:15 – 1:45 p.m.: Q&A; Leah and Richard Rothstein  

• 2 – 3:15 PM:  Round Table Discussions with Attendees 

• 3:15 – 3:30 PM: Break 3:30 – 4:30 PM: Report Out/Wrap Up/Next Steps 

• 4:30 – 5:15 PM: Project Managers’ Comment Stations 

• Full event program

Karl Moritz is the Director of the City's Department of Planning & Zoning, leading a team of professionals who (1) prepare long range plans to future development and the provision of public facilities and (2) review development proposals to maximize consistency with City policies (including historic preservation goals) and to maximize public benefit. Major planning issues include: ensuring equity in the planning process, in planning policies, and in land use outcomes; addressing the climate crisis; integrating land use and transportation (particularly transit, pedestrian and bike); zoning reform; maximizing new development’s preservation/creation of affordable housing; planning for successful retail; parking, and continually broadening civic engagement.

Related to this work is the function conducted by the department relative to forecasts, namely population, households, and jobs which it does in collaboration with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.  Additionally, the department conducts forecasts for student generation in collaboration with the Alexandria City Public Schools; such forecasts are among important aspects of current and long-range planning,  

Mr. Moritz joined the staff in 2008 and has a Bachelor of Geography Degree from Johns Hopkins University and a Master of Urban and Environmental Planning from the University of Virginia. 

Nathan Macek, AICP, has been an active participant in Alexandria City government, working to create a more vibrant and livable city. He is Chair of the Alexandria Planning Commission and Vice Chair of the Alexandria Waterfront Commission, and has advised waterfront planning, development parking standards, parking policy, signage policy, and numerous small area plans.  

He is Director of Infrastructure Finance at HDR, a global architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) services firm. He has more than 22 years of experience applying innovative approaches to budgetary challenges faced by public agencies. He has developed financial models to evaluate funding, alternative project delivery and financing for rail, transit and highway projects in the U.S., Europe, Caribbean and Middle East.  

Mr. Macek has a Master of Regional Planning Degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Bachelor of Political Economy from Michigan State University. He lives in the Rosemont section of Alexandria with his wife and two young children.  

Helen McIlvaine has been Housing Director for the City of Alexandria since 2015; she was Deputy Director from 2006-2014. As Director, Ms. McIlvaine leads implementation of Alexandria’s Housing Master Plan and the Regional Housing Initiative (including a cumulative target of 4,250 new units of affordable housing by 2030), supports city-wide planning and engagement initiatives to increase the preservation and production of affordable housing and empower its residents, and works with non-profit and private developers, as well as with the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority (ARHA), to structure and finance mixed-use, mixed-income and mixed-ability rental and ownership projects.  

In 2018, Helen was recognized by the Center for Non-profit Advancement with its Phyllis Campbell Newsome Public Policy Leadership Award for her commitment to the NoVA non-profit community. In 2019, Ms. McIlvaine's work leading the Northern Virginia Housing and Economic Stakeholders’ Collaboration (formed in anticipation of the region’s response to Amazon’s HQ2 RFP) was awarded the Virginia Housing Award for Best Regional Partnership at the Governor’s Housing Conference. She received a 2020 Regional Housing Leader award from the Northern Virginia Affordable Housing Alliance.

James W. Dyke, Jr.’s broad practice covers corporate, legislative, education, governmental relations, economic development and municipal law. He previously served as Virginia's Secretary of Education under former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, and as domestic policy advisor to former Vice President Walter Mondale. 

He has served or is serving on various commissions and committees including the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia (SCHEV), the Commission to Restructure Virginia's Tax Structure, the Board of Directors of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, the Board of Directors for the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education, Chairman of the Compensation Board, the Governor’s Commission on Economic Development and Job Creation (VA), the Governor’s Independent Bipartisan Advisory Commission on Redistricting (VA), and as chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University of the District of Columbia. 

