The delay in the second phase of Amazon’s HQ2 may not be for all that long, according to Arlington County Board Vice-Chair Libby Garvey.
Garvey appeared on WAMU’s The Politics Hour with Kojo Nnamdi late last week, talking about whether Amazon is still good for Arlington County and defending the current number of flights out of Reagan National Airport against attempts to add more, particularly long-haul flights.
The first phase of Amazon’s second headquarters in Pentagon City is basically complete and is set to open next month, with some 50,000 square feet of retail space filled with everything from a bike shop to a doggy daycare to several restaurants and bars.
Plans for the second phase, including the futuristic double helix, are still in flux. The “pause” announced earlier this year coincided with other announcements the company made to lay off more than 18,000 employees and pause office construction projects in Nashville and around Seattle.
“I know there’s been some concern that Phase 2 has been delayed but it’s not been delayed by a lot,” Garvey said. “We’re understanding it’s just a year, which, actually — if you think about what’s been happening in the last couple of years — a delay in some ways is quite reasonable.”
Here, Tom Sherwood, the radio show’s resident analyst, interrupted to say he had only heard speculation that the delay would only be for one year.
“I don’t know what they’ve said publicly. I know what I’ve heard,” Garvey responded, with a chuckle. “How public that is, I don’t know. I guess it’s public now.”
The biggest concern for the Arlington County Board regarding the second phase is the construction of a permanent home for Arlington Community High School and child care facilities, she said, adding that “our understanding is that is continuing to move forward.”
Overall, she said, Amazon is “absolutely right” for Arlington.
“In fact, it’s been helpful,” she continued. “One of the big concerns of any large metropolitan area right now is the vacancy rate and whether businesses are going to be coming. Amazon continues to be doing quite well and attracts folks here which I think is very good for us.”
She credited the company for investing significantly in local affordable housing to meet “a major need.”
Across all of its communities, the tech company has said it is investing $2 billion in affordable housing.
“Everything is in transition but it’s still a good deal for Arlington,” she said, adding that Arlington County has yet to pay Amazon any economic incentive money.
Garvey said the county agreed to pay Amazon for meeting office occupancy targets using expected revenue from the county’s Transient Occupancy Tax, which is levied on hotel rooms and other lodging. The county intended to draw from this because HQ2 would generate more business travel, she noted.
Speaking of travel, Garvey was quizzed about why National Airport should not expand and have more flights in response to a proposed bill proposed by members of Congress from Georgia and Utah. The bill is opposed by local lawmakers but has support from many locals and an advocacy group.
“It’s a small airport and it doesn’t have long runways for the really big planes,” she said. “There’s a limit to what you can do and what is safe and what makes sense. It’s plenty busy. Lots of planes go in and out.”
Garvey says it makes sense for DCA to handle shorter flights and Dulles to handle long-distance ones, especially now that people can take the Silver Line all the way to Dulles. Besides, she added, DCA is already noisy enough for people who live nearby.
“The noise of the airplanes drives some of our residents crazy,” she said.
A fundraiser for Commonwealth’s Attorney candidate Josh Katcher has drawn some notable local names.
Katcher is running in June’s Democratic primary to unseat his former boss, Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, as Arlington’s top prosecutor. Both bill themselves as justice reformers, though Katcher is associating a local rise in crime — albeit one in line with national trends — with what he calls the “multiple failings” of Dehghani-Tafti’s leadership.
Garvey emailed supporters Friday evening, inviting them to a fundraiser for Katcher this coming weekend. More from the email, below.
Dear Friends,
The first local candidate that I am supporting publicly this year is Josh Katcher running for Commonwealth’s Attorney. I hope you will consider supporting Josh as well and perhaps join me at the event on Saturday, March 25 at 3:30 pm. It would be great to see you there.
If you have any questions, I’m happy to discuss the race.
All best,
Libby
Names also appearing on a flyer for the event include former School Board member Barbara Kanninen, former Rep. Jim Moran, and former County Board candidate Chanda Choun.
