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by ARLnow.com January 9, 2012 at 8:00 am 3,079 61 Comments

Favola Endorses Garvey — State Senator-elect Barbara Favola has endorsed School Board member Libby Garvey in the special election race to fill her former County Board seat. Calling Garvey “a proven leader,” Favola said in a statement that Garvey had the skills, experience and values to be an effective County Board member. “Libby will work to protect our core services including human services, affordable housing, and public schools as we continue to grow and change as a community,” Favola said.

Moran to Face Primary Challenge — Rep. Jim Moran (D) is facing a potential primary challenge this year. Fairfax County resident Will Radle says he will challenge the long-time incumbent in this year’s Democratic primary. One reason Radle cited for challenging Moran: “the congressman’s ineffectiveness securing more take-home pay for federal employees.” (On Friday, however, Moran issued a statement calling for federal employees to receive a larger cost-of-living increase than the 0.5 percent raise proposed by the Obama administration.) Radle has previously run for office as an Independent Green and a Republican. [Alexandria Times]

Clinic Director Named ‘Washingtonian of the Year’ — Nancy Pallesen, the executive director of the Arlington Free Clinic, has been named one of Washingtonian magazine’s “Washingtonians of the Year” for 2012. [Sun Gazette]

Flickr pool photo by Alex

TGEoA

Well if Babs likes her, then there has to be a problem with Libby.

And speaking of endorsements, did anyone read the Bondi flyer sent in the mail? It listed a bunch of Arlingtonians who “endorsed” her. Looks like they shook a tree and every Zimmerman and Tjeada fell out.
- Pablo
  
  Now that she can hide in Richmond, maybe it’s Babs’s way of finally telling Zimmy he ain’t the boss of her, at least from now on.
  
  And remember–Zimmy refused to endorse Garvey for re-election to the school board, something unheard of in this one-party town.
  
  Bondi would clearly be another Zimmy rubber stamp. So I won’t vote for her and I hope for the bad blood to show if Garvey joins the County Board.
  - Greg
    
    I’m concerned about Bondi.
    
    Her most recent “accomplishment” seems to be her leadership of the Buckingham preservation group. But that group signed on to a plan that allowed the developer to increase density further from the Ballston Metro (i.e., south of George Mason Dr.) in exchange for building $750,000+ townhomes closer to the Metro.
    
    In other words, the four story mid-rise that went in on Pershing is just beyond the distance that is typically considered walkable (although personally I would still walk it). Density in the walkable portion of Buckingham was reduced by eliminating two level garden apartments in favor of upscale townhomes.
    
    It’s the opposite of the “density should be closer to transit” approach that Arlington (and good planning) advocates and will encourage congestion.
    
    If that’s her best example of leadership, I’ll be voting for someone else.
    - cj
      
      Your description of the Buckingham plan is incomplete. The owner (UBS) had decided to demolish Village 2 and replace it with townhouses, as the zoning allowed. This did give the developer more value with fewer units (i.e. less density) but it was a by-right tradeoff that the county could not stop. The developer was threatening to do the same to Villages 1 (west of George Mason) and 3 (between George Mason and Thomas St) when county officials, encouraged by the community coalition, persuaded the developer to negotiate. The deal eventually reached allowed demolition of Village 1 and construction of two four-story apartment buildings and townhouses (as yet unbuilt) there, with the first building to include at least 100 committed affordable units. In exchange, the county was able to acquire Village 3 — albeit at a high price (in 2007 before the bust) — and preserve it as a historically important resource with 140 units of committed affordable housing.
      
      Melissa was one of a number of activists involved in trying to hammer this out. The outcome was nobody’s first choice, but in my view as another participant, it was the best compromise feasible at the time and did achieve significant victories both for affordable housing and historic preservation.
      - Gre
        
        I understand that the agreement preserved some portions of Buckingham. But it turned the urban planning aspects of that area into scrambled eggs. If that’s the best result that was feasible, then there was a failure of vision somewhere. If this is the best example of what she will be able to achieve as a Board member, I would rather give someone else a chance.
      - Thes
        
        It is the best example of what she could achieve as an *activist* against a backdrop where state law grants strong property rights to the owners of vast numbers of Arlington’s existing affordable apartments. If there is a fault of vision (and I’m not saying there is), it rests with County Boards and legislators over the generations that saw these kinds of properties grow in value without protecting them better through the by-right zoning code or in other ways.
        
        Melissa has said that it is precisely because past policies have boxed us in in these uncomfortable ways that she wants to serve on the County Board. To make sure we are more visionary and less reactionary in the future.
        
