Audrey Clement for County Board

No contest this year. Democratic County Board incumbents Katie Cristol and Christian Dorsey are running on a platform of trashing Donald Trump, continually hiding behind Virginia's Dillon Rule, allowing the County to suffer from a devastating flood and a significant drought within 4 months, and having serious conflict of interest issues from accepting many thousands in campaign contributions from WMATA unions who they are supposed to be overseeing via the NVTC Board and WMATA Board.

Then there's their New Urbanist agenda. After 40 years of redeveloping Arlington New Urbanism has become a growth-for-the-sake-of-growth monster that's devouring formerly livable neighborhoods with more cars and vehicle trips, ever-more unaffordable housing, and continuing destruction of open space and the mature tree canopy. With the purpose of making the County an expensive urbanized mess within ten years.

Enough is enough. We deserve better, much better, from a bloated County Government and what we pay in ever-increasing taxes, which seem to only go for more Taj Mahal infrastructure for the so-called "Progressives'" favored special interests. Therefore AY endorses Audrey Clement for Arlington County Board.

Write-in Theo Stamos for Commonwealth's Attorney

Hi, Yupette,

I'm a 53 year old Yuppie with kids out of college several years. I live in Lyon Park.

I'm posting this to ask Arlington Voters to write-in Theo Stamos for Commonwealth's Attorney on November 5th.

We have enough problems with the homeless, drugs and alcohol, crime by non-residents, and free-range Millennials now. If Team Parisa takes control of the Commonwealth's Attorney's office it's going to be "Party's Over Here, in Arlington".

If I wanted to live in "vibrant" and "trendy" DC, I would. I don't need or want the bad behavior that's epidemic in DC moving here.

Thanks for a blog that's an alternative to a continuous stream of infomercials for the status quo, e.g., ArlNow, Sun Gazette, Inside Nova.

L.J.

Discussion: Is County Government Environmentally Responsive and Responsible?

Hi, AY contributors wanted a discussion about the level of County Government's environmental responsibility. So AY is asking for your thoughts.

Replacing Brick Sidewalk Paving is No Big Deal

Hi,

Thanks for this blog.

I live in the B-R Corridor and the brick sidewalks here continue to deteriorate. What's the reason not to replace them with concrete? No good reason. I called one of the local construction companies that bids on County public infrastructure projects and asked. Was told that the bricks are removed and recycled, sand and gravel under the bricks is leveled, concrete is poured. Not a big deal unless other improvements are made, like new curbs. So why not just replace the bricks and make the sidewalks in the Corridor much safer? Funds being used for dedicated bicycle lanes? Or what?

Ted, 22201

Multi-Modal Safety PSAs - Conspicuous by Their Absence

Hi,

I sometimes visit this blog and agree that there's a big problem in Arlington with multi-modal safety.

I took an early vacation in upstate NY after Memorial Day and there are lots of safe pedestrian-bicycle-auto PSAs produced by NY State Government, on network TV and on YouTube. Here's one of them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6ct-uSo10c

Why not in Virginia, especially inside the DC Beltway?

Thanks again for your blog.

John, Dominion Hills

Historic Cemetery to Become a Dog Park

Hi, Yupette,

I work at 2100 Clarendon Blvd., and am not happy where the County is going. I'm a long-time County employee and bought a nice 3-bedroom 2 bath ranch home in Westover 30 years ago. Now, as I approach retirement, I am finding the assessment increases on my home are going to put me under some significant financial stress once I retire.

Never mind about me. You should be aware that several years ago at least two County Board members promised Ballston-area dog owners that historic Ball Cemetery off Washington Blvd. would be "repurposed" into a Dog Park. On the County Board's Regular Hearing Agenda tomorrow (June 18th),

Until about 30 years ago the Ball Family Cemetery was preserved, but after 'Smart Growth" got started the cemetery was allowed to go to ruin, along with the neighborhood's commercial infrastructure.

So now it's Mixed-Use Redevelopment time for the neighborhood and the cemetery.

If the County Board, and it's Progressive-Socialist-Urbanist cronies, can desecrate a cemetery that has no connection whatsoever to the Confederacy to provide a playground for dogs, the County Board is capable of anything.

Mary 22205

No Pay Increases for County Board Members

Hello,

Based upon AY's perusal of County Board Members' desk appointment calendars over several years, and conversations with employees and former employees who worked in the County Board Offices, AY believes that County Board Members should not vote themselves pay increases on June 18th.

