Several former elected officials in Arlington are expressing caution over moving too fast on potential changes to the county’s form of governance.
At issue at the moment is a proposal to form a working group to study possibilities. It has attracted skepticism from former County Board, School Board and General Assembly members advocating for restraint on embarking on change-of-government planning.
The Falls Church city government continues to chip away at its staff vacancies, but faces ongoing challenges with public safety recruitment.
The 8% vacancy rate recorded across all city departments in early November “is, I think, the lowest we’ve been since the pandemic,” City Manager Wyatt Shields told members of the City Council’s government-operations committee on Nov. 26.
When Eddie Kaufholz and his family moved to Arlington nearly five years ago, they were not thinking about starting a business. They wanted to live in a place that was diverse, interesting and full of opportunity, with a school system they could rely on. Arlington fit.
In the years that followed, working out of a home office off Columbia Pike, he consulted with organizations across Northern Virginia and around the country: nonprofits, advocacy groups, mid-sized companies, agencies of various sizes. The work itself was good. But somewhere across all those projects, he started to notice a pattern.
”The agency model has gotten really bloated,” Kaufholz says. ”Layers, handoffs, middle management. The senior people who pitch the work often disappear once it starts. The idea with PILLAR was to strip all of that down; keep senior people on the work, approach each client with humility and care, do world-class strategy and execution, and pass the efficiency back to the client instead of absorbing it as agency margin.”
That thinking, slowly, became PILLAR, the Arlington-headquartered creative, communications and marketing agency Kaufholz founded.
PILLAR, he says, is built on an old idea. ”An idea that has always been possible but rarely practiced: that an agency should be structured to serve the work itself.” The team that delivers the work is assembled around the specific needs of each client and only stays as long as the work calls for them.
”The senior strategist on your kick-off call is the senior strategist writing your messaging,” Kaufholz says. ”Every person on a project is there because the work specifically calls for them.”
PILLAR’s recent work has spanned human rights, executive leadership, higher education, advocacy and direct-to-consumer ecommerce. The roster has included national nonprofits, a national multimillion-dollar direct-to-consumer brand and a number of institutions navigating significant moments of strategic change. The model is built to scale up to be the agency of record for a national brand, or to scale down to design a logo for a neighborhood nonprofit. PILLAR takes equal pride and care in both.
What Kaufholz did not understand when he started, he said, was how much the County itself would matter in making any of it possible. (more…)
Members of the Pedestrian Advisory Committee (PAC) are looking for ways to stay relevant despite new limitations on their responsibilities.
After County Manager Mark Schwartz directed the committee to focus less on individual capital projects, members are discussing working through commissions that report to the County Board to provide input on issues they deem important.
I-66 Crash on Camera — “Not sure how this happened. It’s on westbound I-66 underneath the ramp coming from Glebe Rd./Fairfax Dr. @VSPPIO and @ArlingtonVaFD still working to clear the scene.” [Dave Statter/X]
Art Sale This Weekend — “Looking for one-of-a-kind gifts this holiday season? The studio artists of The Studios at Arlington Arts (formerly LAC Studios) will hold their Annual Holiday Sale & Open House on Saturday (10:00am – 4:00pm) December 6, 2025. The Studios at Arlington Arts are located at 3700 South Four Mile Run Drive.” [Arlington County]
Delays at DCA — “Air passengers are slowly getting to their destinations following a weekend winter storm in the Midwest that created nightmares for those who traveled by air… As of Sunday night, Reagan National alone had over 450 delays, according to industry tracker Flightaware.” [DC News Now]
Bad Brains from Inner Ear — “The explosive power of D.C. punk rockers Bad Brains is legendary, and newly discovered live recordings from 45 years ago are adding to the legend. In a full-circle moment, the soon-to-be released double album has ties to Don Zientara’s Inner Ear Studio, in Arlington, Virginia, where Bad Brains did their first demo session.” [WTOP]
It’s Monday — Expect sunny skies and a high around 43 today, with winds from the northwest at 5-10 mph becoming lighter in the afternoon, and possible gusts up to 18 mph. Monday night could bring snow and sleet between 1am and 4am, transitioning to rain and sleet, with a 70% chance of precipitation, clouds increasing, and lows around 30. Southeast winds will be 3-5 mph, and there may be less than half an inch of snow and sleet accumulation. [NWS]
Today’s Morning Notes are brought to you by Industrious. ARLnow has been in an Industrious office for years and we love the convenience — you get to focus on your work rather than worrying about brewing your own coffee or keeping the copy machine stocked. Industrious has several Metro-accessible coworking locations in Arlington.
