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 Andres Tobar

Today’s national media attention on immigration is primarily focusing on the deportation of undocumented immigrants and on the building of a border wall and who will pay for it.

Less attention is focused on the positive work being achieved in local jurisdictions where immigrants are viewed as an asset, not a liability, and the work that they do to bring a civil tone to the immigration debate.

In Arlington County, many Latino activists have worked over the years with other community and civic leaders to ensure that Arlington remains a place of welcome and inclusion. One outstanding leader is Leni Gonzalez, a Latina from Mexico who came to the United States several decades ago to study on a Fulbright scholarship. She later moved to Arlington when, in 1986, she married her husband, Lee Niederman. Later this month, Leni will leave Arlington to move to El Salvador, where her husband has accepted a job.

During her time in our community, Leni has always worked to improve the lives of immigrants and new Americans. In the last decades, her experience and compassion for others has made her an important leader on numerous fronts.

For example, Leni was one of the founders of the Shirlington Employment and Education Center (SEEC), a day laborer center established in 2000 to help immigrants find employment by matching them with employers who are in need of temporary labor. She has been a member of the Executive Board, including serving as its Chair for the past several years. Leni has worked closely with SEEC’s community partners to strengthen SEEC’s programs and build upon its successes.

SEEC is the only local nonprofit organization in Virginia that works with the County government in providing a welcoming venue for immigrants seeking temporary employment and a convenient process for employers.

As SEEC Board Chair, Leni’s leadership helped expand SEEC’s mission to train immigrant women on using green cleaning products in their housekeeping businesses, improve their marketing and safety, and increase their business opportunities. Leni also championed a SEEC program to train Latinas on starting their own businesses, an initiative that SEEC has hosted in partnership with El Poder de Ser Mujer (The Power of being a Woman).

Leni was one of the founders of the Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations (VACOLAO), a coalition of Latino organizations advocating for immigrant rights and in opposing anti-immigrant legislation in the Virginia State legislature. Leni served on its Executive Committee and for more than 10 years helped organize advocacy activities in Richmond by bringing immigrants, many of them students, as well as members of the faith community, to meet with General Assembly members to express opposition to numerous anti-immigrant bills.

A number of these bills focused on immigrant students and higher education. These bills were intended to block immigrant students, even if they graduated from our local schools, from entering college or paying in-state tuition. The testimony of the students helped humanize immigrants before legislators, most of whom had rarely encountered this community in their everyday life.

Leni’s understanding of the Latino community and the need to participate in the political process led to her being the first Latino leader to Co-Chair an Arlington Democratic Joint Campaign in 2000.

In 2002, Leni worked in Gov. Mark Warner’s Administration, followed by a similar appointment in Gov. Tim Kaine’s Administration. Most of her work was in the Department of Motor Vehicles, where Leni was a Department Liaison to the community. She did extensive work in clarifying the driver’s license eligibility requirements for legal residents. Leni also promoted through the Latino media information to help immigrants navigate DMV processes.

For Leni’s years of service as a multicultural outreach worker, she has received recognitions and honors, including Northern Virginian of the Year in 2016, Distinguished Latina Women Life Achievement Award in 2014, and Arlington County’s James B. Hunter Human Rights Award in 2015.

There are few Latinos in Virginia who have demonstrated over time the ability to work effectively with both state and local government agencies and in the immigrant community. Leni is one of those few. Fortunately, she has set an example that other Latinos have learned from and will be able to follow.

Leni will be dearly missed by both the immigrant community and those in government circles who had the privilege of working with her.

Andres Tobar has been the Executive Director of SEEC for the past 13 years and has worked and served with Leni on many Latino advocacy and political organization efforts.

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 Matt de Ferranti

In recent months, this column has highlighted a positive, progressive agenda advanced by the 8th Congressional District Democratic Committee. We now turn to county-level issues.

Schools, Metro and transportation, housing affordability, parks and open space and Arlington’s Energy Plan are all important issues worth discussing in detail.

I believe each is linked to economic opportunity, so that’s where I begin.

Economic Opportunity in Arlington is Strong: At our county’s core, just like our country’s, is the idea that the American Dream is achievable for those who work hard. By that standard — how achievable is the American Dream — Arlington is a great place to live.

Measures of economic opportunity confirm this. Our unemployment rate is 2.2 percent. Our population is amongst the most educated in the country. Our median household income is fifth highest in the country.

Arlington Faces Economic Challenges: Despite being a place where most can realize their versions of the American Dream, we do have challenges. Our commercial vacancy rate over the last five years has been between 18-20 percent, reflecting the reality that many federal tenants left Crystal City and Rosslyn in the aftermath of September 11 and that the economy is shifting from heavy reliance on office buildings to working from home and the technology-driven workplaces of the 21st century.

Arlington’s 8.8 percent poverty rate is another challenge we must face. In 2015, the poverty line for a family of four in the County was $24,250. In such a great county, we should take measures to help our neighbors in need — many of whom already work full time — above the poverty line.

