News

DEVELOPING: Katcher concedes to Dehghani-Tafti as eyes shift to Sheriff and County Board races

By ARLnow.com
1/9

(Updated at 9:25 p.m.) Commonwealth’s Attorney incumbent Parisa Dehghani-Tafti has defeated challenger Josh Katcher in Tuesday’s Democratic primary.

Dehghani-Tafti has 56% of the vote to 44% for Katcher, her former deputy, in the heated race for the top prosecutor of Arlington and Falls Church. That’s as of 8:40 p.m., with all but a few hundred provisional and late-arriving mailed ballots counted in Arlington. Polls closed at 7 p.m.

Katcher, standing outside of his watch party at Lost Dog Cafe in Westover, called Dehghani-Tafti shortly before 8:50 p.m. to concede the race.

The contentious — and expensive — contest has been seen as something of a referendum on the incumbent’s brand of vocal justice reform advocacy. Katcher, while billing himself as also in favor of justice reform, put a spotlight on Dehghani-Tafti’s leadership, which he linked to departures of deputy prosecutors amid a reported rise in crime.

“Right now we’re going to celebrate what we were able to accomplish with this campaign and thank the volunteers,” Katcher told ARLnow before heading back into his event.

“Over the course of the last six months, we’ve had an important debate in our community over the future of criminal justice reform,” he said in a subsequent written statement. “Our team left it all on the field, as we sought to have a debate about what real reform and real justice could mean for our community… I stand ready to continue my commitment to this community, to its safety and to the goal of ensuring that we are balancing the need for both justice and compassion.”

Dehghani-Tafti also thanked her supporters. Gesturing to the crowd gathered at her event at Fire Works Pizza in Courthouse (held with County Board candidate JD Spain) she said those present reflect a tiny fraction of the people who donated, volunteered, “held my hand,” and knocked on doors.

“A campaign based on love, dignity and respect prevailed,” she said. “I’m grateful for the trust everybody has placed in me.”

In the other two closely watched local races, for County Board and Sheriff, leads were slim.

The three-way county sheriff race has Jose Quiroz with a widening lead compared to earlier in the night, with 40% to 34% for former deputy sheriff Wanda Younger and 27% for Arlington police corporal James Herring.

Quiroz was appointed Acting Sheriff after the departure of long-time Sheriff Beth Arthur earlier this year. The position is primarily responsible for running the county jail in Courthouse, with the Sheriff’s Office also handling court security, civil process serving, and some law and traffic enforcement responsibilities.

The Arlington County Board primary, meanwhile, is being conducted for the first time using ranked choice voting, which means final tabulation will not take place until Friday at the earliest. Results of “first choice” votes are being posted, however, showing Susan Cunningham with 25%, Natalie Roy with 24%, Maureen Coffey with 22%, and JD Spain with 20%.

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Local civic association says parks department ignoring their pickleball court objections

By Matt Blitz
Pickleball restriping plans for Marcey Road Park (via Arlington County)

Arlington County’s pickleball plans continue to peeve particular people, prompting a potential project pause.

The Donaldson Run Civic Association (DRCA) sent a letter to the county’s Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) late last week expressing the belief the department did not sufficiently involve the civic association when making the decision to re-line several tennis courts for pickleball at Marcey Road Park in North Arlington.

“DRCA does not believe the public engagement process for selecting Marcey Park as a pickleball destination provided any real opportunity for input from our neighborhood,” reads the letter signed by DRCA President Bill Richardson.

When initially shown plans for the redesigning of Marcey Park, it did not include any pickleball courts, the letter says, adding that the neighborhood had “specifically rejected pickleball use there.”

Parking is one of the big issues, says DRCA, due to the popularity of the park as well as nearby Donaldson Run Pool and Potomac Overlook Park. Adding pickleball would only exacerbate the issue.

“As we understand it, DPR believes that these problems will not be significantly aggravated by adding pickleball to the already growing existing demands for these various facilities concentrated at the end of Marcey Road,” Richardson writes in the letter. “This view seems inconsistent with the extent of the pickleball craze.”

