ACPD Completely Disinterested in Multi-Modal Safety

Hey Yupette,

Only a couple weeks until the school year begins. So ACPD will be interested in multi-modal safety -- for a couple weeks as that relates to neighborhoods around schools. Rest of the year - forget it.

ACPD only wants to ticket drivers of motor vehicles, for anything and everything. And chase 'bad guys', including bad guys driving motor vehicles (with the exception of pursuing bad guy vehicles at high speed).

Multi-modal safety isn't even on ACPD's radar. How did we get to the point where, in only a couple months, electric scooters are ridden recklessly all over the County, dirt bike and ATV riders from DC feel free to cross into the County, raise hell for awhile, and ride back into DC, where pedestrians have to dodge group bike rides on sidewalks, bicycle bozos won't yield to pedestrians in crosswalks, and when a bicyclist runs into a motor vehicle the cops automatically blame the vehicle's driver?

So how much longer before a pedestrian who gets hit and hurt by a bicycle in a crosswalk sues multiple parties, including the County. Not long. Will be interesting to see how many lawsuits end up being settled via the County Board's agenda.

Susan, 22203

Local Media: Fake News, Phony Journalists

Hi Yupette,

Thanks for this news blog.

Wanted to let you know I no longer believe anything the D.C.-area Media publish. It's all Fake News, disseminated by phony 'Journalists'.

They're all addicted to New Urbanism - Growth for the Sake of Growth, like the other VIPs who get to micro-manage our lives Inside the Beltway. Consequences? What are Consequences?
They deluge us with propaganda press releases from local governments, non-profits, and for-profits, many printed/published as 'infomercials', more fake news.

They're only concerned about ad revenue, obtained from not offending anyone. Investigative Journalism? What's that?

Washington Post is the worst. Almost all of their 'Staff Writers' have been through J-School and should know better.

Dana, 22207

County Board Promised Amazon $10 - $20 Billion

Hey Yupette,

How much did the County Board promise Amazon? Between $10 billion and $20 billion, depending on how well Amazon and the local economy perform over the next 20 years. Basic deal is that Amazon redevelops Crystal City for its new headquarters and in return Amazon is exempt from real estate and business taxes Amazon would have to pay in Arlington. Amazon would also be exempt from some State taxes. The County would also provide Amazon the same incentives it's been giving to REITs like JBG/Smith and Forest City, most recently at the County's 'Christmas in July' meeting earlier this month.

Think of a family owning a McMansion assessed at $1.5 million today to be assessed at $4.5 million in 2038 not having to pay Arlington real estate taxes or State income tax over the next 20 years. Only Amazon wouldn't have to pay businesses taxes either and would get various kinds of essential infrastructure constructed at the County's expense.

Whether that's good for Arlington's residents, taxpayers, and voters with a County Government addicted to growth-for-the-sake-of-growth and which is always scrounging for a million here and a million there won't be known until years after the County and Amazon sign the deal.

Bears repeating that most of Arlington's decision makers don't live in Arlington, or if they do, live in exclusive enclaves and disappear a few years after they make deals for extravagant projects. Like Jay Fisette and his aquatics center.

2100

'Christmas in July' County Board Meeting Saturday

Hey, Yupette,

Arlington County Board's Annual Christmas in July Meeting will be held on July 14th with the carry-over Meeting on July 17th.

Biggest for-profit County Board Gift Recipients this year are Ballston Quarter (formerly Ballston Common) Mall Owner and Operator Forest City, and Crystal City Owner and Operator JBG/Smith (also the Landlord for the County Office Building). Placed on the County Board's Consent Agenda, of course.

Usual Christmas in July spending on the Consent Agenda for extravagant parks, recreation, and sports facility makeovers, grants to wealthy arts organizations, AHIF loans for more extravagant subsidized moderate-income housing (e.g., Berkeley Apartments).

Biggest non-profit Gift Recipients are various County and other bureaucracies (e.g.,WMATA) who will spend $2.8 billion over the next decade via the County's Capital Improvement Plan and funds from bond referenda (this year's referenda will allocate $243 million).

