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Garvey Wins Democratic County Board Caucus

by ARLnow.com | January 22, 2012 at 5:00 am | 3,153 views | 150 Comments

School Board member Libby Garvey has claimed a decisive victory in the Democratic caucus for Arlington County Board.

The caucuses were held on Thursday and Saturday. Out of the 4,314 votes cast, 1,915 were cast for Garvey — more than twice the vote count of her closest opponent. In an email, Garvey expressed gratitude to her supporters and to the other candidates in the race.

“I’d like to thank the Arlington elected officials who endorsed me in this race: Senators Barbara Favola, Mary Margaret Whipple, and Patsy Ticer and School Board Members Abby Raphael and Emma Violand-Sanchez. Their assistance was critical in securing this victory,” she wrote. “I would especially like to thank the other candidates. It was a race between five well-qualified Arlington Democrats, and I’m particularly thankful for the kindness they showed me on the campaign trail.”

Garvey will now be the official Democratic nominee for Arlington County Board in the special election that’s being held on March 27. She will face Green Party candidate Audrey Clement and Republican Mark Kelly, who just announced his candidacy this past week.

“This County Board contest was one of the hardest fought in recent memory, featuring five great candidates from various constituencies in Arlington,” Arlington Democratic Chair Mike Lieberman said in a statement announcing the caucus results. “We are proud that Libby Garvey emerged from this caucus as our nominee. She has been an outstanding School Board Member, and we know she will make an excellent County Board Member as well. We look forward to committing our full party resources behind getting Libby elected on March 27.”

The final vote count, as reported by the Arlington County Democratic Committee:

Libby Garvey — 1,915 votes
Melissa Bondi — 966 votes
Terron Sims — 922 votes
Kim Klingler — 333 votes
Peter Fallon — 178 votes

april

Oh…No…She played politics with our children’s lives for 15 years, now she gets to play politics with our lives.
- Pablo
  
  Hey April,
  
  Get over yourself. The people have decided. Overwhelmingly.
  - dave schutz
    
    Um, Pablo, 4300 people voted. That’s not ‘the people’. That’s ‘the 4300 people willing to come out to a central location and pledge not to vote for the Green or the Reep in the General’.
    
    I’m actually happy with the outcome – I am dead set against Zimmerman’s Twee Little Trolley and Garvey has expressed doubt, while Bondi was wholly for it. At the moment, I am kind of a single issue voter (against the TLT) and I did not vote in the caucus because if the nominee had been Bondi I had decided to vote for the Green. I resent the Dems having set as a condition of voting that one had to promise to vote for the Dem in the general.
    - Slobodan
      
      The Arl dem pledge is simply “not to support” an opponent. That means don’t put up a yard sign, etc.
      
      But It is a secret ballot. You can vote for whomever you want.
    - AllenB
      
      The pledge is totally unenforceable. Vote your conscience. If you vote for Garvey, you’re just trading runaway spending on a trolley for runaway spending on taj mahal schools. Garvey wouldn’t even consider renovating the current wakefield after the new one is built to with higher school enrollment.
      
      She’s just a trojan horse for the school board.
      - OaklandSt
        
        Garvey will have less influence on schools expansion now then she would have had on the school board. All of the future improvement plans for schools are made by the school board, superintendent and their staff. The county board has very little to do with setting that agenda.
        
        And besides, any major school projects will be up for votes as bond referendums. You can vote against them then if you wish.
      - AllenB
        
        The county board ultimately approves whether any schools bonds make it to a vote or not. And schools debt counts against the county’s debt limits.
      - OaklandSt
        
        Yeah, I’m aware of that. My original point still holds though. These strategic decisions about how to improve school facilities that you seem so incensed about are no longer in her hands.
        
        Who do you think is going to replace her on the school board? That is probably a more important issue to you.
      - ArlDem
        
        Noah Simon is Abby Raphael’s choice. I’m hoping he won’t be a puppet because he doesn’t have much of a record. He’s the one to beat.
      - AllenB
        
        Your original point doesn’t hold Oakland… but I guess in your mind it does. He/she who approves the funding has an enormous influence on what happens. You can make all the strategic decisions you want but you need someone “up the line” to approve the money.
      - OaklandSt
        
        Following your logic to its end, the voters have the most influence on funding, since they get a chance to reject it. So you can take comfort in that.
        
