“Do you believe in the Constitution, and do you follow it?”
That’s the question one man really, really wanted to ask of the three 8th District congressional candidates at a Civic Federation-sponsored debate Tuesday night. The moderator tried to move on to the next question before the candidates could answer, at which point the man began yelling.
“Congress… is full of career politicians who are addicted to spending your taxpayer dollars and who will say and do anything to get re-elected,” Murray said in his opening remarks. “At the heart of that, ladies and gentleman, is my opponent, Mr. Moran.”
“For 20 years, he has spent taxpayer dollars… and what has it gotten us?” Murray asked. “We’ve got deficits as far as the eye can see. We’ve got unemployment that continues to go up. We’ve got $13 trillion of debt.”
It’s a packed house at Virginia Hospital Center’s Hazel Conference Center, where a debate between the local candidates for congress, county board and school board is about to get underway.
First observation of the night: lots of Murray signs on George Mason Drive on the way up to the hospital. Didn’t spot any Moran signs.
Hey Look, There’s Nightlife in Pentagon City — When the shoppers go home for the day, the mice come out to play. At least that’s what one graveyard shift employee at the Pentagon City mall told WJLA (ABC 7). She reported seeing as many as ten mice scurrying around the food court at night. She even captured some cell phone video of the rodents inside the new Yogen Fruz frozen yogurt stand. WJLA says their story prompted a visit from an Arlington County health inspector. We’re sorry to hear that the inspector had to take a break from tackling the county’s rampant lack of bread packaging in order to address a trivial rodent problem.
WUSA9 Attends Change-of-Government Debate — If you’ve been following the back-and-forth over the proposed change to Arlington’s form of government, you won’t learn anything new from this story. WUSA9’s Brittany Morehouse went to last night’s change-of-government debate at the Cherrydale Volunteer Fire Department and found a passionate but polite crowd. Morehouse summarized the arguments made by both sides, then described the genesis of the ballot initiative. “The issue stems from a beef between fire and police unions and the County Manager,” she said.
Ribbon Cutting Today for New Field at TJ — Renovation of the lower athletic field at the Thomas Jefferson Community Center (3501 2nd St. S.) was recently completed, and today county officials will celebrate with a ribbon cutting ceremony. The field, which is used primarily for soccer, now has synthetic turf and state-of-the-art “dark sky” lighting. Because rain is predicted, the ribbon cutting will be held inside the community center. It will take place from 3:30 to 4:00 p.m.
Ballot Initiative Debate in Cherrydale Tonight — The Cherrydale Civic Association is hosting a debate tonight on the proposed change to Arlington’s form of government. Change-of-government supporters and Committee for a Better Arlington co-chairs Mike Staples and Ken Dennis will debate Alan Howze and Judy Connally of the opposition Coalition for Arlington Good Government. After the debate the public will be able to ask questions of both sides. The event is being held at the Cherrydale Volunteer Fire Department (3900 Lee Highway) starting at 7:30 p.m.
Following a short debate between GOP candidates Matthew Berry and Patrick Murray, and Green Party candidate Ron Fisher, Moran took the stage for a brief solo question and answer session with debate moderator and ABC7 reporter Scott Thuman.
“I give these three guys credit,” Moran said wryly in his opening remarks. Having spent ten years as a city councilman and mayor in Alexandria before running for national office, Moran said he “would have never had the gall” to run for congress without local government experience, as his opponents are doing.
Incumbent Rep. Jim Moran (D), whose eighth congressional district includes Arlington, will take the stage tonight with the men hoping to unseat him in the fall.
Republican primary opponents Matthew Berry and Patrick Murray are expected to participate in tonight’s debate, as is Independent-Green party candidate Ron Fisher. ABC7 reporter Scott Thuman will moderate.
This morning we ran a story on Committee for a Better Arlington chairman Mike Staples declining to participate in a planned debate over the group’s change-of-government proposal. Since there will be no “debate” tonight, we decided to ask two fresh voices from each side of the issue to make their case to Arlington residents here, in 400 words or less.
As a preface: it’s looking like this is a debate that will only get louder in the coming weeks and, possibly, months. The Committee is facing the daunting task of collecting 14,340 signatures by July 15 in order to float the proposal as a ballot initiative. Staples, however, says his group is “on track” to collect the needed signatures.
