Libby Garvey

Libby Garvey

Arlington County Board

Experienced Leadership with a Record of Forward Progress…

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Board’s Organizational & Civic Federation Meetings; My New Year’s Remarks

January 6, 2022 By Libby

Dear Friends,

Tuesday evening we had the County Board’s organizational meeting and then met virtually with the Civic Federation for our annual discussion, which worked pretty well. Our meeting was one day late because of the snow. We elected Katie Cristol as our new Chair for 2022 and Christian Dorsey as our Vice Chair. I know they will provide excellent leadership for the Board. My thanks go to Matt de Ferranti for his leadership last year.

Besides electing our leadership and other organizational items, we heard an update on Omicron and vaccine clinics. I believe we are leaving the pandemic phase of Covid and entering the endemic phase, which means that it is everywhere and is not going away, but we are adapting to it as we did to the flu. I suspect wearing masks when ill, as some countries have long done, and annual boosters will become the new normal for us. In Arlington we are working on added testing centers soon, but are subject to limited supplies again. Our general Covid webpage has a lot of good information. While our rates of Covid infection are up to about 1 in every 4 people tested. It looks like our hospitalizations are relatively steady. Hopefully Omicron will prove to be less dangerous than Covid-19. Vaccinations certainly help keep down serious illness. Bottom line: get vaccinated, boosted and wear a mask when with other people outside of your immediate group.

Board members traditionally give New Year’s remarks. I enjoyed listening to my colleagues. This is a well aligned Board although we express our thoughts differently and have sometimes different emphases. I talked about the major economic and social transitions we are going through (comparing it to white water rafting) and the need for civility to help us navigate these turbulent times. My readers will not be surprised to hear I returned to my themes of equity, innovation and resilience. You can read my remarks “Building a Resilient Beloved Community in Turbulent Times” on my web page and my colleagues’ full remarks here.

I hope you were able to enjoy the snow, but I know many people had terrible experiences on I-95 and it took us longer than usual to plow neighborhoods. We haven’t seen that much snow for several years. Our crews have been working hard, but, like many places, we are short staffed due to Covid. In addition, several drivers were traveling to Arlington from other areas to plow…but came up I-95 and never got here that day. So we did not cover as much street plowing as quickly as we would like.

All best wishes for the New Year,

Libby

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LIBBY GARVEY FOR COUNTY BOARD

Recent Posts

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  • December Meetings: Ballston, Bargaining, Budget, Transitions & Awards
  • NOVEMBER BOARD MEETINGS: RANK CHOICE VOTING, CARRYOVER FUNDS & COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
  • September Board Meetings: GLUP, Restorative Justice Grant, Missing Middle Housing Study & Vote

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Though, I am on the ballot for re-election to the County Board on November 3rd and I very much want your vote,  I am temporarily suspending campaigning due to the rapidly changing situation with COVID-19.  I am now focusing on ensuring our resiliency as a community so we can get through this health and economic crisis and prepare to recover as quickly as possible. Please see my “COVID-19 Resources” and “News” pages for information on this evolving crisis and how you can help.

Why I Support Libby: Dave Leichtman

“Libby is a Democrat. Let’s go ahead and get that out of the way to start. Heck, Libby is the one who first recruited me to get involved with Arlington Dems, as she has with countless Young Dems.
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(703) 820-3523 | info@libbygarvey.com | 4264 35th St. S., Arlington, VA 22206