Embrace The 21^st Century Economy: As the workplace changes, we will need to be a great place to work and play to retain and attract businesses and talent. We must embrace the technology based economy and the green economy as they lead to new economic growth in the years to come. That means embracing Arlington’s Energy Plan and driving toward even more renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Acquire Land Necessary to Grow: The newly formed Joint Facilities Advisory Committee has recommended that we acquire the land necessary to provide public services important to all Arlingtonians. I believe the County Board should approve the purchase of the land on S. Carlin Springs Road and the Buck Property. We will need both properties to facilitate public safety and transportation services needed to serve our people and keep our economy growing.

Invest in Metro: Metro has enabled many of us to get to work and has brought many businesses to Arlington. While there have been significant problems over the past few years, it’s also true that Metro is an investment in the middle class that has paid off many times over and that Metro’s role in businesses success and accommodating population growth make it indispensable. We must be committed stakeholders, demanding accountability while investing wisely. We cannot let Metro fail.

Commit to Building a Fourth High School: Over the long-term, economic growth will be heavily influenced by the quality of our schools. To keep our schools world class, I believe we must work to reduce construction costs and find efficiencies, while also committing to providing funding necessary to build a fourth, full-service high school.

Protect and Preserve Housing Affordability: Arlington must be a place where the middle class and those who want to work their way into the middle class can afford to live. Teachers, police officers, nurses, restaurant workers and construction workers must be able to afford to buy a home or rent. Seniors seeking to age in place must be able to find a way to stay here. Millennials must be able to afford to rent and realize their dreams of owning. And, yes, we must fully commit to funding the Affordable Housing Investment Fund so that we maintain affordability and diversity as Arlington continues to grow.

Practice Fiscal Restraint: Over the last two years, the County Board has made good, hard decisions on the budget such as choosing to close Artisphere and focus our funding for the arts on Signature Theatre as well as deciding to sell the Reeves Farmhouse while keeping the surrounding land as parkland and for historic uses. We will need to make similar hard decisions in the years to come so that we can have the resources to serve those in need and invest wisely in our future.

Conclusion

Arlington truly is a great place to live. Progressive ideas can make our community even better.

Matt de Ferranti serves on Arlington County’s Housing Commission as Vice Chair, is a member of the Joint Facilities Advisory Commission and is Chair of the Budget Advisory Council to the Arlington School Board.

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 Krista O’Connell

Some Democrats are stuck in a paradox: they yearn for President Donald Trump to be impeached yet want him to complete his first term to drive Democratic turnout in upcoming elections. This dangerous mindset puts party over country.

If the President has colluded with Russia, obstructed justice, or accepted money from foreign governments, he should be impeached immediately. And if Democrats can effectively communicate their values and policies to voters, then they have something to fall back on to drive turnout separate from anti-Trump fervor.

The Democratic Party must be a progressive party with a vision for the future and cannot be a reactionary party defined by opposition. As the vanguard of the Democratic Party, the Democratic National Committee must invest in more than the anti-Trump fervor highlighted in most of its press releases and its Twitter feed.

There is much about President Trump’s administration worth opposing — from a travel ban that reneges on America’s founding principles to his decision to leave the Paris Accord that puts special interests over the general welfare. But blanket opposition must be paired with promotion of a positive agenda. Opposition should be backed up with strong alternative policies.

The same problems and policies that plague the Trump Administration were apparent in his campaign, but voters still elected him. Trump speaks for himself. Will Democrats find their voice?

While anti-Trump fervor will bring some short-term gains, Democratic organizations must champion their own policies so they can lead effectively and promote a progressive agenda once President Trump is out of office or when Democrats gain control of Congress.

Furthermore, Democrats shouldn’t overlook two important factions – members of progressive, grassroots organizations that are leading much of the resistance; and voters who are becoming fatigued by the endless coverage of President Trump and are losing faith in democracy and politics as a result. Democratic organizations can reach each of these factions by supporting the resistance while offering a strong, positive agenda.

The national Democratic Party has an impressive platform, but it must be communicated effectively. Democratic policies have the potential to reach and energize voters — especially young people – through the planks of ending LGBT employment discrimination; making the minimum wage a living wage; expanding access to healthcare; creating a path to citizenship for undocumented Americans; and making debt-free college a reality.

While local party chapters (like the Arlington Young Democrats) have done a good job of advocating for these issues, national Democrats must do a better job of framing the national narrative.

Democrats focused primarily on obstruction should look to Republicans’ health care resistance without a positive alternative as a cautionary tale. For seven years, Republicans campaigned against President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, repeatedly voting to repeal knowing they could not override a veto.

Yet, even after winning the White House, Republicans have struggled to come up with an alternative to ACA. The House and Senate proposals are both deeply unpopular and will leave Republican members of Congress at risk even if they manage to pass a bill.

While Democrats absolutely must continue to oppose the Republican bills, they must also propose how they would amend the ACA to address some of the shortcomings that do exist. That way, when Democrats regain control of Congress, they will be ready to act and have a mandate for doing so.

