Author: Progressive Voice

Progressive Voice: Regional Factors Present a Challenge to Arlington

By Progressive Voice

Larry RobertsBy Larry Roberts

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.

This week, progressive Democratic leaders from the three DMV jurisdictions appeared on stage together at a Capital Region Business Forum held in McLean. Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, and Maryland State Senate President Mike Miller were at times both cooperative and competitive in discussing how the region and each jurisdiction can move forward successfully.

The topics discussed will have major ramifications for Arlington in the years ahead.

All three leaders are committed to growing the region’s economy and enhancing its competitiveness in a global economy.

They did not view business only through the lens of lower taxes and less regulation. They identified other issues key to our region’s economic future — transportation, K-12 education, research and entrepreneurship, higher education, affordable housing, environmental sustainability, green space, access to health care. They also view economic success being dependent on regional cooperation and coordination.

They see a continued influx of residents to the District of Columbia. Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William Counties will continue to grow rapidly. Maryland will move more aggressively to match successes in Virginia and the District.

All spoke of diversifying an economy too heavily dependent on federal spending. They emphasized the importance of foreign investment in our region and a vibrant tourism sector.

These initiatives will have consequences — likely dramatic ones — for Arlington, whether we choose to engage them or not.

There will be increasing pressure for moving more cars through Arlington unless we are fully engaged regionally and with Richmond to develop multimodal solutions that work for outer jurisdictions and show a willingness to contribute resources.

Our top-tier schools will attract more families to Arlington for educational opportunities. In response, we can grow our commercial tax base to support increased school enrollment or pay higher residential taxes to fund education. Or we can be involved in regional efforts to promote educational excellence in other jurisdictions to ease some of the growth pressure on Arlington’s schools.

We can compete nationally and internationally for new and innovative business opportunities through investments in Arlington Economic Development, or we will see other jurisdictions strengthen their commercial tax base while ours remains stagnant or declines.

We can work aggressively on housing affordability and affordable housing issues, or we can see more people priced out of Arlington, as its location near the District and regional population growth pushes land values higher.

As we enter a new year in Arlington, we can expect to see renewed emphasis on scrubbing our budget to reduce spending, concerns about changes that have come to Arlington, and a desire to keep things the way they have been.

Yet as other jurisdictions grow in population and economic strength, we risk being without a seat at the table as decisions are made and priorities are set if we miss the larger picture.

There has been much talk about the need for strategic planning in Arlington. My hope is that such planning will include an intense focus on how we can most effectively play a key role in state government and the Capital Region.

A heavily internal focus will mean that changes all around us will not work to our advantage and we will have a harder time maintaining our level of success.

Historically, Arlington has “punched above its weight class” through its intelligent planning, creative use of resources, willingness to place resources behind priorities, care for others, an understanding of the economic power of diversity and inclusion, sound finances, a strong commercial sector, excellent schools, multimodal transportation investments, unity of purpose, and political will.

Remembering what has made us great, looking for ways to improve, and engaging more fully in state and regional issues will all be necessary to ensure a bright future for Arlington.

We can only retain the best and most important unique qualities and values that have defined Arlington if we are fully cognizant of, willing to engage in, and help shape the significant change ahead for our Commonwealth and our region.

Larry Roberts is a 30-year resident of Arlington and an attorney in private practice. He chaired two successful statewide campaigns and is a former Chair of the Arlington County Democratic Committee.

Progressive Voice: Time For an Arlington Way 2.0?

By Progressive Voice

Mary Rouleau

By Mary Rouleau

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.

Last year, I attended a workshop focused on crafting a conversation about and building public support for “the common good” in Arlington. In my view, the workshop helped counter the view that government was the problem — or at least a large part of it — in a climate of “no trust” and partisan gridlock.

While the “no trust” description readily applies to the other side of the Potomac, there have been threads of the “no trust” narrative in Arlington in recent years.

I believe Arlington has done many things right over the past 20 years, including balancing the tax base between commercial and residential sources, sustaining strong schools and crafting national best practice models of transit-oriented development, including affordable housing.

But we now face large, complex challenges, including sustained school growth, economic competition, a growing affordability gap and a large number of aging Boomers — and all must be placed in the context of limited available land.

A prior generation of Arlington leaders made tough but good decisions in leading the County. Among the best was siting the Metro underground instead of in the I-66 median. We now find ourselves with a set of “next era” decision points. Those decisions will determine where and how we go forward as a community.

Because we must make these decisions in an era of tight budgets and slower economic growth, it would not be surprising to hear sentiment along the lines of, “Why should I pay for things I don’t need?”

But Arlingtonians have, over the decades, been more sophisticated and progressive, showing a willingness to go where the facts lead, even if there is not a direct benefit to them. Perhaps the most important and consistent indicator of this is the continued support for our schools even though the vast majority of Arlington households have no direct ties to APS.

Pursuing progressive values does not require a blank check to government. And residents should be able to expect not only good outcomes, but also transparency and informed decision-making with public input of various kinds.

It is important that the County government provide the public with facts that support its decisions and a description of the public purposes served by the decisions. My experience with housing issues over the past several years has demonstrated again and again that there is a wide information gap on that set of issues alone.

Advocacy groups can play an important educational role, too, but the County has the resources to reach more households and should be a primary source of information for explaining the use of public assets and resources.

And what of the “Arlington Way” that has guided County decisions? No doubt it has been a key in the public’s support for most of those decisions.

But demographic shifts, the technology explosion, and increasing careers demands support the view that it’s time for an Arlington Way 2.0.

There was talk during the recent election cycle of the need to bring more segments of the community into the dialogue by creating more opportunities for feedback. While true, it’s not enough. We also need ways to get more information about the challenges we face into the community’s hands in a timely and a sustained way. For most issues, this will need to be an ongoing process and not a one-off exercise.

It strikes me that so much energy goes into a typical Arlington study process on the front end that little remains for the rollout. Yet for many people, the rollout is the first time they become aware that change is happening.

We can fairly expect that those who participated in the process understand the reasoning behind the recommendations and outcomes that follow. But to build and maintain a larger community consensus, it is probably even more important for good information — promoting understanding of the importance of the action and why the action serves the common good — to flow after a decision is made.

In a future column, I will discuss the importance of the just-completed Final Report of the Community Facilities Study Committee, both for its substantive recommendations and how it provides an opportunity for greater public awareness and consensus.

Mary Rouleau is a 25-year resident of Arlington. She is the Executive Director of The Alliance for Housing Solutions. This column reflects her personal views.

Progressive Voice: A Faith Community’s Vision Through Discernment

By Progressive Voice

The Reverend Sharon K. CoreBy The Reverend Sharon K. Core

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.

We live in a time when organizations constantly need to be aware of their structure, purpose and business plans. They need to innovate and tend to their reputations or risk the danger of disappearing.

Remember RCA, Eastern Airlines, Woolworth’s, and Enron? All of them are gone. By contrast, there are Apple, IBM, Netflix, and Samsung — all companies that have reinvented themselves successfully.

This reality of needing to attend to direction and purpose doesn’t just include businesses. The reality also applies to churches. The way churches engage this work is through a process called discernment.

Several years ago, the Arlington Presbyterian Church congregation began to wonder who God was calling us to be and what God was calling us to do. We spent much time in prayer, studying scripture, talking to one another, and talking to people in the community.

Whatever God wanted for our congregation, it would be discovered through deep and intentional listening.  As members engaged this time we were seeking to answer the question, “For whom are our hearts breaking?”

During the summer of 2012, the searching took on a new emphasis as a vision team was formed.  As we continued the discernment process, a threefold vision began to emerge:

  • create and nurture a community of disciples following Jesus Christ
  • be a people and place of crossroads for the diverse population along Columbia Pike
  • redevelop our property so that committed affordable housing can be built.

Not surprisingly, the third piece of our vision has garnered the most attention, as Arlington Presbyterian entered into a relationship with the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH), who will purchase our property and build a mixed-used development that will include affordable housing, amenities for the residents, street-level retail and structured parking.

However, as important and perhaps harder are the first two parts of our vision. Who we understand ourselves to be as a faith community is deeply rooted in the Christian faith and the commitment to be disciples of Jesus Christ.

The decision to sell the property is a business decision. But more than a business decision, it is also an act of faith. Likewise, the identification of APAH as our solid business partner is not just good due diligence. It is also good stewardship of the church’s resources.

For example, APAH offered our congregation the opportunity to name the development. We chose Gilliam Place, named for Ronda A. Gilliam (1906-1970). Mr. Gilliam was Arlington Presbyterian’s first African American member, an Elder and founder of a clothing assistance program, among other accomplishments in the community.

Naming Gilliam Place for this humble and dignified individual, who strived to make his neighborhood better, aptly represents our legacy. Remembering Mr. Gilliam through the name of the building will continue the story of Arlington Presbyterian — a story of visionary men and women carrying on the tradition of radical willingness to trust God — woven into the history of the development of community along Columbia Pike.

During the redevelopment process, Arlington Presbyterian will seek to strengthen its community of disciples through outreach in the community.  We have an interest in returning to the property after construction by leasing space on the ground floor of the building. Through continued prayer and discernment, we will use the next year to consider how God is calling us to new ministry and service in this community.

