Discontent over changes to the Bicycle Advisory Committee has continued, with some members now appearing in open revolt against County Manager Mark Schwartz.
At a Nov. 3 meeting, some went so far as to suggest the BAC no longer serves a clear purpose, given its reduced role.
The Arlington County Board is scheduled to take up numerous items this month, including the financial impact of new public safety contracts, a proposed office-to-residential conversion project and closing out the fiscal year 2025 budget.
Potentially the most controversial item on the agenda could come during the Tuesday, Nov. 18 recess meeting, when Board members decide whether to move forward with a working group to consider changes to Arlington’s 93-year-old governance structure.
Nonprofits had many questions at a recent forum on new county funding to support placemaking initiatives in Green Valley.
The County Board set aside $80,000 in the fiscal year 2026 budget for the Green Valley Neighborhood Partnership Initiative. The deadline for applications from nonprofits seeking all or part of the funding is Nov. 14, with a final decision expected in January.
For the second time in three years, Arlington is on the hunt for a new economic development director.
Ryan Touhill will be departing Arlington Economic Development (AED) in early November. Katharine Ange, currently deputy director, will serve as acting director during the search for a successor.
A key county advisory panel likes the proposal to ban gas-powered leaf blowers countywide, but doesn’t want to get too far into the weeds on specifics right now.
Members of the Arlington Park and Recreation Commission on Oct. 28 agreed to send a letter to County Board members, expressing support for the concept of outlawing gas blowers.
Arlington County is sending $350,000 to the county’s largest food pantry in response to possible disruptions in food aid for thousands of residents.
The funding transfer is intended to expand the Arlington Food Assistance Center’s capacity to help the roughly 10,000 local residents who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which is expected to go on pause beginning Saturday because of the government shutdown.
The 2026 General Assembly session could bring another political tug-of-war between some County Board members and a state legislator representing the local community.
The past two years saw debate over the appropriate sequence of events in tackling any major change to Arlington’s governance structure.
A proposal to designate an Arlington Mill garden-apartment complex as a local historic district will not move forward following opposition from the property owner and neighborhood civic association.
Members of the Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board (HALRB) voted Oct. 15 not to embark on a staff study of the historical significance of the 1940s-era Haven Columbia Pike apartments. The vote concluded a three-year gestation period after the proposal was submitted by local activist Bernie Berne.
Arlington Economic Development is pursuing new options to market the county as a travel destination after the county attorney’s office halted its original plans.
At issue is whether Arlington County could use a 2021 state law to set up a tourism improvement district, or TID, to fund promotional efforts on behalf of the county’s hospitality industry. The county currently pursues such efforts in-house through the Arlington Convention and Visitors Service.
Arlington officials have added online resources in support of county residents impacted by the ongoing federal shutdown.
The updates include links to local, state and federal supports for those impacted since Oct. 1 as either federal workers of contractors. Tens of thousands of federal workers live or work in Arlington, one of the highest concentrations in the D.C. area.
Some members of two Arlington advisory bodies are unhappy with changes being imposed on their groups’ responsibilities.
A joint meeting of the Bicycle Advisory Committee and Pedestrian Advisory Committee last week offered a chance for the groups reporting to County Manager Mark Schwartz to lay out the new ground rules that Schwartz has requested. But the general sentiment on those advisory groups was that the changes could be costly to transportation planning in the long run.
Finding a site for a new library and a home for Synetic Theater after its displacement remain two key goals for leaders in National Landing.
At a recent leadership gathering, County Board Chair Takis Karantonis brought no definitive updates on either issue. But, he said, both remained on the county government’s radar.