Endorsements listed on Dehghani-Tafti’s website include Reps. Don Beyer and Jennifer McClellan; County Board members Matt de Ferranti and Takis Karantonis; former County Board member Mary Hynes; former state Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple; current state Sens. Barbara Favola, Scott Surovell, and Dick Saslaw; School Board member Mary Kadera; former School Board members Nancy Van Doren and Monique O’Grady; Dels. Alfonso Lopez and Marcus Simon; Clerk of the Circuit Court Paul Ferguson; Commissioner of the Revenue Ingrid Morroy; and County Board candidate JD Spain.
Katcher recently criticized Dehghani-Tafti for her decision to prosecute a murder-for-hire suspect who was quickly found not guilty by a jury, after the case was highlighted on ABC’s 20/20. ARLnow hears that NBC’s Dateline is also planning to air an episode about the 1998 murder and the case against the victim’s then-fiancee.
In a crowded Bozman Government Center on Saturday morning, one person urged the Arlington County Board to move forward with Missing Middle housing while another critiqued the push for county-wide zoning changes.
But Board members had only to read the room — and the signs people brought — to see a sea of residents who were as divided into pro- and anti-Missing Middle camps that day as they were during a raucous meeting this June.
“We owe it to our larger community to let more people live here through smaller multiplexes, yes, but especially through denser affordable apartment housing. Doing otherwise is environmentally unsustainable — and it’s exclusionary,” said Susan English. “I’ve lived in a pleasant tear-down in a nice neighborhood for 40 years, but I hope when I leave my house will be replaced with at least a duplex.”
Independent County Board candidate Audrey Clement, the only candidate opposed to the Missing Middle upzoning proposal, told those attending and watching the meeting that she would “debunk some myths about it.”
Reciting excerpts of a speech she has presented during the Arlington County Civic Federation and Chamber of Commerce candidate fora, Clement argued that Missing Middle will not add to the county’s stock of 3-bedroom, and will reduce Arlington’s tree canopy, and will not increase home-buying opportunities for people of color — though the latter is an assertion with which the local NAACP disagrees.
Clement suggested alternatives such as office-to-residential conversions.
Board Chair Katie Cristol broke through the whooping and hollering that followed Clement’s comments, saying, “Alright, thank you ladies and gentlemen, we’re going to continue hearing from neighbors.”
But she later thanked attendees for respecting the rules for addressing the Board, which include restrictions on how many people can speak on a given matter not otherwise on the Board’s agenda.
“I also just want to give a sincere thanks to all who’ve come who respected our one-speaker-per-topic rule, helping us hear from more neighbors,” she said.
During the June meeting, some attendees shouted at Cristol when she cut off another speaker for violating the rule. The Board allows one speaker per topic, with opposing views on the same topic considered two separate topics.
Booing, which followed a speech this summer by a member of pro-density group YIMBYs of Northern Virginia, was also absent this time around. But there was plenty of applause — for every speaker, despite the range of topics, from the taxes nonprofits pay to climate change.
Resident Dima Hakura, who has spoken at length in meetings and with the Board about the Courthouse West General Land Use Plan, took the podium to urge the County Board to listen to its constituents, not “patronize us.” The room erupted in cheers after she finished her speech.
We need a leadership that builds consensus among us and unites us. A leadership that not only respects our opinions and values them, but also taps into them. One that considers our thoughts and makes constructive use of them to evolve the solutions possible… Interestingly, Arlington was always known for that, but somehow, somewhere we lost our way and we need to find it again.
… When I told people I was coming to speak before you today, the reaction was: “Why bother?” or, “It’s not going to make an iota of difference,” or, “Their mind is already made up. They have an agenda they want to push.” Regardless, I am hoping differently.
More pickleball courts are likely coming to Arlington as local players urge the county to provide more support.
Last week, County Board member Libby Garvey and Nakish Jordan from Arlington’s Dept. of Parks and Recreation paid a visit to the outdoor pickleball courts at Walter Reed Park, near the community center. They were there to talk about what the county was doing to create more courts for a sport that continues to grow in popularity.
That includes striping more courts and potentially building dedicated outdoor pickleball courts at Walter Reed Park.
Today (July 18), the County Board is set to vote on a new Capital Improvement Plan that includes $2 million for more pickleball courts. If the plan is approved, several tennis courts at Walter Reed Park would be converted into dedicated pickleball courts, Jordan told players.
