Arlington County Government in 2017 - Bad to Worse

Hello,

AY's contributors were asked to assess the state of County Government at the end of 2017. All of them gave the County Board, County Manager, County Staff, Civic Organizations, and Advisory Commissions negative grades and said County Government is going from "bad to worse".

Among their observations:

Transparency: Citizens are increasingly kept un-informed by County Government about all manner of decisions, ranging from what's been promised to Amazon to what's been promised to developers and special interests in closed meetings and secret meetings. Expensive programs and projects are placed on the County Board's Consent Agenda and are off-limits for discussion by citizens at County Board meetings. Residents have to file freedom of information requests to determine what's been promised, and much of the FOIA material is redacted or off-limits (attorney-client protected). Local media owners and publishers are so greedy for profits that they essentially serve as County Government boosters.

Process: Expensive and comprehensive programs and projects are either rushed to the County Board for approval without adequate time to analyze costs and benefits (e.g., housing conservation districts), or delayed for years until the desired outcomes based on "handshake deals" can be facilitated by County Staff (e.g., Four Mile Run Valley Arts District). (County Staff is currently being re-trained in advanced facilitation techniques to quell community opposition). "Community Leaders" are increasingly expected to facilitate whatever is proposed for their neighborhoods, with no regard for consequences. Advisory Commission members are appointed based on their willingness to rubber-stamp whatever is placed before them.

Inclusiveness: County Government does not reflect the social, economic, racial, and ethnic diversity of the County's population, and County Government is becoming less inclusive. Although one-third of the electorate votes for Independent candidates, Independents are ignored and disparaged by Democrats who have run Arlington for more than 35 years and, decades ago, adopted New Urbanism as the County's sole planning paradigm. Committees, commissions, and civic groups are packed with persons who will do as they're told. County Staff is increasingly hired and promoted based on non-residency. Although the County Board states it wants citizens to attend County Board meetings, persons with grievances are told by Democratic ward heelers that they will be arrested if they attend and speak at meetings. County government includes an expensive and expansive public information bureaucracy that constantly promotes whatever the County Board wants. The Civic Federation and the Civfed's component civic associations are also becoming less inclusive. This year the County embarked on a program to remove all low-income residents still living in market-rate apartments by creating so-called housing conservation districts.

Fiscal Responsibility: This year the County's traditional lack of long-term fiscal responsibility reached the point where fiscally responsible Independents became alarmed. All public infrastructure is extravagant and is referred to as "Taj Mahal" (both as a noun and a verb). Schools continue to be planned with every possible amenity but too few classrooms. Spending for parks and recreation infrastructure is so extravagant the the County has become a regional provider of upscale parks and rec infrastructure on Arlington's borders. County Board members routinely use expensive projects and programs to buy votes from special interest groups.

Sustainability: County Government is committed to packing as many people into as little space as possible over the next two decades, between 50,000 and 70,000 by 2040 (depending on who one talks with at 2100 Clarendon Boulevard). There is no estimate of the cost of extravagant public infrastructure to support the increased population. The County Board allows significant amounts of impervious surfaces to be created while allowing Arlington's tree canopy to be destroyed. County Government reached a new low in renewable energy this year by approving a $67.5 million aquatics center with no renewable energy on-site. Extravagant public infrastructure is approved without thought to maintenance and replacement funding.

All this made possible by the current national state of emergency that's been ongoing for 16 years, with no end in sight, and constant warfighting in the Third World. Arlington's future appears to be the County becomes an expensive gridlocked mess during the next decade.

Cindy, 22206