The Democratic Party has its challenges — the recent election exposed a rift in the party between moderates and progressives and also between the old guard and young activists. Opposing President Trump is a good way to find common ground among liberals (and even with some Republicans), but being strategic about politics shouldn’t come at the expense of policy and values.

Instead of ignoring this divide and putting off internal debate, the party should engage in some serious soul-searching. There is no shortage of analysis on what went wrong in the 2016 election, now it’s time to decide in which direction to steer the ship.

At the end of the day, anti-Trump sentiment might get some voters to show up to Democratic meetings and vote in 2017 or 2018, but it’s not going to get them to stay. Democratic leaders and national Democratic organizations need to give people reasons to vote Democratic besides voting against President Trump.

To do so, the Party must reach voters – whether newly engaged in the resistance or instead becoming disillusioned by the democratic process — with a positive message of social, economic and environmental justice.

Krista O’Connell is a member of the Arlington Young Democrats executive board who is passionate about education policy. Follow her on Twitter @krioconnell.

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 Nathan Saxman

In March, the Alexandria-Arlington Regional Workforce Council released its 2017 assessment of the regional labor market. The report was prepared by Dr. Mark C. White of George Mason University’s Center for Regional Analysis and serves as an overview of the two counties’ workforce assets and liabilities.

Of the conclusions drawn, many will be familiar to Arlington residents — most notably that our economy is almost entirely services-based and highly dependent upon federal government activity.

Residents will also likely know that the local population has an extremely high level of educational attainment, with over 65 percent having earned at least a bachelor’s degree. It may even be common knowledge that the region’s workforce is disproportionately young and that the prohibitive cost of local housing tends to push this younger, more mobile workforce out of the region as it ages.

The region’s strengths are frequently advertised and rightly so. Demonstrating that Arlington and Alexandria have educated, young and motivated workforces will be key to attracting investment. While uncertainty about federal government spending in the region will continue to shake up local industries, the skilled workers we tout will adapt and prosper, or simply move on.

However, while these indicators might satisfy those worried for the health of Arlington’s workforce, they don’t paint the whole picture. The wage distribution by occupation is polarized, with 45 percent earning more than 120 percent of the average wage and 37.6 percent earning less than 80 percent of the average wage.

More than 50 percent of the types of occupations in Arlington and Alexandria required a high school diploma or less and most of these jobs paid less than $40,000 annually; well below the average wage and cost of living. Mid-skill occupations requiring an associate’s degree or post-secondary certification, such as computer support specialists or auto mechanics, comprised less than 10 percent of all jobs, further narrowing the path for workers in low-skill occupations to move up the ladder.

Divisions between high and low-skilled workers in Middle America was a theme throughout the 2016 presidential campaign and likely affected the election’s outcome. These divisions exist even in our backyard.

Earlier this year, I spoke with David Remick, Executive Director of the Alexandria-Arlington Regional Workforce Council, about workforce development in Arlington. The Arlington Employment Center, which implements many of Arlington’s workforce development programs, has sought to connect job seekers with employers since its creation in 1989. Today, it is housed in the Arlington Department of Human Services and administers training and placement funded through various revenue streams, most notably the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.

In our conversation, Remick voiced his own concerns about the low number of middle skill opportunities, as compared to low and high-skilled jobs, and the risks faced by low-skilled workers unable to advance to higher wage occupations.

AEC has focused on providing in-demand credentials to trainees that will empower them to find employment in fields with projected growth, such as healthcare services, computer systems support and occupations requiring a commercial driver’s license.

These credentials and training programs are also ones that would be difficult for low-skilled workers to obtain without guidance and AEC has stepped up to fill that role. AEC also actively seeks out partnerships with local employers and routinely assesses where higher paying job opportunities will become available.

As with all public initiatives, budgetary limitations constrain the quantity and types of certifications that AEC can offer. Under WIOA, AEC may offer $3,500 in value for the “up-skilling” of qualified customers that seek out training. The type of training is guided by both market demands and the personal preferences and competencies of customers.

Last year, of those served by AEC, 18 percent earned credentials relating to hospitality or culinary arts, 33 percent in healthcare, 19 percent in construction or CDLs, and 18 percent in I.T. support fields. While the quantity of mid-skilled job opportunities is demonstrably small in Arlington (especially compared to other jurisdictions in Virginia), these are the fields that are most likely to experience growth.

There is always more to be done to improve workforce qualifications, but AEC and the Regional Workforce Council provide existing frameworks that address local deficiencies proactively.

These initiatives should be supported, both financially and through visible promotion. With resources limited, AEC and the Regional Workforce Council access their vast network of community-based organizations, local businesses, and residents to help promote their services to the public, ensuring that workforce development services are made accessible to those in need.

Nathan Saxman is a graduate of James Madison University and an Arlington resident. He has been politically active in Virginia since 2008 and presently serves as Programming Director with the Arlington Young Democrats. Professionally, Nathan is a paralegal in the field of international trade law.

