Author: Progressive Voice

Progressive Voice is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of their organizations or ARLnow.com.

By Erik Gutshall

Progressive values of equality and justice for all have triumphed in 2017 elections in Alabama and in Virginia – buoyed by news that a recount in Newport News leaves us with a possibility that control of the Virginia House of Delegates will end up evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans.

Arlington’s legislative agenda will be addressed by many more open ears in Richmond than just a year ago.

Even as we celebrate these progressive electoral victories, however, Arlington must aggressively seek new solutions to a fundamental issue of our time – making sure that Arlington is a community that is accessible and affordable to all, particularly lower- and middle- income families.

Our 40-year commitment to smart growth, investments in great schools, compassion for the vulnerable, and economic prosperity is the foundation for Arlington’s Great Progressive Success Story. Not everyone has benefited equally from our success; yet our quest for a more perfect union should not be quelled by the challenges we face.

By resisting calls for austerity and misguided “tax reform” that starves good governance, Arlington can leverage our phenomenal assets to advance progressive solutions that provide next generation models for our state and nation. In a troubled world, our community can be proof that government can do good.

Key ingredients of our future success will be the fundamentals of good governance:

Core Values: Arlington’s core strength is derived from the foundational values embedded throughout all eleven elements of our County’s master plan – setting a course to sustainability in our Community Energy Plan; striving to preserve and create affordable housing units in our Affordable Housing Master Plan; and committing to a robust transit network in our Master Transportation Plan. Guided by the moral compass of our core values over the rhetoric of minimalist core services, our budget delivers quality schools, open space and parks, public safety, and a wide array of community services that Arlingtonians have supported broadly and repeatedly.

Honest Dialogue: Trust is an essential element of good governance. Neighbors treating each other with mutual respect leads to consensus. County leaders and staff engender trust through transparent motives, information, and deliberate action. Progressive policies are rooted in evidence-based deliberations; therefore, we should honor the wisdom that we are entitled to our own opinions but not our own facts. We cannot sacrifice the Arlington Way and follow the lead of chaotic federal leadership premised on the preposterous notion of alternative facts!

Long-term Planning: A visible and widely heralded aspect of our Great Progressive Success Story is our decades-long smart growth strategy concentrating development along our Metro corridors and thereby creating vibrant, walkable retail centers while preserving surrounding neighborhoods. Today, we must envision new opportunities for the market to create additional housing across the full spectrum of price points to ensure that Arlington is affordable to everyone. Solving this challenge will require the same level of steadfast dedication to long-term planning provided by Arlington’s progressive leaders of the past several generations.

Economic Engine: Long-term planning, honest dialogue, and core values would ring hollow if not for the incredible economic success and prosperity progressives have created in Arlington. Federal spending helped drive Arlington’s success, but we also successfully leveraged that spending to develop the places, amenities, excellent schools, and neighborhoods attractive to talented people who now drive our rapidly diversifying innovation economy. Thankfully, local employers are invested partners in search of housing solutions for their workforce and the clear majority of our business leaders support broader economic opportunity for all in our County.

This year’s elections give progressives renewed hope in the possibilities of good government and a more perfect union. We remain a proud model that successful progressive policy improves lives and communities. Honoring our past, while recognizing that complex problems require thoughtful and, at times, audacious solutions, we owe it to ourselves, and the nation, to bring forward the next generation of Arlington’s Great Progressive Success Story.

Erik Gutshall was recently elected to the Arlington County Board for a term beginning January 1, 2018. He previously served as Chair of the Arlington County Planning Commission. The founder of Clarendon Home Services, Erik lives with his wife and three daughters in Lyon Park.

Progressive Voice is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of their organizations or ARLnow.com.

By Elaine Furlow

If we think national problems seem intractable, and national players so at odds that nothing positive will ever get done, let’s flash back to 1787 and the men who wrote the Constitution.

You think our problems today are complicated? Try creating a brand new system of government, when no colony had ever become independent. Try creating a presidency, when everyone else in the 18th century believed in monarchy. Try balancing a strong, unified national structure with prideful states large and small (“All use the same money? No way!”).

From May to September they kept at it, testing ideas, working compromises and concepts. After five months, still worried whether individual states would vote to ratify, they felt ready.

About now, the skeptics among you may be thinking, “Yes, but that was different. Those guys were hell-bent to work through the obstacles and somehow find a way. It’s not like that now.”

On a national level, perhaps not. But in Virginia and Arlington, we have an opportunity — an obligation, even — to lead in just that get-it-done way, despite the harmful policies some office-holders are pushing nationally. Democratic elected officials in Arlington hold the majority, Virginia’s new governor and newly-elected crop of state delegates have buoyed our spirits and options for problem-solving.

Our opportunity is listening to people on gut issues to help solve problems (in Arlington: transportation, housing costs, school space; in Virginia: health care, the economy and transportation, for starters). States and communities like ours can be a beacon of good governing right now.

