Author: Mavis Chan

Arlington School Board authorizes collective bargaining for employees

By Mavis Chan
1/3

The Arlington School Board has unanimously passed a resolution allowing teachers and staff to collectively bargain, becoming among the first school districts in Virginia to do so.

Arlington is following on the heels of Richmond in letting employees at public schools unionize, after the General Assembly in 2020 repealed a ban on school employees bargaining collectively.

“I believe we are the second school division to do this,” said Arlington Public Schools spokesperson Frank Bellavia. Richmond was the first school district in the state to grant employees such a right in December last year.

“This particular resolution is not the final conversation, this is not the collective bargaining agreement, this is just setting the rules of the game,” said School Board member Cristina Diaz-Torres during the board meeting Thursday.

The School Board made a few updates to its original draft resolution, published in April, after discussions with the Arlington Education Association and Virginia Education Association, two local unions representing public school employees.

The main changes concerned the way the union would be elected and the functions of the designated neutral third party. Under the adopted resolution, a union needs to obtain signatures from 30% of public school employees to trigger an election, a significant decrease from the 50% needed in the draft resolution.

Moreover, the costs of elections would be split between the School Board and the union under the finalized agreement. The original proposal would have given the union sole responsibility of cost.

Under the final resolution, the elected union will become the exclusive representative to negotiate directly with the School Board for wages and benefits. The union will be representing all public school employees whether they are in the union or not.

“I am particularly glad to see that some of the more significant concessions that were requested by AEA and VEA have been implemented,” said School Board member Mary Kadera, “and I appreciate VEA and AEA flagging that issue and advocating for that.”

She added that she would be committed to “leaning in and listening and working in good faith” with the employee associations in the future.

Not all suggestions from the employee associations were adopted. AEA pointed out several issues it had with the final resolution, chief among them being the School Board’s power to automatically decertify the union if members of the latter were to join any union strikes, according to AEA’s president-elect June Prakash. She further stated that those issues “must be resolved before sitting down at a bargaining table.”

AEA’s UniServ Director Sean Genson, who acts as a liaison with state and national associations, said the power to decertify “should be held with a neutral third party.” He added that this resolution was like “writing the rules to a new game” and should be “difficult to change over time.”

“APS’s resolution does that very well, but not perfectly,” he said.

In the same School Board meeting, the board also appointed Stephanie Maltz as the new director of labor relations. She will be responsible for establishing the guidelines to elect an exclusive representative and handling complaints from public school employees.

Maltz has been an attorney adviser at the D.C. Government Office of Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining and had managed similar job duties at D.C. Public Schools for the past five years, according to an APS news release announcing her appointment.

Before this resolution, the Arlington Education Association could not enter into binding contracts with the School Board. The association could only “meet and confer” with the board on issues regarding wage and benefits.

Under the new resolution, the elected union will be able to put their demands into a legally binding contract with the School Board, according to an infographic from the group.

(more…)

Armed Forces Cycling Classic to return in June

By Mavis Chan
Armed Forces Cycling Classic in 2019 (courtesy photo)

The Armed Forces Cycling Classic, a series of races around Clarendon and Crystal City, is set to take place the first weekend of June.

The Cycling Classic will be held Saturday, June 4, and Sunday, June 5. The in-person event resumed last year following the 2020 cancellation due to the pandemic. (The 2020 event featured virtual rides instead.)

“Cyclists with USA Cycling licenses are invited to race in Arlington on both days,” the event website says. “Racing will feature the Nation’s top Pro men and women. Amateurs of all abilities will also be able to participate on Saturday morning’s Armed Forces Cycling Classic Challenge Ride!”

The Challenge Ride, the area’s largest non-competitive ride, will kick off the weekend on Saturday at 7 a.m., with a closed course route set to take riders through Crystal City, the Pentagon, Rosslyn and back. All who finish the ride will a receive a medal, according to the event’s website.