What’s more, the letter alleges — perhaps erroneously, per the county — that this restriping is scheduled to take place as soon as early as next week, providing a very shortened time frame for the DRCA to provide its thoughts.

“This appears to underscore your determination to disregard any input from our neighborhood in making this decision without regard to the unique problems here,” the letter says.

In response, a DPR spokesperson told ARLnow that there have been numerous opportunities for the public to provide feedback over the last several years. That includes the Outdoor Courts Assessment project, which dates back to the fall of 2021. That assessment determined that Marcey Park was one of eight county parks or community center where it was appropriate to restripe for pickleball.

Altering courts for multiple uses is also a fairly common practice in the county, the spokesperson said.

“Restriping courts or athletic fields for multi-use is a common operations practice in Arlington,” they said. “DPR often puts down soccer lines on diamond fields or have hard surface courts that are striped for basketball and volleyball, for example.”

In addition, restriping for pickleball will not begin next week,  but rather basic maintenance work and the repainting of tennis lines will be taking place.

“Starting the week of June 26, the courts at Marcey Road Park are being repainted and relined for tennis. The addition of pickleball lines at Marcey Road Park does not begin on June 26,” said the spokesperson. “This is in preparation for the addition of pickleball lines later this summer.”

The latest opposition to DPR’s attempts to increase pickleball facilities across the county echoes other concerns that have played out in recent months.

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Park Shirlington owner nabs federal funding to assist with renovations and affordability

By Jo DeVoe
1/3

The owner of garden apartments on the edge of the Fairlington neighborhood nabbed $46.6 million in federal loans to help keep the units affordable and fund upgrades.

Over the last two years, Standard Communities, which owns Park Shirlington (4510 31st Street S.), has been amassing funding — including from Arlington County — to keep the nearly 300 units on site affordable to people earning up to 60% of the area median income, while funding renovations and new construction work.

Last week, commercial real estate company Walker & Dunlop announced it had helped the company nab the $46.6 million in federal funds, on top of $31.9 million in loans from the Arlington County Affordable Housing Investment Fund.

With the new federal loans, it is able to keep the units affordable at least through 2053, according to the announcement.

“Transitioning Park Shirlington from market rate to committed affordable housing was an ambitious but critical objective given the affordable housing landscape in Arlington and many other high-opportunity locations,” said Scott Alter, the co-founder, and principal of Standard Communities, in a statement.

“Standard Communities is proud to have successfully worked with so many other committed stakeholders to ensure that Park Shirlington provides nearly 300 high-quality, affordable housing units for decades to come,” he continued.

Chris Rumul, the leader of Walker & Dunlop’s Federal Housing Administration team, says the availability of affordable housing is a national concern but this complex “is an excellent example of how the federal government, local municipalities, and private investors can collaborate to be part of the solution.”

Arlington County has already done its part, loaning some $31.9 million from its Affordable Housing Investment Fund over the course of 2021 and 2022. This included a $6 million loan that helped Standard Communities purchase the property in 2017, preventing market-rate developers from taking it over and building more expensive housing.

With the new funding, renovation and construction work could start this August, an employee at Park Shirlington said this afternoon, adding that tenants would be notified once renovations begin.

The work was initially predicted to start soon after the close of county financing last fall and wrap up in 2024.

The property owner proposes to build new community center with a co-working space and management office. It will renovate 293 existing units and turn the leasing office into a 294th unit.

The renovations include new kitchens and bathrooms, new boilers and chillers, rooftop solar panels, a new community building with a fitness center, hallway upgrades and exterior work, according to a 2022 report from Arlington County.

JUST IN: Bear spotted in another N. Arlington neighborhood

By ARLnow.com
Bear jumping a fence in Leeway Overlee (photo courtesy anonymous)

(Updated at 1:45 p.m.) A young black bear, perhaps the one spotted near Windy Run Park over the weekend, is currently running through backyards in a North Arlington neighborhood.