Every aspect of our congregation’s journey has started with prayer, been sustained by prayer, and been sealed with prayer. We continue to keep our minds and hearts open, listening for God’s continued guidance and following with trust and faith.

The Reverend Sharon K. Core is pastor at Arlington Presbyterian Church. She has had the great joy of being with this congregation since December 1998.

Progressive Voice: The Youth Vote and Moving Virginia Democracy Forward

By Progressive Voice

Isabel Alcalde and Alex ChandlerBy Isabel Alcalde and Alex Chandler

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.

While some of the individual results may be important, proponents of a fair and representative democracy see little to celebrate overall in the 2015 Virginia general election results.

Only 26.5% of eligible voters turned out to vote on Nov. 3. Only 29 out of the 100 House races had a two-party contest. Of those, only six races were seen as truly competitive. Thus, the Washington Post lamented that 2015 was “a carnival of cakewalks” that left the average Virginia voter “powerless.”

Inspire Virginia is a civic engagement organization based in Arlington. We are supported by Project High Hopes, a nonprofit organization that was founded by Ira Lechner, who once represented Arlington in Virginia’s House of Delegates.

Through its work, Inspire Virginia has an understanding of the frustrations identified by the Washington Post and experienced by voters. We believe that hope lies in the youth vote and that is why we support and empower high school student leaders to mobilize the youth vote.

A healthy and representative democracy requires ideas, debate, and votes from every demographic. Young people offer unique attributes that could energize Virginia elections and the political process:

  • Young people are more likely than other age groups to be unaffiliated with a specific party and want candidate interaction beyond just party identification.
  • Surveys in 2000 and 2008 showed 18 to 29 year-olds cared about candidates’ positions on issues over leadership/personal qualities more than any other age group.
  • Studies show active young voters influence members of households to go and vote. It’s simple: young people bring others along with them to vote.

Inspire Virginia is working to transform the way the youth vote is viewed; we must empower every eligible high school student to vote as soon as they are eligible.

In August, Inspire Virginia brought together 60 students from 18 different high schools in six different counties, including Washington-Lee High School in Arlington. Together, these students formed Inspire Virginia’s inaugural class.

Inspire Virginia recruits three or four exceptional leaders in partner high schools across the state.  These juniors and seniors must be willing and committed to improving Virginia’s democracy, starting with their own schools.

We educate, train, and ultimately, inspire these student leaders to return to their schools and mobilize their peers to participate in the democratic process. Our mission is to inspire student leaders in each high school across the state to register every eligible student and empower those students to vote. Already, these “Inspired Leaders” are reaching out to community leaders and asking for greater inclusion of youth in the democratic process.

In the weeks since the summer conference, Inspired Leaders have worked to register 172 voters, and nearly 900 of their peers have pledged to register when they become eligible. These 1,072 youth votes are just the beginning.

As one of our student leaders, Jessica Edwards, a junior at Saint Stephens and Saint Agnes High School, wrote:

“It’s truly incredible to see all the amazing work that other schools are doing through Inspire so quickly. Additionally, it’s great to know that the stereotype that youths are apathetic and lazy is certainly false, as proven by the work of Inspire Leaders all over the nation. “

The coming year presents a unique opportunity for all of us to engage the youth vote. Virginia law allows 17 year-olds to register and vote in primary elections as long as they will turn 18 by the general election. For 2016, that means many seniors can register and vote in both the March presidential primary and the June primary for Congress and other offices. These are two opportunities for young people to become active voters — and get in the habit of voting — even before graduating high school.

Our state, by incorporating the collective youth demographic into Virginia civic life, will reinvigorate an elections process that has been criticized as stale and ineffective. This is why Inspire Virginia is working to register thousands of new, interactive voters across the state. We hope you will join us in welcoming and supporting these new additions to the electorate. For more information, visit our website.

Isabel Alcalde and Alex Chandler are Program Coordinators for Inspire Virginia. Inspire Virginia is the seventh state chapter of Inspire US, a unique program dedicated to supporting students in a year-long civic experience.

Progressive Voice: School Planning 101 — A Modest Proposal

By Progressive Voice

Gillian BurgessBy Gillian Burgess

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.

Arlington Public Schools opened a new elementary school this year, is currently building additions to two other schools, and is building another entirely new school. And the Arlington community is studying where to put another new elementary school. And we need to look at options for the Career Center. And. And. And. There are lots of decisions to make, and these decisions will shape how we live in Arlington.

We need new, creative ideas on how to deal with the capacity crisis in Arlington Public Schools. However, as one wise Facebook commenter wrote, “I feel like these discussions constantly occur in a vacuum, completely ignoring the public processes and discussions that have gone on previously, some of which seriously looked at (and rejected) some of these ideas.”