Join Kaiser Permanente for Healthy at the Harbor, a free community health and wellness event taking place Saturday, June 6, from 11 am to 4 pm at National Harbor in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Bring your family and friends for free full day of fun, fitness, and preventive care along the waterfront.
Throughout the day, Kaiser Permanente nurses and physicians will offer no-cost health screenings, alongside a health and wellness expo focused on preventive care education. A lively Kids’ Zone will keep children active and entertained with spin-art bikes, face painting, balloon art, games, and more.
The month of December is the busiest time of the long campaign for girls and boys varsity basketball teams across Arlington and Northern Virginia.
During those 31 days, some squads will play as many as 10 to 12 games, including contests in a variety of tournaments.
Holiday wreaths are returning to the graves of fallen service members in Arlington National Cemetery next month.
This year’s Wreaths Across America Day is on Saturday, Dec. 13. Beginning at 8 a.m., the annual event is expected to bring crowds around the cemetery as volunteers lay wreaths at thousands of headstones and columbarium niches.
The 2025 season was again a success, as usual, for the Bishop O’Connell Knights. But the girls high-school volleyball team fell short in its quest for postseason tournament championships.
O’Connell finished with a 22-3 overall record and advanced as far as the semifinals in both the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference and Division I state private-school tournaments.
It’s the biggest shopping day of the year. Are you going to be among the throngs?
There is a bit of a Yogi Berra “nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded” phenomenon where the mental images of crowded mall parking lots or swarmed big box stores keep some people away. But Black Friday’s reputation is well earned and many will end up doing some holiday shopping or discount hunting today.
We’re wondering what percentage of ARLnow readers will be Black Friday shoppers, either in person or online. Check any of the options below that apply.
Second Leaf Pass Starts Today — “Crews will complete second passes to vacuum leaves Monday-Saturday. Look for orange signs posted around your neighborhood 3 to 7 days before collection starts. Note: The date on the sign marks the beginning of the leaf collection window. Leaves may not actually be collected on that date, but should be left at the curb from that date until they are collected.” [Press Release]
Where the Leaves Go — “Know when the vacuum truck is coming by; rake to the curb ahead of time. Some 50K cubic yards of leaves are collected and turned into super-sustainable, publicly available mulch each year.” [Arlington DES/X]
Small Biz Saturday Ideas — “Just as good things come in small packages, great things come from small businesses. This year, shop local and you can get more than a good bargain. Here are three ways to give and get in Arlington, Falls Church and McLean.” [Arlington Magazine]
Local Holiday Bars — “The local cocktail scene is fire, and during the holiday season restaurants are leveling up with themed—and lavishly decorated—pop-up bars. We dare you to feel grinchy while sipping handcrafted cocktails from a ceramic cat wearing a bowtie, a glass snowman and other Insta-worthy drinkware. Get festive at these spirited spots.” [Arlington Magazine]
Snow Possible Next Week — “By Tuesday, the next chance of precipitation arrives, although the storm track is still uncertain. Rain, snow and/or a wintry mix is possible depending on how much cold air is in place; it’s also possible much of the precipitation stays to our south.” [CWG]
It’s Friday — Expect sunny skies and a high near 41 accompanied by a west wind blowing at 14 to 17 mph, gusting up to 34 mph. For Friday night, the weather will be mostly clear with a low of around 27, as the west wind continues at 7 to 10 mph and gusts reaching up to 20 mph. [NWS]