Bottom Line: Service on the Arlington County Board (of Supervisors) is a part-time job which many County Board Members over the past three decades have chosen to make a full-time job.

County Board Members already enjoy a 2-month paid Summer Vacation - July 15th to September 15th. In recent years the County Board placed Consent Agenda items related to appropriations off-limits for citizen comments, ostensibly to 'streamline' meetings.

Four Members of the current County Board work for, consult for, or lobby for non-profits. AY has no information about conflicts-of-interest that may occur or are occurring vis a vis them and County Government. The fifth CB Member is apparently growing his "Missing Middle" residential housing corporation through numerous contacts with prospective clients while on the County Board.

Consequently, AY requests this pay request mess be deferred while being evaluated by the County Auditor...however long that takes. Nobody on the current County Board will apparently suffer any financial harm while the audit is occurring.

AY

Theo Stamos for Commonwealth's Attorney

Hello,

Given the direction Arlington County's been headed since before the last Commonwealth's Attorney election, in 2011, and the very different perspectives of the candidates running this year for Commonwealth's Attorney, the choice for Commonweralth's Attorney isn't difficult - re-elect Theo Stamos.

As one Independent told us: The difference between Theo Stamos and Parisa Dehghani-Tafti is the difference between "Party's Over Here in Arlington" and "Woodstock's Over Here in Arlington".

Theo Stamos's current term of office coincided with the rise and fall of pub crawls in the B-R Corridor, near-universal scofflaw behavior by bicyclists, electric scooter riders, and pedestrians, and almost complete lack of community policing in Arlington's residential neighborhoods away from major arterials. Which we blame on the Progressive-Democrat County Board and ACPD, which would rather chase "bad guys" and earn lots of overtime being a nanny police force for Millennials than engage in any community policing. We also blame the avaricious and reckless local media, especially ArlNow, for putting profits over responsible journalism.

We don't like to think about what a circus the County would become if Parisa Dehghani-Tafti became Arlington Commonwealth's Attorney. Therefore AY endorses Theo Stamos in Tuesday's Democratic Primary.

Arlington's Progressive Socialists - Talk like Bernie...Live like Hillary

Hi,

My name is Cindy and I live in Ballston. I'm an Independent and I have posted various comments on the ArlNow news blog criticizing Arlington County Government and one-party (i.e., Progressive Democrat) control of Arlington County Government for going-on 40 years.

This morning I received a campaign e-mail from Reid Goldstein's campaign for Arlington School Board with a photo of a campaign event held over the weekend. Posting the above photo got me banned from posting anything more on ArlNow.

More than obvious to me that, like their Limo Liberal parents decades ago, Arlington's so-called 'Progressives' talk like Socialists but live like wealthy Democrats in the past and present (e.g., the Clintons, Warners, McAuliffes, Beyers, etc.).

It's also evident that the local media are little more than shills for the status quo, i.e., more of the same "Progressive Socialism".

And it's also evident that local media are shills for more-of-the-same so-called "Smart Growth" aka Mixed-Use Gentrification that's destroying the County's social, economic, and environmental diversity.

Thanks for this blog.

Cindy in Ballston

Work at Home Day - May 17th

Hey Yupette,

This Friday, May 17th, is Bike to Work Day.

A GREAT day to work at home on any number of projects. Thousands of free-range bicyclists, including bicycle cult members, will be riding on the County's streets sidewalks, trails, and plazas, and, as usual, obeying traffic ordinances will be optional. A lose-lose for pedestrians and drivers of 4 wheel motor vehicles.

If you're a pedestrian you can expect lots of bicycles on sidewalks. If you drive a motor vehicles you can expect the police will be out ticketing drivers who fail to yield the right of way to bicycle scofflaws. The pols long ago made the bicycle cult one of their pet special interests. This year you can also expect lots of electric scooters zooming on the sidewalks. Nothing will be said or done about them either.

Best thing to do is stay home and telecommute to work, or just take the day off and do spring housecleaning before summer arrives, any day now.

Thanks for this blog.

Jennifer in Westover

'Progressive' County Board is Increasingly Environmentally Irresponsible

Hi,

Thanks for this blog.

I gotta laugh at the so-called "Progressive" Arlington County Board aka Arlington County Board of Supervisors. They were mediocre before and are much worse since the Board became all-Democrat in January.

Latest environmentally irresponsible antic is rescinding glass bottle recycling. They apparently didn't bother checking out options for reuse, like in building materials and for street paving. Then there's their "More Car Diet". Then there's the continuing loss of the County's mature tree canopy. Then there's the creation of more impervious surfaces everywhere, ranging from paving neighborhood parks to widening trails to benefit their pet bicycle cult. Several of their favorite / pet Socialist Democrat VIPs want to take the golf courses from the country clubs and pave them over.