“Gold, silver and bronze medals are earned for those who can complete 9, 6 or 3 laps within the 3 hour time limit,” the website says. The additional laps will be required compared to previous years to accommodate the current road construction.

The courses will prompt a mix of road closures and lane closures, with speed restrictions.

Slow speed zones are expected to be set up from 15th Street S. to Cheerios Park, as well as a section of Wilson Blvd, according to the Challenge Ride route map on the event’s website.

For the 2021 cycling series, several roads in Crystal City and Clarendon were closed for most of the race days, including parts of Crystal Drive, Wilson Blvd, and Route 110, as well as N. Highland, N. Garfield and N. Fillmore streets.

The 24th Clarendon Cup’s 5-turn course for professional and amateur cyclists is set to begin on Wilson Blvd then leads cyclists to Washington Blvd, N. Highland Street, to Clarendon Blvd and Fillmore, according to a route map.

“The famous 1km course will test the athletes skill and stamina, as it carries a reputation as one of the most difficult criterium races in the U.S. due to technical demands of the course and the quality of the participants,” the website says.

A map of the 2022 Clarendon Cup race (via Armed Forces Cycling Classic)

The day of the Clarendon Cup starts at 8 a.m. with various amateur races, followed by the women’s professional and amateurs race at 10 a.m., according to the website.

Beginning at approximately 11:30 a.m., free races for children 9 and under are held before the last race of the day — the Clarendon Cup Pro/1 Men’s Invitational, which is set to start just after noon.

Registration for amateur riders is open online, according to the event’s website. Interested participants can join individually or as a member of a team.

The 2022 schedule of events (via Armed Forces Cycling Classic)

The event — which is sponsored by brands like Boeing, Amazon and United Airlines — has partnered with the Clarendon-based Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting people who lost a loved one in the military. Participants in the challenges are encouraged to join as a fundraiser for the organization.

County urges gun control measures while students hold walkouts after Texas shooting

By Mavis Chan
1/5

(Updated at 5:10 p.m.) The Arlington County Board today called for action to stem the tide of gun violence, while groups of students around the county held walkouts in response to the elementary school shooting in Texas.

The Board condemned gun violence and urged state legislators to tighten gun control in a statement issued this afternoon.

Board members called on state lawmakers to close the gift exemption to background checks and allow local licensing and registration requirements for buying and selling guns, among other measures.

“There is a great deal more to be done to address gun violence, and we call on the Virginia General Assembly and the Governor to make protecting all Virginians a priority and to remove the restrictions that bar the Commonwealth’s localities from implementing the gun safety actions that make sense for our communities,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, students at Washington-Liberty High School, Arlington Career Center, Dorothy Hamm Middle School and Williamsburg Middle School participated in walkouts as part of a national effort led by Students Demand Action.

Around 20 students at Washington-Liberty participated in the demonstration, walking to Quincy Park, where students took turns giving short speeches.

One of the students participating said she had to ask her friends about their safety on three different occasions in a year due to issues related to gun violence.

“We’re so desensitized to our own deaths in this society,” she said, “People are desensitized to them dying, that’s terrible because this has happened so much.”

Students also talked about a shooting threat their high school received in October, which led to the school shutting down for the day. The threat turned out to be false.

“This nationwide walkout is mainly to protest the fact that we go to school, especially with bomb threats and shooting threats, and have to sit there, subconsciously knowing that ‘hey, we may be victim one day,'” Megan, a student, said.

Megan told ARLnow that she heard about the walkout from an email the school principal sent in the morning acknowledging the nationwide walkout, as well as hearing about the effort. Another participant, Grace, learned of the walkout from her friends and her mother. Both students said they had participated in several walkouts against school gun violence in the past.

“I went to this walkout because I think people should protest for things they believe in, and this is something I believe in,” Grace said.

Students at the Career Center walkout held up signs that read “Enough is Enough” and “Thoughts & Prayers are NOT Enough,” according to photos tweeted by CBS News correspondent Natalie Brand.