One challenge is getting to answers more decisively – more like the five months for the Constitution instead of today’s five+ years deciding about lights at Williamsburg field. In 2018, when the interests of citizens or policy-makers diverge, can we somehow streamline the route to effective decisions?

Everybody can help on this – elected leaders, residents, professional staff. Parents and schools can look for ways to show students how constructive politics makes a difference.

I am recalling construction of the skateboard park on Wilson Blvd years ago, when fifth graders took an energetic part in debating regulations on wearing safety pads and helmets. (Students were dumbfounded when adults said it would take several more meetings to get that decided.) Can we keep people involved but find new ways to simplify decision-making?

Yes, “things are complicated, and take time.” So some Arlington activists and officials create more task forces, meetings and timelines that stretch patience thin. Instead, let’s innovate on encouraging more people to invest themselves in Arlington’s concerns, perhaps in simpler or different ways that make sense for them.

Lately national companies like Scotts (lawn care) and Home Depot have tried a new tack to reach millennials. The problem, they realized, was young people didn’t know the basics, like how to hang Christmas lights, or plant seedlings where the sun can reach them. Some companies developed simple online tutorials, like “how to use a tape measure.”

“Too condescending?” worried one Home Depot executive in a Wall Street Journal article. Apparently not. The short, basic messaging proved successful in attracting young people who had just grown up differently, much less familiar with gardening or home maintenance.

We civic leaders and politicians could take a cue. To attract people of all ages back to democracy on the ground, maybe we need to hew harder to the basics. Democrats believe democratic government is a good thing – we celebrate its role in ensuring clean air and water, good public education, health care, fairness, opportunity and more. Looking to 2018, we need to prove we can solve problems more resolutely, more quickly, while still respecting thoughts and cares from people on gut issues.

And for any who doubt big problems can be solved, and solved more quickly? Remember those determined people crafting the Constitution long ago. Five months of work, all day long, to slog through competing interests and find workable solutions, through even the dog days of August. And with no air conditioning.

Elaine Furlow served eight years as an Arlington School Board member. She was Director, Strategy and Planning for AARP until her recent retirement.

Progressive Voice is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of their organizations or ARLnow.com.

By Rip Sullivan

Amid the wreckage of the 2016 Presidential election, I was inundated by folks — reliable activists and, more importantly, lots of new faces – wanting to push back against the policies and, importantly, the style of politics Donald Trump was peddling.

They wanted to do something — immediately. As House Democratic Caucus Campaign Chair, I stressed the importance of the upcoming November 7 election. In response, people exclaimed that they wanted to do something that weekend.

That desire to “do something,” birthed an historic wave election.

I have been asked repeatedly since last Tuesday whether we really expected to win this many seats. My answer is that we knew we could, so we developed a strategy to ensure that, if a wave developed, Democrats and our supporters would be positioned to capitalize in races across the Commonwealth.

And did we ever capitalize.

As with every election, we knew turnout would be the difference. Would that desire to do something translate into votes from folks we really needed to get to the polls? Would people tune in to these important House of Delegates races, or wait until next year’s Congressional elections, or even 2020, to make their opposition to the Trump agenda heard?

The answer? Not only were Virginians paying attention, they were ready to vote in record numbers. Democratic House candidates ran issues-oriented, substantive campaigns and installed unprecedented get-out-the-vote operations to make sure their voters turned out. About 47 percent of Virginia’s eligible voting population went to the polls, the highest percentage turnout in a gubernatorial year in two decades.

As I write this, Democrats have swept all three statewide seats and picked up a minimum of 15 House seats. The House majority is still in play.

What is still undecided?

Three House of Delegates races — the 28th, 40th, and 94th Districts — are still up in the air. The reasons vary. Voters who cast provisional ballots because, for example, they forgot to bring their driver’s license to the polls, could by November 13 submit acceptable photo ID to their local registration office.

In the 28th District, controversy swirls due to a Registrar’s refusal to count 55 absentee ballots delivered to the registrar’s office by Wednesday, November 8 and Democrats have filed a federal lawsuit to force the Registrar to count these votes.

There are allegations that in “split precincts” in the 28th District, 600+ voters were given the wrong ballots, potentially costing Democrat Joshua Cole, currently trailing Republican Bob Thomas by 82 votes, enough votes to win the election. It is likely all three races will proceed to a recount.

Regardless of whether Democrats reach 51 votes in the House of Delegates, a few things are clear.

First, it is a new day in Richmond. Our 34-member House Democratic Caucus has grown by at least 15 members. No matter what our eventual number is, we will have new influence. New clout. The Republicans ignore us at their peril.

Second, from Medicaid expansion to women’s reproductive rights to environmental issues and more, the General Assembly will finally more closely reflect the values and priorities of the whole of Virginia.

Third, we must continue to focus on ways to increase voter participation. While 47 percent turnout this year is encouraging, according to the Virginia State Board of Election’s statistics for the last 40 years it is still well short of the astonishing 66.5 percent turnout in 1989’s gubernatorial elections and the high-water mark of 83.7 percent in 1992’s Presidential election.