        I am actually quite happy that the majority of Arlington residents value kids and the nuclear family and are willing year after year to invest in our schools. It is one reason we live here. But I can see how somebody who does not have kids would not want so much emphasis on it.
      - AllenB
        
        Right… because I said somewhere that I did not want to fund expansion for kids… NOT.
        
        What I said was that alternatives need to be explored, not just assume that building new schools is the only answer.
        
        But way to throw out that red herring… bravo.
      - OaklandSt
        
        I just can not see how someone without kids would consider the issue of new schools vs renovations to be the huge political story of the caucus results. It wasn’t even an issue discussed in the campaign. What’s the real issue for you?
      - Moi
        
        Unenforceable now, maybe…but just wait.
      - Josh S
        
        Sad commentary when people feel that the school board is the enemy.
        
        Personally, no matter what mistakes you may think the school board has made, I think it is a mistake to allow that kind of thinking to dominate your mental construct of local politics. All political systems rely on the support of the governed.
    - http://Nelsm4517@mac.com 11th Street Resident
      
      I’m glad Libby Garvey won. She has done a lot of good work for the county and deserves this election.
      
      Hope Zimmerman, Bondi and all the other democrats pay attention to this. It is no longer business as usual with Arlington Democrats.
- Cooch
  
  Thats my job
Abe Froman

Pay your taxss
An otjerali

Congratulations, Libby and Newt!!

If Both Melissa and Mitt had Been more straight forward With their taxes, things might have Been different.
- charlie
  
  how true. yet at opposite ends of the bell curve.
- Mike
  
  The difference (tax-wise, that is) between Mitt and Melissa is that Mitt dodges taxes legally and Melissa just doesn’t pay at all.
AllenB

Great, so now we get a board member who’s only goal is to hand hundreds of millions of dollars to the school system. She’s a one trick pony.

Hello Libby, goodbye money. Yuck.
- Te pril
  
  Skools are a better investment than the trolley…
  And Libby has a broader perspektive than you think…
  At least she is not in žimmo’s hip pocket..
  - AllenB
    
    Profligate school construction is no better than the trolley.
    
    This may be the first time in years I vote republican. I hope others consider it too. If people thought the board spent too much before, just wait till Libby gets a vote.
    - The majority
      
      Allen,
      
      Do you vote against every bond issue? They pass, with overwhelming majorities, every time. Whether you like it or not, i take that to mean there is a broad community consensus that our schools should be really nice… Such as those on show during the firehouse primary..
      - AllenB
        
        So because the majority votes for school bond issues means I shouldn’t express an opinion that the spending is excessive?
        
        Schools can be really nice if they are renovated and expanded – schools capacity doesn’t have to be met simply by building more new ones. There’s no reason the old Wakefield can’t be part of the solution and they just rejected it out of hand.
      - Josh S
        
        Does your attitude boil down to Wakfield? Cause school overcrowding is county-wide.
      - AllenB
        
        To me, that is representative of how they work. The only answer is more money, more schools. There has to be a combination of things to accommodate increased enrollment but they don’t seem to want to consider any other ways.
      - John Fontain
        
        I believe they overwhelmingly pass each time because of the way they are worded. Bond referendum? Why not say, “Should we go into debt to _________.” I think if the wording were less obfuscatory, we might actually have voters realize what they are voting for and some of these “bond referendums” might fail.
      - Josh S
        
        The wording is entirely factual. Nothing obfuscatory about it at all. We needn’t treat voters like children. Especially in a place like Arlington, VA where we can sleep quite soundly knowing that the vast majority of voters understand perfectly well what they are voting for.
      - John Fontain
        
        I didn’t say it wasn’t factual, just that it wasn’t in plain english. And my question remains, what good reason is there to ask a question in a way that some voters might not understand when other language would help in ensuring that more voters will understand it?
    - drax
      
      Building schools to get kids out of trailers is hardly “profligate.”
    - Josh S
      
      “Profilgate?”
      
      Where is this “profilgate” school construction you speak of?
      
      Entirely speculatory / illusory.
      
      You can vote Republican all you want, it won’t make any difference. And not just because the Republican candidate will never win in Arlington. Even if they did, do you really think it would make much difference in the way the county is run?
      
