After four months of consistently high readership, today is the first non-holiday Friday during which our Google Analytics stats suggest that a fair number of people are on vacation.
If you have left Arlington to head to the beach, the lake or elsewhere, we hope you’re having fund and staying safe.
Last week, as our nation celebrated Independence Day, protests continued across America for racial equity and justice. The dissonance between the promise of the Declaration of Independence — that all are created equal with the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness — and the failure to live up to that promise, has a long history.
In a speech on July 5, 1852, abolitionist Frederick Douglass praised the founding fathers. He also laid bare the simple truth that slaves, as well as free Black people like him, did not have the rights that the framers declared, saying:
Not surprisingly, Arlington voters affirmed the political status quo in Tuesday’s special election for County Board. Takis Karantonis, bolstered by an impressive 71% of the absentee vote, easily dispensed with “progressive independent” Susan Cunningham and Republican Bob Cambridge.
Cunningham, who was endorsed by former independent County Board Member John Vihstadt, performed well in a half-dozen precincts and got more votes than Karantonis in nine precincts, including her home precinct Marshall. With little insight into the Arlington County Democratic Committee’s campaign operation, one can reasonably assume the political machine went into overdrive for the absentee ballot program. Kudos to ACDC.
Arlington Public Schools is planning to start the fall semester with most students spending just two days a week in classrooms.
The “hybrid” model would see students spending the other three days a week leaning remotely, from home, a plan similar to that just announced by the country’s largest school system.
In the last several years there has been more conversation around historical symbols and their meaning. How should we address monuments, streets, fight songs and buildings if they cause pain to some people but are a source of pride, tradition and patriotism for others? Until our most recent period of national racial discourse, there was a debate.
In the last several weeks, monuments have been taken down and drenched in paint. Governments have moved quickly to vote on name changes. Sports teams which had previously resisted mascot name changes are suddenly reconsidering past decisions under the weight of corporate pressure. Now that more people are recognizing the pain of systemic racism today, the voices and feelings of the oppressed are being heard loud and clear.
The McMansion is the universal punching bag for housing politics in Arlington.
It is a symbol for both pro-growth and anti-growth advocates of everything that is wrong with our land use and zoning policies.
Happy Fourth of July weekend!
We’ll make this short and sweet so you can get on with your grilling, fireworks and travel (most likely via car). Here are the most-read articles this week on ARLnow:
Here is the unedited response from Independent candidate Susan Cunningham.
I am running for Arlington County Board as a progressive Independent. As a community advocate, mother, and business owner, I know Arlington needs experienced, practical, and effective leadership right now. Professionally, I have led business, government, and nonprofits through crises and change. Here in Arlington, I have worked closely with every County and School Board member, while leading the Hamm Middle School construction (BLPC) and the Historic Interpretation Committee for the Stratford Junior High site, and as a founding member of both the Joint Facilities Advisory Commission (JFAC) and the Lee Highway Alliance. Grounded in 25 years of professional and community experience, I will ask good questions, bring people together, and get the right things done for Arlington.
Here is the unedited response from Republican candidate Bob Cambridge
Bob Cambridge has been an Arlington resident for over 40 years. He has had a varied background, Captain in the US Army (Military Intelligence Branch), three years with the Central Intelligence Agency as an information science instructor, and over 40 years as an attorney, both corporate and as a litigator. Ideas developed over that period appear to be relevant to a lot that is going on now, and the opportunity to run for Arlington County Board was an opportunity to get those ideas out where they might do some good.
Here is the unedited response from Democratic candidate Takis Karantonis
My name is Takis Karantonis and I am the Democratic candidate in the special election for the Arlington County Board on July 7. I was born in Greece and emigrated to the United States to join my wife, Lida, upon completion of her Ph.D. studies. Since moving to Arlington in 2007, I have experienced and appreciate the values that Arlingtonians hold important: safe and walkable neighborhoods; excellent schools; great public places and facilities; accountable governance; ethnic and cultural diversity; an unwavering commitment to community involvement; and neighbors who uphold and sustain these values.
Virginia started Phase 3 of its reopening on Wednesday, allowing more activity in indoor public spaces like restaurants and gyms.
While the Commonwealth remains one of just over a dozen states where the COVID-19 epidemic is in decline, some fear that further reopening could send us in the direction of Texas, Florida and other states currently seeing a virus resurgence.
A three-day Fourth of July weekend is fast approaching.
This would usually be one of the busiest travel times of the year. Instead, airports have barely a quarter of the travellers as last year, and traffic maps are mostly a sea of green. The pandemic has affected nearly all aspects of normal life, including the willingness of people to leave one’s house and visit other places or people.