To fill this vacuum, APS should organize a School Planning 101 session and publish an accompanying website that summarizes the public processes that have come before, explains those that are currently running, and collects relevant data into one easily accessible place. By doing so, APS would not only enable more people to engage in this important process, but also would improve the quality of its decisions.

Many Arlingtonians have already been involved in “More Seats for More Students” or a related process. There have been committees, advisory councils and working groups advising the School Board, the County Board and the Superintendent, all with relevant ideas and recommendations. Coming in fresh to this process is intimidating. When talking to those who have been following this process for years, seemingly every idea has already been considered and evaluated. The enthusiasm of new blood is often quickly tempered by “been there, thought of that, it doesn’t work because.” We need new people and new ideas in this process, and those new people need to understand what has come before. Organizing a School Planning 101 session would enable more people to engage productively.

The work of organizing this information would improve the quality of “More Seats for More Students.” These past committees have made important recommendations, which deserve serious consideration by the School Board and the Superintendent. School Planning 101 should summarize the recommendations of the working groups, providing links to their final reports and other resources. It should also gather the current data that is relevant to school planning — enrollment, projected populations, current capacity and available land – in a place that is easily accessible and up to date. The session should explain the fundamentals of how facilities are paid for, including the difference between capital and operating costs.

The end result would be not only an information session, but also a website so that this information would be available to the general public who could not attend the information session and going forward. This website would gather data and recommendations in one location. Most importantly, as more people become interested in helping out with this important planning process, this website will give them a place to start.

Yes, APS already has a website for “More Seats for More Students.” But it takes you deep into the weeds of the current planning processes. Information on past committees is there, but anyone interested has to dig through the unorganized archive. There is no roadmap, no “START HERE.” My suggestion would create just such a page.

“More Seats for More Students” is one of the most important planning programs of our generation. APS must add thousands of seats for new students over the upcoming years, and will likely build significant facilities to do so. These facilities and their locations will shape the look and livability of Arlington for everyone and will impact the quality of our public schools. Having great public schools is essential not only for our students but also for our property values. By organizing a School Planning 101 session and accompanying website, APS would enable more people to lend their voices and ideas to shaping the future of the public school system. A more informed process will lead to a better result and a more livable Arlington County.

Gillian Burgess is the current Chair of Arlington County’s Bicycle Advisory Committee, the founder of Kidical Mass Arlington, and the former Vice Chair of APS’s Multimodal Transportation and Student Safety Special Committee. She lives in Cherrydale with her husband and three children.

Progressive Voice: Cristol and Dorsey — Right for Arlington

By Progressive Voice

Joe WholeyProgressive 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.

This year’s County Board election is the most important in many years.

It is vitally important that Arlington voters take the time to vote.

It is equally important that they cast two votes for the County Board and that those votes go to Katie Cristol and Christian Dorsey.

The alternatives in this year’s election will put into jeopardy many great things that make Arlington the community we love. Indeed the County’s longstanding vision and values are at risk if we do not vote for Katie and Christian.

Their opponents want to cut taxes, focus only on ill-defined “core services” and cut school funding. If Arlington were to elect even one of their opponents, we could lose many good things that make Arlington Arlington.

Katie and Christian are policy-oriented people who will bring fresh perspectives on protecting the County’s core values and moving the County forward.

They will make sure that the County’s fiscal resources are spent wisely and prudently.

They are very personable and dynamic – able to engage and listen – to make sure that the voices of residents are heard in the County’s planning and decision-making.

They also understand that Arlington did not become the place so many people want to live by shortchanging its future or by pitting people and priorities against each other in a hostile and harmful way.

From my experience on the County Board, I know that we can and must deliver core services in an effective, efficient, and cost-conscious way.

But I also know from that experience that much of what has made Arlington special is our decades-long commitment to long-range planning, effective innovation and partnerships, and smart strategic investments.

We have always looked beyond what is standard to make Arlington a truly remarkable place that attracts and keeps people who want something better.

And I learned from that experience that we can’t solve our problems by promising every group that they will get their priorities addressed to the exclusion of others. Rather, we must work together to find solutions that advance a range of County priorities simultaneously – good government with sound finances and a reasonable tax structure, outstanding schools, good libraries, fine parks and recreation programs, attractive transportation options, economic development and competitiveness, human services programs, and affordable housing programs, among others.

These priorities are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, they can and do build upon each other to create a greater whole. Our residents are fully capable of coming forward with good ideas for making it all work.

For those of us who remember the accomplishments of Arlingtonians for a Better County – I say that Katie Cristol and Christian Dorsey are our best hope for a Better Arlington.

They deserve your votes and your support.

