Alexandria Times
March 11, 2021
Canek Aguirre said he is running for a second term on Alexandria’s City Council to continue amplifying voices that aren’t always heard.
Aguirre said he is passionate about communication and language access for all of Alexandria’s communities. With another term, he said he could assist with the city’s COVID-19 recovery and continue to help marginalized communities, such as the city’s Hispanic community, access city resources.
“It’s not big and flashy, but I don’t think I’m here necessarily to do big and flashy,” Aguirre said. “What I really want to do is make government work better.”
Aguirre, who is originally from Los Angeles and the son of Mexican immigrants, was first elected in 2018 and is the first Latino to serve on Alexandria City Council.
Before serving on City Council, Aguirre worked for Alexandria City Public Schools as George Washington Middle School’s bilingual parent liaison and at ACPS’ Family and Community Engagement center. These roles led him to see “the different pockets” of Alexandria communities, local nonprofits and various city departments, Aguirre said.
Aguirre currently works for Medicaid with the Northern Virginia population. On council, Aguirre has taken an active role in guiding the city’s transportation initiatives, serving on the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, WMATA Board of Directions and the Transportation Planning Board. He has also brought his inclusive approach to city policy to his work on Access for All, the City Council subcommittee that looks at how transportation affects certain communities.
When he ran first for city council in 2018, Aguirre said he entered the race because he saw a disconnect between policymakers and what policies were enacted, according to Aguirre.
“I felt that I was a very natural bridge for that because a lot of the work that I do is on the ground, in the trenches if you will,” Aguirre said.
This time around he said he was “galvanized” to run because of the city’s COVID-19 response and the idea that if he wasn’t on City Council certain things would not be prioritized. Aguirre said during the pandemic he has become one of the more active council members when it comes to participating in events such as food distribution.
“Some of this is me just showing up at sites, helping out, taking a look at things because I want to make sure, okay, how is this operating? What do our community partners need? Do they have everything that they need?” Aguirre said.
Aguirre said the Latino community, not just in Alexandria but Northern Virginia, looks to him for leadership. He said City Council’s work can often “cascade to other jurisdictions.” Last summer, Gov. Ralph Northam (D-VA) invited Aguirre to speak at a Latino leader roundtable event about issues affecting Hispanic and immigrant communities.
As a bilingual council member, Aguirre often focuses on the issue of language access. He said he has worked to bring a language stipend to Department of Community and Human Services staff who speak another language. He has helped expand the city’s Spanish text line, Spanish-language media outreach and overall outreach to city residents who face language or literacy barriers.
From his first term, Aguirre said he is proud of his work with access, the census and the city’s COVID-19 response.
“We did a really amazing job with the census – a 100% count – [and] secured funding for our community,” Aguirre said. “We secured federal funding, millions and millions of dollars for Alexandria for the next decade.”
