Hurtt Locker

Not surprisingly, Arlington voters affirmed the political status quo in Tuesday’s special election for County Board. Takis Karantonis, bolstered by an impressive 71% of the absentee vote, easily dispensed with “progressive independent” Susan Cunningham and Republican Bob Cambridge.

Cunningham, who was endorsed by former independent County Board Member John Vihstadt, performed well in a half-dozen precincts and got more votes than Karantonis in nine precincts, including her home precinct Marshall. With little insight into the Arlington County Democratic Committee’s campaign operation, one can reasonably assume the political machine went into overdrive for the absentee ballot program. Kudos to ACDC.

I am encouraged by the shift in the national (and local) discussion about citizens’ relationship to the law and with law enforcement we have seen take place over the last few weeks.

In the many rallies, marches, and protests, people of all races and creeds have united to call into question overcriminalization and police practices that quite frequently lead to the unnecessary and tragic deaths of our black and brown brothers and sisters.

As Arlington enters Phase Two of Governor Northam’s re-opening strategy, I have really struggled to empathize with my neighbors.

Despite the polarization and tribalism we see in debates that rage across social media and populate the headlines, I try to believe people are more nuanced and complex than the red and blue avatars we create for them. I refuse to concede the young couple walking their dog, or the woman on a run, or the family sitting out in their front yard during my evening walks, are as divided or as divisive as some would have us believe.

Arlington’s Committee of 100 hosted a panel discussion last night about the local “criminal justice reform movement” — part of a bipartisan, nationwide public policy conversation that’s playing out at all levels of government in nearly every state.

Panelists included Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, Public Defender Brad Heywood, and Sheriff Beth Arthur.

As governments at every level react (and sometimes overreact) to the ongoing COVID-19 situation, other institutions across society have risen to the occasion to fill in the gaps and confront the unintended consequences of shutting down the economy to address the present situation.

Across society, we observe four key institutions working in concert (and sometimes at odds) with one another: business, community, education, and government.

“The mission of the County Manager’s Office is… to ensure high-quality services, with outstanding customer service at a good value to taxpayers; [and] to foster economic and fiscal sustainability…” – County Manager’s Office Mission

COVID-19 could cause Arlington county to raise taxes and dramatically grow the budget in times when revenues are uncertain. The county should instead stress fiscal prudence and tread lightly, starting from zero, and make targeted cuts to preserve room to respond to COVID-19.

There’s a growing movement in America comprised of people with wildly diverse views from across the political and cultural spectrum. They’re coming together over dinner to respectfully debate the most contentious issues of our time. And as you might imagine, the Washington, D.C.-area is ground zero for this movement.

While there are more than a dozen organizations engaged in these civil dialogue events, the two most active groups in the D.C.-area are “Make America Dinner Again” and “Better Angels,” both of which host events in the area. I am both the Northern Virginia coordinator for Make America Dinner Again (MADA) and a semi-regular attendee to Better Angels events.

The Arlington County Board held its 2020 organizational meeting on Thursday, January 2. It is not uncommon for the Board to elect as their chairman the member up for re-election in that year, and – as expected – they selected Libby Garvey to lead the Board.

This is perhaps a tacit endorsement by the Arlington establishment, since Garvey will have to fend off a potentially contentious Democratic primary challenge in June from Chanda Choun, who lost to Matt de Ferranti in the Democratic primary for County Board in 2018.

ARLnow posed the following Morning Poll question last week: Should homeowners have more of a say in local government than renters?

This question came on the heels of an editorial in the Arlington Sun Gazette about reducing the amount of single-family housing in exchange for multi-family units, a conversation currently being driven by affordable housing proponents that is sure to dominate the county budget conversation in the coming weeks and months.