The bear was seen hopping a fence and running through the yard of homes in the Leeway-Overlee neighborhood, not too far from the East Falls Church Metro station, around 11:15 a.m.

“Wild,” said a witness, who shared a brief video (below) with ARLnow. “It was just jumping from backyard to backyard.”

The Animal Welfare League of Arlington (AWLA) has been called, and police are also aware of the bear sightings, according to scanner traffic.

Previously, AWLA said it hoped the bear would make its way out of the county without human intervention. More from a social media post over the weekend:

The Animal Welfare League of Arlington has received several reported sightings of a juvenile black bear in the Windy Run Park area of Arlington County.

AWLA’s current plan is to allow the bear to make his way out of the county. We are asking residents to be aware of their surroundings and stay away from the bear if sighted. DO NOT seek him out or attempt to approach. We highly recommend that residents keep their pets inside, take down bird feeders and make sure that trash is secured or brought indoors.

Sightings can be reported to AWLA’s Animal Control team at (703) 931-9241. Thank you!

Also over the weekend, Roosevelt Island was closed to visitors due to a bear sighting.

National Park Service spokesman Mark Maloy confirmed to ARLnow Tuesday afternoon that the island is back open after attempts to capture the bear were unsuccessful and it has since moved on.

“On Sunday, June 18, 2023, US Park Police received reports about a young black bear on Theodore Roosevelt Island,” said Maloy. “The National Park Service (NPS) coordinated with the Humane Rescue Alliance and bear techs from Shenandoah National Park to try to capture and transport the bear to a safer location. A baited bear trap was deployed on the island in an attempt to capture the bear.”

“The NPS closed Theodore Roosevelt Island on Sunday and Monday while the attempt to locate the bear was under way,” he continued. “Because the bear had not been caught or seen again on the island as of Tuesday morning, the NPS and Humane Rescue Alliance have determined the bear has left the island. The NPS has reopened the island to the public.”

“If visitors see a bear in local national parks, they should keep and safe distance and slowly back away,” Maloy added. “If visitors see a bear in national parks within the beltway, they should also call US Park Police immediately at (202) 610-7500.”

While redevelopment is paused, Columbia Pike strip mall owner steps up cleaning and security

By Jo DeVoe
1/4

Growing community concerns and a visit from county code enforcement have prompted a local property manager to clean and secure its vacant storefronts on Columbia Pike.

Some retail bays at the Fillmore Gardens Shopping Center, on the 2600 block of the Pike, have stood empty for a year as the strip mall awaited redevelopment. That includes the former spaces of Atilla’s restaurant, apparel store Legends Kicks and the Black Heritage Museum of Arlington.

The retail strip was set to become an apartment with a ground-floor grocery store — rumored to be an Amazon Fresh — as well as a new location for the existing CVS, which is still open. When the grocery tenant pulled out in December, developer Insight Property Group struggled to secure loans for the project. The work is paused until economic conditions improve.

The vacant storefronts attracted break-ins, graffiti and vermin — adding insult to the injury of millions of dollars spent on the project so far, according to Harald Mangold, a representative for the property owner. These conditions led the code enforcement division of Arlington County to condemn the buildings earlier this month.

Mangold tells ARLnow they got to work in response to the neon orange notice stickers.

“We hired someone to clean out all the old buildings,” he said. “They’re empty and clean versus empty and dirty — and boarded up properly.”

When the tenants moved out last May, Mangold said they were not required to clean out their storefronts completely because they were set to be bulldozed soon. As a result, flammable items were left inside, including furniture and old kitchen equipment.

People began breaking in and some slept inside the buildings sporadically, prompting the owners to hire off-duty police officers to keep watch over the property.

After work over the last week, Mangold said, the issues raised in the condemnation notice are “essentially resolved.”

“There’s nothing dangerous,” he said. “We just need to keep people from getting in and breaking in.”

While, Mangold says workers have been washing away graffiti — only for it to return a few days later. Although it is a chief complaint for some neighbors, he disputes the notion that it is worse here than other parts of the Pike or the region.