I am heartened to know that a newer generation of Arlington voters sees this election in a similar way. Progressive Voice columnist Harrison Godfrey is a member of the Millenial Generation who was raised in Arlington and wants to make it his long-term home.

Here is Harry’s take on this year’s County Board election:

“It’s not by accident that Arlington has the highest percentage of Millennials of any county in the United States. Smart planning, a welcoming, cosmopolitan culture, and a vibrant economy – especially in the midst of the Great Recession – have made it an attractive destination for young professionals. That’s great news for our County as small non-profits and large companies alike look for an educated, engaged workforce when deciding where to locate.

“Unfortunately the attributes that have attracted young professionals to Arlington aren’t guaranteed. Federal budget sequestration, for instance, is dampening area job growth and raising commercial vacancy rates. At the same time Arlington’s attractive features have helped push home prices beyond the reach of many first-time buyers and winnowed the stock of affordable rental units.

“To meet these challenges, it’s more important than ever that we have a County Board that upholds Arlington’s tradition of smart planning. Katie and Christian will — with a particular focus on housing affordability, education, and economic competitiveness.

“It’s also critical that we have a Board that represents the demographic, geographic, and economic diversity of our County. The addition of Christian and Katie will ensure that.”

Please join Harry and me in voting for Katie Cristol and Christian Dorsey on November 3.

Joe Wholey is former three-time Chairman of the Arlington County Board. Harrison Godfrey is a former White House legislative aide who works on clean-tech policy at the state and Federal levels.

Progressive Voice: Housing Affordability and Stability Create an Environment for Success

By Progressive Voice

Ally-head-shot-(1)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.

On Oct. 6, the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH) held its Annual Fundraiser Celebration at the Clarendon Ballroom. The event supported APAH’s mission to develop, preserve, own and advocate for quality affordable housing in Arlington, and to promote opportunity for its residents through partnerships and programs.

At the event, APAH honored Bill Fogarty of Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley & Walsh, P.C. and Mark Silverwood of Silverwood Companies for their contributions to affordable housing in Arlington.

The importance of APAH’s mission was captured in the following remarks delivered by Allyson Suria, who lives in one of APAH’s affordable housing communities:

My name is Allyson Suria, and I am 19 years old. I am an APAH resident and a member of Mi Voz Cuenta. You may remember me from the County Board meeting where I shared my testimony in support of the Affordable Housing Master Plan.

I came to Arlington from El Salvador in 2004. I attended Barcroft Elementary School, Kenmore Middle School and Washington-Lee High School. Coming from a low-income family, I was a FARM (Free and Reduced Meal) student until graduation. Although I did not have as many resources as many classmates, through support from both my family and my teachers I was able to succeed in school.

I was excited to learn and tried my best to be an exemplary student. By age 10 in 5th grade, I was completely integrated with the rest of the English-speaking students and quickly became an honor student.

My family valued the education my brother and I were receiving from the Arlington Public Schools (APS). So as rent prices rose, we moved all across Arlington — a total of 11 times.

Despite the frequent moves, I continued to excel and my teachers recognized this. I was student of the quarter and semester several times, I was invited to attend youth summits, and received several awards during my APS years.

At Washington-Lee, I took AP courses, IB courses and dual enrollment courses; was president of clubs, a leader in my community, and graduated with an advance diploma.

Currently, I am pursuing an education major at Marymount University where I am a member of the Education School’s honor association and the Dean’s List. Additionally, I am president and founder of Marymount DREAMers — a club for immigrant youth and our allies.

For the past three years our family has lived in an affordable housing property and it has improved our lives by adding much necessary stability.

It has also helped us feel a part of the community. After living in apartments we had no personal connection to, we now live in an apartment we call home and we consider ourselves a part of the neighborhood. I feel motivated to participate more passionately in my community. I now invite others to become civically engaged so they too can enjoy such a feeling.

My brother and I continue to excel in school because we have affordable housing.

My parents always say “We know in the future you will be able to do more than we have in our lifetime.” I believe them. Thanks to my stable home and to my academic efforts, perhaps in the future I will no longer be an affordable housing resident but rather an Arlington home-owner.

This is why affordable housing is important to me. I want our future generations to have better access to economic mobility. In order for students to excel and become successful professionals they need two very important things: 1) a stable home like the one I am blessed to have thanks to APAH; and 2) a world-class education just like the one I feel so privileged to have received from APS.

On behalf of all the families who live in the APAH properties, I would like to give a sincere thank you to all the employees, the donors, volunteers, and board members at APAH. Your contributions to this great organization truly improve our lives and make Arlington our home.

Allyson Suria is a Marymount University student and Arlington resident.

