As the readers of ARLnow know, this is the final week for regular opinion columns. First, let me say thank you to Scott Brodbeck for asking me to do this nine years ago.
Drafting the last one is a bitter-sweet moment for me. Along with Peter Rousselot, I have been writing faithfully since January of 2013 when his first column was published just hours before mine.
Arlington has seen its share of school board members come and go the past few years. It is not because the work is not important or extremely worthwhile. No, it’s because there is nothing more personal to people than their children, as Terry McAuliffe found out the hard way. And, there is virtually no decision of consequence that can leave everyone happy.
School boundaries can leave parents fuming after spending $1 million or more to move into their preferred Arlington neighborhood. Every school budget almost certainly leaves something popular on the cutting room floor. Curriculum and classroom policy decisions can quickly inflame passions on both sides. Even the names of schools now generate extreme controversy.
The Right Note is a biweekly opinion column. The views expressed are solely the author’s.
Virginia voters shook up the national political landscape two weeks ago by electing a Republican statewide ticket just one year after giving Joe Biden a 10% victory.
The Right Note is a biweekly opinion column. The views expressed are solely the author’s.
The annual closeout process, or second round of spending, is upon us again. Tonight, the County Board will formally receive the excess funds available report and recommendations on how to spend all $284.9 million from the County Manager.
For years, Democrat politicians across Virginia campaigned on creating a redistricting commission. Arlington Delegate Rip Sullivan and former Governor Terry McAuliffe were leaders in the effort.
It always seemed like an interesting political maneuver from a party that, while in control of the Virginia Senate 10 years ago, drew a map that divided Arlington into three separate senate districts despite Arlington’s population being roughly equivalent to a single district. Alas, they wanted to use Arlington’s heavily Democrat population to impact three districts, not just one.
The Right Note is a biweekly opinion column. The views expressed are solely the author’s.
School is back in session and Arlington’s Public Schools had some bad news to deliver. Last week we learned that enrollment at the beginning of the school year is off by nearly 2,200 students from projections in the current budget — from 29,100 projected to 26,932 actual.
The Right Note is a biweekly opinion column. The views expressed are solely the author’s.
Every year is an election year here in the Commonwealth of Virginia. This November, voters will head to the polls to select new statewide leadership and elect every member of the House of Delegates.
The Arlington County Board is in the middle of its traditional August break. As such, it is a good time for a performance review.
What should we expect from local government?
As expected, the County Board put more pressure on Arlington taxpayers’ checkbooks at its July meeting. The Board voted unanimously to adopt a prevailing wage for contracts over $250,000. That is expected to add 15% to the cost of almost everything we build and buy moving forward.
Then the Board voted to increase our annual debt service obligations by $10.7 million by authorizing an additional $86 million in bonds. Technically the voters will have to approve it in November, but local Democrats will endorse the bond measures on their sample ballot which means it is all but certain to pass. Presumably, the latest round of borrowing would have cost taxpayers just $75 million before the prevailing wage vote.
The Right Note is a biweekly opinion column. The views expressed are solely the author’s.
At Thursday’s school board meeting, members should receive a superintendent’s update on the reopening plan for the fall. As of now, it looks like APS will continue to move toward full in-person learning when schools open their doors again in August. Classrooms will be at normal capacity with an all-virtual, but no hybrid, option.
The Right Note is a biweekly opinion column. The views expressed are solely the author’s.
Two years ago, Arlington Democrats picked a new prosecutor in a contentious primary. Parisa Dehghani-Tafti was backed by George Soros to put social justice front and center in the prosecutor’s office.