Penrose Civic Association Alex Sakes has been following goings-on at the shopping center closely and fielding concerns from neighbors about the blighted conditions.

He says he is meeting with leadership at the Arlington County Police Department, county staff and the Columbia Pike Partnership leadership to discuss the “State of the Pike,” particularly as it relates to buildings defaced by spray paint along the corridor.

The meeting will “get everyone up-to-speed on this ever-evolving situation and work together to put together an actionable game-plan and next steps regarding the 2600 block and graffiti mitigation,” he said.

As for the future of the Fillmore Gardens Shopping Center, Sakes says local leaders are still brainstorming whether to fill the buildings with pop-ups. With the condemnation notices, that would depend on the buildings being deemed safe, he said.

“Regarding the funding mechanisms, maybe the county can step in and help subsidize alongside various nonprofit entities like [Columbia Pike Partnership] and others,” he said. “But, again, that’s all in the brainstorming phase at the moment, first step would be getting the building deemed fit for occupancy.”

Mangold says the owners are working on that.

“We’re trying to find solutions,” he said. “It’s not ideal but we are committed to the neighborhood and we remain good neighbors.”

Light turnout so far for Democratic primary in Arlington

By ARLnow.com
1/3

Just under 10% of voters have cast ballots in today’s Democratic primary as of 9 a.m.

That includes 7% who voted early or by mail and 2% voting at the polls Tuesday morning, according to Arlington County election officials.

Today’s primary, for the first time in Arlington, features the use of ranked choice voting, for the six-way race for the two open Arlington County Board seats. Voters are asked to fill in the bubble for up to three candidates, in order of priority — one each for first, second and third choice.

The County Board race has seen a wide range of endorsements and one particularly divisive issue dividing candidate factions: the recently-passed Missing Middle housing ordinance allowing smaller-scale multifamily homes in neighborhoods previously zoned only for single-family detached houses.

The other closely watched race today is that for Arlington and Falls Church’s top prosecutor, between incumbent Parisa Dehghani-Tafti and her former deputy, Josh Katcher.

The incumbent Commonwealth’s Attorney has continued to campaign — and raise significant campaign funding — on her national profile as a justice reformer. Katcher says he supports a more practical and effective implementation of justice reform, and has picked up an endorsement from the local police union amid a rise in crime, according to recent police statistics.

The race has also seen Katcher face some criticism for taking campaign contributions from Republicans.

Additional races include a three-way race for county Sheriff, a two-way race for State Senate (40th District), and a race for House of Delegates (2nd District) featuring one active candidate, Adele McClure, and Kevin Saucedo-Broach, who withdrew but remains on ballots.

Though turnout today is light compared to years in which federal races are on the primary ballot, it is in line with the last four-year cycle, in 2019, when Dehghani-Tafti defeated incumbent Theo Stamos for Commonwealth’s Attorney. Total voter turnout in that race was just under 17%.

Polls opened today at 6 a.m. and will close at 7 p.m.

While the results of most races should be known within a few hours, the final tally for County Board will take a few days — potentially extending into the weekend — due to how ranked choice votes are tabulated, including the need to wait until all legal mailed-in ballots are received

ARLnow previously asked candidates to write essays describing why Arlington voters should support them. Links to those posts are below.

Commonwealth’s Attorney: Josh Katcher and Parisa Dehghani-Tafti. County Board: Tony Weaver, Jonathan Dromgoole, JD Spain, Maureen Coffey, Susan Cunningham, and Natalie Roy. Sheriff: Jose Quiroz, James Herring, and Wanda Younger. State Senate: Barbara Favola.

Update at 1:50 p.m. — Primary day turnout is up to about 5%, bringing total turnout to 12%, according to the county elections office.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
1/6

It’s Primary Day — Voting is now underway for today’s local Democratic primary. Links to candidate essays are as follows. Commonwealth’s Attorney: Josh Katcher and Parisa Dehghani-Tafti. County Board: Tony Weaver, Jonathan Dromgoole, JD Spain, Maureen Coffey, Susan Cunningham, and Natalie Roy. Sheriff: Jose Quiroz, James Herring, and Wanda Younger. State Senate: Barbara Favola.