“This is central county. Lots of people come out. There’s plenty of parking [here],” Jordan said about why this was a good spot for more courts. “And there are bathrooms here.”
Even if the plan gets approved today by the County Board, though, it could take a couple of years before new courts are built.
Voters would need to pass a bond referendum in November and, then, community engagement would happen early next year, DPR spokesperson Susan Kalish told ARLnow in an email. After that, design and permitting could happen mid to late next year. Finally, construction could begin in late 2023 and be completed sometime in the summer of 2024.
The timeframe for restriping a number of existing tennis and basketball courts for multi-use so that pickleball could be played on them as well is a bit quicker. Kalish noted that could be done by next spring, provided the CIP and bond referendum both get passed.
In total, the CIP dedicates $2 million to pickleball projects, including the Walter Reed Park courts and the restriping project.
Despite these assurances about the future, a number of players expressed their annoyance to the county officials about a lack of courts amid burgeoning demand. The courts are often filled to capacity, several people said, leaving players with long waits for their turn to put paddle to ball.
“We need more pickleball lines on under-used tennis courts,” said a resident. “While [the Walter Reed Park courts] are being renovated, we will need other places to play.”
Garvey noted that there isn’t only so much court space in the county. Despite pickleball’s growth, players need to share the space with other sports, she said.
“We need to keep in mind everyone who needs things… as a County Board member, I need to think about everybody,” Garvey said. “Even the people who aren’t here and we don’t hear from — [we need to] make sure we are serving them as well. We are going have to find a way to co-exist.”
There are currently 11 indoor and 20 outdoor multi-use courts where pickleball can be played in the county.
However, one popular court at Glebe Road Park has been shut down over the summer due to the sound the ball makes when it hits the paddle drawing complaints from neighbors.
Arlington County Board member Libby Garvey is quarantining in Germany after testing positive for COVID-19 while on a trip.
Garvey told ARLnow she’s doing relatively well, and feels mostly like she has a bad cold. She said she plans to keep up with Board work this week as much as she can.
“Hopefully I will have a negative test soon so I can fly home,” she said. “I’m checking on the regulations. I hope to get better quickly and be able to come home by this Thursday or Friday.”
At the County Board meeting Saturday, Chair Katie Cristol said Garvey was absent after being unable to return from her trip with the Northern Virginia Regional Commission “due to a medical condition.”
She was later able to join the meeting via video conference, about two hours in.
Garvey said she visited a family member in Germany and then joined the regional delegation, which was there to learn about the transition away from fossil fuels.
The delegation was in the Stuttgart region for five days and finished in Hamburg, where Garvey said she started experiencing symptoms that felt like allergies. She self-administered a Covid test, which was positive.
Day 5 of @NoVARegion's exchange brought them to the #hafencity in #Hamburg.
Hamburg's world-class #climateresiliency programs are grounded in planning policies that are integrated, #sciencebased and holistic. Hamburg's Hafen City is a testimony to this type of planning. pic.twitter.com/LTaGIYiLKQ
— Transatlantic Climate Bridge (@climate_bridge) May 12, 2022
Garvey then went with the group to get a test at a German facility, and tested negative, she said. But she continued to have a runny nose, scratchy throat and was tired — although that could be attributed to the long days of walking and seminars.
In order to board the plane home, she was tested again Friday and was positive. The rest of the delegation tested negative and was able to fly home Saturday, she said.
Garvey said she’s lucky enough to have family in the country to quarantine with.
“I feel mostly like I have a bad cold, but it gets better and then worse again several times a day,” she said. “When it’s worse, I feel pretty yuck. When it’s better, I feel not too bad. I also feel a little dizzy at times, but not badly so.”
Garvey said she doesn’t know where she may have picked up the virus. She’s mostly been wearing a mask in Germany, except for meals or when all were seated and spaced apart, she said. She’s been fully vaccinated and had two booster shots.
Her takeaway: it’s really easy to get Covid given fewer people wearing masks and variants getting more contagious.
Garvey recommended residents get vaccinated and boosted so they won’t become seriously ill, “as I am very hopeful that I will not.”
“And, so far, so good,” she added.
Arlington recorded a new seasonal high today in its average daily case rate, with just over 175 new cases reported per day, on average, over the past week. That’s up from about 150 cases per day a week ago.