We can reach these numbers again by making it easier to vote in Virginia.

One way is to recognize that more and more Virginians want to and are voting early absentee, and then encourage and better enable that method through legislation and voter education.

The way Virginia’s voting process is currently structured, unless a voter meets a narrow set of criteria that permits him or her to vote early absentee, he or she must have the time and resources to vote during a 13-hour window on a Tuesday.

I have repeatedly introduced legislation in the House of Delegates — and will again in the upcoming session — to provide for no-excuse early absentee voting. Early voting clearly helps broaden participation in our democracy, making it more representative. 47 percent turnout this year is fantastic, but we can do better. It’s time to help more Virginians’ voices be heard.

As for whether we’ll have the 51 votes to make sure that happens, stay tuned…

Rip Sullivan is a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Virginia’s 48th District, which encompasses parts of Arlington and McLean. He practices law in Arlington with Bean, Kinney & Korman, PC.

Progressive Voice is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of their organizations or ARLnow.com.

By Nicole Merlene

Outside of voting, most Arlingtonians do not participate in local civic life. Even fewer study key planning documents such as the Arlington Community Energy Plan or the Rosslyn Sector Plan.

Although county plans impact large numbers of residents, a relatively small number of civic group members, commission members and political party members shape the discussion around these topics.

While our county has been blessed with a remarkable group of civic volunteers and thought leaders, there is a danger of becoming too insular.

Proactive participants who often dedicate countless hours to Arlington civic life can come to overlap among many groups and have an outsized impact on the community’s consideration of a problem, plan, or opportunity.

While it is important to create and make use of a knowledgeable base of experts and advocates, we must acknowledge that this proactive group does not necessarily represent the viewpoints of a majority of county residents. This can lead to decisions that do not take views into consideration that are necessary to achieve a result that provides maximum benefits to the county as a whole.

It is incumbent upon the County Manager’s office and the County Board to put systems in place that seek input from additional sources so that we do not rely too heavily on those that have the ability to be and are proactive in their engagement.

If, for example, there is decision affecting field space up for consideration, the times of relevant public meetings should be posted at the field, similarly to how the county posts information when road work will be done.

Associations (such as the Arlington Soccer Association) that represent sports teams that play on those fields should be notified. Notes could be sent home with students.

A goal of a representative democracy should be broad-based consensus that enhances public trust in the decision making process and makes for easier and more successful implementation of public policy decisions.

Such consensus may be easier with broader participation that does not require the many hours of continuous volunteer time that is at times seemingly required for one’s voice to be heard. A proactive approach can avoid what often happens in today’s national politics – where the conversation is dominated by activists on polar ends of the spectrum.

I will use many of my peers as an example. One-third of Arlingtonians are between the ages of 20-33, and 56 percent of housing units in Arlington are rentals. Most do not know if they will live in the D.C. Metro region for the next five years, let alone in Arlington County. Most don’t own big ticket property items such as cars or homes.

Anecdotally, I would say they are not making close to median income and are paying more than 30 percent of their income in rent. They have a full time job and are working long hours to improve their economic situation.

There are few hours left in the day to engage in the civic process even if one was so inclined. Most people in the 21st century want and need to receive information in direct manners that are quick, digestible, and easily interactive.

Arlington County has a population of around 230,000 and has over 3,700 full-time county employees. Although 16 people are assigned to community engagement and marketing, most work in video/media production (11) or administrative support (3).

This leaves only two employees engaging directly with local communities. While most departments will present their work to the community upon request, we need a more comprehensive plan of engagement.

In a major step forward, the County Manager has developed a Draft Action Plan for Enhancing Public Engagement, along with a public survey that has now closed. Hopefully, the final approved Plan will include a proactive effort to engage people in newer demographic groups.

Another improvement relates County Board notices of action. Key items are posted as “public legal notices” that are hardly designed for a lay person. These notices should be presented in a digestible manner.

Creating broad consensus for county actions and priorities can also be facilitated if various top level working groups are brought together annually to develop joint priorities wherever possible – and not just operate separately – to create broader County unity.

While there is much work to be done, I commend the county for working toward an action plan for enhancing public engagement with broader participation and consensus.

Nicole Merlene is a member of the Board of Directors of the Arlington County Civic Federation, the Arlington Young Democrats and the North Rosslyn Civic Association, where she serves as liaison to the Rosslyn BID. She is Associate Director of Public Policy for Invest in the USA.

Progressive Voice is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of their organizations or ARLnow.com.

By Michelle Winters

In 2015, the Arlington County Board adopted its first-ever Affordable Housing Master Plan. Two years in, how are we doing?

No Market Let Up – Thousands of market-rate affordable housing units have been lost to rent increases or redevelopment. The County’s most recent accounting shows less than 3,000 units remain affordable to households earning 60% of the area median income — about $45K (single person) and $65K (four-person household).