Progressive Voice: New Homeless Shelter Provides More Than a Bed for Arlington’s Homeless

By Progressive Voice

Ann FelkerProgressive 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.

Arlington’s dignified new Homeless Services Center (HRC) opened Oct. 1 — ironically, on a day that would cause only the strongest of us to stay outside.

Steady, storm-driven rain had begun as over 400 guests took the elevator to the second floor of the new facility in the Courthouse area.

A-SPAN (Arlington Street People’s Assistance Network) is contracted to run the facility, and A-SPAN’s staff, board members and CEO Kathy Sibert, hosted the long-awaited opening with gusto. Greeting the first invited guests were cheerful paint colors, crisply made beds, fully functional showers, a complete kitchen and laptops and desks in a classroom. Six local restaurants donated trays of tasty refreshments to extend the hospitality.

Local elected officials from County Board Members to Richmond legislators, who had all worked to bring the project to completion, participated in a heartfelt ceremony to congratulate the dedication of County staff, A-SPAN staff, and neighborhood leaders in helping make HRC a reality.

But mostly, the service center, a dream of A-SPAN’s founder, Lora Rinker, bustled with Arlingtonians who have believed in the work of Arlington Street People’s Assistance Network since Lora started serving bagged meals and soup to the homeless from a location beside the Clarendon Post Office more than 20 years ago.

Tucked inside the renovated office building are service facilities that will complement those well-thought-out living amenities. Dedicated caseworkers will now provide support services for all homeless in cubicles that allow respect for the client’s privacy and welfare.

The classroom will facilitate invaluable lessons in how to live inside and how to get and keep a job. A bright dining room assures that all residents will eat healthfully while a commercial kitchen will both allow meals to be served at the proper temperature and, eventually, become another classroom for job skill preparation.

A permanent nurse practitioner now has an office to monitor health and hopefully avoid illness in a space where 50 people live and 30 more work. Homeless people, released from the hospital, will be able to recover “inside” thanks to the inclusion of five respite rooms fitted out with beds donated by Virginia Hospital Center.

Homeless folks have their own treasures and keepsakes, so there is a locker area where valuables can be stored and a clothing closet for upgrading wardrobes.

There was no nostalgia for the former shelter facility or the remote, though aptly named, “Opportunity Place” located in Shirlington. New beginnings mean new hope for both residents and staff.

The reality is that not all of the homeless of Arlington will be housed in the Homeless Services Center. The cohort that remains outside will continue to receive enhanced A-SPAN assistance based on the new, and fully accessible facility. More showers and washing machines are just the material evidence of the continuum of services the HRC allows.

While the HRC will be a professionally run operation, there is still plenty of need for the extensive crew of dedicated ASPAN volunteers to continue specific, day in and day out help — serving street meals (come rain or come shine), sorting donations, supporting office staff, and more.

The new classroom offers a potential for others to share expertise. For more information about the volunteering, contact Amanda Mark: [email protected] or 703-228-7813.

Much of the funding for A-SPAN’s work comes from federal, state and local grants, but local charitable donations are an important source, too. Participate in a mini-walk, provide a new mattress for a “welcome home” event, donate an old car, become a Friend of A-SPAN. Check out the website for the latest news.

After all reception guests departed last week, the first residents moved across Courthouse parking lot to their new quarters. The brightly colored walls, comfortable but sturdy furniture, and even a well-stocked bookshelf send the message that this space will be a friendly place to stay while on the road to something better.

A-SPAN’s Mission Statement clearly declares that “Ending Homelessness in Arlington” is the goal of all activity in the building and on the street…. this convenient, welcoming space is intended to stimulate and prepare everyone to move into a place called HOME. In between, A-SPAN and the HRC provide dignity as a catalyst.

Ann Felker is a long-time resident of Arlington who has participated in many education, community service and faith activities in the County. She is a former member of the A-SPAN Board of Directors. Ann’s photo is courtesy of her granddaughter, Kenna Geary.

Progressive Voice: Women’s Issues Key in 2015 Election

By Progressive Voice

Michelle WoodsProgressive 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.

Labor Day is the traditional start of campaigns in Arlington, and the time between now and Election Day will be full of candidate debates, forums, joint appearances and neighborhood events.

Arlington County is attractive to many because of its history of smart growth, walkable urbanism, a population with the highest levels of educational attainment, and an unemployment rate half the size of the nation’s average.

At the same time, however, Arlington can be a transient location for millennials, young couples looking to start a family and families headed by single women, due to steep housing prices and other high costs of living.

I believe 2015 will be a year in which issues that resonate particularly with women will be an important feature of the campaign season. These issues involve some of the greatest opportunities to improve the welfare, quality of life and advancement of Arlingtonians.