Mr. Dyke has been included in Washingtonian magazine's list of "150 Most Powerful People" in the Washington region. He has also been named eight times by Virginia Business Magazine as one of the “50 Most Influential Virginians.” He was named by Washington Business Journal as the “Best Networker” in the region and as a Minority Business Leader Honoree. He won the J. Michael Brown award from DuPont for his accomplishments in diversity, recruiting and mentoring in the legal profession and he received the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce "Lifetime Achievement Award."   

He has and continues to play a critical role in the McGuireWoods’ Zoning and Segregation Work Group, speaking across the state on Parts I and II of their Zoning and Segregation in Virginia documents.  

Jaqueline N. Tucker, bar-certified attorney, and former educator who witnessed the injustices of systemic inequity firsthand in her Houston, Texas classroom is Alexandria’s first Race and Social Equity Officer. She is an innovative and compassionate servant leader with a heart for civic engagement, community uplift, law, policy, and inclusive multi-racial democracy. 

In her first three years, Ms. Tucker and the City have taken firm steps to solidify their commitment to Race and Social Equity. The Alexandria City Council passed the All Alexandria Resolution No. 2974 in February of 2021 affirming and guiding the City’s commitment to Race and Social Equity.

She has led collaborations with City departments, employees, community members and other stakeholders to help Alexandria become a more equitable community. Some of the most notable policy changes to take effect are the ending of library fines and fees, free DASH public transportation and the launch of Alexandria’s guaranteed basic income program. 

Dr. Krystyn Moon is a professor of History and American Studies at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Her teaching and research include race relations, immigration, popular culture, and foodways. She has also directed the American Studies major for over ten years, co-developed the African American Studies minor, and contributes to both the Ethnic Studies and Social Justice minors.

Additionally, Dr. Moon has collaborated on several public history projects here in Alexandria, most notably “Finding the Fort,” a history of Black neighborhood located at the present site of Fort Ward Park and Museum in Alexandria, Virginia; “Immigrant Alexandria: Past, Present, and Future,” an oral history project funded by Virginia Humanities; and currently co-chairs the African American Heritage Trail committee.

She is the author of several articles and blog posts, and is collaborating with the City on work initiated by the Housing for All Subcommittee to complete and expand on the body of work supporting the Housing for All equity component to Zoning for Housing. 

Nancy Williams serves as the Assistant Director of the City’s Department of Planning & Zoning and is the lead project coordinator for the Zoning for Housing/Housing for All program. She spent a year with representatives from other City departments in the 2019-2020 Government Alliance for Race and Equity (GARE) cohort training.  As their project, the group decided to adopt the City’s Zoning for Housing program as its GARE project and worked to design an equity component around it. Toward that end, they dubbed themselves as the Housing for All Subcommittee of the City’s Core Equity Team and, subsequent to their GARE training, continued to gather information on discriminatory housing policies and practices in Alexandria’s history to learn how zoning disparities of the past have influenced land use patterns of today for communities of color and/or low-income. The Housing for All program is designed to help redress those disparities as part of the Zoning for Housing program. Ms. Williams has a Master’s of Urban and Regional Planning from Cornell University. 

Dr. David C. Rose has served as the Alexandria Health Department (AHD) Director since November 2021. As Director, he oversees the activities of AHD, including the department’s clinical, epidemiological, environmental health, population health, public health emergency, and administrative services. At AHD, Dr. Rose has led activities related to the COVID-19 pandemic, mpox, infectious diseases, and environmental health.   

Dr. Rose has a legacy of governmental and public health leadership. Before joining AHD, Dr. Rose served as the Child Welfare Medical Director at the Maryland Department of Human Services. He’s also served as Deputy Health Officer for Public Health, Anne Arundel County Department of Health; Senior Deputy Director for Primary Care and Prevention Administration, District of Columbia Department of Health; and Assistant Commissioner for Communicable Diseases and Epidemiology, Baltimore City Health Department. A board-certified pediatrician, Dr. Rose has provided medical care and served as medical director for several urban community health centers. He has also consulted for community health-related nonprofit organizations, community health centers and governmental health agencies.   

