election | ARLnow.com

Morning Notes

Published March 30, 2012 at 8:35AM

Contractor Chosen for New Ballston Apt. Tower — KBR Building Group has been tapped to build “The Place at Founders Square,” a new 17-story, mixed-use residential tower at 4000 Wilson Boulevard. Construction is expected to wrap up by the end of 2013. [CityBiz Real Estate]

Construction Update on Rosslyn Office Building — Construction on 1812 N. Moore Street, a 35-story behemoth in Rosslyn that will be the region’s tallest building upon completion, has topped the construction pit and reached surface level. [DC Metrocentric]

News

School Board to Appoint Successor to Garvey

By ARLnow.com

Published March 28, 2012 at 11:11AM

Per Virginia law, anybody interested in replacing Garvey on the School Board must be a qualified Arlington voter and must not be a School Board employee. Interested parties are asked to submit a resume and a letter of interest to the School Board by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 11.

A public hearing on the School Board vacancy will be held on the evening of April 17. The appointment itself is scheduled to take place during the School Board meeting on April 26. The appointee won’t be in the unelected office for very long — Garvey’s term is up at the end of December and the seat will be up for grabs in November’s general election.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published March 28, 2012 at 9:11AM

GOP May Skip November Board Race — With a presidential election likely to bring Democrats out to the polls in droves, Republicans are saying, privately, that it’s likely they will not be running a candidate for County Board in November. Republican Mark Kelly received 43.5 percent of the vote to Democrat Libby Garvey’s 49.2 percent in yesterday’s historically low turnout special election. [Sun Gazette]

D.C. Premiere of H-B Grad’s Film Planned — Fresh off a big win at the Sundance Film Festival, “Fishing Without Nets” will be holding its Washington, D.C. premiere next month. The short film, created by H-B Woodlawn grad Cutter Hodierne, will be premiering at a “surprise location” on Saturday, April 21. Tickets are $15. [Eventbrite]

News

Libby Garvey Wins County Board Special Election

By ARLnow.com

Published March 27, 2012 at 7:29PM | Updated March 28, 2012 at 8:52AM

Garvey, a Democrat, received 49.2 percent of the vote to 43.5 percent for Republican Mark Kelly and 7.1 percent for Green Party Candidate Audrey Clement. Only 14,252 votes were recorded — a 11.5 percent turnout — in contrast to between 18,000 and 22,000 votes recorded in the previous five County Board special elections.

Though Garvey emerged the winner, the race was relatively close when compared to the usually lopsided general election results in favor of Democrats in Arlington.

News

Low Turnout Could Swing Election Results

By ARLnow.com

Published March 27, 2012 at 3:06PM

Two out of the past three times the turnout of a County Board special election was below 19,000, a Republican ended up winning. This year, it’s looking unlikely that even 15,000 votes will be cast out of the pool of 122,882 active registered voters in Arlington.

“I think it’s probably going to end up maybe being 10 to 12 percent [turnout], and I may be overestimating that,” Arlington County Registrar Linda Lindberg told ARLnow.com this afternoon. “Usually in a special election we get closer to 20 percent, but I don’t think we’re going to get anywhere near that this time.”

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published March 27, 2012 at 8:55AM

Polls Open for County Board Race — Polls are open until 7:00 p.m. for today’s Arlington County Board special election. The three candidates on the ballot are Libby Garvey (D), Mark Kelly (R) and Audrey Clement (G). See the list of polling places here.

Merrifield to Rival Arlington? — Merrifield, once best known for its drive-in movie theater, is transforming itself into a walkable urban community. Multiple apartment and townhouse developments are being built, and more are in the pipeline. Businesses like Harris Teeter, MOM’s Organic Market, Matchbox Pizza, Dolcezza gelato, Red Apron Butchery, Tayor Gourmet, and Cava Mezza are also on the way. Rep. Gerry Connolly says of the rapidly-developing Merrifield: “I think that it’s going to rival Arlington for a lot of the younger generation of workers and commuters.” [Washington Post]

News

Stats Suggest Dems Need About 10,000 Votes

By ARLnow.com

Published March 26, 2012 at 11:56AM

Democratic candidate and School Board member Libby Garvey is facing two candidates who have both run for the County Board before: Republican Mark Kelly and Green Party candidate Audrey Clement.

Clement received 9,728 votes in the 2011 November general election, when she was the sole challenger to Mary Hynes and Walter Tejada, who both ended up winning reelection. Kelly received 20,570 votes to Democratic incumbent Chris Zimmerman’s 32,894 votes in November 2010. Special elections, however, tend to attract far fewer voters.

News

Candidate Essay: Audrey Clement

By ARLnow.com

Published March 22, 2012 at 1:35PM

Audrey Clement in 2011

Here is the unedited response from Audrey Clement (I):

I’m eight year resident of Arlington County with a doctorate in Political Science and service as a Congressional Fellow. As a long time Green Party leader and civic activist, I’ve worked hard to promote a better quality of life for Arlington residents. As treasurer of the Arlington Coalition for Sensible Transportation, I filed suit in 2009 to compel VDOT to assess alternatives to piecemeal widening of I-66 westbound. In 2008 I helped to place a referendum on the ballot to consolidate Arlington’s housing programs in one agency to leverage more money for affordable housing. I’ve lobbied to create a year round homeless shelter and ban plastic bags in supermarkets and chain drug stores and Styrofoam in food retail outlets.

News

Candidate Essay: Mark Kelly

By ARLnow.com

Published March 22, 2012 at 12:45PM

Here is the unedited response from Mark Kelly (R):

We need a new voice on the County Board to keep Arlington a wonderful place to live and raise a family.

News

Candidate Essay: Libby Garvey

By ARLnow.com

Published March 22, 2012 at 11:55AM

Here is the unedited response from Libby Garvey (D):

Like many ArlNow readers, I believe this is a pivotal time in Arlington. We are a vibrant, energetic community – without a doubt, Arlington is a great place to live and do business. But the years ahead present very real challenges and opportunities for our community as well as some very significant decision points for our community’s leaders.

News

County Board Candidates Address Homeless Shelter, Accountability at Forum

By Katie Pyzyk

Published March 14, 2012 at 9:50AM

Garvey’s main push is for more communication and transparency in government.

“I think we’re having a little trouble keeping our priorities straight. Is it all about education, infrastructure, public safety? Or is it all about Artispheres and street cars and that sort of thing,” Garvey said. “I think we need to be very clear about our priorities and make them our core services.”

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published March 12, 2012 at 8:29AM

Lyon Park Community House Plan Approved — A permit to expand and renovate the historic Lyon Park Community Center was approved on Saturday by the Arlington County Board. The planned changes to the house, owned by the private Lyon Park Citizens Association, includes an updated kitchen and a new sunroom. [Arlington County]

Pike Affordable Housing Project Approved — Also on Saturday, the County Board approved up to $6 million worth of lending to local nonprofit developer AHC Inc. to build a new 83-unit affordable housing complex. The building will replace a Shell gas station along Arlington’s western end of Columbia Pike. [Arlington County]