The Arlington County Board met on January 2nd, 2018 for their annual Organizational Meeting. Below is a video recording and the full text of Libby's remarks on her priorities and outlook for the year. Thank you, Madam Chair. Happy New Year, everyone, and thank you for joining us or tuning in this evening. Congratulations to our new leadership: Katie Cristol and Christian Dorsey, and welcome to our newest member, Erik Gutshall. John Vihstadt, I’m looking forward to working with you again, too. This new year we have again inherited a strong County from past leaders … [Read more...]
December Transitions
After a very heavy agenda in November, December’s meetings were light, but significant for the transition they represent. There was one fairly controversial issue: Housing Conservation Districts We voted to change our zoning to require developers to go through a community process and receive Board approval to replace garden apartments with townhouses in 12 specific areas in Arlington. They still can build these developments; the change is that they now will have to come to the Board, whereas they used to be able to do so “by right.” The business community generally opposed our making … [Read more...]
Honoring Ellen Bozman, development issues, a pool, what to do with left over money, and tax “reform”
November saw a very full agenda. The Board met on three different, and long, days. Community involvement was impressive throughout. Honoring Ellen Bozman Many residents and elected officials, past and present, came to support our naming the County office building after long time Board member Ellen Bozman. I’m pleased we have named our office building in honor of a woman who did so much for the County, and that her husband, Bill Bozman—who I am told watched from his hospice bed—was able to see this action before he died on November 30th. Development Issues Supporters of the Arlington … [Read more...]
Please join me in voting for our 2017 Democratic ticket
Please join me in voting for our 2017 Democratic ticket. At the state level, it’s important to keep Virginia moving forward with strong support for quality education, good affordable health care, and modern infrastructure throughout the Commonwealth. We need inclusionary policies that help everyone reach their potential. Vote for Ralph Northam for Governor, Justin Fairfax for Lt. Governor, and to reelect Mark Herring as Attorney General and your member of House of Delegates. Locally, I hope you will vote for Monique O’Grady for School Board. She has long experience with our schools and … [Read more...]
3 RTAs, 3 Use Permits, the Budget…and remember to vote!
Advertisements of November Hearings The County Board approved three requests to advertise (RTA) at our meeting on Saturday, October 21st. RTAs help public engagement. We are required to advertise proposed land-use changes to allow public comment before we act. The Board then can then vote to adopt those changes, or to adopt a narrower version of the changes…but we cannot adopt a broader change without another hearing. For this reason, we try to advertise changes that are broader than what we might want to adopt. First, we advertised a study and changes to our overall General Land Use Plan … [Read more...]
Two simple ways to help Virginia
There is an important election this November 7th which will determine the future direction of Virginia and affect our progress in Arlington. Democrats are working hard to keep control of the Governor, Lt. Governor, and Attorney General offices, and to begin to take back control of the General Assembly by winning more seats in the House of Delegates. I am both working to support our candidates locally and giving money to good, Democratic legislative candidates running across the Commonwealth. I invite you to join me in contributing, making calls, and/or canvassing. I hope you you can join … [Read more...]
The Righteous Mind – Monday, October 16th
If you've ever wondered why facts don't seem to matter in political arguments and why people get so angry....this is the book for you. The Crystal City BID will be our host as Christian Dorsey and I lead a book discussion of The Righteous Mind by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt. We'll meet on October 16th from 7:00-8:30 PM at the Crystal City Connection (Library), 2117 Crystal Plaza Arcade with sips and snacks afterward to continue the discussion. You can register online, or just come. Read the book, or watch the TED talk, or just come. We hope to see you there for a great conversation. … [Read more...]
September 2017: Lots Happening!
The Board met for 20 hours over two days for our September regular meetings. Public comment took up more than the usual amount of time and I found myself thinking often about those 3 important questions: What good? For whom? At what cost? Many items involved balancing the needs of specific groups of people who came to express concerns about being harmed too much by our efforts to improve services for the county as a whole. Some of the items that brought out the most speakers were: A request from the Berkeley Condominium that we remove a permit condition giving Arlington an easement that … [Read more...]
August reflections
I hope everyone is looking forward to the fall after some time to relax over the summer. Although we have some meetings between our regular County Board meetings in July and September, August is a quieter month for the Board, and so it is a time to slow down, to reflect a bit on where we’ve been this year, and to look ahead. The unexpected and horrific events in Charlottesville continue to reverberate for me, as they do for many. The Board received many emails expressing distress at what happened and concern about the ways Arlington remembers the Confederacy. I believe it is time for us to … [Read more...]
Pipe stems, Bay protection, buying land, and a new community center at Lubber Run
Our July meetings had some interesting and some difficult issues. Regulations affecting homes A family that wants to tear down an old house and build new found themselves in the middle of a controversy when they learned they were on a “pipestem” lot and had to come to the Board for approval to build. As is so often the case in Arlington, some neighbors didn’t like the size, location, or look of their proposed home and came to tell us. We first heard this issue in June, but delayed our vote to July to allow time for the family to work things out. With help from staff, cooperation with … [Read more...]