      The county is run in the way the population wants it run. It is a wealthy community full of people who have “keep up with the Jonses” permeating every pore of their bodies – the people want to see lots of services/facilities provided by the local government.
    - charvakan
      
      AllenB, look at it this way: borrowing money will never be much, if any, cheaper. Schools do need to be replaced, and well-built, spacious schools do make a difference. We’re taking on debt now rather than later, when it might be at higher interest rates, and we’ll have better facilities for it, which is a factor in wealthier families locating here. I’m not always 100% on board with the construction, but they’re managing these projects better now than they did a while back and it’s a defensible long range strategy. And it’s a democracy; voters do approve these bond issues and these candidates.
- TGEoA
  
  This coming from someone who is in favor of a dog park with a waterfall.
- TGE0A
  
  This coming from someone in favor of a dog park with a waterfall.
  - AllenB
    
    I’d rather have a million dollar dog park then half a billion spend on new school construction. Libby is nothing more than a shill for the school board.
    - TGE0A
      
      Ignoring your wildly inflated costs for the school bonds, this shows your selfish priorities.
      
      FWIW I don’t have kids in school, but realize that we still need them. Dog parks not so much.
      - AllenB
        
        And thank you for wildly ignoring what I said. Never said we didn’t need any new schools or renovation of existing schools. Just said that we need to consider all means of meeting the capacity issues. Building new ones isn’t the only answer. Why not renovate the old wakefield?
        
        And I don’t think my numbers are wildly inflated either. I’ve read, not sure where, that schools says they need 16 more schools to meeting capacity issues. I don’t think 500mil is so wild when it comes to building 16 more. That’s about 30mil a piece.
    - Tom Smart
      
      Children are our future, not canines, unless you know something about them that most don’t?
      
      And I’d much rather have our taxes spent on the schools than a useless trolley, for which I will not waste our time discussing.
      
      Perhaps once and for all Arlingonians will get off their rears and vote someone in to throw some balance into our elected board. After 30 years of this nonsense, the tax, spend and tax philosophy is beyond comprehension. I sometimes wish our county would lose its bond rating with the hopes that it might knock some conservative sense into lame brain heads.
      - Josh S
        
        Look, oh Brainy One, isn’t there a little kernel in your post there that might cause you to stop and think?
        
        You wish the county would lose its bond rating? So the county has a high bond rating? Meaning the county is on very solid fiscal ground? Meaning that perhaps your rants about debt are perhaps a bit misplaced?
        
        What is this “balance” you refer to? Please explain. Also, you refer to “conservative sense.” Would that be different than plain old “sense?” If so, how? Is it better? How / why? Presumably you will have empirical evidence to explain how / why rather than simply some partisan articles of faith.
        
        I won’t go into the basics of how governments are financed, other than to say I don’t see how there is anything “beyond comprehension” about it.
- Just the Facts
  
  The APS budget is determined by a multi-step revenue sharing agreement between the County Board and School Board put in place several years ago to end the annual wrangling over how much money APS gets. Since the implementation of this agreement, the amount going to APS has been in the mid-40s range (as percent of revenue). One Board member isn’t going to change this highly successful formula.
  - AllenB
    
    Debt to build new schools is not part of the revenue sharing agreement. The county board ultimately approves whether any bond referendum for the schools makes it to the public for a vote.
    
    And the superintendent and school board want to get more money, above and beyond the revenue agreement. Libby will be one vote for that, for sure.
    - Just the Facts
      
      And then the public gets to vote directly on it, so if the people don’t support it, it won’t pass.
      
      Is this the best argument you have?
      - AllenB
        
        But you know as well as I do that the public never disapproves a bond referendum. So what the board decides usually happens. So the public does get their say, sure, but it’s already a done deal.
    - Josh S
      
      Why do they want more money?
- charlie
  
  Under what terms do you believe this?
  We don’t have any more schools to rebuild at this point.
  - AllenB
    
    Go to the schools website and look at their capacity section. They want to build many more schools to deal with increases in # of students. I’m not saying some new ones aren’t needed, but they don’t want to consider even redoing the old Wakefield to meet the capacity issues.
    - drax
      
      Wakefield wouldn’t be enough.
      
