FY 2019 Budget We adopted our FY 2019 budget on Saturday. This was one of the tougher budgets in my 23 years of public service. Our Manager did a good job reorganizing and trying to focus on core government services when he developed his recommended budget. But when the Board voted to advertise no tax rate increase this year, our ability to adapt to changing needs was very limited. The major issues were money for schools, as our student population continues to grow, and public safety salaries. Our pay for sheriff, police, and, fire—particularly for new recruits—is significantly below … [Read more...]

I’m writing this on Wednesday as the snow continues to fall and pictures of my grandchildren playing in the snow come on my phone. Being snowed in for a day has been a nice break! I hope everyone has been able to enjoy the day. This month’s meeting agenda was extraordinarily light, which was nice given the heavy schedule of budget work sessions we have. The few significant items we addressed were: Westover Beer Garden Our discussion on outdoor seating for the Westover Beer Garden was yet another example of how we need to balance the interests of a local restaurant/bar and those of the … [Read more...]

Can you please help? I’m reporting early this month because your Arlington County Board needs some quick help with our Virginia delegation on a bill which is important to Arlington and is coming up on Tuesday morning. This bill will lower property taxes on our two golf clubs by about $1.5 million per year. This would take away tax revenue that home owners will have to make up. I hope that you will join me in asking our Senators to vote no on the bill. The bill, HB 1204, has passed the Virginia House and is before the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday. It would forbid us to use “fair … [Read more...]

January’s Agenda January’s Board meetings were very light, with just three non-controversial regular items besides our consent agenda: 1) The naming of Short Bridge Park and approval of the design guidelines for the park; 2) Various approvals and a loan to allow the renovation of Culpepper Garden to begin; and 3) A rezoning and other approvals to allow Phase II of Market Common to move forward. Short Bridge Park is right on the boundary between Alexandria and Arlington and will be a good improvement for the area—and even better when Alexandria improves its portion. Culpepper Garden … [Read more...]

Happy New Year! Last night, the County Board held its annual Organizational Meeting. As expected, we unanimously elected Katie Cristol to serve as our chair and Christian Dorsey to serve as our vice chair this year. We also welcomed our newest colleague, Erik Gutshall, to the Board table for the first time. I was happy to congratulate Katie and Christian on their leadership elections and Erik on joining the Board; and to welcome back fellow returning member John Vihstadt. A summary of my remarks is below. You can read my full remarks, or watch a recording of the meeting including all … [Read more...]

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...]

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...]

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. 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...]

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...]