The test positivity rate in Arlington is currently 12.8%, according to Virginia Dept. of Health data.
Covid hospitalizations in Arlington remain relatively low but continue to rise. The county is seeing 4.9 Covid-related admissions per 100,000 in population, according to the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
Virginia Hospital Center is seeing small week-to-week changes in Covid hospitalizations, but is “generally hanging in a comfortable zone,” ER chief Mike Silverman said in his weekly update Friday.
“For the most part, people are not requiring hospitalization for COVID, which is the benefit of vaccines,” he said.
But the ER has remained busy. Silverman said the prior week was the second busiest for total ER volume in the last several years, only surpassed by the last week of 2021 when Omicron was surging.
Photo via Northern Virginia Regional Commission
In addition to approving a new county budget Tuesday night, the Arlington County Board also approved a $20,000 pay raise for each of its members.
Board Chair Katie Cristol said she’s uncomfortable voting on her own salary, but nonetheless in the approved budget her salary as this year’s Chair will increase from $63,413 to $83,413.
“I think what ultimately has persuaded me to support this idea is sort of depersonalizing it and the recognition that it’s actually not about my salary, it’s about a Board member’s salary,” she said.
Cristol and Board member Libby Garvey pointed out that the increases make the positions more competitive. Higher salaries — the salary for a Board member is increasing from $57,648 to $77,648 — will make members less dependent on high-earning spouses or other sources of supplemental income like consulting jobs.
“I’ve talked to far too many people who, I think, would make great County Board members and they tell me, ‘I simply can’t afford to do it,'” Garvey said. “So I’m hoping this is going to be a step in the right direction to make it, I think, actually more democratic, better representation.”
The set salaries remain below the cap set by the Board in 2019 — $95,734 for the Chair and $89,851 for members.
The Board can only raise the salary cap in the year that two board members are up for reelection, which will next happen in 2023, when Cristol and Christian Dorsey are up for reelection.
After a community survey a few years ago on the compensation of Board members, the Board came to the general consensus that it would be appropriate for members to earn a salary equivalent to the area median income for a one-member household, Cristol said. The pay raise just approved will not reach that level, but will get closer to it.
“I believe that was the benchmark, the idea there being that Board members ought to make not more than the average Arlingtonian, but not less either,” she said. “So this would get us I think about half of the way there. I believe this roughly shakes out to about a Board member making 80% of the area median income for a household of one.”
De Ferranti said that a seat on the Board, while originally intended as a part-time position, is effectively a full-time job and ought to be paid as such.
“My view is that for a locality that is approaching 240,000 people, the job of being a Board member is a full-time job,” he said. “There’s been some analysis in the past as to the number of hours, sometimes it’s 50 or 60 hours per week and sometimes it’s 35 but I think this is a full-time job.”
Member Takis Karantonis said he’s struggled with juggling the amount of work that comes with the County Board and his other work. He has had to excuse himself from certain votes, which can be uncomfortable, he said.
“This is really not helpful. It is not helpful for the Board as a whole, it is not helpful for the way this body works, it is not helpful for anybody,” he said.
Dorsey said he didn’t want any part of this issue when it came up while he was chair in 2019 — he was in the midst of personal financial troubles that would later lead to a bankruptcy filing and accusations of unethical behavior related to political donations. He said he supports the raise now because public servants should be valued for their work.
Dorsey thanked Garvey for “pressing the cause.”
“When we do the public’s business, we cannot do that effectively without really good public servants and, you know, for far too long, public servants compared to their private sector counterparts make sacrifices that often go underappreciated,” he said.
The pay raise will take effect with the county’s new Fiscal Year 2023 budget on July 1.
(Updated, 4:05 p.m.) As a new aircraft noise study comes in for a landing, Arlington officials admit there remains little the county can actually do about the noise above.
“I know how frustrating this is. I think people don’t understand how little power we actually have,” says Arlington County Board member Libby Garvey. “We really have almost zip.”
They’re not hopeful they can get the Federal Aviation Administration on board with changes, such as shifting National Airport’s flight patterns to less populated areas. A work group plans to ask the agency to shift incoming planes away from more developed areas and is expected to recommend doing the same for departures.
For years, residents have complained about aircraft noise, resulting from the flight patterns in and out of National Airport as well as Pentagon-bound helicopters. It’s gotten marginally worse in recent years after the FAA adjusted flight patterns to push flight paths further west, away from D.C., due to the Secret Service’s concerns about commercial flights encroaching into federal no-fly zones (Prohibited Area 56). The new patterns resulted in complaints among Arlington residents who live close to the Potomac River, including those in Rosslyn.
In 2019, the Arlington County Board sent a letter to the FAA expressing its “strong opposition” to the changes while accusing the federal agency of not engaging with the community and doing something that is “quite possibly in violation of federal law.”
“Aircraft noise is a real thing,” Arlington County Board Member Takis Karantonis tells ARLnow. “It’s a quality of life issue for many Arlingtonians who live under or near flight paths.”
In May 2019, Arlington agreed to jointly fund a study with Montgomery County that would recommend to the FAA ways to reduce aviation noise and limit the impact on residents.
Now, after nearly three years, the “Aircraft Noise Mitigation Study” is reaching its conclusion.
The biggest takeaway is that the study recommends diverting flight paths in and out of National Airport so that fewer people are living directly under them. That means prioritizing noise reduction in more dense and populated areas, as well as “noise sensitive residential areas,” to the extent possible. The study also looked at how takeoff speed, trajectory, and height impact noise.
Last summer, new flight paths for incoming flights were proposed and, just this past December, departing flights were discussed. In addition to shifting paths, a recommendation was made for departures to be split into multiple segments so that there would be a “more equitable distribution of noise.”
The incoming flight paths were approved by DCA Community Working Group, which operates under the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), and the departure paths will be reviewed in April.
It’s expected those recommendations, with possibly a few tweaks, will be approved and proposed to the FAA. But officials are skeptical of whether the FAA and federal agencies take them into consideration.
“Arlington County against the federal government is kind of a little unbalanced in terms of a power setup,” Garvey said, echoing what she said at last week’s recessed Board meeting.
That’s one of the reasons Arlington partnered with Montgomery County on the aircraft noise study, so that two jurisdictions could come together with credible data to ask the FAA and Secret Service to make changes.
The counties are also in talks with D.C. and other local jurisdictions to apply more pressure to the federal agencies. But she understands why some residents may feel like just doing a study is not enough.
“Our residents who are frustrated with the noise see nothing [being done] and they’d like us to sue the FAA or something like that,” says Garvey. “I understand the desire to do that, but that actually would be very counterproductive and not actually get us anywhere.”
Distance Learning Only for APS — “Due to inclement weather… Level 1, in-person learning support, Level 2 Career & Technical Education students and staff supporting these programs will temporarily revert to distance learning.” [Arlington Public Schools]
County Government Open — “Arlington County Government offices, courts, & facilities are OPEN Friday, 02-19-2021. Courts will open at 10AM. All facilities will follow normal operating hours.” [Twitter]
Be Careful Out There — “Northern Virginia crews continue to clear and treat roads overnight, for both some additional wintry precipitation as well as refreeze from low temperatures. Drivers are asked to continue to limit travel if possible, or to use extreme caution and be aware of the potential for slick pavement, even where surfaces appear clear or were previously treated.” [VDOT]
Doses May Be Delayed — “Virginia is seeing delays in this week’s vaccine shipments due to severe winter weather in the Mid-Atlantic region and across the country. The Virginia Department of Health says the state will likely see a delay in the delivery of approximately 106,800 doses, due to distribution channels in the Midwest and elsewhere that are currently shut down.” [InsideNova]
Architectural Review of HQ2 Phase 2 — ” It very intentionally does not look like anything else in Pentagon City or Crystal City, or anywhere else in the region. The style, a populist, jazzy take on high-tech modernism, isn’t aimed at architecture critics, but at the public, which shows remarkable forbearance to the predations of large corporations so long as they have a reputation for being innovative and forward thinking.” [Washington Post]
County Board Members Endorse Candidate — “Alexandria City Council member Elizabeth Bennett-Parker has picked up the endorsement of two Arlington County Board members in her quest for the 45th District House of Delegates seat. Board members Libby Garvey and Katie Cristol endorsed the candidacy.” [InsideNova]
New Spanish Publication on the Pike — “As part of its increased business support efforts, the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization (CPRO) has launched a new publication dedicated to supporting the area’s Hispanic business community. The publication, Boletín, is a small booklet of resources and information specific to those Spanish speaking businesses serving Columbia Pike’s residents.” [CPRO]
Arlington Man Arrested for Armed Robberies — “An Arlington man was arrested last night and is facing charges in connection with a series of recent armed robberies. Detectives from our Major Crimes Bureau determined that in three of the four robberies, the suspect approached the victim, displayed a firearm and took their personal property. In the other case, the suspect took a victim’s purse by force.” [Fairfax County Police Department]
(Updated 4:30 p.m.) Arlington County officials are acknowledging the fear, anger and frustration people feel and are asking for patience as vaccine plans change.
During the County Board meeting on Saturday, board member Libby Garvey said the state and federal governments are “moving the goalposts, changing the rules and switching out equipment.” County Manager Mark Schwartz said that in the distribution process, “chaos is reigning.”
“I hear the pain and the upset and I don’t blame people for feeling that way,” Garvey later told ARLnow.
About 50% of Virginians are eligible for doses because of their age, job or health condition, but the state is telling local jurisdictions that it will take until March or April to get through this group unless the slow drip of supply from the federal government is sped up.
“There are simply not enough doses available yet for everyone who is eligible to receive them,” said Craig Fifer, a liaison on vaccines between the state and local governments.
During the Saturday County Board meeting, when the news that Virginia Hospital Center had to cancel thousands of appointments was still fresh, Board member Christian Dorsey mused that the county cannot solve the bigger problems, but it can explain them better.
“Maybe we can lean into our role of helping our community understand [the rollout],” he said.
Here’s what we know.
Who has been vaccinated?
According to the state vaccine dashboard, nearly 24,000 doses have been shipped to Arlington County but as of this week, only 7,850 of them have gone to Arlington Public Health Division. Some went to VHC and others are earmarked for the federal partnership with CVS and Walgreens to vaccinate long-term care residents.
Public Health Division spokesman Ryan Hudson also attributed the gap to reporting delays, since providers sometimes take up to 72 hours to log administered doses.
Arlington County is not “holding onto the vaccine, except [to get] ready for the following week,” Arlington County’s Public Health Director Dr. Reuben Varghese said on Saturday. He said he saves about 10% of vaccines as a contingency until a new shipment comes.
Hudson said that the county’s public health division and VHC can together administer at least 2,000 doses per day, based on infrastructure, staff and preparation.
“We can do more if we were assured a greater supply of doses from Virginia,” he said.
Virginia is currently receiving approximately 105,000 new doses per week, a pace that could increase by 16% in the near future, said Fifer, who also serves as communications director for the City of Alexandria.
Like Arlington, the Commonwealth is seeing gaps between delivered and administered doses. The state has worked to close these gaps by redistributing doses, reducing data entry backlogs and accounting for the status of doses sent to CVS and Walgreens, Fifer said. About half of doses marked as received, but not administered, are earmarked for second doses.
Who is eligible?
About 50% of Virginia is currently eligible under Phase 1B, which Gov. Ralph Northam has expanded to those 65 and older and those younger than 65 with high-risk medical conditions.
(Updated at 2:50 p.m.) Arlington County police officers will be deployed to D.C. as mutual aid during pro-Trump rallies and counter-protests, starting today, ARLnow has learned.
The Arlington County Police Department tells ARLnow that they have received and agreed to a request from the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department for mutual aid assistance for both today (Jan. 5) and tomorrow (Jan. 6).
“Arlington County has agreed to this request,” police spokesperson Ashley Savage said. “ACPD officers will be in D.C. and available to assist our regional law enforcement partners in maintaining peace and order in the event of a significant disturbance or unrest.”
The Arlington County Board, meanwhile, is urging residents to refrain from counter-protesting across the river, as thousands of Trump supporters descend on the region for demonstrations in the District.
The president has encouraged a large show of support among the MAGA faithful, ahead of Wednesday’s Congressional certification of the presidential election, as he continues to make unproven claims that the election was stolen.
