Arlington County government offices will be open but those in Falls Church, along with the state and federal governments, will be closed this Monday, Oct. 14.
The federal and state governments observe the day as Columbus Day. The state government also marks it as Yorktown Victory Day.
Advance Arlington (formerly the Arlington Committee of 100) will host a forum – “Governing in the 21st Century: Are Local Governments in Sync with Their Constituents” – on Wednesday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. at George Mason University’s Arlington campus.
Arlington County Board Chairman Libby Garvey and Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson will discuss the current state of local governance and whether residents of the community have input into decision-making.
Is a county-government task force the way to advance the ball down the field on proposed changes to the governance structure that has been in place in Arlington for nearly a century?
That’s a request being made by the Arlington County Civic Federation. Whether county officials take the group up on its proposal remains to be seen.
BY OLIVIA DIAZ and BRIAN WITTE Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Worries of being uprooted from their jobs have returned for Laura Dodson and other federal workers, who have long been the economic backbone of the nation’s capital and its suburbs.
Arlington has a new top communications official.
Erika Moore, the former communications manager for Arlington’s Dept. of Community Planning, Housing and Development, is the new Assistant County Manager for Communications and Public Engagement, the county announced in a press release earlier this month.
The man responsible for posting over 1,500 “empathy” signs around the area is steering clear of Arlington and some other Northern Virginia locales these days.
That’s because an unknown person or entity has been taking down the handmade markers meant to encourage greater human connection and understanding. In Arlington, in Falls Church and as far out as Annandale, the signs — which started appearing in 2022 — started going missing from utility poles sometime around March.
County offices, courts, community centers and all public library locations will all close Thursday for Independence Day.
Curbside collection of recycling, trash and organics will continue on regular hours, as will the special collection of brush, metal and e-waste. However, the Earth Products Yard and Household Hazardous Materials facility in Shirlington will close.
Arlington County officially added 7.5 acres of undeveloped land along N. Glebe Road to its holdings this past fall.
For now, however, there are no plans to do anything of note to the property.
A large Arlington County police and fire department response was once again on scene of the Key Bridge Marriott this morning.
In connection to the response, the county said it would prove to the media “an update on the ongoing operation to secure the property located at 1401 Langston Blvd.” A press conference was scheduled for 10:30 a.m. in nearby Gateway Park.
Arlington County is taking steps to unilaterally secure and demolish the vacant Key Bridge Marriott in Rosslyn.
The county announced Friday morning that it has declared the property at 1401 Langston Blvd a “public nuisance… due to its unsafe and unsanitary conditions.”
Today marks the start of the Memorial Day weekend and the return of Arlington’s spraygrounds.
The kid-oriented water features at county parks are open for the season as of today — Friday, May 24. All spraygrounds will operate from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. through Monday, the county says, before returning to normal hours on Tuesday.
Over the past couple of weeks ARLnow has reported on a pair of lawsuits against Arlington County.
There’s the ongoing suit against the Missing Middle zoning changes, which has the support of at least two candidates for County Board. And there’s a lawsuit against the Pentagon City Sector Plan, by condo residents upset about proposed development on the RiverHouse site potentially being detrimental to their property values and view of D.C.
The approval of Missing Middle and the sector plan both had supporters and outspoken critics when approved unanimously by the County Board.
Both suits ultimately rely on technicalities. An appellate judge in the sector plan suit rejected more substantive arguments about the proposed development and instead nullified the plan based on an insufficiently descriptive legal notice ad. The Missing Middle suit, meanwhile, primarily argues that the changes were insufficiently advertised and inadequately studied for potential impacts.
One could argue that such suits hold the Board accountable for discrepancies in its processes, while at minimum delaying policies that some people strongly disagree with. One could also argue that it’s a waste of taxpayer money that delays policies that duly elected representatives supported and still support.
Regardless of the reasons why, today we’re asking readers: do you support these lawsuits against the county?
Photo via Joe Gratz/Flickr
