Dear Friends,I hope you're enjoying this fall weather.  As you recall, I mentioned in my September newsletter that Susan Cunningham, Maureen Coffey and I are holding a fundraiser with Scott Sklar as our featured speaker. He is an Adjunct Professor & Sustainable Energy Director (EEMI), The George Washington University and CEO, The Stella Group, Ltd TOPIC: Energy Resiliency & Equity for an Uncertain Future DATE & TIME: October 15, 3:00 – 5:00 pm HOST: Marguarite Gooden SUGGESTED DONATIONS: $50 Friend $100 Supporter $250 Sponsor $500 … [Read more...]

TALKING WITH PURPOSELibby Garvey, Susan Cunningham & Maureen CoffeyInvite you to a Benefit Fundraiser For their Campaigns   Special Guest: Scott Sklar Adjunct Professor & Sustainable Energy Director (EEMI)The George Washington University CEO, The Stella Group, Ltd. Topic: Energy Resiliency & Equity for an Uncertain Future  Sunday, October 15, 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. Host: Marguarite Gooden ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Suggested Donations $50 Friend  $100 Supporter $250 Sponsor        $500 Patron  RSVP: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/oct15arlington                   … [Read more...]

Fairlington Zoning Issue    During the public comment portion of our meeting, Guy Land came from the Fairlington Citizens Association (of which I am a member) to alert the Board to an odd problem in the zoning code that affects Fairlington, which was built before the zoning code existed. For the past 80-some years, many renovations within Fairlington units were routinely approved. However, recently someone noticed that these routine approvals are actually not in sync with the zoning code as it is currently written. Now, after all these years, many changes … [Read more...]

Dear Friends, A lot has happened since I last wrote. Susan Cunningham and Maureen Coffey have won the Democratic primary which was the first primary in Virginia using Rank Choice Voting. Although Maureen was my third choice, I think she will be an excellent Board member and am delighted that she will be joining Susan as one of our two nominees in the November election.  New Board Member At the Board’s Saturday meeting, we appointed a new Board member, Tania Talento, to take the seat of Katie Cristol until the winners of the November election take their seats in January. Katie … [Read more...]

Dear Friends: Many of my readers will be one of the 14,000 Arlington residents who will receive a ballot in the mail this week when early voting starts May 5. This seems a good time to remind everyone of all the ways you can vote. However you vote, I hope you will vote for Josh Katcher for Commonwealth’s Attorney, Susan Cunningham and Natalie Roy for your 1st and 2nd votes for County Board and Maureen Coffey for your 3rd vote. There are 2 seats up and you get to vote for your top three choices in case your #1 or #2 choice does not get enough votes to win, your 3rd choice might. Below is … [Read more...]

May Meeting It worked well that the Board meeting had only one regular item which was accepting a General Land Use (GLUP) study and advertising public hearings which will allow Sunrise Senior Living to update and expand their facility. We accepted the study and the project can move forward. I also was pleased to be able to listen to public comment, which included several speakers from the Green Valley community. Second link: http://arlington.granicus.com/GeneratedAgendaViewer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=4243; see #34 Charlemagne Prize     It was a real … [Read more...]

Dear Friends, It’s been a busy month as we worked up to our budget adoption, which was our major Board issue for April. Also, campaigns are in full gear as the all-important June 20 primary approaches. As most of my readers know, the June 20 Democratic primary is likely to determine who will win in November, so if you live in Arlington and want a voice in who runs the County, you need to vote in the primary. Absentee ballots will go out about May 5th when early absentee voting begins. It is easy to vote! FY24 Budget We passed our $1.55 billion budget on Saturday. This was a … [Read more...]

Dear Friends, Our March County Board meeting was pretty much all Missing Middle aka Expanded Housing Options, that is changing our single-family zoning to allow for up to 6-plexes under some circumstances. Our press release provides a good summary. As my readers know, we started on this process several years ago, before the pandemic, with a set of studies to provide a basis for recommendations and discussion. What has been discussed and considered has changed over time as we and our staff responded to what we heard from our residents. We advertised our final proposed changes at our … [Read more...]

Dear Friends,Our regular February Board meeting had two very different development projects up for approval.Joyce Motor SiteThe Joyce Motor site at 3201 10th St., N & N. Irving St. in Clarendon will become an 11-story residential site with retail shops on the ground floor. The original garage building will be moved to the front of the lot, and the historic façade will be preserved with its original lustron panels. The front of the tower building’s second story is set back from the old façade and will provide 241 units, including larger two- and three-bedroom units. Community benefits … [Read more...]

Dear Friends, I hope the New Year has started well for everyone. Organizational Meeting On January 3, the Board had our organizational meeting which is when we elect our leadership team and set our calendar and other administrative items for the year. Christian Dorsey was elected Chair for 2023 and I have the honor of being Vice Chair. Each Board member gave remarks. We all talked about Missing Middle Housing as well as other issues. I discussed how the need for a strategic plan could alleviate many of the difficulties we are having communicating about Missing … [Read more...]