By statute, the Board must approve the referendum if 2 percent of the county’s qualified voters sign a petition. After a six-month campaign championed by the Arlington Green Party, the petition to create the authority got the necessary 2,845 signatures in June.
Approval is scheduled for the Board’s Tuesday meeting, its last meeting until September. The Board must approve the measure before it goes on its summer recess in order to meet the state-mandated deadline of August 16.
One bill, HB 1646, calls for the name and address of a petition signature gatherer to be present on both sides of the petition form. The bill is in response to “numerous reports where the description of the person who signed the forms as petition circulator didn’t match the description of the individual actually gathering the signatures.”
So far, HB 1646 is still awaiting a subcommittee vote.
Arlington’s entire delegation to the General Assembly in Richmond has come out against a proposal that would change the county’s form of government.
In a letter to Arlington County voters, lawmakers argue that changing from a county manager form of government, to a form that gives more executive powers to the county board, “could significantly impair our ability to advance Arlington’s interests in Richmond.”
Change-of-Government Petition Issues — The Sun Gazette reports that the Arlington County registrar’s office may have a difficult time processing the thousands of signatures being gathered for the Committee for a Better Arlington’s change-of-government proposal. Officials are worried that the county may have to hire temporary workers and pay overtime in order to verify all the signatures. In a separate article, a Committee for a Better Arlington spokesperson says that the group will probably not honor any requests by petition signers who have reconsidered and now want their name removed from the list, saying it’s “not required by the law.”
Final Jeopardy for Arlington Contestant — Despite a valiant comeback and a down-to-the-wire finish, Arlington resident Liz Murphy placed second in last night’s semifinal round of the Jeopardy Tournament of Champions, which means she will not advance to the finals.
The $104.6 million project was fast-tracked by the school system and the county board in order to take advantage of more favorable bids from construction companies hurt by the recession. Originally, the county’s 2008 Capital Improvement Plan called for the school’s bond referendum to take place in 2012.
“By moving the project forward we will realize significant savings through reduced construction costs,” board Chairman Jay Fisette said in a statement.
