Alyia Gaskins To Be Sworn In As Mayor, Along With New Alexandria City Council

ALEXANDRIA, VA — A swearing in ceremony for incoming Mayor Alyia Gaskins and the new City Council will be held Thursday evening. The special meeting will take place at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center, 4915 E. Campus Drive, Alexandria, VA.

Gaskins was elected in November as Alexandria's mayor and will be the first Black woman in the city role. She was unopposed in the November general election, receiving 93.9 percent of the votes after defeating Vice Mayor Amy Jackson and Steven Peterson in the Democratic primary. When running for mayor, Gaskins outlined campaign priorities such as boosting affordable housing, maintaining and expanding the commercial tax base, investing in affordable early childhood education and child care, and improve local government services and accountability.

Gaskins was first elected to City Council in 2021 and previously served as a senior program officer at the Melville Charitable Trust philanthropic organization seeking to end homelessness. She has also run a consulting business called CitiesRX, which focuses on improving physical, social, and economic health through community partnerships. Gaskins lives in the West End with her husband, two children and dog.

Gaskins will take over the mayoral role from Justin Wilson, who opted not to seek re-election. Wilson was first elected as mayor in 2018 after serving eight years on City Council.

The swearing in ceremony will also include six new and returning City Council members. Canek Aguirre, Sarah Bagley, John Taylor Chapman and Kirk McPike will return to the council, while Alexandria School Board members Abdel Elnoubi and Jacinta Greene will join the council. The City Council member who received the most votes typically becomes vice mayor, and that was Bagley with 14.77 percent of votes. Chapman received 14.48 percent of votes, Greene won 14.15 percent, Aguirre won 12.98 percent, Elnoubi won 12.94 percent and McPike won 12.16 percent.

At the special meeting, members will be appointed to committees for 2025. A reception with music by Yellow Door Concert Series and live painting by Khalid Thompson will follow.