Arlington’s elected leadership is not saying much about the future of the county’s Missing Middle policy — at least not from the dais.
Pressed to make some comment on what will happen with the residential zoning change — known alternately as Expanded Housing Options (EHO) — County Board members on Saturday (Oct. 19) opted to stay mum.
A written ruling from retired Circuit Court Judge David Schell on the issue is expected to be handed down by this Friday, Oct. 25, county leaders say.
In a preliminary ruling from the bench on Sept. 27, Schell said he was invalidating key portions of the housing policy, which had been approved by County Board members in March 2023.
Until his ruling and related judicial orders are finalized and handed over to county leaders, “we really can’t talk about it,” County Board Chair Libby Garvey said at the Oct. 19 meeting. None of her four colleagues had anything to add.
David Gerk, a member of the anti-Missing Middle group Arlingtonians for Upzoning Transparency, used the Board’s Oct. 19 public-comment period to suggest leaders should not decide reflexively to appeal the decision, which already has cost county taxpayers about $1.2 million in outside legal fees.
Gerk said that instead of playing “bumper-sticker politics” and continuing a “15-month failed experiment,” county leaders should regroup and begin anew.
“Let’s start exploring actual affordability solutions,” Gerk said.
Previously, at least two County Board members predicted that the county would appeal the ruling, which has halted development of duplexes, six-plexes and everything in between allowed under EHO permitting.
“I’m incredibly disappointed by today’s ruling & firmly believe we must appeal it,” Maureen Coffey said on social media last month.
“I do fully expect the Board to appeal the decision,” Garvey said in her Oct. 4 email newsletter.
County Mulls Funding to Cancel Health-Care Debt: Arlington’s elected leaders say they are intrigued about the possibility of using local funds to wipe out medical debt for Arlington residents.
“I think it’s a great idea. It can make a huge difference in the lives of people,” County Board Chair Libby Garvey said after the proposal was brought before Board members on Saturday (Oct. 19).
Scott Gruber, representing the advocacy group Arlington Medicare for All, used the board’s public-comment period to tout Undue Medical Debt. The national non-profit buys up large bundles of medical debt, and then cancels it.
In his remarks, Gruber gave an example — funding of $10,000, he said, could be used to eliminate as much as $1.7 million in existing medical debt for Arlington residents.
Cook County, Ill., and New Orleans are two municipalities already partnering with Undue Medical Debt, he told County Board members.
Despite interest in pursuing such an option, County Board member Matt de Ferranti said there were procedural steps that would have to be to be adhered to — scrupulously.
“We need to figure out the specifics,” he said. “We have processes regarding procurement we would need to follow.”
County leaders also voiced concern that any funding would need to support efforts to cancel health-care debt of those truly in need, not people with the ability to pay but no interest in doing so.
County Board Staying Out of ART Bus Labor Dispute: Negotiations are dragging on, but Arlington leaders say they lack jurisdiction to intervene in the labor-management disputes of Arlington Transit.
But that did not satisfy some workers at the local bus agency. They attended the County Board’s Saturday (Oct. 19) meeting and pressed local leaders to get involved.
“Stop hiding. Do right by the transit workers of Arlington,” said Sabrina Jones, an ART driver and member of Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 689, which is the collective-bargaining representative for front-line ART employees.
She spoke for the assembled group during the County Board’s public-comment period.
Last March, ART bus operators, mechanics, fuel attendants, technicians and cleaners voted to affiliate with ATU. The union then began labor negotiations with Transdev, which operates the ART service under a contract with the county government.
Transdev United States is the largest private transit company in the nation. A subsidiary of a French firm, it operates in 46 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
The company currently is recruiting drivers for the ART system, with a starting pay of $24 per hour and a $2,000 signing bonus.
Speaking during the County Board’s public-comment period, Jones said contract offers made since May have been “totally ridiculous.” But the county’s top elected leader said the process needs to play itself out.
“We can’t be directly involved. That’s not our role,” County Board Chair Libby Garvey said.
About the only leverage Arlington leaders might have in getting an agreement inked is raising the specter of changing vendors when Transdev’s contract expires. Over the years, a number of firms have held the contract.
Would they be willing to go that route? County leaders opted not to say. But they did offer verbal, if generalized, support for the employees.
“This is an essential service, we absolutely understand that,” County Board member Takis Karantonis said. “We don’t want to intervene in a negotiations, but that doesn’t mean we’re not watching.”
Unlike employees of Virginia’s local governments, who can unionize (subject to approval of governing bodies) but cannot strike, employees of private firms under contract to localities do have that ability.
In February, the Fairfax Connector bus system, funded by the Fairfax County government but operated by Transdev, was shut down for two weeks as Local 689 and the operator wrangled over contract terms.
Potentially fearful of the same thing occurring in Arlington, County Manager Mark Schwartz said he was “really optimistic” that a contract could be agreed to.
ART personnel “do a fantastic job,” Schwartz said as about two dozen of them sat in the audience at the meeting.
ART service, which augments regional Metrobus service within Arlington, continues to claw its way back from ridership declines wrought by Covid.
Slightly more than 2.4 million trips on the local transit system were taken in the fiscal year ending June 30, up from 1.92 million the preceding year, according to county data. But ridership remained below pre-pandemic levels.
