The Arlington County Police Department has ramped up efforts to curb public intoxication and other illegal behavior near a Green Valley elementary school.
Despite these efforts, however, some of that behavior persists, according to some community members and ARLnow’s observations.
Still reeling from recent shootings, a Green Valley resident took the dais during Saturday’s Arlington County Board meeting to ask the county and police for a plan to address public safety concerns.
Yordanos Woldai, co-founder of Green Valley Matters, a new resident group focused on public safety, says this plan should include regular police patrols and stepped up enforcement of illegal activities.
The upcoming Arlington County budget process will be tough, albeit not the toughest, according to County Manager Mark Schwartz.
Schwartz made the remark at the end of Saturday’s Arlington County Board meeting, as the Board discussed its guidance to the manager as he starts work on a proposed 2023-2024 budget.
Though monkeypox cases continue to rise in the region, the county has yet to open vaccine clinics for the disease.
Supply of the monkeypox vaccine JYNNEOS remains “limited,” county spokesperson Ryan Hudson tells ARLnow, and Arlington is coordinating with the Virginia Department of Health to obtain and administer doses.
Arlington has hired its first Independent Policing Auditor, though it didn’t go the exact way the county was hoping for.
The county announced today that Mummi Ibrahim, who “has a long history in supporting grassroots organizing efforts” that includes a focus on police practices, has been hired for the position. Ibrahim will serve as the professional staff to the recently-appointed Community Oversight Board, which will review use of force complaints against Arlington law enforcement.
It’s not just Telly Tucker who’s leaving Arlington Economic Development.
Tucker become the county’s Director of Economic Development in January 2020, just before the pandemic, after serving in the same role for Danville, Virginia. He’s now returning to Danville to head the state’s Institute for Advanced Learning and Research.
The Arlington County Board unanimously approved a balanced $1.5 billion annual budget on Tuesday night.
The FY 2023 budget represents a 7.6% revenue and spending increase over the current fiscal year, which ends on June 30.
In another encouraging sign that we’re near the end of the current Covid wave, Arlington’s test positivity rate has dropped back below 5%.
The trailing seven-day average test positivity rate is now 4.8%, according to new Virginia Dept. of Health data. The local rate has generally stayed below 5% except during this winter’s Omicron-variant fueled wave, last winter’s wave, and the initial spring 2020 wave.
Most homeowners will be on the hook for higher property taxes under a budget proposal by Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz.
Schwartz’s proposed 2022-2023 budget would fund raises for county employee amid inflation and competition with other local jurisdictions. It would also provide more funding for schools and spend several million dollars on efforts intended to address climate change.
(Updated at 1:45 p.m.) Arlington’s property tax rate would not increase this year, under a proposal by Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz.
The County Manager’s recommendation for the advertised property tax rate was released ahead of Tuesday’s County Board meeting. The Board will vote at the meeting to advertise a rate, which sets the maximum rate that can be approved in a subsequent budget vote by the Board this spring.
(Updated at 5:40 p.m.) Arlington County police created a new foot pursuit policy, updated how officers use force and pursue vehicles, and began making more data and information accessible to the public.
Those are a few of the changes at the police department in response to an external report on Arlington’s policing practices publicly released on Wednesday. Some policy updates are still being finalized.