Worsened Political Environment – Proposed Trump administration budget cuts would devastate the support network for low-and moderate-income people, including affordable housing programs. We were spared the worst for the current fiscal year, but we can expect draconian cuts in each new proposed budget. Moreover, plans for a tax code revamp put at risk the nation’s only real affordable housing program – the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit – that responsible for almost all new or substantially rehabbed affordable rental housing in Arlington.

Local Funding Has Not Kept Up – Even with annual allocations to the Affordable Housing Investment Fund – the County’s revolving loan fund supporting affordable housing development and preservation – resources fall so far short of demand that the County can only partially fund the project selected through the recently enacted Notice of Funding Availability – APAH’s Queens Court development. Any other planned developments in the system will have to wait potentially several years.

This is the context for the County’s next budget planning round. The AHMP’s goal for affordable housing supply is simply to provide housing to match the demographic reality and prevent further loss. Adequate AHIF funding is the most fundamental step the County can take to support this goal. Annual AHIF allocations have increased to $15 million in the current fiscal year, doubling the allocation of just five years ago. However, even this increased annual allocation remains far below the amount needed. Supporting Arlington as a diverse and inclusive community requires support for an even higher AHIF investment.

The County is trying to move forward simultaneously on a number of other non-financial AHMP-related initiatives potentially making the climb toward affordability less steep.

Reduce Costs – This month, County staff plan to advertise a policy change to potentially reduce the amount of structured parking required for residential developments near Metro. At an estimated $45,000-$60,000 cost per space, parking requirements are a key example of local public policy impacting the cost of housing. Given ride sharing trends and overall lower levels of car ownership, this forward-thinking policy change can save thousands of dollars per apartment. This reduction is more justified and meaningful for affordable housing properties, potentially reducing public subsidy needs and producing lower rents or a larger number of affordable units.

Provide Incentives – Arlington and other inner-ring suburbs and cities have been undergoing a purging of non-subsidized affordable housing stock. Even were adequate AHIF loans available, saving this market affordable housing stock would be daunting. Individual property owners make their own decisions about the future of these properties based on what makes the most sense to them, not public policy priorities and needs. Setting up an incentive structure that aligns owners’ and developers’ interests with those of the public could be highly beneficial. Over the past year, County staff have been working toward a proposal, hopefully released very soon, to create a property owner incentive package to encourage preservation or replacement of these affordable units.

Create More Options – Another small-scale solution in the works would not rely upon public subsidies or incentives but could nonetheless provide a new, moderately-priced housing supply. The County’s accessory dwelling ordinance, originally adopted in 2009, has not worked as anticipated. Accessory dwellings are what many people refer to as “granny flats” or “in-law units” – standalone apartments within or on the property of a single-family home. The current AD policy contains so many restrictions that only 20 units have been approved. This year, the policy is getting a much-deserved second look with an eye toward removing many restrictive provisions keeping these units from being created.

Progressive Arlingtonians should support all of these efforts with enthusiasm, even if each is just a small step toward solving a large and daunting housing affordability challenge. After these proposals move ahead – and hopefully each will be successfully adopted by the County Board over the next few months – there are many more examples of similar measures that can and should be taken up promptly to achieve the goals of the Affordable Housing Master Plan. Full speed ahead.

Michelle Winters is the executive director of the Alliance for Housing Solutions in Arlington. AHS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization working to increase the supply of affordable housing in Arlington and Northern Virginia through public education, facilitation and action. Learn more about the Arlington for Everyone campaign at http://www.allianceforhousingsolutions.org/.

Progressive Voice is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of their organizations or ARLnow.com.

By Alfonso Lopez

When Virginians vote this year for Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, and House of Delegates candidates, one key issue should be redistricting and the importance of fair, competitive House districts. We need to elect candidates who will fix the detrimental impact that partisan gerrymandering has had on our country and Commonwealth.

A recent report by the Center for American Progress highlights how partisan gerrymandering and unfair district maps have skewed the legislative process.

When legislators pick their voters instead of the other way around, it creates a culture of divisiveness, partisanship, and lack of accountability that negatively affects every aspect of our democracy.

In Virginia, we’ve created a system where one party holds a 66-34 majority in the House of Delegates despite losing every statewide election for the last five years and when overall House votes cast across the state are roughly 50-50 between the parties.

Over the years Virginia has transitioned from a rural to a much more urban/suburban state. Indeed, our population growth and economy is increasingly driven by areas like Northern Virginia, Metro Richmond, Hampton Roads, Charlottesville, and Roanoke. However, gerrymandering with a software-driven, laser-like scalpel has ensured that rural areas wield outsized influence within the Richmond policy making process.

As a result, policies that are supported by voters in urban/suburban areas like Arlington and Fairfax County are often summarily rejected in the committee process before they ever reach the House of Delegates floor.

A prime example — supported by the majority of Virginians – is Medicaid expansion.

