By JIM BUTLER

The new Alexandria City Council majority may or may not flex its muscle at the year’s first meeting Tuesday, but it’s certain two of the four will.

Fall elections shifted council demographics from 4 white-3 Black to 4 Black-3 white.

Does race matter? The simplest answer is that in politics everything matters.

The new majority’s inclinations will be apparent in the votes to elect a council president and vice president. Those are the last items on the posted agenda.

There’s no doubt regarding intentions of newly elected members Jules Green and Malcolm Larvadain on another matter.

As expected, each will move early on to replace Greater Alexandria Economic Development Authority members.

The seven council members each have an appointment. Appointees serve at will of the council, a statutory change implemented in early 2023. Prior to that appointees served fixed terms.

Replacements to be nominated by at-large Councilman Green and District 1 member Larvadain pose another seismic shift in the Authority governance.

Green’s pick to replace Chairman Greg Upton, appointed last Spring by now-departed at-large Lee Rubin, is Earl Williams Jr., a pastor and an automotive firm finance manager, also described as a community activist in vita included with the agenda posting.

Larvadain’s pick to replace Paula Katz is Steven R. McGee, who was a member, and chairman, when the now-departed Reddex Washington deep-sixed him in early 2023.

McGee, it should be noted, challenged Washington’s council candidacy in court several years ago.

Whether the reconstituted board will continue to work with the administration on economic development ambitions, including housing initiatives, or focus more, as it had in the past, on underwriting costs of various events and gatherings in the city is an open question.

A certainty seems to be it will move to resolve legal challenges to some GAEDA actions and decisions as well as resolve the executive director question.