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 Matt de Ferranti

Over the past four months, Arlington Democrats have reached out to the community on issues at stake at the national, state, and local levels.

We’ve held forums with interested Arlingtonians on health care, immigration, climate change and labor/income inequality.

Our Issues Forum Team – part of the Arlington Democrats community outreach effort — worked to share facts about policies, increase awareness, and generate ideas for action.

The team consisted of Fatima Argun, Becky Dick, Eric Gibble, Susie Lee, Vivek Patil, and Jacki Wilson.

Here’s what we learned and what you can do to make a difference.

Health Care

Who would have known when we met at Key Elementary School in February that Obamacare would still be the law of the land today? Congress may well pass a bill to overturn the progress made under Obamacare, but activism and the CBO’s estimate that 23 million Americans would lose health care coverage under the House Republicans’ proposal has changed the conversation.

The health care forum included a panel of experts on federal, Virginia, and local health care policy and a discussion with community members. One shared conclusion: Virginia voters must hold accountable those who will not support expansion of Medicaid.

The most powerful moments were hearing personal stories from our neighbors, including one woman who shared the story of her fight with insurance companies over the care she was seeking for her son as he fought against the cancer that ultimately took his life. People in the room were moved to honor the mother’s request that we act so that affordable, comprehensive coverage — that actually pays claims — is available to all.

Immigration

During our immigration forum on March 28 at Patrick Henry Elementary School, we heard from two individuals who have been impacted directly by policies that veer from our nation’s founding values of welcoming those affected by poverty and violence elsewhere to join their stories with the American story.

A young Dreamer — valedictorian at Wakefield High School – told us how she had to leave Virginia to attend college, despite having lived in Arlington since she was a child, in large measure because the in-state tuition provisions put in place by Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) were not yet the law.

A woman from Sudan described earning asylum to come to the United States and the fear she felt when President Trump tried to impose an unconstitutional travel ban that would have prevented her from returning from a trip to care for her elderly mother.

Both speakers and the broader discussion inspired us to ensure that Arlington’s leaders and residents are welcoming to new neighbors.

Climate Change

Discovery Elementary School, Arlington’s first net-zero school, was a perfect venue for our forum on Climate Change on April 27, which occurred prior to U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement and Gov. McAuliffe’s subsequent commitment to carbon emissions reduction targets for Virginia.

The speakers encouraged the audience to call, write, and speak out. We collected signatures and provided an opportunity for participants to join ongoing advocacy efforts.

At the local level, we learned that Arlington is implementing a plan to convert County buildings to renewable energy.

Americans and Arlingtonians know that we must make better choices than the President’s withdrawal decision and embrace green technology now and in the years to come.

Labor, Income Inequality and the Middle Class

Our last forum addressed the central importance of an economy that helps create a country, Commonwealth and county where the middle class and the American dream thrive. We heard about the presence of real poverty even in affluent Arlington, how economic insecurity is threatening many in the middle class, and the need for policies to address these problems.

So What Did We learn?

Whether the subject is health care, immigration, climate change, or labor and income inequality, all will be addressed more successfully if we elect a Democratic governor and a Democratic majority in the House of Delegates in Virginia in November 2017.

So we ask you to join the Arlington Democrats at www.arlingtondemocrats.org to help make a difference on these issues and others at stake this year. With your help, a strong voter turnout in Arlington will be an important element in winning a very competitive election in November.

Matt de Ferranti is a Co-Chair of the 2017 Arlington Joint Democratic Campaign. He wishes to thank the Issue Forum Team members for their joint leadership on the Forums and their critical contributions to this column.

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 Christopher Gray

Today, many Virginia workers face stark choices without easy answers. Even as cuts in public funding cause college tuition to rise at an unreasonable rate and with a student debt crisis that threatens to spiral out of control, the percentage of Americans over 25 with a college degree continues to grow at historic rates.

Approximately 32 percent of American adults have at least a bachelor’s degree, and a high level of educational attainment has largely become a pre-requisite for finding a path to financial stability in today’s knowledge economy.

This means that as much as 68 percent of the population lacks the easy access to upward social mobility that is so foundational to the American Dream. Looking for a reason why our political climate has become less than sane? That’s a good place to start.

There are many other problems with our current social model, including professional jobs for college grads becoming increasingly clustered in a small number of metropolitan areas where the cost of living is exorbitant.

According to George Mason University economist Tyler Cowen, this dynamic has created a society with historically low rates of geographic and social mobility, high rates of racial and socio-economic segregation, low levels of innovation, and stagnant growth.

Indeed, the high cost of living in job-rich areas such as Northern Virginia costs the American economy as much as $1.7 trillion in GDP annually. Simply put, many highly qualified people lack the means or are otherwise unable to relocate to areas where they can find meaningful employment.

Having lived in a friend’s dining room for six months while working two jobs and an internship when I first arrived in the D.C. area, I am well acquainted with how the toxic mix of high student loans, insane housing market and uber-completive economy keeps workers on the razor’s edge of financial insecurity and personal uncertainty. I do not want future generations to struggle with this same reality. We need to do better for our Commonwealth.

With many high paying manufacturing jobs outsourced to low wage countries with poor labor and environmental standards, many Virginians are working two or three jobs just to maintain an increasingly unstable day to day life.

We need to guarantee a living wage for workers if we want a more stable economy and political environment. Automation is going to follow in the footsteps of free trade agreements in reducing working class jobs, while Virginia’s longstanding anti-labor politics continue to allow highly profitable companies to maximize their share of our state’s wealth at the expense of workers.

Some will argue that increasing the minimum wage will have a job killing effect on Virginia’s economy, even though there is no statistical evidence to support that conclusion.

I would counter that even if some low wage jobs are lost because we decide to adopt a living wage, others will open up as people no longer have to work multiple low paying jobs to make rent in the absence of a livable minimum wage. As of today, a fulltime worker making the state’s $7.25 minimum wage brings home about $1160 per month before taxes. That’s barely enough to pay for a room in Northern Virginia, let alone support a family.

The truth is, a full-time worker making Virginia’s minimum wage will bring home less than $14,000 a year. That’s not enough to make ends meet anywhere, even in less expensive rural areas.

We may have become conditioned to believe that workers are not supposed to see their living standards improve even as the economy and worker productivity continue to grow, but that’s only because when it comes to improving the lives of workers our politicians succumb to the disproportionate influence that a very small class of wealthy individuals have over our political process.

Virginia’s elected officials – Republicans and Democrats — need to confront their donors with support for basic redistributive economic policies that will more equitably share the wealth generated by Virginia workers.

Parents who are able to survive while working only one job can spend more time helping their children with school and improving their communities. Non-college educated workers will be able to live financially stable and secure lives — a basic dignity that anyone working a full-time job should be guaranteed.

There is no moral justification for living in a society that creates a permanent class of the working poor – and that is what happens when upward social mobility becomes a rare exception. Enough is enough: it’s time to raise the minimum wage.

Christopher Gray is a native Virginian, graduate of James Madison University, and Arlington Young Democrat. He has been active in the Democratic Party of Virginia for more than 15 years and has served as the Chair of Virginia Young Democrats Environmental Policy Caucus and Party Representative for the Arlington Young Democrats.

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

Could you explain basketball’s March Madness to people in China? Who would even try?

A couple of years ago, the University of Dayton added a new angle to its basketball coverage — energetically broadcasting the Flyers’ games in Mandarin.

Why? The university wanted to better engage its international students on campus (about 450 speak Mandarin) and to promote its brand in China, where it has a research institute.

Results: More than 1,200 passionate listeners, here and in China, and lots of spinoff media attention. More people feeling connected to the university, and a brand with brighter luster.

This kind of approach goes beyond just niche marketing, and gets at something Arlington may need more of: getting outside our comfort zone.

Yes, Arlington, which already prides itself on extensive civic involvement, could try new ways to nurture wider community spirit. And progressive political leaders here are trying it to understand emerging needs, recast some political conversations, and prevent unwelcome outcomes in upcoming elections.

Getting outside our bubble could mean our place, our approach or our perspective. At a recent packed event at Central Library, author Viet Thanh Nguyen, author of the Pulitzer prize-winning book “The Sympathizer,” made a positive comment about refugees. It brought strong applause, and one woman murmured, “Good old Arlington.” Yes, Arlington has (and we enjoy) a mostly affluent, educated, fairly Blue bubble, one that cares for others — health care, housing, you name it.

Yet — for example — I have seen students industriously using the internet to research life in Ethiopia, perhaps not knowing that dozens of recent Ethiopian immigrants go to our schools. (They’d be able to give other students a first-hand account!)

How might we become more attuned to worlds different from our own? For starters, consider how we can make those worlds productively collide.

One example: Virginia Tech students are exploring the history of legacy businesses in the Nauck neighborhood and along Lee Highway. They interviewed people like Darryl Collins, owner of Friendly Cab and grandson of founder Ralph Collins. During the segregation of the 1940s and 1950s, women of color had to leave Arlington in order to give birth, usually at a hospital in D.C. Ralph Collins founded his cab company to serve such needs.

For another project in Rosslyn, where busy streets and highways block pedestrian access to the Potomac River, the county asked Virginia Tech students for ideas to make the waterfront more inviting. “We felt they could be both imaginative and unconstrained, unworried about ruffling feathers among the many landowners and agencies,” said one leader.

Arlington basks in our national rankings and urban buzz, yet some may not relish talking ideas, particularly politics, with people who don’t already lean the same way. On the other hand, many progressive leaders feel it’s urgent to escape an echo chamber where friends and media choices just reinforce our own opinions.

Those progressives believe that stepping outside the bubble can help us think better, solve problems better, and perhaps build community in new ways. We also think it may help us steer clear of surprises and shoals in elections to come.