Despite the undeniable benefits expansion would bring to rural hospitals struggling to stay open, legislators representing rural areas have drawn themselves into such partisan districts that supporting anything associated with Obamacare threatens a serious primary challenge. The same is true for legislation to raise the minimum wage and increase K-12 education funding.

The irony is that often the constituents of these rural districts have the most to gain from these policies.

Hospitals in rural areas are struggling with the costs of uncompensated care. Lee County lost its hospital in 2013 and, just two weeks ago, Pioneer Community Hospital in Patrick County announced that it will close.

What company wants to move their operation, manufacturing plant, or call center to a county without a hospital?

The same is true for state K-12 education funding, which makes up a significant portion of public education funding in rural areas.

Northern Virginia can rely on a strong local tax base in building world class public education systems. Unfortunately, rural parts of the state don’t have the same local revenues.

If districts in Virginia were drawn to be more competitive, more legislators in Virginia could buck party dogma in favor of legislative solutions with broad, bipartisan public support such as raising revenue for public education or expanding access to health coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

In times past, partnerships in the General Assembly developed between rural and urban/suburban legislators – merging urban/suburban support for measures to spend resources on core services for rural areas with rural support for economic development and transportation initiatives needed to keep urban/suburban economies moving forward. The result was enhanced revenues for core services across the Commonwealth.

Instead, we have ideological gridlock and stagnation that holds Virginia back.

That is why Virginia needs an independent, nonpartisan Redistricting Commission that takes into consideration natural geographical boundaries, jurisdictional boundaries, communities of interest, and competitiveness when creating district boundaries.

If we want to create reasonable districts that fairly represent the values and priorities of all Virginians, we need to remove politics from the redistricting process.

2017 represents a major turning point in the push for nonpartisan redistricting. The next Governor of Virginia will oversee the 2020-2030 redistricting process and can veto any plan that uses partisan gerrymandering to rig our democracy for the next decade.

The choice could not be clearer.

As the head of the Republican State Leadership Committee in 2010, Ed Gillespie led the Redistricting Majority Project (REDMAP) with the expressed purpose of flipping state legislatures having the largest impact on Congressional redistricting. Gillespie publicly stated that their goal in drawing new lines was to “maximize gains” for Republicans.

In contrast, Lt. Governor Ralph Northam has been a strong advocate for nonpartisan redistricting and even cosponsored nonpartisan redistricting legislation when he was a member of the State Senate.

It’s time to break the cycle of partisan gerrymandering that has skewed our democracy and our legislature’s public policy priorities.

Make your voice heard by voting for Ralph Northam for Governor on November 7.

Alfonso Lopez represents Virginia’s 49th District in the House of Delegates, which includes South Arlington and Eastern Fairfax County. He serves as the Democratic Whip in the Virginia House of Delegates. He and his family are long-time Arlington residents.

Progressive Voice is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of their organizations or ARLnow.com.

By Krysta Jones

A few years ago I had the pleasure of being invited to serve on the Women’s Monument Commission of Virginia, which is leading awareness and fundraising efforts for a first of its kind monument on the Capitol Grounds in Richmond. The monument will honor 12 women who have made an impact in Virginia.

Coincidentally, the monument is scheduled for completion just shy of 2020, when we will celebrate the centennial of the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote. There are several initiatives around the country to highlight and share years of research exploring how a movement of a diverse group of women fighting for the right to vote succeeded in securing the right to vote – primarily for white women.

After the Women’s March in January 2017, which galvanized a new energy and birthed a growing crop of activists, I have been even more aware of divergent movements within the women’s movement. While some saw the march as an opportunity to celebrate all women, others were disappointed with the lack of diversity among the organizers and the attendees.

It is no surprise that the “women’s movement” has been historically been run by white females, often older, who have become the stalwarts and spokespeople for what it means to fight for equal pay, reproductive rights, affordable childcare, or other traditional women’s issues.

As I have worked to motivate more women from all backgrounds to take an active interest and leadership role in all fields, and advocate for women’s issues, I have always noticed that many don’t see women like themselves on the front lines. While it is true that there is something special about seeing yourself in those who lead, it’s even more important for the overall good and progress of society to build relationships and learn from those who are different from ourselves.

The Women’s Monument Commission of Virginia seeks to do just that. The Commission selected women to honor with a view toward diversity of races, professional backgrounds, ages, time periods and geography. A major goal was to help us move past traditional stereotypes of what it means to be a woman leader.

When people walk up to the monument and read or hear about each statue, we want them to see some of themselves — as well as people different from themselves — as they reflect on the accomplishments of the women honored and at the same time reflect on what they can aspire to in their own lives.

Some of the women featured in the monument include:

Maggie L. Walker, who was one of the great entrepreneurs of her time and, with the founding of the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank in Richmond, the first woman to charter a bank in the United States.

