The Arlington County Civic Federation may renew its push for General Assembly legislation giving the county powers to change its 95-year-old governance structure.
A draft resolution is set to be presented next week and voted on in November, calling for action from the county’s legislative delegation. Desired legislation could grant Arlington the power to modify the size of the County Board and School Board; change the election schedule; allow for a move to district representation; and separately elect a Board chair.
It is similar to previous “asks” made of legislators by the Civic Federation in recent years, but may run up against opposition from the County Board. Recently, Board Chair Matt de Ferranti asked state lawmakers to hold off on any changes in the upcoming legislative session while the county continues considering its options.
Supporters of state enabling legislation have accused county leaders of “slow-walking” potential changes. Opposition by the County Board and, in 2025, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin scuttled past efforts to give Arlington options for changing its existing structure.
The measure is slated to be introduced to the Civic Federation membership at its meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 13, then refined at a meeting of the body’s legislation committee on Tuesday, Oct. 20.
At the Oct. 20 meeting, led by committee co-chairs Francine Friedman and Dave Schutz, the federation’s full 2027 legislative package will be discussed. The package will return to the Civic Federation membership for discussion and a vote on Nov. 10.
The 2027 General Assembly session convenes Jan. 13 for what is expected to be a 45-day session.
By Oct. 30, County Board members are expected to get a preliminary consultant’s report on intricacies and opportunities related to governance changes. The final report is expected by the end of November, with Board members expected to address the topic at a meeting in December.
Arlington’s current five-member, at-large County Board structure dates to 1932. For the 60 years before that, the county was governed by a three-member board of supervisors elected in districts.
In other legislative/political news:
School Board wants more free meals
Providing universal free meals for all Virginia public school students is part of the draft 2027 General Assembly legislative package being considered by the School Board.
The package was slated for presentation at the Oct. 8 School Board meeting, with consideration and adoption anticipated later in the month.
It includes many proposals previously supported by the school system in the areas of teacher recruitment, collective bargaining, technology, in-state tuition for undocumented students and gender-identity protections for students.
Fairfax student wants ranked-choice voting
Fairfax County could join Arlington in adopting ranked-choice voting for its governing body, if a local student has his way.
“Fairfax has an opportunity to act. It is a very realistic goal,” said John Tashkhanov, speaking at the monthly public-comment session at the tail end of the Sept. 29 Board of Supervisors meeting.
Tashkhanov lives in Annandale and is a student at BASIS Independent McLean. He also serves as Virginia policy director for Beyond Partisan, a student-run advocacy group.
Tashkhanov came to the Sept. 29 meeting seeking supervisors’ support for having county election officials conduct a public feasibility assessment focused on a switch from the more traditional method, where a candidate with the most votes is elected even if not reaching a majority.
Currently, only Arlington (primary and general elections) and Charlottesville (primaries) use ranked-choice voting.
Unlike in Arlington, Fairfax supervisors typically do not respond to remarks being made during public-comment sessions. Board Chair Jeff McKay thanked Tashkhanov for coming but otherwise gave no indication of what follow-up, if any, might occur.
All 10 Board of Supervisors seats will be on the ballot in November 2027. All are held by Democrats except Springfield District, which is represented by Republican Pat Herrity.
Sally Hudson, executive director of the Ranked Choice Virginia advocacy group, told ARLnow that there is still time available for Fairfax supervisors to consider a change for 2027.
“Legally, yes,” she said, noting that all that is required under state law is enactment of an ordinance making the change at least 90 days prior to an election.
Technologically, the county’s election equipment is able to handle ranked-choice voting, Hudson said. Her group has had discussions with individual supervisors on the matter.
“The best sign of collective enthusiasm is when a body invites their local director of elections to present a formal readiness assessment at a public meeting, and Fairfax hasn’t taken that step yet,” she said. “Arlington and Charlottesville both started that way, and Albemarle, Loudoun, and the cities of Fairfax and Richmond have done the same.”
Falls Church officials have also considered making a switch to ranked-choice for City Council races, the next of which will be held in November 2027.
Advocates for the ranked-choice method plan to be back before the General Assembly over the winter, asking that localities have the option of using ranked-choice for other local races beyond governing bodies.