All a consequence of their so-called progressive planning ideology, 'New Urbanism', which has driven the County's development and redevelopment for more than 35 years.

I no longer believe anything anyone in County Government says. I am skipping the Democratic Primary this year and voting for Independent Audrey Clement and no one else in November.

Karen, 22201

Ballston Streetscape Needs Upgrades

Hi,

I'm a 20-something guy and live with my 20-something GF in a 2-bedroom, 2-bath apartment in Ballston. We pay $2260 / month for rent. We use the second bedroom for an office for her so she can work from home. I drive to work in Tysons because where I work in Tysons is not convenient to Metrorail. We own one subcompact hybrid car.

There's a big room with weight and exercise equipment in the building for tenants. Also, a bicycle storage area in the garage. We own two city bikes.

My beef with the County's government is if they want to turn the streets and sidewalks into outdoor recreation space they should fix the sidewalks and streets.

We're going to get married next year and we're looking to buy a single family home, but not in Arlington. Only one of us has student loans to repay but if we want to have kids we're still not going to be able to afford to live in Arlington.

In the meantime, is it too much to ask the County to fix the streets and sidewalks in this neighborhood? And keep them in good repair?

Mike in 22201

Time for Jeff Bezos to Sell the Post

Hi, Yupette,

I buy and read the Washington Post most days. I've also been following the antics of Jeff Bezos and Amazon via the Internet.

The Post is NOT owned by Amazon. Jeff Bezos owns the Post. It's obvious that the Post functions as a public relations facilitator for Jeff Bezos and Amazon. Amazon executives are concerned about the company getting nailed by the Feds for anti-trust, though that's discounted by Jeff Bezos in his recent letter to Amazon shareholders. But it's not going to happen if the Post has an extensive amount of unrevealed and very embarrassing information about the Trump Administration. Remember Richard Nixon, Watergate, and the Post?

The Post is only printing what Jeff Bezos wants us to know about Jeff Bezos and Amazon. While the Post is doing to the Trump Administration what it did to the Nixon Administration almost 50 years ago. Is that Journalism?

Unfortunately, the Post influences the rest of the Region's media. If the Post is bad Journalism the rest of the media are worse....mostly publishing scare stories and acting as chamber of commerce boosters, when they're not facilitating one-party government that's ubiquitous inside the DC beltway.

So if we want to see the Region's media return to Journalism it's time for Jeff Bezos to sell the Post to a news organization that's capable of Journalism. Is it too much to ask that the Post's next owner or owners be focused on the future and not engaged in constant partisan warfare?

Mike, 22205

Hazards Increase on Arlington's Streets, Sidewalks, Trails.

Hey, Yupette,

Spring's arrived, and, as someone who walks and hikes a lot (great exercise) I've checked out Arlington's sidewalks and trails over the past week. Bad news. Bicyclists, scooter riders, skateboarders are taking over what are supposed to be sidewalks and trails designed for pedestrians.

NO ONE in ANY responsible position in Arlington Government is even MENTIONING multi-modal safety. Big Thumbs Down to County Board Member Libby Garvey, who's a long-time bicycle advocate and who's also on the Board of Phoenix Bikes with a number of other local VIPs.

Arlington's trails are VERY dangerous for walkers and hikers because of high speed bike riders. Advice: Stay off the trails.

Arlington streets in urbanized areas are also dangerous because large numbers of bikers and scooter riders use the sidewalks, even when they can use dedicated bike lanes. I'm seeing 4-abreast family bike rides on sidewalks in neighborhoods like mine, Westover Village with no concern about pedestrians whatsoever by the bikesters.

Obvious to me that County Government can't do enough for owners / riders / renters of personal transportation vehicles.

Another reason to dump the so-called Progressives from the County Board.

Terri, Westover

Ballston Quarter - Junk Food, Junk Jobs, Junk Retail

Hey Yupette,

Ballston Quarter is mostly open and I wanted to see what the excitement is all about so I drove to Ballston on Saturday, found a metered parking spot, and walked a couple blocks to the Mall.

As almost everyone knows, Arlington County bailed out the Mall's longtime owner and operator, Forest City, when Ballston Quarter's predecessor, Ballston Common, was allowed to deteriorate to the point it became a dump.