More Bad Driving on I-395 — From Dave Statter on Monday: “The driver of a white SUV, going a bit faster than everyone else, lost control & went airborne for a moment after smashing into a guardrail on I-395N at Boundary Channel last night.” Statter on Saturday: “This Camaro sure took an interesting path. It came from the Rt 27 ramp to I-395S (from Col. Pike) & crossed 2 other ramps. The evidence shows up quite well on the @VaDOT cam.” [Twitter, Twitter]

‘Memorial’ Signs to Be Removed — “The problem is the sign was apparently mounted anonymously on the state-funded bridge without the permission of either the Virginia Transportation Department or NOVA Parks, which supervises the W&OD trail that crosses the bridge. A VDOT spokeswoman told the News-Press that they knew nothing of the sign and referred queries to NOVA Parks. The nonprofit’s board member Mike Nardolilli said, ‘The sign is not authorized by NOVA Parks or VDOT and will be coming down.'” [Falls Church News-Press]

Another Record for Wardian — “Wardian doesn’t just run marathons — he lives at their pace. In May, the Michigan State lacrosse alum woke at 3:45am, drove to Fredericksburg, and smashed the world record for the fastest half-marathon wearing a lacrosse kit (1:24:01). That night, he led his Beltway Lacrosse team to a championship victory. In between: a DC Bocce League championship, which his team lost in the semifinals. ‘I was shook, man.'” [Axios]

W-L Standout Seniors Sign — “Seven standout senior athletes from Washington-Liberty High School were present for a recent ceremony at the school to sign national letters of intent to play college sports during the 2023-24 season.” [Gazette Leader]

Metro Fare Evasion Crackdown — “A push to hold police accountable, reduce incarceration and prioritize alternatives to mandatory minimum sentences after George Floyd’s murder is giving way to calls for more law and order as rising violence in cities and transit systems unsettles even the staunchest of liberal strongholds.” [Washington Post]

It’s Tuesday — A slight chance of rain after 2pm. Cloudy, with a high near 80. East wind 8 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. At night: A chance of rain, mainly after 2am. Cloudy, with a low around 66. [Weather.gov]

JUST IN: Woman stabbed to death in Virginia Square apartment building

By ARLnow.com
File photo

(Updated at 3:25 p.m.) A man is in custody and a woman is dead after an early morning stabbing in Virginia Square.

The grisly incident happened around 5 a.m. at Terwilliger Place, the recently built apartment building on the American Legion Post 139 site at 3445 Washington Blvd.

Police were called for a stabbing at an apartment that had a history of domestic violence calls, according to initial reports, then arrived to find a horrific crime scene in a hallway and an unresponsive, critically injured woman.

The man was arrested by officers in the lobby, according to scanner traffic. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police were still on scene investigating as of 8 a.m. This is the second reported homicide in Arlington so far this year, after one in the Buckingham neighborhood in March.

Arlington County police issued the following press release about the homicide this afternoon.

The Arlington County Police Department’s Homicide/Robbery Unit is announcing the arrest of a suspect following an investigation into a domestic-related homicide in Ballston-Virginia Square. Alimamy Fornah, 35, of Arlington, VA has been charged with Murder.

At approximately 4:58 a.m. on June 19, police were dispatched to the 3400 block of Washington Boulevard for the report of a stabbing. The preliminary investigation indicates the victim and suspect were inside their shared apartment when they became involved in a verbal dispute, during which the suspect stabbed the victim resulting in lacerations. Responding officers located the critically injured victim in the hallway of the residential building and immediately attempted lifesaving measures before she was pronounced deceased on scene. The suspect was located in the building and taken into custody without incident. He was transported to an area hospital for treatment of injuries considered non-life threatening.