        If housing is the issue you care about the most, from my observation, Melissa should be your candidate. None of the other candidates come even close to knowing about these complex issues and how to get at their roots better than she does.
        
        And if you’re concerned about runaway development too far from Metro, you should know that Melissa also opposed the Pershing Drive project for exactly that reason. However, the members of the Board (the same ones she is often accused here of being a clone of) voted against her.
      - ArlingtonWay
        
        Melissa should earn a college degree. Get a job. Buy a condo or home in Arlington. Get a sense of what the vast majority of people in the county are facing. Heck, even pay some taxes here in Arlington Then maybe run for office. Not sure being the pal of a few of the current Board members is really qulification enough. Although sadly it may well be.
      - TGEoA
        
        Thanks Zimm
      - Slanger
        
        Hey buddy, do you realize that the only reason these old legacy housing units (so called affordable) “grow” in value is because they have value in their redevelopment potential? Seriously, if you want to restrict the by-right development potential of old garden apartments, they are going to remain as crappy old apartments.
      - Greg
        
        Understood, Thes. And appreciate the response. To some extent I’m glad to hear you say she opposed the Pershing Drive development, because I feared everyone was just asleep at the wheel. But she was the head of the County’s preservation committee and I only know her from the results of her leadership role in that project. Reasonable minds can differ and I’m just not sold.
ArlingtonCountyTaxpayer

+ 100
Soarlslacker

I would vote only for someone with the backbone to KILL THE COLA PIKE STREET CAR!
- Overgrown Bush
  
  +10
- South Arlington
  
  Similarly, I’ll only vote for someone who sees the streetcar through. I suppose our votes will cancel each other out.
  - KalashniKEV
    
    You’re in the minority there. Trolley Folley has been exposed. The truth is out. No more public funds for personal boondoggles.
    - JDS
      
      It may be a minority view on ARLnow, but certainly not within the County.
      
      Don’t let the fact that the comments section frequently turns into a right-wing echo chamber skew your perception.
      - South Arlington
        
        Last I checked, the Zimster got re-elected by a wide margin. I think Kev might be mistaken about who’s in the minority here.
  - FrenchyB
    
    +1
- Anna
  
  Amen.
Josh S

The dirt on Radle?

Anyone?

And for starters, why can’t he decide which party is his party? I could almost see going from the Greens to the Dems, but from the GReens to the Republicans and then to the Dems? That makes no sense and, as much as I’d like to see someone besides Moran in office, based on this much alone, it doesn’t seem like Radle is trustworthy.
- WayBack
  
  Parties are temporary, artificial and illusory and the sooner we realize this and get past the stranglehold that the Dems and Republicans have on domestic politics, the better.
  - Overgrown Bush
    
    Amen.
  - Josh S
    
    True. True.
    
    But still, they are a way for people, especially politicians to signal to other people what they believe in or stand for. So what signals is he sending by running as a candidate from so many different parties? That he’s an unprincipled lout who just wants office because it’ll give him wood? That he’s a wanderer, lost in the wilderness and searching for truth? That he has already reached the nirvana of realizing that they are temporary, artificial and illusory and so doesn’t see any differences among them but is frustrated by the stranglehold they have on domestic politics and must play by their game in order to serve the people and help make a more perfect union, which is what he is called to do?
    - WayBack
      
      Of course it is true, you wrote it in a thread last week about loyalty oaths.
      - Josh S
        
        Yes, Warner Bros, I know that.
  - drax
    
    You go ahead and vote for whoever you want.
- Bluemontsince1961
  
  Shoot, I reached the point some time ago where I’ll support anybody against Moran. I just want someone new and at this point, I’m not too picky which party.
- Not Will Radle
  
  This appears to be the overall opinion most people have of him –
  
  http://rednova8.com/wordpress/?p=5116
Not Will Radle

This was published about Mr. Radle last year – http://ballston.patch.com/articles/fairfax-county-board-of-supervisors-candidate-charged-with-assault-in-arlington-in-2010
- Soarlslacker
  
  I don’t think we need more thugs in CC. He could have done what any semi-rational person would have done: drop the wife off, find a place to park, pay for the parking, and have the wife call you when she is done. Fighting over a parking space is silly.
TGEoA

Maybe they could have a fist fight for the nomination. Though Moran has only fought women and children in the past, so it’s unlikely he will want to fight a man.
- Bluemontsince1961
  
  Bingo, TGEoA!
- Overgrown Bush
  
  LOL!
- charlie
  
  oh that would be funny if it weren’t so true.
- ArlingtonWay
  
  I tried to point this out on another post, and the moderator deleted it. See how long your (absolutely true) comment lasts.
Googla

