Author: Progressive Voice

This year’s County Board election is the most important in many years.

It is vitally important that Arlington voters take the time to vote.

On Oct. 6, the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH) held its Annual Fundraiser Celebration at the Clarendon Ballroom. The event supported APAH’s mission to develop, preserve, own and advocate for quality affordable housing in Arlington, and to promote opportunity for its residents through partnerships and programs.

At the event, APAH honored Bill Fogarty of Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley & Walsh, P.C. and Mark Silverwood of Silverwood Companies for their contributions to affordable housing in Arlington.

Arlington’s dignified new Homeless Services Center (HRC) opened Oct. 1 — ironically, on a day that would cause only the strongest of us to stay outside.

Steady, storm-driven rain had begun as over 400 guests took the elevator to the second floor of the new facility in the Courthouse area.

Labor Day is the traditional start of campaigns in Arlington, and the time between now and Election Day will be full of candidate debates, forums, joint appearances and neighborhood events.

Arlington County is attractive to many because of its history of smart growth, walkable urbanism, a population with the highest levels of educational attainment, and an unemployment rate half the size of the nation’s average.

Progressive Voice is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the individual author and do not necessarily reflect the views of their organization or ARLnow.com.

Arlington’s progressive voters played a significant role in electing Democrats to all five of the Commonwealth’s statewide offices – U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, Governor Terry McAuliffe, Lt. Governor Ralph Northam, and Attorney General Mark Herring. All five won highly competitive races that reflect Virginia’s highly competitive political environment. Arlington’s vote margins mattered.

The Arlington Public Schools’ mission is to instill a love of learning in students and to prepare them to be responsible and productive global citizens.

To help achieve that mission, APS develops a six-year strategic plan with staff and community involvement. Our 2011-2017 Strategic Plan has helped guide our schools to significant successes. We look forward to building upon those successes in the upcoming school year and to addressing capacity issues that arise, in part, from our achievements.

Progressive Voice is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the individual author and do not necessarily reflect the views of their organization or ARLnow.com.

Arlington has long been known for mastering smart infrastructure investments that have boosted the local economy, made Arlington an attractive place to live, and led to high levels of satisfaction in surveys of County residents.