Dr. Rose received a Bachelor of Biological Sciences Degree from the University of Pittsburgh and holds a Medical Degree from the Howard University College of Medicine. He completed his residency in pediatrics at Emory University in Atlanta. He has also received Graduate Certificates in Public Health Management and the Business of Healthcare from the Johns Hopkins University, as well as a Master of Business Administration from the University of Maryland Global Campus. 

Karl Moritz is the Director of the City's Department of Planning & Zoning, leading a team of professionals who (1) prepare long range plans to future development and the provision of public facilities and (2) review development proposals to maximize consistency with City policies (including historic preservation goals) and to maximize public benefit. Major planning issues include: ensuring equity in the planning process, in planning policies, and in land use outcomes; addressing the climate crisis; integrating land use and transportation (particularly transit, pedestrian and bike); zoning reform; maximizing new development’s preservation/creation of affordable housing; planning for successful retail; parking, and continually broadening civic engagement.

Related to this work is the function conducted by the department relative to forecasts, namely population, households, and jobs which it does in collaboration with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.  Additionally, the department conducts forecasts for student generation in collaboration with the Alexandria City Public Schools; such forecasts are among important aspects of current and long-range planning,  

Mr. Moritz joined the staff in 2008 and has a Bachelor of Geography Degree from Johns Hopkins University and a Master of Urban and Environmental Planning from the University of Virginia. 

Jonathan Frederick has over sixteen years of experience in the affordable housing and urban planning fields. Since joining Housing Alexandria in 2014, he has overseen the development, acquisition, or renovation of over 898 units across eight communities, with an additional 514 units in planned development. Prior to Housing Alexandria, Jon worked as the director of development for Volunteers of America where he oversaw all real estate development activities for the organization in the mid-Atlantic region. Jon sits on the Alexandria Housing Affordability Advisory Committee and the Northern Virginia Affordable Housing Alliance Advisory Committee. Awards: Alexandria Chamber of Commerce, 40 Under 40, (2016). 

Micheline Castan-Smith handles the development, design, construction and management of the high-rise and mid- rise residential properties, and common area renovations from development through implementation with Paradigm Development Company. She also handles Paradigm’s for-sale development, construction and sales division. Micheline has been with Paradigm since its inception and over the past 25 years, has had the unique opportunity to play a key role in the strategic direction and capacity building in critical areas of Paradigm, including accounting, management and construction prior to joining the development team. Micheline is also committed to ensuring that quality housing is accessible to all and thus she serves as a board member for both Culpepper Gardens in Arlington, VA and the Eisenhower Partnership in Alexandria, VA. She received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Human Resources and Business Administration from Columbia Union College. 

John Goebel joined Cooper Carry in 2014 and was named an Associate in 2019. A long-time resident of the Washington D.C. area, he received a Bachelor of Architecture Degree from the College of Architecture and Urban Studies at Virginia Tech. John brings more than 20 years of experience to Cooper Carry, and his extensive project history spans a wide range of practice areas, including Residential, Government, Healthcare, Retail, and Hospitality. He currently leads projects in the Mixed-Use Studio, helping clients to create unique and vibrant places to work, shop and live. John works with clients from the early stages of conceptual design through construction and occupancy, helping them to tell their stories through intelligent, functional design. 

John is certified by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARD), is a member of the American Institute of Architects, and is a LEED Accredited Professional with a specialty in Building Design and Construction. He previously served as a member of the Board of Architectural Review for Alexandria, Virginia, and recently served as a City Planning Commissioner in 2019. 

Michelle Krocker is a public policy and community development consultant, assisting private sector organizations and local governments with creating diverse, affordable communities through housing and land use policies that support low-income households.  She was the founder and Executive Director of the Northern Virginia Affordable Housing Alliance for 18 years, retiring in December 2022. Michelle is an Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority (ARHA) Commissioner and a member of the Alexandria Housing Affordability Advisory Committee. 

Justin Wilson was elected Mayor of the City of Alexandria in November of 2018 and re-elected in November 2021.

