Metro is conducting the fourth installment of its “we’re raising prices and cutting service” roadshow in Arlington tonight. Metro, which is facing a staggering $189 million budget gap for the fiscal year starting July 1, has already held three of its six public hearings on its plan to close the gap.
Tonight’s hearing, to be held at 7:00 in the county board room (on the third floor of 2100 Clarendon Boulevard), is the only hearing planned for Arlington.
In addition, certain regularly-scheduled pay increases would be frozen and health care costs would increase. Officers say despite promises and words of praise from Arlington leaders, compensation is lower than many comparable local jurisdictions.
“We’re falling behind,” said Ken Dennis, president of the Arlington Coalition of Police union. “We need to keep up with the Joneses.”
Nearly 80 speakers came to the podium during the three hour public hearing. County residents and employees spoke out against proposed cuts to public safety agencies, substance abuse programs, senior centers, and libraries, as well as environmental, educational and recreational programs and facilities.
Resident Andrea Walker started the night off on a humorous note, saying board members should consider “self-preservation” before cutting funding to the Aurora Hills Senior Center, which regularly serves about 100 “cranky seniors.”
The Arlington County Board is holding a public budget hearing at 7:00 tonight in the board room at 2100 Clarendon Blvd. Another public budget hearing will be held at the same time on Wednesday.
A public tax rate hearing with more restrictive rules on public comment will be held at 7:00 Thursday night.
The family of the late astronaut David Brown, for whom the David M. Brown Planetarium is named, has written a letter opposing Arlington Public Schools’ plan to close the 40-year-old facility, according to the Washington Post.
Brown was killed in the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. Brown’s brother, Douglas Brown, asked school officials why it’s necessary to close the only public planetarium in the country’s 10th-richest county.
Del. David Englin (D), who represents part of Arlington in the Virginia House of Delegates, released a statement today about the proposed elimination of the Virginia Commission for the Arts. Englin called the Republican-backed measure a “shortsighted, high-risk scheme.”
Del. Englin’s full statement, after the jump.
Under the proposed county budget, Arlington’s libraries will lose seven staff members, will no longer acquire compact discs or periodicals, and will face a dramatic cut in operating hours.
More from the Library News blog.
Dr. Murphy says the school system, facing a $12.8 million budget deficit, cannot afford the nearly half million dollars worth of mechanical upgrades needed to keep the 40-year-old planetarium open.
The planetarium is named after David Brown, a Yorktown High School graduate who perished in the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. Dr. Murphy says the science wing at Yorktown High will be named in Mr. Brown’s honor after the planetarium closes.
At tonight’s school board meeting, Arlington County Schools superintendent Dr. Pat Murphy will reveal significant cuts in the school system’s proposed fiscal year 2011 budget. Here are some of the notable items in Dr. Murphy’s proposed budget:
