Anchors Aweigh - Pay-to-Play Party's Over Here

Hi, Yupette,

Hello from Newport News. Arlington's fat cats and bureaucrats have arrived for the U.S.S. Arlington commissioning (total tax dollars spent on celebrations for the ship will easily reach $2 million) and the partying started last night. Of course, the crew has been partying for the past week.

Anyone need a list of the pay-to-play hospitality suites and the corporate organizers, contact the Republican and Democratic and Chamber of Commerce Event Facilitators. Please note that the REITs will be opening their hospitality suites in Norfolk this afternoon and will provide limo service for groups of three or more.

U.S.S. Arlington will be THE party of the year. So get on down here early and don't miss the fun, and the opportunity to party with the big dogs.

Pebley Jay O'Leary

Las Vegas BRT - What Zimmerman Doesn't Want You To See

Hello,

A.Y. again publishes YouTube videos of the Las Vegas BRT in operation on the Vegas Strip. Also the Las Vegas Deuce double deck bus. Also a video of both operating on the Vegas Strip. The Vegas BRT runs on city streets in downtown Vegas and dedicated transitways in the suburbs. Enjoy the videos.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dctwqxy6Ohg

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG-RJUc6hUM

BRT and Double Deck Bus Together on Vegas Strip:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=x30ivqQEGao

Streetcar Town Hall Meeting Tonight at Kenmore Middle School

Hello,

Just to remind everyone that the County Board is holding it's Streetcar Town Hall Meeting tonight at Kenmore Middle School (Carlin Springs Road at Route 50) between 6:30 PM and 9:00 PM. An open Q and A session is supposed to be scheduled between 7:45 and 8:55.

What Arlington taxpayers, voters, and residents SHOULD be seeing tonight are alternatives to streetcars in the Kenmore parking lot - BRT and advanced bus vehicles. We should be presented with information about ALL transit options on the Pike, not just what the County Board and its out-of-state REIT corporate cronies want us to see.

Please attend and bring signs, placards, and questions about the dangerous, expensive, and inefficient streetcar system we don't need and can't afford. We are attaching a badge you can print and wear tonight. See you there.

A.Y.

Memo from County Board: Party's Over Here Next Weekend

Hey Yupette,

Did you hear the testimony by ordinary Arlington residents, taxpayers, and voters at tonight's County Board Budget Hearing? Pretty sobering. What's the response of the County Board going to be (with the exception of Libby Garvey)?  Here it is, direct from the C.Z. Public Information Team in the County Manager's Office:

"Party's Over Here with C.Z. (pictured left-center) on the M/V Minnow II in Newport News next weekend. Contact your Precinct Controller for details about the Pay-to-Play Extravaganza of the decade in Newport News. We still have a few $10,000 Sponsorships available. Don't miss out on your neighborhood development and redevelopment opportunity of the decade. For an extra $5,000 we'll include an automatic transfer-of-development rights from North Arlington to South Arlington. For another $5,000 we'll allow you to exempt your upscale condo in-fill redevelopment from having to build that nasty affordable housing on-site. Contact your Precinct Controller or the County Board Office about arranging Sponsorships".

2100 also

County Board Serious About Selling Parks, Libraries, Community Centers, Etc.

Hi Yupette,

Here's the agenda for the County Board Office / Executive Leadership Team agenda for the March 20th joint work session at WETA. The County's Public Information Director, Diana Sun, is lying like a dog when she says that the meeting consisted of "informal strategic discussions". As you can see this was a formal facilitated meeting where the County Board and Executive Leadership Team were tasked with finding ways of disposing of  "aging and underutilized County property". Moreover, the teams that were tasked with deciding how to dispose of County property mostly consisted of non-residents. How's that for local democracy aka PLACE? The Planning Commission was represented by two Democratic Party / County Board facilitators, who didn't participate in the team discussions. No doubt about it, the County Board and County Manager are deadly serious about selling off the County's public infrastructure.

2100

County Board - County Staff Discuss Selling Nature Centers, Libraries, Community Centers at Off-Site Meeting

 Hello, Yupette,

The County Board, County Manager, and County Staff took a break today from budget work sessions to hold an off-site work session at WETA's headquarters in Shirlington about selling off "excess" County Property

Besides the branch libraries, like Cherrydale, being sold the County Board, County Manager, and County Staff (most of whom don't live in Arlington) discussed disposing of the following properties: Woodmont Center, Lubber Run Recreation Center, Gunston Bubble (Shirley Playfield), Long Branch Nature Center (Glen Carlyn Park), Gulf Branch Nature Center (Gulf Branch Park), Edison Center Complex, and Madison Center. The total assessed value of the properties (excluding the branch libraries) is about $158 million and the total value of the land of the properties is $149 million. Long Branch Nature Center (which costs about $75,000 to operate) is assessed for $72 million and Gulf Branch Nature Center (which costs about $37,000 to operate) is assessed for $32 million.

As for the branch libraries, Library Director Diana Kresh believes they could be converted into storefronts or kiosks.

There was no mention of abandoning the Artisphere or reducing the amount spent on new sports, recreation, and entertainment facilities.

Several County Board members appeared not to be impressed by arguments that the County's population is growing and the County is losing open space because of redevelopment. One County Staff member said "off the record" that "Chris Zimmerman is desperate to get the Pike streetcar constructed, any way he can".

Thanks for your blog.

2100

Arlington's FY 14 Budget, Another Fiscal Train Wreck

Hey, Yupette,

I've been attending the County Board - County Manager FY14 Budget work sessions and it's obvious that the FY14 Budget is going to be another fiscal train wreck, with several hundred million again going to the County Board's pet vanity projects, recreation, entertainment, and sports as in years past, while the essentials will be shorted again. Always money to be found from mid-year revenue projections to pay for cost overruns related to sports, recreation, and entertainment programs and projects this year, or be carried over to next year. Apparently it doesn't matter what Congress does and does not do to the federal budget, the County Board has it's fiscal autopilot set on tax-borrow-spend again.

2100-too