“We’re out here not because we want to skip class but because we fear for our lives going to school, because anyone can go out and buy an assault rifle and shoot up a school,” one of the students said in a speech, according to a video tweeted by Brand.

Arlington police stepped up patrols around schools in the wake of the mass shooting. Arlington Public Schools, in an email sent to families, said support services are available for students and staff trying to grapple with the horrific crime.

The County Board’s full statement is below.

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Feedback deadline nears for outdoor arts space at former Inner Ear Studios site

By Mavis Chan
1/4

Chess boards, interactive sculptures, ping pong tables and hammocks are just a few of the design elements residents can weigh in on for an outdoor arts space in Green Valley.

Arlington is collecting community feedback as part of the design process for the 2700 S. Nelson Street site, which formerly housed Inner Ear Recording Studios but could become a future outdoor “arts and maker space.”

The county’s second pop-up engagement event is set for tonight (Thursday) at New District Brewing, 2709 S. Oakland Street, from 6-8 p.m. to gather public input to “build a framework” for future uses of the site, according to the project website.

Residents can also take an online survey that is set to close at the end of Tuesday (May 31).

Arlington Cultural Affairs and Graham Projects, a public art and placemaking company, are overseeing the project at 2700 S. Nelson Street and its neighbor 2701 S. Nelson Street. After the end of the public consultation period, a plan for the site is set to be created this summer, while the original buildings are set to be demolished this fall.

The new site is expected to open in the summer of 2023, according to the project website.

Ideas the public can provide feedback on fall under several categories: rest, play, grow, color, design and programming. Some of the questions have a series of photos of design elements, and ask users to choose the top three that they like in the category. The survey also asks open-ended questions on programming and how the design could “celebrate the arts and industrial culture and history of the community.”

Funding for creating a new space is yet to be determined. Jessica Baxter, spokesperson for the county, said “the funding amount is dependent on future programming activities” and the money is set to come from the operating budget of Arlington Cultural Affairs and “other potential funding sources.”

An aerial view of the 2700 South Nelson Project site and the surrounding county-owned properties (via Arlington County)
An aerial view of the 2700 S. Nelson Project site and the surrounding county-owned properties (via Arlington County)

Arlington County acquired the two parcels of land last year for $3.4 million. The outdoor space would be next to the county-owned Theatre on the Run venue and tie into a larger arts and industry district along Four Mile Run. This new district will run from west of S. Nelson Street to Walter Reed Drive, according to a vision outline published by the county’s Arts District Committee in 2017.

Local organizations such as the Green Valley Civic Association have criticized the county’s decision to tear down the recording studios. GVCA’s Vice President Robin Stombler said “losing a small, yet significant, arts-related business is antithetical to this vision” of an arts and industry district, in a letter to the county last June.

This proposed space will be near the recently renovated Jennie Dean Park and the Shirlington Dog Park, according to the 2018 Four Mile Run Valley Area Plan adopted by the county. That plan also called for “fostering the growth of arts uses in the future.”

The report by the Arts District Committee suggested that the new arts and industrial district should keep the “industrial tone” of the area, offer “a mix of entities,” such as galleries, woodworking and live music, along with creative street furniture and lighting to unify the area. It also suggested establishing a nonprofit to manage the district’s finances.

A few days left to pitch a new name for the Ballston Beaver Pond

By Mavis Chan
1/3

Ballston Beaver Pond is in need of a new name because, well, there are no more beavers.

An online survey to rename Ballston Beaver Pond is set to close on Wednesday, June 1, as renovations at the pond are on hold due to a delay in material delivery.

Residents are asked to suggest names for the pond that either “reflect a park’s unique character and features” or one that “honors someone who made a significant and positive impact to Arlington County,” the survey says. Prior to the renovation, the pond was home to a variety of wildlife, including beavers. But the county is installing beaver baffles to discourage them from returning and building dams again.

