Thursday, June 9, 2011

County Board Pike Work Session - Gentrification vs. Preservation

Hi Yupette,

I attended this afternoon's Pike redevelopment work session with the County Board and County Manager at 2100 Clarendon Blvd. The County's primary out-of-state development consultant, Dover, Kohl, and Associates, pitched massive Pike in-fill development to the County Board. The in-fill would consist of new buildings placed on the same parcels as existing apartment buildings, sometimes replacing existing buildings. This would allegedly place enough density on-site to keep the affordable apartments affordable.

County Board members Walter Tejada and Barbara Favola (both candidates this Fall) asked whether enough funds could be obtained to preserve affordable market-rate rental properties on the Pike (like Barcroft Apartments) pretty much "as is" with some upgrades.

Dover, Kohl also pitched the series of Pike Charettes (pronounced "Charades") to be held between June 24th and June 30th to persuade Pike residents to go along with Chris Zimmermans's grand yuppification of the Pike.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Zimmerman, County Board Privatizing Public Meetings and Events

Hello, Yupette,

Have you noticed what Chris Zimmerman and the County Board are doing to public meetings and public access to information? They're privatizing everything. It will cost you $35 to attend the CPRO Pike luncheon to hear Zimmerman talk about Pike planning. The Pike "planning" charades at the end of this month are run by CPRO. It will cost another $50 to hear Zimmerman talk to the Chamber of Commerce about business opportunities. The working session on June 9th between the County Manager and County Board regarding Pike planning will not hear comments from the public. Important items are being placed on the County Board meeting consent agenda (there is only one item on the regular hearing agenda at the June 11th County Board meeting). This is going way beyond telling minorities that they are not welcome to attend Pike planning meetings, Civic Federation meetings, etc. It's become difficult or impossible for voters, taxpayers, and residents to know what's occurring in County Government, except via the County's PR organization and from press releases from the County's PR organization appearing in the local media.

Ron - Barcroft

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Mark Kelly Reported Ready to Announce for County Board

Hello, Yupette,

I heard from a couple of Neo-Con activists that Mark Kelly is going to make another run for County Board. Looks from his recent statements he's going to run. The Neo-Cons who control the Arlington Republican Party are all for one or two candidates running against Mary Hynes and Walter Tejada. Moderate Republicans are only interested in getting wealthy in Arlington's current mega-development economy. Thanks for your blog.

Ted