Those hoping to be Arlington’s next County Board member each want to see the body updated to meet the needs of the 21st century.
And that could include expanding the number of Board members, carving the county into election districts or adding an elected chief executive with strong powers.
A new bill in the Virginia General Assembly would give the Arlington County Board the authority to change its structure without seeking further approval from state lawmakers.
Del. Patrick Hope’s HB 1225 would allow the Board to decide if it should retain its 5-member, at-large form of government or consider altering the size, to between three and 11 members, and changing to a district-based representation model. It would also allow the County Board Chair to be elected by popular vote for a 4-year term where currently, the practice is to rotate the chairship among members yearly.
In Virginia, local governments are divided into two top-level classifications: counties and independent cities.
Arlington is the fourth-largest county in Virginia by population — after Fairfax, Loudoun and Henrico — but by far the smallest, at only 26 square miles. In fact, Arlington is the smallest self-governing county in the U.S. (Mathews County, on the Chesapeake Bay, is the second smallest in Virginia, at 86 square miles.)
Shawn D. Wilmoth was the president of Signature Masters, the company paid to collect signatures for the 2010 petition drive that sought to change Arlington County’s form of government. The initiative, which failed due to an insufficient number of valid signatures, was sponsored by Arlington’s police and fire unions and supported by the local Republican and Green parties.
Wilmoth was arrested this past April in Michigan and accused of instructing employees to fraudulently sign petition pages. He was extradited to Arlington in May and has been held without bond since. Today, Wilmoth pleaded guilty. A statement of facts entered as part of the plea reveals that Wilmoth hired two ex-cons, who were ineligible to collect petition signatures under state law, and asked them to not only collect signatures but to sign as a witness on dozens of petition sheets filled with signatures they did not collect.
Wilmoth was the president of Signature Masters, the firm that was contracted to collect signatures for last year’s unsuccessful attempt to change Arlington’s form of government. The petition drive was sponsored largely by Arlington’s police and fire unions.
Two of Wilmoth’s signature collectors, Cheryl Simmons and William Cockerham, pleaded guilty to election fraud charges in February. State law specifies that petition signatures must be witnessed by someone who is at least eligible to register to vote. As convicted felons, neither Simmons nor Cockerham were eligible.
Simmon’s guilty plea comes one week after another person hired to obtain petition signatures, William Cockerham, pleaded guilty to a similar voter fraud charge.
State law specifies that petition signatures must be witnessed by someone who is at least eligible to register to vote. As convicted felons, neither Simmons nor Cockerham were eligible.
William Cockerham pleaded guilty in Arlington Circuit Court yesterday, the Washington Post first reported. He was accused of making false statements on a required form, a form of voter fraud.
As an ex-con, Cockerham was ineligible to sign as a witness on petition forms. Nonetheless, prosecutors say he signed off on forms that he circulated and on forms that other people circulated, which is also prohibited.
William Cockerham, accused of making a false statement on a required form, appeared in Arlington County Circuit Court today, was appointed an attorney, and was given a trial date of March 7, according to Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Andrew Parker.
Convicted felon and petition drive contractor Cheryl Simmons, who was indicted on the charge of voter fraud on Monday, did not appear in court today, Parker said. She’s expected to attend a hearing on Jan. 3, at which time a trial date will be set.
Petition Workers Indicted for Voter Fraud — Two individuals who worked on the unsuccessful effort to change Arlington’s form of government have been indicted for election fraud. William Cockerham and Cheryl Simmons are expected to have their trial dates set this morning. Earlier this year we exposed Simmons as a paroled felon, ineligible to collect the 2,214 petition signatures she claimed to have collected. More from the Washington Post.
ART Bus Lives Up to Its Name — Arlington’s transit agency has deemed its “Art on the ART Bus” experiment a success. The program placed artwork on an ART bus in connection with a new exhibit at the Arlington Arts Center. The arty bus launched on Dec. 11 and will continue rotating throughout the ART system for the next couple of months. More from the Arlington Transit Blog.
Hot Tub Catches Fire in Cherrydale — The fire department responded to a residence near North Quebec and 22nd Streets for a hot tub that somehow caught on fire, we’re told. Firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze, then made sure the fire had not spread to the house. No word on whether the fire was caused by a malfunctioning time machine that sent its occupants back to the 1980s. Thanks to J.A. for the tip.
Clarendon Grill Nostalgia — With Clarendon Grill now closed for renovations, writer Melissa Stagnaro has penned a nostalgic account of working at “CGrill” in the late 90s. We’re not sure what it’s going on the web site of a small New York state newspaper, but it’s a great read nonetheless. One fun tidbit: the guy who interviewed her for the job was Nick Freshman, now co-owner of Clarendon hotspot Spider Kelly’s. At the time, Stagnaro writes, Freshman was “CGrill’s most junior manager… [he] had only recently been elevated from server status himself.”
Simmons, who was hired by a contractor that specializes in collecting petition signatures, should have been well-known to local law enforcement, had they seen her collecting signatures on their behalf.
In 2006, Simmons was arrested for shoplifting and giving her family unauthorized discounts at the Arlington Hecht’s department store, where she worked, according to Arlington Police spokesperson Crystal Nosal. Court records show she plead guilty to felony embezzlement — a more serious charge since it was her third offense — and was sentenced to three years probation.
CAGG, a largely Democratic group set up to oppose the change-of-government proposal, alleges that CBA used hired, out-of-state signature gatherers who were legally ineligible to circulate petitions in Arlington. Then, CAGG suggests, two individuals may have falsely signed affidavits claiming to have collected the signatures actually gathered by the out-of-town contractors. More than 6,000 signatures may be invalid as a result, CAGG says.
The two individuals in question collected a suspiciously large number of signatures in an unusual manner, according to CAGG. Other evidence, methodically laid out in a nine-page PDF file, calls into question the integrity of the affidavit portion of the petitions, some of which appear to have different handwriting for the same individual.