Yesterday (Jan. 4), Arlington’s elected officials urged local residents to not jump into the fray, as clashes between protesters and counter-protesters are expected in D.C.
“This Board upholds free speech and the right for all to peacefully demonstrate,” Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey said in a press release. “We understand the desire to show support for our election processes, for democracy and the constitution. But my colleagues and I have a responsibility to our constituents to keep them safe. With far-right extremist groups broadcasting their desire to engage in violent acts to upend the results of the presidential election, we ask everyone to stay home on January 6 so the District of Columbia can better manage the situation.”
Previous rallies in November and December both ended in violence, particularly after sunset, and additional threats of violence this week have been reported in online forums.
This has led Arlington and other local jurisdictions to caution residents to avoid D.C. on those days.
“Mayor Bowser has asked that people not come to the city to counter-protest, to avoid inflaming an already dangerous situation,” Garvey continued. “We support her request.”
It’s also believed that a number of supporters and Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group defined by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a “hate group,” are staying at local hotels.
For the December protests, organizers suggested that attendees to stay in Crystal City. However, a number of counter-protesting groups asked hotels like the Crowne Plaza Crystal City and the Holiday Inn National Airport to refuse rooms to those coming for those rallies.
On social media, protesters coming to the area could be seen discussing hotel availability in Arlington over the past couple of days.
A protest against the Proud Boys was set to take place yesterday outside of the Holiday Inn in Alexandria, where it was thought that a number of members were staying. But that protest was canceled due to safety concerns.
The department has mutual aid agreements with a number of local and federal law enforcement agencies. This includes an agreement with U.S. Park Police, which came under fire this past summer when ACPD sent riot gear-clad officers to assist with crowd control near Lafayette Square.
The Arlington County Board unanimously elected Matt de Ferranti as its Chair and Katie Cristol as its Vice-Chair during a virtual meeting on Monday.
Elected in 2018, de Ferranti is serving as Chair for the first time, succeeding Libby Garvey. During the year that he occupies this role, he will set the Board’s meeting agendas and preside over the meetings. The first regular Board meeting of 2021 will be held on Saturday, Jan. 23.
Colleagues heaped praise on the new chair.
“One of the most under-sung attributes in an elected official is earnestness, [and] our colleague, Mr. de Ferranti has earnestness in spades,” Cristol said. “[With] a pandemic, a reckoning over racial injustice, it is a moment that calls for a chair like Mr. de Ferranti.”
Cristol, elected in 2015 and a former Board chair, fills a role that was vacated in April, when then Vice-Chair Erik Gutshall resigned after doctors discovered a brain tumor. He died shortly after, and his successor, Board Member Takis Karantonis, was elected in July.
Board member Christian Dorsey lauded Cristol for her activism for accessible, affordable childcare and her work with regional partners on transportation in Northern Virginia.
Dorsey said he nominated Cristol “with great confidence that she will not only be able to perform the role of Vice-Chair, but that she will join Mr. de Ferranti in a dynamic duo for leading Arlington.”
During the meeting, de Ferranti and Cristol commended Arlington for coming together during the pandemic, and outlined their visions for recovery. The new Chair said in his remarks that recovery efforts must focus on stabilization, recovery and a systematic commitment to racial and economic equity.
“Our response to COVID-19 is the biggest test we face as a community,” he said. “As difficult as this winter is and will be, spring will come: More and more will be vaccinated and a new Biden administration will lead our nation’s recovery.”
De Ferranti’s other stated priorities for 2021 include addressing hunger and food insecurity, preventing evictions, and boosting the production of missing middle housing.
“Without changes in our housing supply the 60% of Arlington residents who currently rent cannot realistically save up to buy a place,” he said. “We risk becoming as unaffordable as San Francisco if we do not plan for replacement of existing moderately priced housing and grow in a thoughtful, managed way.”
In her remarks, Cristol said that like 2020, the new year will be characterized by the coronavirus, as cases continue to surpass the peaks seen in March. With the vaccine, however, comes a chance to reimagine Arlington, the Vice-Chair said.
“Rebuilding after this once-in-a-century pandemic is a unique opportunity to think afresh about what future we want for ourselves and our children in our County,” she said.