Cockacoeske, who was a Pamunkey chief and an astute politician and ruled the Pamunkey for 30 years until her death in 1686. As Chief, she signed the Treaty of Middle Plantation on May 29, 1677, restoring important rights to native Virginia tribes and commemorated in an annual ceremony among the chiefs of the Mattaponi and Pamunkey tribes and the Governor of Virginia during Thanksgiving week in November. 

Laura Lu Copenhaver, who as Director of Information of the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation helped expand southwestern Virginia’s agricultural economy by emphasizing cooperative marketing of farm products to improve the standard of living for farm families.

On October 4 at the Woman’s Club of Arlington, I will moderate a conversation with former State Senator (and former Arlington County Board chair) Mary Margaret Whipple about her leadership journey, her service as Commission vice chair, and stories of the women who will be featured with statues as part of the monument.

My hope is that we can encourage additional dialogue in Arlington in advance of the completion of the monument to inspire an appreciation and celebration of the true power of all women.

Krysta Jones is founder and CEO of the Virginia Leadership Institute and former Chair of the Arlington Commission on the Status of Women. In 2014, Krysta was named by Leadership Arlington as a Top 40 Leaders Under 40 awardee.

Progressive Voice is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of their organizations or ARLnow.com.

By Maggie Davis

With back-to-back record setting hurricanes Harvey and Irma, there is no mistaking it: climate change is real, and it’s here. Our fellow Americans and others living in or visiting the Caribbean and along the Gulf coast now face the massive task of recovering and rebuilding.

In rebuilding, community and governmental leaders should make every effort to “build back better”  to replace the destroyed damaged infrastructure with new materials better equipped to withstand the storms our changing climate is making more intense and more damaging.

The ability for a community to come back better from a disaster — weather related or otherwise — is directly tied to the investments a community makes well before a disaster. In the urgency of rebuilding from an immediate disaster, it is incredibly difficult for a community to identify and implement new design or technology when rebuilding.

Instead, community resilience requires us to be proactive, adaptable and diverse in our investments so we can withstand the next weather-related disaster as well as other adverse events.

Proactive. Arlington leaders have proactively addressed environmental concerns in planning. From its 2013 Clean Energy Plan to lower greenhouse gas emissions to improving road intersections to make transit easier for bicyclists and pedestrians, Arlington is making a concerted effort to curb climate change.

But an even larger part of community resilience is proactively addressing the needs of our residents’ ability to thrive. This includes addressing systemic issues that are more difficult for residents to sustain through a disaster.

Resiliency in the face of an adverse community event — whether it is a hurricane, a terrorist attack like the one we experienced on 9/11, or an economic crisis — often depends on the overall stability in a person’s life as well as access to resources a person has before that event.

If it is difficult for community members to make ends meet during the best of times, it highly likely that a disaster would set them back even farther. This is why we need to proactively address long-term underlying issues such as low and stagnant wages and housing affordability.

Adaptable. In building a more resilient Arlington, we must be willing to adapt to changing times. This includes both general policy and the underlying reality that to invest in the future the county needs to have revenue to invest.

Arlington has struggled with a large commercial vacancy rate for at least the last five years, and in an era where many jobs can be completed with a laptop and a wifi connection many companies are increasing productivity while decreasing the physical space need to operate.

Moving forward, the county should critically examine the current vacancies and continue to pursue flexibility in how certain vacant or nearly-vacant are used. By being more flexible, we may be able to lower the commercial vacancy rate and increase tax revenues to further invest in the community.

Diverse. Arlington needs a diversity of skills, abilities, and resources to grow and thrive in these tumultuous times. In recent years the county has done a good job at diversifying our underlying economy, with the Nestle Corporation moving its headquarters to Rosslyn and the county’s intention to entice Amazon to open its second headquarters here, Arlington is moving toward an economy somewhat less reliant on federal agencies, workers and contractors even while remaining competitive in the federal space given Arlington’s location next to the nation’s capital.

This economic diversity makes the County less susceptible to threats of federal budget cuts and government shutdowns. It also provides a workforce with a greater diversity of skills by drawing in tech entrepreneurs, engineers, marketers, artists and more alongside the many bureaucrats, lawyers, and policy makers who have called Arlington home for years.

In sum, emergencies can come in many forms and without advance warning. Arlington is known and respected for its planning. We are more resilient than many communities for that reason. But waiting for emergencies to create sufficient resiliency is a mistake. That is why it is important to be proactive and adaptable while diversifying our skills, abilities and resources.

Maggie Davis is President of the Arlington Young Democrats. She lives in the Radnor Heights- Ft. Myer neighborhood and works as an emergency management law and policy analyst.

Progressive Voice is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of their organizations or ARLnow.com.

By Emma Violand-Sánchez

On the morning of Thursday, August 24, I stood at Courthouse Plaza next to Lizette A., an extraordinary young woman, as she led a press conference to announce that she and 10 other Dreamers and their allies would spend the weekend marching from Charlottesville to Richmond to advocate for the immigrant community.