      And renovation isn’t always cheaper than new construction.
    - Josh S
      
      Building more schools is typically presented as one option to address the issue. Because it is the most expensive, it is likely to be the one least often used.
      
      I am beginning to wonder about your obsession with Wakefield. So if APS decided tomorrow to re-use portions of Wakefield for a new school, you’d be perfectly happy and all your cares would go away?
      - AllenB
        
        It’s an example of the current school boards attitude – everything has to be new and shiny. They dismissed the idea without even considering it.
ArlingtonWay

Yikes! Does ths mean Melissa is still unemployed? How does one pay off a $19,000 lien with no job?
- An other
  
  Borrow some cash from Mitt?
  Surely he would have sympathy for someone whose tax problems caused electoral grief?
  - TGEoA
    
    Does he believe in usury?
    - Plunkitt of Clarendon Blvd
      
      “Does he believe in usury?”
      He is a former venture capitalist….do bears defaecate in the woods ??
- TGEoA
  
  I shudder to think of the possibilities
Elmer

So, got any explaination how the Garvey school board can spend $100,000,000 plus of our money on the planning and construction of school projects and we still end up with trailers as classrooms?
thecharlesriver

Arlington politics = We love diversity, as long as they are all Demcrats.
- Dem and proud of it
  
  That’s right, charlesriver.
  - thecharlesriver
    
    Ignorance is bliss.
  - Jus’ saying
    
    Yes,the Dem machine speaks and all obey. In the past, they were called “yellow dog democrats”.
    They’ll never learn no matter how many degrees they have.
    - Dem and proud of it
      
      Never learn what?
      - thecharlesriver
        
        Never learn to think with your own head instead of someone else’s….for one thing.
      - Josh S
        
        Ah yes, the legendary / mythical “Independent minded American voter.”
        
        You are aware that practically every freaking voter in the country likes to pride him/herself as being independent-minded. Trust me, River Man, you’re hardly some sort of bold iconoclast over there.
      - thecharlesriver
        
        You’re entitled to your opinion….but trust me, you don’t me.
        
        Apparently because you have a difficult time forming your own opinions, you believe that having an independent mind is a “mythical” idea….but trust me Confucius, I assure you we’re out here! And if you are steadfastly affiliated with a Party or ideology, it’s really tough to make the case that you are anywhere near independent-minded….which may be why you’re so defensive.
      - thecharlesriver
        
        And I think the most obscene notion is when a person who prides himself on assuming the label of “liberal” when in actuality he is about as free-thinking and open-minded as some of religious-right fanatics.
- Just the Facts
  
  When another party puts forth candidates that appeal to voters more than the local Dem party, that party will win. Until then, complaining about Dem dominance is sour grapes.
  
  It’s actually a very compelling (and successful) strategy: accurately represent the views of a significant majority of the electorate, win multiple elections by significant majorities.
  
  Reps and Greens should try it!
  - thecharlesriver
    
    It’s not a party problem, it’s a people problem. Most partisan voters don’t even have a clue as to what the opposing candidates believe. They simply blindly vote for their Party. I’m Independent, and quite proud that I am able to use my brain without pre-partisan programming.
    
    Ignorance is bliss.
    - Just the Facts
      
      Your hubris is shocking: you know what is in the minds of your fellow voters?!? Sour grapes, my friend.
      - thecharlesriver
        
        Saying “sour grapes” over and over doesn’t make it the truth. lol
      - Just the Facts
        
        I didn’t say it over and over, I wrote it twice. And it remains the most logical reason for you alleging that Arlingtonians just vote party no matter what.
        
        Oh, wait, I’m sorry, I just noticed that you’ve had “dozens and dozens” of conversations with Arlingtonians who have no clue about the issues and just vote D. Even if you’ve talked to a dozen dozen people in Arlington and they are like that, you haven’t even cracked 150. Hardly a representative sample of the electorate.
        
        I know this site attracts trolls who just like to make outrageous claims to get responses from the rest of us, but I’m going to continue to point out the really foolish ones. Like this….
      - thecharlesriver
        
        You have no basis to know how many people I’ve talked to. So speak for yourself. And YOU are responsible for YOUR own reactions, so if my comments anger you, then that’s YOUR problem. I never claimed that ALL people vote that way. I claimed too many. That’s my opinion and it’s my right to speak it, just as it’s your right to arrogantly proclaim how knowledgeable I am regarding the electorate.
        