Nice pic of the Silver Diner.
- Clarendon Nights
  
  +1
- Plunkitt of Clarendon Blvd
  
  +1
  Striking….would have done Hopper proud.
Chris

I can think of about 1,000 reasons why Moran should (finally) lose an election, but “securing more take-home pay for federal employees” isn’t one of them.
novasteve

perhaps Moran needs to invigorate his base? I mean he seems to get reelected each time he goes on an antisemitic rant, so rile up your base by blaming all the world’s problems on the Jews. He will no doubt will win his election campaign.
Loocy

Terron Sims knocked on my door last week and I was very impressed. I haven’t been to any candidate events yet but at this point he has my vote. I was disgusted with Libby Garvey’s handling of the Williamsburg principal incident and Bondi doesn’t seem to be at all independent of her buddies on the board.
Dem. Caucus Voter

Sounds as if that leaves two candidates who are not beholden to Arlington’s current elected officials – Kim Klingler and Peter Fallon.
Chris G.

If County Board doesn’t work out maybe she can be Secretary of the Treasury.

http://arlingtonyupette.blogspot.com/2012/01/bondi-hit-with-big-irs-tax-lien.html
- TGEoA
  
  19k judgment from the IRS. Is this the kind of dolt that should be running a government?
  - Bluemontsince1961
    
    Hell no, but that won’t stop her. It hasn’t stopped others, look at all the characters in Congress. A few may resign under disgrace but the cynical side of me believes that is done every so often to appease public disgust at the general performance of Congress. Congress still rates low in public opinion approval polls – it was even lower than Bush, and it hasn’t seemed to improve much under the new Congresses since 1/20/2009.
  - John K.
    
    But, she’s been car-free since 2008. She’s been on a million boards. Or, at least attended one of their meetings. This can’t be true!
    
    In all seriousness, she seems nice enough in person, but I’m almost willing to start praying again to have her not get on the board.
- me
  
  Wow. A lien no less. Why doesn’t ARLNow cover this?
  - Chris G.
    
    I expect we will see something soon from them. And I predict she will pull her sponsorship of the site too.
    
    You can confirm the story easily enough following the instructions in the comments to the blog I linked.
    - Wow
      
      From the tone of the blog, sounds like a lot of anonymous snark from someone (or more than one) who has an axe to grind. I’ll be interested to see what the circumstances actually are.
      - ArlingtonCountyTaxpayer
        
        you are right, someone has an axe to grind — Uncle Sam.
        
        Follow the links in the blog. I hate that blogger, but frightenly accurate info.
      - Chris G.
        
        I had heard a rumor about this a couple of days ago, someone just forwarded me the link to the site this morning. I’m not familiar with the blog.
- ArlingtonCountyTaxpayer
  
  while people complain about Arlington election officials being arrogant crooks and cheats…. they really aren’t.
  
  Bondi would change that.
  
  She doesn’t pay taxes? Marie Antoinette comes to mind here.
TGEoA

I doubt it. Arlnow doesn’t like people commenting on their sponsors. Same goes for the Sun Gazette. Scott McCaffey will protect his BFF O’Leary and Pual “turd” Fergueson.
Tabs

As a voter (and property taxpayer) in Arlington, I would really like to know who is the best candidate for this job–minus the snark.

Anyone?
- Clarendon
  
  Why would you care what anyone on an anonymous forum tells you about he candidates ? Just listen to them, go to events where you can talk to them (listed on the candidates website) and make up your own mind.
LuLu

Gosh, that is SUCH a shock! What’s the difference? They’re all Democrats.
Betsy

Blogs and news media have all received info about Melissa not paying taxes on income from self-employment. But, hey, she’s a Yuppie, Lives in Yuppie City aka Clarendon. ArlNow, Patch, Sun Gazette can’t and won’t print or post anything negative about her.
Ken

I’m voting for Audrey Clement. She’s on the ballot for March 27th.
cindy

FYI, a photocopy of the IRS lien against Melissa Bondi is posted on the Arlington Yupette blog.

She’s not only a tax cheat she’s a liar. Her resume’ was constructed by joining dozens of organizations and then seldom or never attending meetings.

How does she get away with it? She’s the darling of ArlNow, PikeWire, Patch, AIM, AVN, and the Sun Gazette.

Also Zimmy’s heir-apparent.

Only thing she really cares about is ‘Clarendoning” every residential neighborhood in Arlington.
Mike

Audrey Clement has been told she is not welcome to participate in the televised AIM-Patch debate on Thursday.
storm shelters

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