Lizette said that she and her fellow Dreamers could not continue to sit and wait as politicians “use our futures as a bargaining chip while having our families and communities torn apart.”

Lizette was referring to the agonizing uncertainty about whether the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) programs will be ended by the current administration and Congress. These programs, instituted under the Obama Administration, have allowed nearly 800,000 students and young working adults to contribute to the country that is their home.

Lizette is an inspiration. I have known her since she graduated valedictorian from Wakefield High School. She was only two months old when her parents brought her to the United States. Lizette qualified for DACA, earned a scholarship to attend college and now works at an educational non-profit.

But instead of rejoicing in their success, Lizette and other DACA recipients live under stress because Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and other attorneys general have given President Trump an ultimatum that if he does not phase out DACA by September 5, they will sue the federal government.

How can it be that an exceptional professional who has lived virtually her entire life in Arlington and considers herself an American – it is the only country she has known – faces such a threat to her future and that of about 800,000 DACA recipients? Without DACA, these young people will lose work permits, their defense against deportation, and their chance to go to college at in-state tuition rates.

More than 600 college and university presidents wrote to the President to uphold and continue DACA. It is not just a moral imperative but an economic benefit to the nation: The Center for American Progress has calculated that the country would gain $433.4 billion in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) if DACA is continued.

What is to be gained by pulling the rug out from under the feet of these hard-working young people? What is the source of this bigotry? Sadly, recent events in Charlottesville reminded us all of how strong are the forces of hate and division in this country.

And shortly after Charlottesville, the President of the United States pardoned a sheriff who was convicted of using racial profiling to target immigrants. Think about that: Our president pardoned a man who was found guilty of discrimination and contempt of court.

Lizette is one of the founding Board members of the Dream Project. The Project’s mission is to empower students whose immigration status creates barriers to education — by working with them to access and succeed in college through scholarships, mentoring, family engagement, and advocacy.

The Dream Project has awarded 77 scholarships for the 2017-18 academic year. This past year, we had an exceptional retention rate in college of over 83 percent and 24 of our Dream Scholars have graduated from college. They currently are working as engineers, medical professionals, researchers, and journalists.

In times of such darkness as we face today, it is tempting to give in. In times of such hatred as we face today, it is easy to hate back. But as Martin Luther King once said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

This is why we must continue to shine light on our work so that more people can see what our Dreamers are striving for, what they aspire to achieve, how they hope to contribute to this great nation, and what inspiring young men and women they are.

And we must resist the desire to hate back at those who hate us: The rightness of our cause will be proven by our deeds, by our values, by our character. Our Dreamers don’t have time to hate – they are too busy building productive and creative lives, caring for their families, and contributing to their communities and their country.

Dr. Emma Violand Sánchez is the founder and President of the Dream Project Board. She is a former chair of the Arlington School Board member and retired administrator. In January 2017 she was selected as a Washingtonian of the Year and in June 17 she received the Woman of Vision Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arlington Commission on the Status of Women.

Progressive Voice is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of their organizations or ARLnow.com.

By Paul Friedman

It was said by some that Barack Obama’s election and presidency was a reflection that America had become a post-racial society.

For many people, that was a positive, hopeful – albeit optimistic — statement. For others, it was a reason to discredit diversity and inclusion efforts and declare that institutional racism no longer existed; that discrimination against people of color could not exist in a land that had elected an African American president.

For still others — including President Donald Trump – President Obama’s election was illegitimate. It was the culmination of societal change favoring people of color and foreigners at the expense of white Americans who had made this country great. President Obama was to be opposed and delegitimized. The attack on white America was to be exposed. America was to be made great again.

These forces led to the election of Donald Trump. In August 2017, they led to the invasion of Charlottesville and the University of Virginia by white supremacists, neo-Nazis and the KKK. They led, in turn, to a President signaling support for those invaders.

What a far cry from March 1965, when America recoiled from the racism of state police nearly killing marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala. The brutal display – almost exactly 100 years after the end of the Civil War – led to passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The post-racial society illusion would underlie a 2013 U.S. Supreme Court 5-4 decision stripping the Voting Rights Act of Section 4, one of its most important provisions that required certain states to get advance federal approval before making any changes impacting voting.

Led by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Court claimed that states with a long history of slavery, segregation, racism and voter suppression had evolved and were no longer in need of close federal supervision. Contrary to the Chief Justice’s unjustified and convoluted logic that Section 4 was no longer necessary, the result of the decision has been a concerted push to eliminate from the voting rolls African Americans and other people of color.

Those who felt the need to oppose and delegitimize President Obama provided the political catalyst for Donald Trump, who boldly launched his campaign against President Obama in March 2011 on “The View” by asking: “Why doesn’t [Obama] show his birth certificate? There’s something on that birth certificate he doesn’t like.”

On Fox News five days later, he said, “I’m starting to wonder myself whether or not he was born in this country.” Two days later, he went on Laura Ingraham’s radio program and declared: “He doesn’t have a birth certificate, or if he does, there’s something on that certificate that is very bad for him. Now, somebody told me … that where it says ‘religion,’ it might have ‘Muslim.’ And if you’re a Muslim, you don’t change your religion, by the way.”