        Also common sense dictates that if you are calling yourself a Democrat, then you are more than likely voting for Democrats. That amounts to voting for people because they are Democrats. And there are widely available stats on the number of people in this county who identify as Democrat. And yes, there are many precincts in other areas of the country who are similarly robotic in their zombie-like approach to politics, both Republican and Democrat….however that just makes them just as dumb,
      - drax
        
        How do you know “too many” vote by party? You don’t.
        
        Your opinion about how other people think sucks.
      - thecharlesriver
        
        It’s obviously an opinion you dummy. This is an opinion-oriented board….It’s not an academic journal. And that’s certainly obvious by reading your comments as well.
  - Jus’ saying
    
    OK, then let’s put it to vote:Should Arlington elect county board members by district?
    No says the one party machine.
    - Dem and proud of it
      
      Why should they?
    - Plunkitt of Clarendon Blvd
      
      Careful……someone will attack you with a shopping cart !!!
    - Single districts
      
      This would make no difference… The dems carry every precinct in every election… They might need to have a few people move, but they would.
      
      If you gave the Arl GOP complete authority to draw a single district map, they couldn’t draw even one district they could win. So why bother??
      - Tom Smart
        
        is that why reagan carried arlington?
      - drax
        
        No, that’s not why. Lots and lots of Democrats voted for Reagan in 1980. Doesn’t mean they voted for Republicans all the way down the ticket.
        
        Mondale carried Arlington in 1984 btw.
        
        Oh, and it’s 2012, not 1980. It’s unlikely that a district system could produce a single Republican-majority district. Maybe one.
      - Josh S
        
        ?!?!!?
        
        Thirty two years ago.
      - Chris G.
        
        Didn’t Mark Kelly win a couple of Precincts in 2010 against Zimmie?
    - Just the Facts
      
      That was tried and was an abject failure. The people spoke overwhelmingly: no change to the current election system.
      - Plunkitt of Clarendon Blvd
        
        Huh, what are you talking about….the “people” had no say in that.
      - Just the Facts
        
        Sure they did. The “change the gov’t” effort a couple of years ago tried to move to district voting. To get it on the ballot, they only needed 10 percent of the registered voters to sign a petition. It was a well-funded effort backed by Fire and Police unions and the Republican and Green parties. It failed miserably. That, my friend, is called “the people spoke.”
        
        Please pay attention, it will make this conversation go so much smoother.
      - Plunkitt of Clarendon Blvd
        
        Blocking a petion effort by resorting to attacking people with shopping carts is not “the people speaking”.
        
        If the ACDC were not so afraid of what “the people” would say they wouldn’t have funded a group whose main purpose was to oppose the the measure from being put on the ballot…..which the last I looked was the main way in this country for “the people” to have their say.
        Being snide, just exposes your ignorance….
      - drax
        
        Sorry, Plunkitt, but it failed. No lame excuses.
  - thecharlesriver
    
    And by the way, the notion that opposing parties NEVER put up a candidate that’s good enough for the electorate is a ludicrous proposition. The reality is that too many voters cast their ballot by reading ONE letter next to the name. I always found it interesting that almost every Dem county candidate almost without variation makes sure the word “Democrat” is written on all their campaign signs and stickers. That alone speaks volumes.
    - Just the Facts
      
      Again: how can you possibly claim to know this? What is the source of your information that a majority of Arlington voters don’t analyze the available candidates and simply vote for the Democrat?
      
      The answer is you don’t know this because you can’t possibly know this.
      - thecharlesriver
        
        How do I know it? I know it because I’ve had dozens and dozens and dozens of conversations with people in this county who have no clue as to what issues are, but they know they are voting Democrat.
      - drax
        
        Just stop, charles river. You’re making an ass of yourself.
        
        You think people who disagree with you have no clue about the issues and only vote for the party you don’t like because they are robots. That’s really juvenile and shows a lack of respect for other opinions.
      - thecharlesriver
        
        I don’t think I mentioned anything about “thinking that who disagree with me have no clue….”
      - thecharlesriver
        
        Also never “the majority” I said too many.
    - South Walter Reed
      
      Charles, did it occur to you that maybe people vote for Democrats in Arlington because there are a lot of, you know, Democrats in Arlington?
      