We all need to work together to ensure a safe community. A recent series of attempted sexual assaults in Arlington show us we cannot take safety for granted. The three different failed attempts reported by Arlington County Police Department in July have made many women in Arlington, like myself, reconsider our everyday decisions about how to most wisely travel from location to location.

In addition to greater mindfulness about risks and supporting the efforts by law enforcement officials and officers on the street to deter assaults and apprehend those who have committed assaults, we should address gaps in justice for survivors of sexual violence.

One important priority is ensuring the availability in Arlington of SAFE kits and SANE programs, and reducing backlogs in the processing of rape kits.

Another priority is supporting and monitoring the County’s work with nonprofit organizations to extend the County’s 24-hour domestic violence hotline services to sexual violence hotline and companion services. We also need to ensure sufficient staffing of our Violence Intervention Program.

Quality of life for women and families in Arlington is about more than safe communities.

Economic opportunity for women often depends on access to affordable and stable housing options, quality schools and lifelong learning opportunities for their children and themselves, and sensible child care options.

Housing stability is a key consideration for women and men of all ages in Arlington. Rising rents and home prices create concerns that people will be forced out of their communities. Our economic vibrancy, and our capacity to attract business and employers, depends on the continued economic and generational diversity of our residents.

Renters, young people and older residents seeking to “age in place” share common cause in preventing displacement and ensuring that we continue to proactively and innovatively address the issue of housing affordability and the continued presence of affordable units.

While child care in Arlington sets the quality standard in Virginia, our young families are bearing the burden of very high costs for that care. These costs often drive young families, and single mothers in particular, from our community.

Arlington childcare costs, like much of Northern Virginia, are a quarter to a third higher than in the rest of the Commonwealth. This issue is a result of a supply gap. Without sacrificing quality, we can find ways to reduce costs and address the child care supply gap by pursuing flexibilities in zoning to attract new child care centers.

Finally, Arlington should continue to pursue progressive values that help make it such an attractive place to live and a model community in many respects. For that reason, we should continue to build on our emerging collaboration with statewide reproductive choice advocates to ensure our zoning practices are friendly to the location of women’s health centers closest to our community.

We have much to be proud of and much to accomplish in Arlington. We can continue to address important priorities for women in ways that are innovative, cost effective, and both family-friendly and taxpayer-friendly.

I look forward to hearing more from our candidates on these important issues.

Michelle Woods is the Women’s Caucus Chair of the Arlington Young Democrats.

Progressive Voice: Redistricting Failures Hurt Arlington

By Progressive Voice

Frederico Cura

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

Arlington’s progressive voters played a significant role in electing Democrats to all five of the Commonwealth’s statewide offices – U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, Governor Terry McAuliffe, Lt. Governor Ralph Northam, and Attorney General Mark Herring. All five won highly competitive races that reflect Virginia’s highly competitive political environment. Arlington’s vote margins mattered.

Yet progressive policies favored by a large majority of Arlington voters, set forth in Arlington County’s legislative agenda and advanced by Arlington’s representatives in the General Assembly and in Congress are very often opposed and killed by strong Republican majorities that do not reflect the composition of Virginia voters or the overall partisan breakdown of national votes for House of Representatives candidates.

These majorities do not reflect the values or competitive nature of Virginia’s electorate, but result from Republican redistricting decisions in the General Assembly in Richmond — packing Democratic voters into districts in Northern Virginia and in majority-minority districts in order to create many more safe Republican districts.

The impact on Arlington from this district packing is that political priorities for Arlington requiring legislative approval – and they are many – face a steep uphill battle in a House of Delegates that has a 67-32 Republican majority.

Packing of Democratic voters into strongly Democratic districts dilutes the political strength that Arlington shows in statewide races.

Recently, a federal court ruled that Virginia’s Congressional districts were drawn improperly (with a similar suit pending that challenges the Delegate districts drawn by Republicans in the House of Delegates).

Governor McAuliffe called the General Assembly into special session to fix the problem with Republican gerrymandering of Congressional seats, but the General Assembly took no action.

How did that happen? Why did it happen? What can Arlingtonians do about it?

During the recent special session, Republican legislators in Richmond turned their backs on Arlingtonians and fellow Northern Virginians who bear the brunt of irresponsible gerrymandering that has gone on -by both parties over the years — for too long.

One example occurred in the House Privileges and Elections Committee.

“We’re no longer in session, so we can no longer take your testimony.”

With these words, Committee Chairman, Mark Cole (R-Spotsylvania) interrupted the testimony of a woman’s rights leader and essentially sent home the 19 scheduled speakers at a critical public hearing on how to respond to the federal court order that Virginia fix the Republican-created districts.