The survey says residents will also be able to weigh in on a list of potential park names, compiled at least in part from the survey, in June. Aileen Winquist, the communication manager for the renovation project, said the final name is set to be presented to the Arlington County Board in September.

Renovations at the Ballston pond, which include converting it from a dry pond to a wetland, are paused because of a delay in the delivery of a concrete block that will be installed in the upper part of the pond, according to the project’s website. Winquist said the block is expected to arrive in mid-June.

“That’s kind of the last grading work that will need to be done,” she said. Much of the excavation and grading work was completed in April.

“The contractor has made excellent progress so far and the project is on schedule,” she said. The renovations are expected to wrap up in July 2023.

After installing the concrete block, which Winquist said would be a settling area for sediment and trash from water coming into the pond, renovations will continue with building viewing platforms and planting vegetation.

“The remaining work will be to install the platform — there’s a viewing platform on the east side of the pond — and then to do all the planting,” she said, adding “thousands of plants will be planted in the pond.”

The renovation process faced a series of interruptions before it began in December 2021. The project was planned, but in a holding pattern, between 2013 and 2019. It went into hiatus soon after the redesigned project went public in 2019 due to “COVID-19 and related budget concerns,” according to a county report in June 2021.

The current renovation project is a “high-priority project” in the county’s Stormwater Management Program and “contributes to restoring the Chesapeake Bay,” according to the project’s website.

Other renovation measures listed include constructing turtle basking stations and other wildlife components, planting wetland vegetation, and removing invasive species. The design plan for the project also includes spaces for a shrub wetland and a marsh.

The pond was initially built as a dry pond, which she said meant stormwater runoff from I-66 would temporarily sit in the pond area. That changed after the beavers arrived and built their dams. The renovations, meanwhile, aim to convert the pond into a wetland.

“The pond will have a lot of flow channels for the water to flow through, and as it’s filtered through the wetland plants and soils, that will remove pollutants from the stormwater runoff,” Winquist said.

Bond Vet, District Dogs set to open in Clarendon next month

By Mavis Chan
1/6

Primary and urgent veterinary care clinic Bond Vet and dog daycare and boarding facility District Dogs are set to open locations in Clarendon in June.

Both businesses are coming to The Crossing Clarendon retail center.

Bond Vet, a chain based out of New York City, will open at 2871 Clarendon Blvd on Tuesday, June 14, the company says.

Bond Vet chose Arlington as its first location outside New York City because of the “rich context” of Clarendon, Marketing Manager Brooke Goldstein told ARLnow. The shopping center is also home to Tatte Bakery & Cafe, Lululemon, an Apple Store and other higher-end stores and restaurants.

“We like to be part of a rich context with many different types of tenants, rather than going into an area where you’re only going to find soft goods or medical offices,” she said, “We felt that this was a good opportunity for that.”

The clinic also plans to open locations in Bethesda and D.C. neighborhoods, such as Capitol Hill.

An open house at the Clarendon clinic will be held between noon and 4 p.m. on Sunday, June 12. The event will feature dogs up for adoption from The Little Black Dog Rescue Group, pet portraits and raffles.

Bond Vet provides urgent care services such as treating rashes, wound care and gastrointestinal issues, as well as primary care services like dental cleaning, neutering and planned surgeries, according to the press release. The clinic, which offers walk-in and scheduled appointments, will be open every day between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m, including on holidays.

District Dogs, which provides daycare, spas and overnight boarding services for dogs, is set to hold its grand opening on Monday, June 6. The storefront at 2820 Wilson Blvd is also the company’s first location in Virginia.

There will be playrooms, full-service pet spa services, and behavioral training workshops. Customers can also rent private dog playrooms at the store.

Clarendon currently has a variety of pet care businesses, including two other veterinary clinics, Clarendon Animal Care and Caring Hands Animal Hospital, along with Chippin, a locally based dog food brand.

District Dogs is planning to open another Arlington location in Pentagon City, at Amazon’s HQ2, which is currently under construction but set to open its first phase next year.