      It’s not some conspiracy against you, it’s math.
      - thecharlesriver
        
        It’s not conspiracy against ME anyway since I am an INDEPENDENT. Don’t assume.
      - thecharlesriver
        
        I’m actually a former Dem. But as the intolerance for diversity of opinions within the Party grew, I decided I didn’t want to be a lemming.
      - drax
        
        So now you display your own intolerance for diversity of opinions by labeling everyone who disagree with a lemming instead of accepting that they might just be rational and intelligent and still disagree with you.
      - thecharlesriver
        
        Intolerance? What am I being intolerant of? I think people who walk in lock step with a Party or an ideology are narrow-minded….but I certainly believe in their right to be so.
    - Josh S
      
      Please show me a candidate who doesn’t put their party affiliation on their signs.
      
      I realize it’s Monday morning, but dang…..
      - thecharlesriver
        
        A candidate in Arlington or somewhere else? Well politically speaking anyone running as a Republican in Arlington would be foolish to do so. But I assure you there are many who do not.
    - JohnB
      
      There is no letter next to county board candidates names. Just sayin…
      - thecharlesriver
        
        People who cling steadfastly to their ideology are part of the problem not the solution. That’s my opinion.
Paco Wellington III

I am glad that the people who voted saw through the sham candidate supported by Zimmie. What a disaster that would have been.

Although the outcome would likely not be different, the local democratic party should have allowed the VOTERS to decide the contest, not just the few who attended the caucus. (Which were well run, by the way. Thank you to the many volunteers who kept voting easy and fast.) Given that only democrats can win in this county, the March 27 race could have served as a primary & general special election at once. (And, I suspect the zimmie’s hand-puppet would have done much, much worse when exposed to the general voters.)
- Dem and proud of it
  
  Paco, do you even know Melissa Bondi?
  - charlie
    
    i was impressed by voters who didn’t know Bondi at all but made excellent analysis of her based on her inability to keep a job and being on every commission and an expert on everything. they saw right thru her campaign literature. arlington votersr rock.
  - Paco Wellington III
    
    Dem:
    
    Yes, I have had the misfortune to be on one alliance/task force/committee/etc. with Bondi. Her behavior was very strange, but I assumed at the time it was a fluke.
    
    This does not mean she is the devil, but it also means don’t entrust her with anything of importance. I would not ask her to watch my cat because I doubt she would complete the task.
    
    P. W. III
    - Dem and proud of it
      
      Perfect example of an anonymous cyber smear comment.
      - charlie
        
        the irony of someone anonymously complaining about someone else being anonymous.
        You don’t know Paco and you don’t know charlie. So how do you know they are being anonymous?
      - who are you kidding
        
        No, but we know that charlie, Paco, Arlington County Taxpayer, Shirley, and many others are all the same person, who loves to provoke and smear.
      - charlie
        
        must be a different charlie. oh well. you are the one up at 2 am worrying.
      - charlie
        
        Yes, anonymity can bring out the worst in people. That used to be the saving grace of local politics as opposed to national. Most people don’t make the same type of smear attacks when they are in a room face-to-face with their neighbors. Some still do, but they tend to see the disgusted looks of their neighbors so it kind of discourages it. Plus, in person you can’t pretend to be 10 different people or someone who you are not.
      - charlie tuna
        
        oh i’m not so sure about that.
      - dave schutz
        
        I do notice that I tend to be more measured and polite commenting under my own name than I might be if I were using a pseudonym. I think the conversation is better if people are prepared to own their words.
- Josh S
  
  Huh?
  
  Do you mean like how the Republican party is allowing the “VOTERS” of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, etc to decide who their nominee for president is?
  