Off to the races, Trump has not looked back. He initially declined to disavow the support of David Duke. He used Twitter to send coded messages, sometimes via his family members, about his support for racists and anti-Semites – amazingly despite his daughter becoming Jewish, marrying a Jew and raising Jewish children.

Then, in the wake of the hatred and anti-Semitism on display in Charlottesville, America saw its elected national leader take his strategy, and the expression of his personal views, to a whole new and previously unthinkable level. President Trump actually said that there were “many fine people” among the neo-Nazis and KKK’ers despite videos of them chanting racist and anti-Semitic epithets as they marched with torches. He has not backed away from his statement.

And he wants to ensure that we keep monuments in place to uphold our “heritage.”

Think back to the Edmund Pettus Bridge in March 1965. Pettus served as a Confederate general during the Civil War. After the war he was a Grand Dragon of the Alabama Ku Klux Klan and a Democratic U.S. Senator. The bridge was named for him in 1940 to send a message of support for his involvement in the KKK. It was one of many such acts by those seeking a return to a world in which white people were viewed as superior to African Americans in the law and in daily interactions.

Is this the heritage President Trump wants to preserve?

We have an opportunity in Virginia in 2017 to send a strong signal to President Trump that his vision does not reflect our values. I hope voters will send that signal on November 7.

Paul Friedman is an attorney and a long-time resident of Northern Virginia. He has been active in nonprofit organizations, civic organizations, and as a business consultant. He is currently the Executive Director of a national advocacy organization.

Progressive Voice is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of their organizations or ARLnow.com.

By Graham Weinschenk

At the end of the 2016-2017 school year, I stood in front of the Arlington School Board along with fellow members of the Student Advisory Board leadership team and declared that we had just experienced “The Year of the Student” in the Arlington Public Schools.

Multiple times throughout the school year, large numbers of students had expressed themselves in front of the School Board and attempted to influence policy; something unseen before this year.

Most notably, on February 16 over 100 students, parents and staff from Yorktown High School walked into the Arlington Education Center and took their places facing the School Board. Nearly 40 of those students spoke out, providing over an hour and a half of testimony. They spoke out because after dozens of incidents of racism, homophobia, xenophobia and hate, the response from the Yorktown High School administration appeared to be non-existent. There was either no punishment or little punishment for those who made inappropriate and callous remarks. Targeted students had no tangible support from their school administration.

So, the students took their concerns to the School Board. Thirty-nine speakers later, the members of the School Board gave their responses. The Superintendent of the Arlington Public Schools, Dr. Patrick Murphy (whose contract was recently renewed a year early), said, “I am stepping up. This is not acceptable.” Yet, what has come to fruition from the outrage expressed by parents, teachers and, most importantly, students?

Speaking as the former Vice Chair of the APS Student Advisory Board, my conclusion is that seven months later we have yet to see a single proposed policy change. The School Board and the Superintendent heard, but they did not listen.

Today, we continue to hear a lot of talk, but there remains no tangible commitment by the Arlington Public Schools to make changes on this issue. The frustration that still exists among students, especially on this topic, leads me to call for a student representative to the Arlington School Board.

Student representatives are nothing new, and it would be fairly easy to introduce one to the Board. The Virginia Code (§22.1-86.1) has allowed for the appointment of student representatives to local school boards since 1999. The Alexandria School Board has had two appointed student representatives since 2013 while the Fairfax School Board has had a student representative since 1986.

Under state law, student representatives are eligible to sit with school boards during public and closed meetings, introduce resolutions for consideration, and be able to say how they would have voted. However, there are still some restrictions. Student representatives are not allowed to vote on matters before the board, and they are not allowed access to confidential information, including information related to a specific student, teacher, or employee.

Last school year was a hallmark year for student involvement in the Arlington Public Schools. Like never before, students were able to translate their anger and disappointment on numerous issues into direct action – at times flooding the board room to make their voices heard on multiple occasions and for numerous issues.

The frustration that many students feel goes beyond not feeling included; it stems from a feeling that not only is the student voice not wanted, but that it is also not an important factor for consideration in the decision-making process. The relationship between the Arlington School Board and the Student Advisory Board is similar to the relationship between a teacher and a student and as long as that attitude of keeping students at arms-length exists, the voices of students will never truly be heard.

Now more than ever, students need a sign from APS that they matter, and a student representative on the School Board would show that the student voice is important. Student apathy toward the Arlington Public Schools is dead. It is time to include us in the decision-making process.

Graham Weinschenk is a former Yorktown High School student who graduated in 2017. He served as the Vice Chair of the Arlington Public Schools Student Advisory Board for the 2016-2017 school year. Outside of APS, he serves as the Secretary of the Virginia Young Democrats and will be attending the College of William & Mary in the fall.