This year the County Board MAY throw a few crumbs to ordinary Arlington residents in the form of tax relief for Seniors and not having to bother affixing personal property tax stickers to vehicle windows anymore.

Too much more on the gift list to write about here, so go to arlingtonva.us -> County Board -> Meetings and Agendas and check it all out.

2100

Virginia's Democratic Leadership Responsible for Amazon Consequences

Hello,

Some local residents are convening at Arlington's Central Library tonight (June 21st) to try to determine what the consequences would be if Amazon accepts whatever the County has offered in the way of inducements for Amazon to build another headquarters here.

Why did Arlington County even bother to contact Amazon? Two reasons. County Government is completely addicted to growth-for-the-sake-of-growth. And, more important, because Virginia's Democratic Leadership allowed Crystal City to become a run-down, high-vacancy mess.
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Reality check - the Navy and a number of defense contractors began leaving Crystal City two decades ago. First important BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) consequences to our Region occurred in 1995. Second occurred in 2005. What did VIP Democrats do to prevent Crystal City becoming a commercial Ghost Town between 1998 and today? Ask Senator (former Virginia Governor) Mark Warner. Ask Senator (former Virginia Governor) Tim Kaine. Ask our former former Congressman, Jim Moran. Ask the Democratic elected officials who served between 1998 and today in Northern Virginia.

While we HOPE Arlington County Government's Democrat New Urbanist Progressives made a rational and sane offer to Amazon, it's more likely County Board Democrats reacted to Arlington's pervasive 20% commercial vacancy rate by offering Amazon a corporate welfare deal Amazon can't refuse.

Arlington's Trails and Sidewalks: Too Dangerous for Pedestrians

Hey Yupette,

I agree that bicyclists are out of control in Arlington. All the trails, e.g., W O & D trail are too dangerous for pedestrians. So are many congested sidewalks, including those in the Ballston-Rosslyn corridor, Shirlington Village, Westover Village, and Columbia Pike in the neighborhoods around Four Mile Run. Neighborhoods I once visited.

I live in Cherrydale. I stopped walking on the trails last year. Last week I was almost hit by a guy riding a racing bike on the sidewalk on Wilson Blvd near the former NSF building. Enough. If County Government wants to allow free-range bicycling on sidewalks, I'm not walking in those neighborhoods. Bikeshare is the worst. Bikeshare's corporate motto has to be Safery Last. I took a photo of a Bikeshare rental station and as you can see there's no safety information at all. Much less a helmet vending box.

As for the police enforcing traffic ordinances related to bicycles forget it. They're too busy writing tickets for people who operate motor vehicles. How many? I discovered ACPD is on-track to write 30,000 this year.

So if the County wants me to shop in "vibrant" Ballston, forget it. I'm starting to order more from wonderful Amazon and signed up to have groceries delivered from Giant. Which only leaves driving out to work on I-66 in the morning and in to Arlington at night

Thanks for your blog.

Ted, Cherrydale

Arlington School Board Inherently Biased Against Washington and Lee

Hey, Yupette,

So where is the School Board coming from in its quest to rename Washington and Lee High school?

The School Board majority, Reid Goldstein, Barbara Kanninen, and Nancy Van Doren grew up in states that were both anti-slavery before the War Between the States and whose state regiments were major participants in Civil War battles. From a Web search it appears that Reid Goldstein grew up in Upstate New York, Barbara Kanninen grew up in Minnesota, and Nancy Van Dorn grew up in Connecticut.

The School Board minority, Monique O'Grady and Tanya Talento, apparently grew up in the D.C. metro area.

Except for Monique O'Grady it appears that none of the School Board members lived in the former Confederate states for any significant time before they moved to Arlington.

In recent decades both Robert E. Lee and George Washington have been demonized as slaveholders in so-called Progressive states like Connecticut, Minnesota, and York and in the D.C. area public schools.

At least two current School Board members attended public schools whose names and / or names of their sports teams became an embarrassment and were changed.

Thanks to the local media becoming little more than facilitators for the status quo the only way we can determine where candidates for public office are coming from is by doing Web searches ourselves, and through FOIA requests.

Thanks for this blog.

Terri, 22201