We take a page from people like U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), who recently spent several days in small towns in Virginia’s southwestern corner, an area not particularly friendly to Democrats. Just showing up and listening is a start.

Out in red state Montana, Steve Bullock, the Democratic governor, won re-election comfortably last November even when Hillary Clinton got just 36 percent of the vote in his state. He told The New York Times recently: “Ever since, national reporters have asked me whether Montana Democrats have some secret recipe….But it’s not all that hard to figure out. Above all, spend time in places where people disagree with you. Reach out. People will appreciate it, even if they are not inclined to vote for you.”

None of us knows as much about America — and perhaps about Arlington — as we think. Yet we don’t have to visit a faraway red state. If you travel along Glebe Road, Arlington is less than nine miles from end to end, but there are many different worlds along that road. If ever there was a time to expand our view, the time to stretch seems now.

Elaine Furlow was Director, Strategic Planning for AARP until her recent retirement. She also served as an Arlington School Board member from 1998-2005.

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 Juan Arteaga

The gathering of so many Americans in Washington and around the country to demand action on climate change has inspired me to tell my personal story of moving to Arlington. I shifted my definition of success toward enacting values I learned as a youth to appreciate our environment — doing so through a job in which I now am able to support investment in energy generation that serves to protect our health and our planet.

An appreciation of nature became one of my core values early in my life. Growing up in Houston, Texas, I remember camping trips and visits to city parks. Those early experiences encouraged me to seek adventure and experiences rooted in a love for the outdoors and nature’s beauty.

One of the positives of moving to Arlington is that while living close to the Nation’s Capital, I can also enjoy accessible locations where I can explore more adventurous excursions such as rock climbing in the Shenandoah Valley and long hikes in national parks.

I am able to combine a professional career devoted to improving our environment in economically sound ways with a wide variety of outdoor activities. That balance has not always been how I defined success.

During my time in college, while I still loved being outdoors, I found myself increasingly caught up in a pursuit of financial success. When you are chasing success in Houston, that success is generally tied to money and the money is frequently tied to oil in some way. So when I landed a job with a large oil company while I was still in school, I was convinced that I had it made.

My work for big oil did not blind me to the effects of energy production on our environment, but signaled that the childhood value of appreciating nature and what I learned in history classes remained important to me.

I found myself paying more attention to the news, trying to put into context what I was learning and hearing at work with what I was seeing in the broader world.

As I witnessed environmental disasters either personally or through media reports, I became increasing concerned about how human activities were causing or exacerbating dangerous weather patterns. The lack of actions to counter these trends began to create serious cognitive dissonance for me.

I began to feel a direct conflict between the profession I was in and my desire to protect the natural spaces which had offered me so much throughout my life. The longer I worked with a major oil company, the more I felt certain that my own actions were making an impact — and not a good one. So I left the job.

As risky as that decision felt at the time, I was incredibly fortunate. I was hired for a position at a well-respected consulting company, a position I went after because the values of the organization match my own.

By letting go of a culture pushing money at the expense of the environment, I found a new definition of success. I am consistently able to learn more about the environment and our impact on it and I challenge myself to make sure that the actions that I take are making a positive impact. Now I’m part of a fight to get our community to commit to 100 percent renewable energy, something that I know is a huge part of protecting the outdoor spaces that have shaped who I am.

Anyone can change their definition of success. For me, it meant letting my fundamental principles guide me to greater involvement in the fight for our shared environment.

What is most important to you?

Juan Arteaga is an infrastructure analyst and a veteran of the U.S. Navy. He moved to Arlington to become more active in environmental causes.

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

On April 29, tens of thousands of people – including many Arlingtonians – made their way to the Nation’s Capital to march and demand action on climate change.

Supporters joined together for similar marches and rallies in hundreds of locations across the United States and around the globe.

With the impacts of climate change being felt worldwide, it was important to send a very clear message – we must not retreat from the actions that are necessary to address this crisis.

Marchers intended to resist the Trump Administration’s open hostility toward measures to address climate change. They also called on decision-makers to continue taking the necessary constructive and positive steps to combat the causes of climate change at the national, state, and local levels.

Over the last eight years under President Barack Obama’s leadership, the United States did more to combat climate change than ever before. We committed to the Paris Global Climate Change agreement, improved fuel efficiency standards, and put forward the Clean Power Plan to cut carbon pollution from power plants. We invested in renewable energy, which has led to a rapid expansion of our clean energy economy and significant increases in the generation of wind and solar power.

However, it has become abundantly clear that we can no longer rely on the federal government to lead the way on environmental protection or renewable energy investments. In just the first 100 days, the Trump Administration has worked to repeal the Clean Water Rule, delayed implementation of the Clean Power Plan, delayed implementation of the new chemical storage rule and attempted to diminish the EPA’s effectiveness through budget cuts, staff cuts and dismissing scientific experts from advisory commissions.

