Transportation safety personnel are eyeing new technology to catch vehicles running stop signs in Arlington, but they aren’t yet ready to implement it.
“Right now, we just don’t have the resources,” Christine Baker, manager of the county government’s Vision Zero initiative, said on Wednesday.
Arlington leaders have joined counterparts elsewhere in Northern Virginia in voicing opposition to a proposed merger of local bus systems.
Speaking at an Oct. 21 regional forum on the issue, County Board member Takis Karantonis and Vice-Chair Maureen Coffey each suggested consolidation would be a solution in search of a problem.
Falls Church city leaders are beginning to mull the implications of splitting real-estate taxes into separate rates for land and improvements.
That could fundamentally change tax bills for property owners and is not something the city should rush into, one veteran City Council member says.
Some affordable-housing advocates fear an advisory panel set up by the County Board earlier this year won’t deliver tangible results.
“I’m not optimistic this working group is going to come up with a substantive solution,” Housing Commission chair Kellen MacBeth said at the commission’s Oct. 8 meeting.
The Arlington County Civic Federation may renew its push for General Assembly legislation giving the county powers to change its 95-year-old governance structure.
A draft resolution is set to be presented next week and voted on in November, calling for action from the county’s legislative delegation. Desired legislation could grant Arlington the power to modify the size of the County Board and School Board; change the election schedule; allow for a move to district representation; and separately elect a Board chair.
The Arlington County Republican Committee has endorsed independent School Board candidate James “Vell” Rives IV.
Rives is facing incumbent Democrat Bethany Zecher Sutton in the Nov. 3 election. This is the second time Rives will carry the GOP endorsement after he secured it in 2025, as well.
An estimated 200,000 Virginians will be eligible for reductions in their health insurance costs through a new fund in the state government’s biennial budget.
Legislators approved a $150 million Healthcare Affordability Fund, supported by taxes levied on energy usage by data centers. It will support eligible Virginians not covered by insurance through their employer, Medicare or Medicaid.
The timetable for County Board members to begin addressing potential changes to local governance appears to be holding to schedule.
“All the remaining deliverables … are on track,” Mason Kushnir, clerk to the County Board, said at the Board’s Sept. 22 meeting.
Arlington officials have opted against moving forward with a program to monitor and issue tickets to owners of unusually loud vehicles.
While Fairfax County is moving forward with preparations for a pilot program starting early next year, Arlington is in wait-and-see mode. In response to an ARLnow inquiry, a county spokesman gave the reasoning:
The chair of the Arlington County Board wants the General Assembly to keep out of the county’s change-of-government discussion in 2027.
“Del. [Patrick] Hope could file a bill again — I’m hoping he does not do that,” Matt de Ferranti said at a Sept. 9 governance-change forum sponsored by Advance Arlington.
The Virginia League of Conservation Voters saluted Del. Alfonso Lopez this week for his legislative work on water quality this year.
Lopez (D-3) was honored alongside Sen. Richard Stuart, a Westmoreland County Republican, on Sept. 1 for joint efforts on legislation requiring testing for PFAS on biosolids applied to farmland.
Arlington’s Tenant-Landlord Commission is seeking more state support in treating and testing for mold, despite protests from some industry representatives.
The commission is recommending legislative approval of a statewide mold-remediation fund and free mold testing for Virginia residents. Members placed the issue atop their recommendations to County Board members in advance of the 2027 General Assembly session.
