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

'Democracy Dies in Darkness' That's a D.C. Media Joke, Right?

Hey, Yupette,

I have to laugh at the Washington Post's slogan 'Democracy Dies in Darkness'. In fact, the Post keeps us in the dark regarding important matters we don't deserve to know about (like Amazon's secret memorandum of understanding with Arlington County and all the unwritten promises agreed to by the County and Amazon) while spending huge amounts of ink demonizing Republicans and Conservatives over the past 50 years.

It's gotten worse since Amazon bought the Post. For many years the Post maintained a Northern Virginia News Bureau and a Post Reporter almost always attended County Board meetings. No longer. Amazon raised the newsstand price and cut local coverage. Post reporters seldom cover newsworthy events in Arlington and Alexandria. Don't expect the Post will publish anything negative about Amazon.

Local news blogs and weekly newspapers aren't any better. Their publishers and editors are out for as much revenue as they can get from advertising and various kinds of infomercials. They aren't going to significantly oppose the status quo as determined by the 1% who control everything and own almost everything, including non-residents who make and facilitate the approval of 'growth for the sake of growth' done deals. Nor are they going to forego opportunities for exclusives with County VIPs.

The ArlNow news blog is the worst. ArlNow's publisher, editors, and reporters are out to makeover Arlington into Millennial County, helped by comments from various pro-urbanization 'revitalization through infill gentrification' boosters. Never mind the consequences from cramming 70,000 more residents into 15 square miles of Arlington over the next 25 years.

Ted 22205

ACPD Is Responsible For ACPD's Problems

Hi Yupette,

I viewed the last County Board meeting, including the segment on electric scooters.

Appears there's a massive number of complaints from residents about "free range" electric scooters and complete lack of enforcement of regulations and stipulations about electric scooter operation on Arlington's streets, sidewalks, trails, etc.

One has to ask what's occurring in the Arlington Police Department's chain-of-command? Apparently the same-old, same-old. ACPD's commanders have been on the force for decades. They have a laundry list of things they want to do and things they don't want to do. Which translates into laws and ordinances that are enforced and are not enforced.

Any little thing related to motor vehicles is enforced, like expired vehicle inspection stickers. Anything related to 2-wheel vehicles (except for gasoline engine motorcycles and motor scooters) is not enforced at all.

ACPD Commanders complain the Department is chronically under-strength and can't recruit. Who's responsible for that?

Appears that about a fifth of ACPD employees are out enforcing ACPD Commanders' priorities, the rest of the Department's employees are doing other things. Who set ACPD Commanders' priorities? Ultimately the County Manager and County Board.

Bottom line -- If ACPD's leadership is comfortable with the same-old, same old, we're going to have more of the same.

Ted 22201

Now's a Good Time to Leave Arlington

Hey, Yupette,

I'm 56 years old and my youngest child graduated from college a couple years ago. Thought I'd be retiring here - live in 22205. But face it, the County isn't being honest about the costs Amazon will impose on Arlington residents, especially on homeowners. Those costs are in addition to the the costs that will be imposed on us from County Government wanting to in-fill and urbanize the entire County, neighborhood-by-neighborhood.

Who wants to live in a neighborhood where most single family homes are 'repurposed' into bed-and-breakfasts, child care for up to 9 children, McMansions renovated into 1-bedroom apartments, and with neighborhood schools at capacity 3 years after another school addition is constructed? Not me.

Consequently, I'm selling my well-preserved larger home on a nice-size lot and leaving Arlington for a community where I won't see my real estate taxes increase every year to reward one-party government's pet constituencies and watch neighborhood streets become gridlocked to the point I won't be able to back out of my driveway.

The last election was a referendum on fiscal and social responsibility in County Government, and it's obvious we're going back to the era of neighborhood parks becoming $1.8 million dog spas and out-of-control pub crawls.

Then there's one-party government that gets worse every year, to the point where public meetings are charades because everything's decided by a handful of VIPs in secret.

Thanks for this blog.

22205

The Future -- Urbanized and Millennialized Arlington

Hey Yupette,

First, thanks to Audrey Clement and John Vihstadt for running for School Board and County Board. In a multi-party system it should not be up to Independents to run year after year against an entrenched political machine.

Second, the Election sends a clear signal that the Arlington Democratic Party does not want responsible government, fiscally or otherwise.

What Arlington Democrats want is what they had before John Vihstadt was elected - unrestrained spending for extravagant infrastructure, unrestrained neighborhood-by-neighborhood in-fill urbanization / gentrification, unrestrained free-range behavior by Millennials (remember pub crawls?).

It will be interesting to see how County Government meets the demands of thousands more Millennials Amazon will bring to Arlington.

Unfortunately, anyone over about 50 who is for responsible government, responsible behavior, responsible anything, was seen, is seen, and will be seen as a Donald Trump surrogate, so long as Donald Trump is President.

Next Blue Wave will be in 2019 for the Virginia General Assembly elections. Next Blue Wave after that will be in 2020 for the Presidential elections.

Thanks again to Audrey and John for running.

22206