As three winter storms prepared to batter the northeast this week, Phil saw his shadow and thus predicted six more weeks of winter. (The immediate D.C. metro area has so far been spared snow from today’s storm.)
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Opinion
In addition to benefiting residents with disabilities, supporters of the Long Bridge aquatics center say the facility will serve the needs of older residents.
Rising costs have led critics to push for the aquatics center to either be scaled back or scrapped altogether. In a letter to the editor, one Arlington resident says that an aquatics facility — even one downsized from the current plans — should still be built so those who can’t afford private aquatics facilities can enjoy the year-round fitness benefits of swimming.
Here is the unedited response from Cord Thomas:
This election is about asking several very important questions:
Here is the unedited response from Alan Howze:
I am running for the County Board to bring a new voice, fresh perspective and years of experience in business, government and community leadership to solving the challenges that we face.
Here is the unedited response from Peter Fallon:
Arlington is a caring community that promotes equality, values diversity, helps those at risk, has great schools, invests in our future, and practices good government. My priorities in this campaign represent these shared values.
Last week, St. Charles Borromeo Church, near Clarendon, announced that it will be closing its private K-8 school after this school year.
Administrators say the decision is due to low enrollment — only 117 students are currently enrolled at the school, about half of its capacity. Still, parents are upset with the decision, and wondering whether anything could have been done to save the school.
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The following was sent in response to last week’s letter to the editor, “The Case for Long Bridge Park Phase 2.”
I am an Arlington resident and have been for 15 years. I would like to respond to Eric Cassel, President Friends of Long Bridge Park. First he makes the case that the target audience for this lavish facility is increasing in Arlington County. Target audience? Elementary school age children — I have lived in six states while I was growing up. In not one state was there a swimming facility for us to learn how to swim. How did this become a necessity for elementary school children? At what point did “we” decide that my elementary schooling when I was a child was lacking?
Peter’s Take is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.
In another tragedy earlier last fall, a mentally-unstable employee of a government contractor, who had worked on many assignments around the Metro area (including in Arlington), shot multiple victims to death at the D.C. Navy Yard.
The Right Note is a weekly opinion column published on Thursdays. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.
Some may argue that the rise in assessments is good news because your home is now worth more. While true, and certainly helpful whenever you decide to sell your home, we all know that we pay these taxes while we live in our homes. So, the tax increase is effectively a tax on your income, which is one of the reasons you can deduct it from your federal tax return.
Editor’s Note: The following opinion piece was written by Arlington County Board Chairman Jay Fisette. It originally appeared in ARLbiz, our weekly Arlington business e-newsletter. You can subscribe to ARLbiz here.
On New Year’s Day, I announced that my focus this year as Arlington County Board Chairman will be on sustainability – the ability to prosper through change. A key element of that focus for me will be laying the groundwork for Arlington to become a hub for the innovation economy.
With construction bids well exceeding the $80 million projected cost — of just the first phase of the aquatics and fitness center project, also referred to as Phase 2 of Long Bridge Park — critics says it’s too grand a project for Arlington County, with its eroding commercial tax base. However, supporters say it’s well worth the investment.
Here’s a Letter to the Editor from Eric Cassel, President of the Friends of Long Bridge Park organization.
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The Right Note is a weekly opinion column published on Thursdays. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.
As it turns out, that still may not be enough. County Manager Barbara Donnellan had to halt forward progress on the new facility when bids came in well over the already-generous cost estimates. This was on top of the recent announcement that annual taxpayer subsidies for the ongoing operational costs of the project were ballooning dramatically over the original cost estimates. The new estimate is that the aquatics center will operate at a deficit of $4 million per year.