So what's the attraction, or attractions, of Ballston Quarter? First, everything is brand new. Second, unlike Ballston Common there are activities ranging from ice skating to fantasy game playing. But they're expensive.

Most of the food available at Ballston Quarter is (or will be) high fat, high salt, high sugar.

Appears that the only retail that will provide essentials for the neighborhoods that surround Ballston Quarter are CVS, Macys, and Lenscrafters, holdovers from Ballston Common. Rest of the retail is boutique and expensive. Someone raised the question in another blog about how many Amazon employees will shop local retail. Guess we'll see in the not-too-distant future.

Finally, there's employment. Based on asking several retail and restaurant managers about Summer employment for my college age son, appears the retail pay is about $9 per hour and many employees are part-time. Appears servers in most restaurants earn about $12 per hour. Probably more on weekends. So why are so many adults over 30 employed by Ballston Quarter's's restaurants and retail?

Downside of Ballston Quarter is like its predecessor and other malls (e.g., Pentagon City) a large number of people who have about zero disposable income are already hanging out at the Mall as a place to just socialize, or whatever.

Ballston Quarter is only what we deserve for tolerating County Government that's big on corporate welfare to big corporations like Forest City. It will be interesting to see how long the ethnic restaurants and boutique retail stay in business.

Terri, 22207

Amazon Will Play...Arlington Taxpayers Will Pay

Hey, Yupette,

Nice to see the County Board visiting neighborhoods and talking about Amazon.

Trouble is the County Board is not talking about Amazon's almost complete lack of transparency about the costs and benefits of Amazon's presence in Arlington.

Reality is Amazon and its employees will cost the County more than they will provide in tax revenue. At least 2,500 of 25,000 Amazon employees who will work in Arlington will have at least one child enrolled in Arlington's public schools. At $20,000 per student per year that's another $50 million annually.

Amazon plans to bring and hire 25,000 employees in Arlington over the next decade or about 2,500 / year. County's population growth is about 3,000 per year without Amazon. So the County's total population growth over the next decade will be more than 35,000, assuming 20% of Amazon's employees will live and work in Arlington.

So far Amazon has made no commitment to contribute to public infrastructure, including schools, apart from whatever taxes Amazon will pay (if any).

Arlington County has historically attracted for-profits, non-profits, and upscale residents who are disinterested in philanthropy and there's no reason to suppose Amazon will be any different.

So it seems likely that residential assessments and the real estate tax rate will both increase every year for the next several years, thanks to County Government's decades-long addiction to 'growth for the sake of growth'.

Charles -- 22203

Audrey Clement to Run for County Board Again...Against Amazon?

Hey Yupette,

What's Audrey Clement been doing since November's School Board election? Apparently preparing for another run for County Board....this time against Amazon. Recent posts to her campaign blog indicate that she feels Amazon will be a bad deal for Arlington.

Christian Dorsey and Katie Cristol are up for re-election to County Board this year. Their tenure on the County Board has been marked by increased urbanization, density, and crowding - people, activities, and vehicles. The County's pursuit of Amazon is viewed by many, especially Independent voters, as more 'fire-aim-ready' planning under the County's decades-long New Urbanism agenda.

According to her candidate blog, Dr. Clement maintains Amazon is a bad deal for Arlington and the Commonwealth with future benefits not close to what state and local officials expect.

It remains to be seen who else will oppose Dorsey and Cristol this year, since the Democratic Party is making every election a referendum about Donald Trump.

Mary, 22205

Amazon Deal Imposes Too Many Costs for Too Few Benefits

Hey, Yupette,

Whatever the Commonwealth's and County's propaganda about the 'benefits' of Amazon, I am skeptical that few benefits will accrue to Arlington residents. The County is already congested, unemployment is very low, housing is less affordable every year, there's more multi-modal traffic every year, public infrastructure already lags population growth, development and 'planning' are accomplished according to the principles of 'fire-aim-ready'.

The beneficiaries of Amazon's move here will be Amazon and a few other large corporations, like JBG. Arlington residents' taxes will increase ever year for the next several years to pay for all Amazon and Amazon employees will demand. The County is already hard pressed to find room to build infrastructure to accommodate the needs and wants of an increasing upscale resident population.

But the biggest cost to be imposed by Amazon will be the loss of Arlington's suburban quality of life, which tens of thousands of residents moved to Arlington to enjoy and are paying extravagantly to maintain. Again, too much suburban infrastructure will be repurposed for Amazon and County Government's 'growth for the sake of growth' agenda for the County to be anything but an expensive urbanized mess within a decade.

Ted 22205