  It’s called a primary. This is how primaries work. Members of the party vote. It wouldn’t make any sense to allow those who aren’t members to vote in a primary. (I understand it does happen in some states.)
STee

Ah, I do love Arlington. What I wonder is why Arlnow.com which says they are a source of news is so biased to the left. Yes, Arlington is as blue as Maryland – but there are other responsible perspectives out there. Before I get jumped on, I’m an independent – my beef isn’t on any left or right issues – my beef is on this site being left biased. Fair reporting. Unbiased reporting. Sadly – we’ll keep seeing the left overly reported on arlnow.com.
- Dem and proud of it
  
  Huh?????
- Just the Facts
  
  Please list your top three pieces of evidence for claiming that Arlnow is “biased to the left.” This should be interesting…
  - drax
    
    All media are biased to the left whenever they report news the right wishes wasn’t reported.
    
    You didn’t hear?
  - thecharlesriver
    
    You do realize that this is not a scholarly journal….but an opinion-based commentary board right?
    
    And you do realize that opinions can be based on a variety of information including things that have been measured, things that have not been measured, personal experiences, professional experiences, value judgement and a host of other sources, correct?
    
    And you also realize that you float on this board insisting that those (you disagree with) who cannot provide hard stats to support all of their opinions are wrong….. yet you just KNOW that the only logical reason someone would criticize the Democratic group-think in this county MUST be that they are “sour grapes” ….. which does not follow the same scientific methods you insist on for your opposing opinion contributors, right?
    
    Get off your freaking intellectual high-horse Ms. “JusttheFacts.” The lady doth protest too much methinks.
- YoBimbo
  
  You’re kidding, right?
  - Just the Facts
    
    YoBimbo: if that was directed at me, it should be an easy request to fulfill. You could have added it at the end of your succinct comment….but you didn’t….hmmm…..
- Josh S
  
  Yeah, I second the “Huh?”
  
  Please explain. You mean the simple fact that ARLnow is reporting on the results of a Dem primary? What, they shouldn’t report it? Or, better – I get it – they should report on the Republican primary too….Oh, wait, there wasn’t a Republican primary….Hmmmm. What to do? What to do?
  
  I guess, to be fair then, since there wasn’t a Rep primary, the site should pretend there wasn’t a Dem primary.
MC

The Democratic party chose the candidate who campaigned against “runaway development” (and the tax revenues development generates) who wants to make the region’s most expensive school system even more expensive.
- AllenB
  
  They sure did.
Gracious?

Below is the full text from Melissa’s web site ( http://www.melissabondi.org ) of what is just a thank you to her workers. There is no mention of congratulations to the winner, offering to help on her campaign, etc.,, or anything that might suggest that Melissa is not a sore loser. Well, Melissa still has a lot to learn about the Arlington Way.
—-

Over the past 10 weeks, I have spent every day doing what I love most – talking with Arlington residents,
small business owners, nonprofit leaders and advocates about our community. Your energy and your
commitment to making Arlington an even more inclusive, progressive and sustainable community is
truly inspiring.

None of this would have been possible without the extraordinary efforts of our many volunteers and
generous supporters. We ran a truly community-based campaign, focused on the issues most important
to you. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished, and I remain focused on Arlington’s current and future
success.

Since I first moved to Arlington, I have been dedicated to expanding our community conversation
about what Arlington does well, what’s missing and what we can all do to make sure Arlington remains
competitive, inclusive and sustainable for generations to come. Thank you for helping us achieve
these goals, and for all of your support!
- ArlingtonCountyTaxpayer
  
  I hate when people take signature block too seriously and don’t remove th outline around the signature. Maybe her web designer and tax advisor are the same.
  But yeh, no class in not congratulating Libby.
- ArlDem
  
  Ah, the Arlington Way. The idea of the Arlington Way is that you spend your time working in neighborhoods, civic associations, county commissions, etc., and new candidates are drawn from that pool. Decisions get made on the basis of community conversation. The reality is much different: The real Arlington Way is what Whipple wants Whipple gets. Election after election. The notion of comity and competition in ACDC elections is a complete fiction. Good people get smeared. Those in power keep power. And some abuse it.
  - Dem and proud of it
    
    Good people get smeared with the anonymity of the Internet, and that’s what happened here.
    - charlie
      
      not paying taxes and having a federal tax lien might take you out of “good people” category.
      - ArlDem
        
        It also might not. You never did know, or care, about the facts.
      - Charlie
        
        I don’t have time to investigate. A lien is a lien. A FOIA is a FOIA.
        Burden is on the candidate to prove they are worthy.
      - Orange Line
        