Indeed, Republican legislators who control the General Assembly did not even introduce a new map for consideration. With these and other actions and inactions, the Republican legislators failed to meet a unique opportunity for their party to show the world that it stood for strengthening freedom and democracy, and not for undermining the right to vote of many Virginians.

My brother and I were raised by a single mother in South America. My caring, resilient and talented mother made something clear from the get go: if you break something, you take responsibility for it and you go out of your way to fix it. The House Republicans certainly failed my mother’s test.

The key reason why nothing happened is that legislators like the notion of legislators choosing their constituents rather than constituents choosing their political leaders through a fair and equitable redistricting process.

Indeed, “Virginia is ranked as one of the most gerrymandered states in the country both on the congressional and state levels based on lack of compactness and contiguity of its districts,” according to OneVirginia 2021, a Richmond-based multi-partisan organization advocating for fair redistricting in the Commonwealth. Throughout the Commonwealth, counties and cities are being broken up in half or into multiple pieces to create heavily partisan districts.”

What can Arlingtonians do about the need for fair redistricting? An important first step is supporting the efforts of OneVirginia 2021.

Another step is to be vigilant about what happens in the General Assembly and voice your concerns to legislators across the state.

The bottom line: our constitutional right to vote is sacred – it’s our voice. People should pick their political leaders, NOT the other way around. A GOP truly committed to freedom and democracy would support nonpartisan redistricting, which is gradually taking hold in several states and should become the law nationwide. Electoral districts should be compact, contiguous, and grounded on the principles of equal representation. Nonpartisan redistricting should be a moral imperative for all of us and we should demand it from our leaders now.

Federico E. Cura is a strategic communication trainer, outreach specialist and grassroots organizer. He spent years as a K-12 educator teaching Spanish and ESOL, and served on the Arlington County Transportation Commission.

Progressive Voice: Meeting the Needs of the Whole Child

By Progressive Voice

Emma Violand-SanchezProgressive Voice is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the individual author and do not necessarily reflect the views of their organization or ARLnow.com.

The Arlington Public Schools’ mission is to instill a love of learning in students and to prepare them to be responsible and productive global citizens.

To help achieve that mission, APS develops a six-year strategic plan with staff and community involvement. Our 2011-2017 Strategic Plan has helped guide our schools to significant successes. We look forward to building upon those successes in the upcoming school year and to addressing capacity issues that arise, in part, from our achievements.

As Chair of the School Board, I am asking our community to focus particular attention this year on Goal 5 of the APS Strategic Plan, “Meet the Needs of the Whole Child.” In pursuing this goal, we commit to nurturing students’ intellectual, personal, social, physical and emotional development and to providing learning environments that are safe, healthy, engaging and responsive to student needs.

With nearly four decades of experience as an educator, I have come to believe that this goal, to support the Whole Child, is the most important. If our students do not feel safe, are not healthy, and do not feel engaged, they will struggle to learn. I believe the ultimate goal in education is, at its heart, a call to care and support our students so they can succeed.

National and local studies, such as the 2014 ASCD/CDC report, “Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child” substantiate the need for this increased emphasis on the Whole Child. The Arlington Partnership for Children, Youth and Families reported in its 2014 Community Report Card that one quarter of Arlington children entering kindergarten are obese or overweight. Both reports note that children who are physically active and receive proper nutrition are better learners.

For this reason, I am asking that we, as a community, put greater emphasis on compassion and caring, on the promotion of the overall physical and mental well-being of our students. We need to change the conversation about accountability. We need to expand our definition of success beyond test scores to include a focus on the development of the Whole Child, making sure each student is healthy, safe, engaged, and supported by caring adults.

In this regard, I believe we must look at enhancing physical, mental health and wellness services in our schools, community and county. We must collaborate and align resources with the child’s needs at the center. Families, educators, community organizations and county services must provide the solid network of support essential for student success. We have so many resources here in Arlington. We now need to make sure they fully work to support our students.

The result will be students who are prepared for college, career and citizenship as well as the full breadth of experiences that their multifaceted adult lives will bring. We will continue to look to test scores as one indicator of our children’s success and well being. In this measure, Arlington students do better and better each year, as APS’ recent release on SOL scores reports.

During the new school year and beyond, we can continue to improve both academically and in our support for the Whole Child. To do so we must work collectively to address our students’ needs. We all must share responsibility for our students and their success. With this focus on the Whole Child, our students will be knowledgeable, emotionally and physically healthy, civically active, and ready for the world beyond APS.

Emma Violand-Sanchez is Chair of the Arlington County School Board. She joined the Board in January 2009 and previously served as Chair during the 2012-13 school year. She is a career educator and has lived in Arlington since 1978.

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