With the EPA and environmental protections under attack, it is incumbent on the commonwealth to act on behalf of Virginia residents – especially since strong majorities in Virginia have expressed their support for staying on the path toward clean energy and climate action.

One such action for which we can be thankful is Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s (D) issuance of Executive Order 57, which created a working group to develop carbon reduction strategies for Virginia’s fossil fuel power plants.

Last week, I submitted a letter to that working group – signed by 18 members of the Virginia Environment and Renewable Energy Caucus in the General Assembly – that called for the working group to recommend: investments in energy sources with low or zero emissions footprints; utility-run efficiency programs; allowing utility customers to work together to install carbon-neutral renewable energy systems; and identifying revenue sources for transition assistance packages to help coal communities adapt to our changing energy economy. We hope McAuliffe and the working group will take bold action to promote these and other clean energy initiatives.

While these are important first steps by the Governor, the Virginia General Assembly also needs to do more to protect our environment for future generations and help transition Virginia away from a dependence on fossil fuels, stay on the path of climate action, and build on the progress we’ve made to move America toward a climate-friendly 21st century clean energy economy.

Through investments in the development of solar and wind energy sources, the Governor and General Assembly can not only put Virginia at the forefront of harnessing the potential of clean, renewable sources of energy, but also grow our economy and create jobs throughout the Commonwealth.

In the 2017 elections, Virginia voters have a tremendous opportunity to send a clear message about the importance of addressing climate change and protecting our environment.

Through the June 13 primaries and the November 8 general election, voters will choose Virginia’s Governor, Lt. Governor and Attorney General for the next four years. All 100 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates will also be on the ballot in districts across the commonwealth.

If you care about climate change and want Virginia to keep moving forward toward a sound environment and a thriving economy, it will be vitally important that you vote and choose candidates who will make climate action a priority.

Whether it is ensuring that our water supply is not contaminated like that of Flint, Mich., or ensuring that we do not suffer chemical spills of the magnitude of the Elk River spill, we need to combat inaction at the federal level by electing leaders in Virginia who will push the commonwealth toward national leadership in climate action, renewable energy, and environmental protection.

Let’s make sure our voices are heard.

Alfonso Lopez represents Virginia’s 49^th District in the House of Delegates, which includes parts of South Arlington and Eastern Fairfax County. He is the founder and Chair of the Virginia Environment and Renewable Energy Caucus in the General Assembly.

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 Joseph Leitmann-Santa Cruz

Early this year, the County Board and School Board voted to create the Joint Facilities Advisory Commission. I am honored to join 20 other Arlingtonians as JFAC members.

We are committed to finding innovative, practical and fiscally-prudent solutions to tackle Arlington’s big needs within our limited space reality.

Arlington’s population has grown approximately 1 percent per year over the past three decades and is forecasted to grow another 10.5 percent — 23,000 people — by 2026. School enrollment is also growing — projected within five years to exceed 30,000 students — which will increase capacity needs.

With growth comes increased demands for schools, fields, and other services, including essential operational and support services. Land to support these services is desperately needed.

I strongly believe that local initiatives such as JFAC that assess challenges and opportunities holistically can best promote community wellbeing in the years and decades ahead.

As I wrote last December, “local initiatives and solutions are stronger, more effective and efficient when the community is broadly represented throughout the decision-making processes.”

Four months into my tenure as a JFAC member, I believe it is a model for how to incorporate multiple voices, perspectives, opinions and needs at a broad, strategic level.

JFAC’s Mission

JFAC’s overall mission is to help the Boards assess capital facilities needs, capital improvement plans and long-range facility planning options for residents, county government and our schools. It can provide feedback and recommendations to the Boards on key matters that impact the lives of all people who reside, visit, play, and do business in Arlington.

JFAC’s Progress

Under the effective leadership of chair Ginger Brown and vice chair Greg Greeley, JFAC has met monthly since January. We have received briefings from County and APS senior management about their short- and long-term needs assessments, and we have started to develop a list of community aspirations and goals for the next 30-40 years.

While the Boards asked JFAC to place a special emphasis on long range planning for future County and APS facility needs, they have also directed JFAC to immediately undertake two time-sensitive matters: potential uses for the Buck site on N. Quincy Street; and what the County should seek as compensation from Virginia Hospital Center in return for the County-owned Edison site: cash, VHC property on Carlin Springs Road, or other VHC-owned properties, or a combination thereof. Two subcommittees within JFAC have been formed to dive more deeply into these time-sensitive matters.

By building a sufficient knowledge base about various needs and sites, we can proceed expeditiously to consider recommendations pertaining to longer range and big picture planning.

Public Involvement

JFAC wants to engage community members about two key goals: education and awareness about the facility and space challenges and opportunities facing the County; and insights from the public to help inform the JFAC’s recommendations.

Throughout March, JFAC hosted 10 community roundtables that provided a broad range of perspectives, interests, complaints, plans, ideas, ideals, visions, goals, and challenges. I had the pleasure of co-hosting a community roundtable at Washington-Lee High School on March 23.