        You have plenty of time to post negative attacks though.
- Lou
  
  She’ll be back. That reads halfway like a campaign speech.
  - ArlDem
    
    I certainly hope so.
- ArlDem
  
  Gee, none of the other candidates even bothered to thank their supporters on their website or Facebook. I don’t see you criticizing them.
John Andre

Don’t know what this means for the trolley, since Melissa Bondi was the big trolley supporter. I stayed home largely due to the weather…with no frozen sidewalks caucus turnout would have been higher.
- Piker
  
  Bondi was the only one with a set but enough to state her position. The others are all for it too. I happen to think that is a good thing. But I don’t like how mealy-mouthed they were during the campaign. The trolley connects Fairfax and Alexandria. It gets funds from all three jurisdictions and the Feds. Anyone really think its not gonna happen? Of course it will. And it should.
Peter

The friend/s of Ms. Bondi who continue to defend her just don’t get it. Voters don’t want an evasive leader w/ tax problems.
What about Tejada & Zimmerman, who never advised her to withdraw? Did they care about Arlington, or just getting a pal elected? Maybe it’s time for more new blood on this Board.
- Dem and proud of it
  
  Peter, 966 people care very much about Arlington and believed Ms. Bondi was the best candidate. We were very troubled by the cyber smear campaign against her, and are willing to take her word for it that the lien is an error. We are also troubled by the inappropriate behavior of another elected official.
  - charlie
    
    unfortunately more people liked Garvey.
    and O’Leary has a long history of inappropriate behavior — going back to Fisette’s first run.
  - Ashton Height Bob
    
    Please do not delude yourself into thinking that dirty tricks sunk Bondi. Bondi sunk Bondi with her own record.
    
    What helped me decide was Bondi’s evasiveness about whether she received notices about a tax problem and her later refusal to answer whether she received notices stating that she wanted to see what the IRS had in its files. That is a strange answer. Also, her excuse about the “lien” being in error is narrowly crafted to avoid any explanation about notices, current garnishment of her wages, actual tax problems, etc. She failed to explain that she had paid her taxes in full and had never had any interactions with the IRS concerning the taxes due that resulted in a lien. People who I know and respect that work with taxes swear up and down that a lien does not just materialize out of thin air.
    
    78% of voters selected someone other than Zimmie’s hand-puppet. That is a good indication that Bondi is not all that her self-hype suggests.
    
    Let’s see if Bondi is truly a team player and will support the voters’ selection. So far, it seems like a sore loser.
Vick

Garvey= Getting nothing done as, she is doing now. Garvey was elected only because, she’s a school board member. The county board in general needs new, younger, and smarter members in these positions. Will Arlington voters ever step-out of the box when it comes to voting??!!!!! And realize theres a bigger world outside of Arlington!!!!!
- Charlie
  
  Gravy was elected because the chosen one was a horrible candidate.
  - YorktownAlum
    
    I voted for Garvey as the best candidate not named Melissa Bondi. I think we have priorities in Arlington that include things other than the vanity streetcar project, and Bondi was too much of a parrot for Zimmerman.
    
    Frankly, all of the other candidates impressed me equally as being interested in more fiscal responsibility, but I felt Garvey had the most experience for this job.
  - CW
    
    Mmmm….gravy…
John Fontain

I guess this means we’ll never find out whether Bondi’s tax lien was legitimate or not.
- charlie
  
  next campaign from Bondi: “I cleared it up. It was an error. The lien was put there by a bunch of people who don’t like me. It was nothing I ignored. Now you should just ignore it.”
AB

I am just glad that the daily mailings from Bondi will end (for now). Getting two a day from her in some cases. Enough to get my lazy butt out to the caucus to vote against her. A vote against Bondi was a vote for trees after all of those mailings.
- Tabs
  
  ++++1!
Plunkitt of Clarendon Blvd

Interesting article from the “Other” hyper Arlington pub

http://www.sungazette.net/arlington/news/candidates-found-themselves-confronting-a-concerned-electorate/article_be56ab60-45c5-11e1-a46d-001871e3ce6c.html

Weekend Track Work on Blue, Orange, Yellow Lines VDOT, Federal Gov’t Prepare for Freezing Rain

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