As Mayor, Mr. Wilson represents the City regionally on the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Board of Directors. Within the City, Mayor Wilson leads the City-Schools Subcommittee, the Alexandria Redevelopment & Housing Authority (ARHA) Redevelopment Committee, the Quality of Life Committee, Legislative Subcommittee, the Audit Committee, the Employee Pension/Compensation Committee, the Potomac Yard Metro Implementation Advisory Group and the Combined Sewer Outfall Project Review Team Workgroup.

An experienced community leader, Mayor Wilson previously served eight years on the City Council prior to his election as Mayor, including service from 2016 – 2019 as Alexandria’s Vice Mayor. Justin’s leadership has led to new investments in schools, transportation and environmental infrastructure. He has worked to expand early childhood education, address growing student enrollment, accelerate economic growth, advance climate policy as well as protecting and expanding housing affordability.

Prior to his election to the City Council, Mayor Wilson served as the Chair of the Alexandria Transit Company Board of Directors, which operates the City’s DASH bus service, and served on the Budget & Fiscal Affairs Advisory Committee. His neighbors recognized his leadership and twice elected him president of the Del Ray Citizens Association. He chaired the City’s effort to promote participation in the 2010 decennial Census, and he represented Alexandria on the Board of Directors of the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority—preserving and managing 11,000 acres of open space and 24 regional parks. Mayor Wilson was an appointee of Governor Mark Warner to the state’s Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice and later to the Board of Juvenile Justice—a position he was re-appointed to by Governor Tim Kaine.

He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Information Systems from Virginia Commonwealth University, and is a Fellow of the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership at the University of Virginia. Mayor Wilson is employed by the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) as a Senior Director. 

An avid runner, Mayor Wilson has completed eight marathons, and he lives in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria with his wife, Alex, a life-long Alexandrian, and their son, Eli and daughter Lena, both Alexandria City Public School students.

Leah Rothstein is co-authoring, with Richard Rothstein, a sequel to The Color of Law. While in The Color of Law, Mr. Rothstein described how government policy created residential segregation, the sequel will describe how local community groups can redress the wrongs of segregation. 

Ms. Rothstein has worked on public policy and community change, from the grassroots to the halls of government. She led the Alameda County and San Francisco probation departments’ research on reforming community corrections policy and practice to be focused on rehabilitation, not punishment. She has been a consultant to nonprofit housing developers, cities and counties, redevelopment agencies, and private firms on community development and affordable housing policy, practice, and finance. Her policy work is informed by her years as a community organizer with PUEBLO and Californians for Justice, working on housing, public safety, environmental justice, and youth leadership, and as a labor organizer with the Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees (UNITE). 

Ms. Rothstein received a Bachelor Degree, with honors, in American Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz and a Master of Public Policy Degree from the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley.

Richard Rothstein is the author of THE COLOR OF LAW: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America. He is also a Distinguished Fellow of the Economic Policy Institute, the Thurgood Marshall Institute of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and of the Haas Institute at the University of California (Berkeley). 

In addition to his recent book, The Color of Law, he is the author of many other articles and books on race and education, which can be found at his web page at the Economic Policy Institute: http://www.epi.org/people/richard-rothstein/. Previous influential books include Class and Schools: Using Social, Economic and Educational Improvement to Close the Black-White Achievement Gap, and Grading Education: Getting Accountability Right. 

John Porter retired from the Alexandria City Public Schools in 2009 after a distinguished career as a classroom teacher, assistant principal, principal at the elementary, middle and high school levels and assistant superintendent. John’s career, which spanned forty years, was highlighted by his 22-year tenure as principal of Alexandria City High School (then T. C. Williams High School) of Remember the Titans movie fame. John was principal during the founding of the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria which has assisted innumerable students with funding for their post-secondary education.

After retirement, John continued his work in Alexandria serving as president/chief executive officer of ACT for Alexandria, Alexandria’s community foundation, retiring in 2017. He currently works as a consultant, mostly in the education arena, while serving on the boards of The Campagna Center and Northern Virginia Community College.

John contends that his most favorite time was as principal at Alexandria City High School (T. C. Williams) as he indicates “kids are a lot easier to work with than adults.”