It was great to hear the visions and ideas my neighbors shared on topics including traffic impact, recycling, bike lanes, park space, using I-66 air rights to create additional land, maximizing and/or co-locating County and APS facilities.

Arlingtonians can also get involved by:

• Checking out JFAC’s website to stay updated on our meetings, presentations and reports;
• Attending our monthly meetings; and
• Joining us on May 24 (7-10 p.m.) for our interactive public forum at Wakefield High School, where you will have a chance to provide feedback on possible options JFAC members are exploring.

Next Steps 

Arlington can be a stronger as well as a more stable and equitable community by hearing from a broad range of voices. It helps when we get proactively involved in creating and developing public policies that will affect us for decades to come.

Our work at JFAC is just getting started. The right initial steps are being taken. Stay tuned and please assist us in ensuring we achieve our mission.

My own personal interest in JFAC’s success is that the better our community does, the better quality of life my family will have and the better educational opportunities our children will have in APS schools. My wife, our two kids and I are in it for the long-term.

Joseph Leitmann-Santa Cruz is the Associate Director of an asset-building and financial capability organization in Washington, DC. In the Arlington community, he is a JFAC member, a member of the Board of Directors of the Dream Project, and served on the South Arlington Working Group.

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

This year’s General Assembly session saw one highly partisan bill after another pass both Republican-controlled chambers, with little or no apparent interest in seeking input from Democrats.

This left Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) to wield his veto pen to strike down such extreme bills as one that would shield from civil liability those who would actively discriminate against same-sex couples, and another that would legalize the carrying of concealed switchblade knives.

Veto Session is the day on which the General Assembly reconvenes to vote on whether to sustain or reject the Governor’s vetoes, and to consider amendments that the Governor made to legislation passed by the General Assembly. This year, every one of McAuliffe’s 40 vetoes was sustained, and the vast majority of his amendments were adopted.

For critics of McAuliffe’s extensive use of the veto power, it is worth a closer look at the bills that he prevented from becoming law in the Commonwealth. This year alone, the Governor vetoed bills that were directed at weakening LGBT rights, defunding Planned Parenthood and putting more guns in more places.

Some of the bills passed by the Republican majority were simply messaging bills, often redundant of current law. For example, McAuliffe vetoed one bill that would criminalize the act of giving or receiving any money in exchange for registering to vote. This is already a crime under federal law.

There were other bills that sought to perpetuate the myth of voter fraud by encouraging investigations into Virginia voters without clear standards for when and how those inquiries would be conducted. Voter fraud, though it is exceptionally rare, is already a crime in Virginia.

The Governor also vetoed a number of bills that Democrats universally agree would undermine the economic security of many of Virginia’s most vulnerable individuals. For those living in poverty and receiving public assistance, one bill would have prohibited anyone with a criminal history from receiving this help. Keeping those who have committed a crime – for example, petty theft – from receiving public assistance would make it even more likely that those individuals would be forced back into a life of crime and reduce public safety.

Other vetoed bills included one that would encourage companies to pay workers less – Democrats universally rejected these anti-worker bills and I am glad that the Governor vetoed them immediately. Two bills would have prohibited a state agency and a local government from entering into a contract with a company that requires that company to pay workers at rates above prevailing wages and benefits. We should be encouraging contracts with companies that are willing to pay workers more, not engaging in a race to the bottom for wages and benefits.

Another agenda item that Republicans targeted unsuccessfully was making life more difficult for immigrants and refugees. One particularly dangerous bill included a requirement that the Commonwealth publish personally identifiable information for every refugee settled in Virginia. A reminder: refugees are here legally.

This bill was not only an invasion of privacy, but also a reckless move that would put refugees in immediate danger. Refugees are classified as such because they are fleeing oppression – they have specifically been targeted by the government of their home country. To make a list of their personal information public would be to make those who have sought refuge in our country targets again – even exposing them to their oppressors.

Finally, perhaps the most widely covered issue of this year’s Veto Session was whether the Governor’s budget amendment to expand Medicaid to about 400,000 low-income working Virginians should stand. The Governor’s amendment would have allowed him to expand Medicaid on October 1, 2017, if the Affordable Care Act still stood in its current form with respect to Medicaid. The amendment was rejected along party lines, 66 to 34, meaning Medicaid will not be expanded this year and Virginia will continue to lose billions of Virginia taxpayer dollars reallocated to states that have expanded Medicaid.

During this Veto Session the priorities of both parties were revealed in stark contrast, and I am glad that Democrats were able to fight back through McAuliffe against the most extreme of the bills passed by Republicans.

It will be a far different Veto Session in 2018 if we do not have a Democratic Governor and a strong Democratic presence in the House of Delegates after this November’s election. As we have seen at the national level, turnout matters and elections have consequences.

Rip is a Northern Virginia community activist and a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Virginia’s 48th District, which encompasses parts of Arlington and McLean.