The victim has been identified as Shontae Crawford, 37, of Arlington, VA. Cause of death will be determined by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

This is the second homicide in Arlington County in 2023. This remains an active criminal investigation and anyone with information related to this incident is asked to contact the Arlington County Police Department’s Homicide/Robbery Unit at 703-228-4180 or [email protected] or anonymously through the Arlington County Crime Solvers hotline at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).  For additional community resources and contact information, visit our website.

A man of the same name and approximate age as Fornah was arrested in 2013 and charged with abducting a then-26-year-old woman and her young son from a preschool in Prince William County.

Young black bear spotted in Arlington

By ARLnow.com
1/2

There is a bear roaming around part of Arlington.

The Animal Welfare League of Arlington says that a young black bear was spotted in the area of Windy Run Park. The park is located north of Lorcom Lane near the Riverwood and Woodmont neighborhoods.

AWLA says it’s hoping that the bear eventually moves on and “make his way out of the county.” In the meantime, it is advising residents in the area to stay vigilant, keep pets inside and take down bird feeders.

More from a social media post:

The Animal Welfare League of Arlington has received several reported sightings of a juvenile black bear in the Windy Run Park area of Arlington County.

AWLA’s current plan is to allow the bear to make his way out of the county. We are asking residents to be aware of their surroundings and stay away from the bear if sighted. DO NOT seek him out or attempt to approach. We highly recommend that residents keep their pets inside, take down bird feeders and make sure that trash is secured or brought indoors.

Sightings can be reported to AWLA’s Animal Control team at (703) 931-9241. Thank you!

Here is what you need to know ranking your Arlington County Board picks

By Jo DeVoe
Voting in Courthouse (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Just a few days remain to vote in the Arlington County Democratic primary.

Voters can cast their ballots early and in-person today (Friday) and tomorrow — or they can hit the polls on Tuesday.

This year, for the first time, residents are using ranked-choice voting to determine which Arlington County Board candidates will run with a (D) next to their names in the November general election. The format for every other primary contest is unchanged.

This article explains how to vote, how your vote is counted and why full results may come next weekend. At the minimum, this is what you should know:

  1. Anyone registered to vote, regardless of party, can participate in the primary.
  2. You can rank up to three of the six County Board candidates. You can only rank one or two if you want.
  3. Only two candidates will get the nomination.
  4. Only mark one oval per column and ask for assistance if you need help.

Filling out your ballot

Need a visual? This Arlington County flier provides step-by-step instructions:

Ranked-choice voting flier (via Arlington County) 

The scanner will reject ballots that look as follows.

Ranked-choice voting ballot errors (via Arlington County)

“Voters have the option to mark a new ballot or cast their ballot with the errors,” Arlington Dept. of Elections Director Gretchen Reinemeyer says. “A vast majority choose to spoil their original ballot and mark a new ballot.”

If you mailed in a ballot with errors, it will be reviewed.

“Their ballots are scanned after they are separated from the voter’s name to preserve voter privacy,” Reinemeyer says. “These ballots are held until election day and will be adjudicated by teams of election officers to determine voter intent.”

The rate of spoiled ballots so far this primary season is a little higher than normal, but still small, she noted. Final stats on spoiled ballots will be published after the election.

How are the winners picked? 

Liz White, the executive director of UpVote Virginia, tells ARLnow she used this analogy to explain tabulation when her organization educated Arlingtonians on ranked-choice voting.

You have $1 to spend to elect someone. Everyone pays their first pick $1 and whoever gets the least amount of money is eliminated.

A candidate who wins by a large margin does not need the full $1 — just, for instance, 70 cents. Your second pick gets 30 cents.

If your first-place candidate is eliminated, your second-place pick gets your full $1. Everyone has a whole vote: for some, it is split among two and for others, it supports the second-place pick.

Armed with this knowledge, White says do not get too strategic.

“One of the nice things is that voters don’t have to be pundits,” she said. “They can truly say, ‘If I don’t have this one candidate, I want to have this one.'”

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Chronic staffing shortages top of mind for Arlington County Sheriff candidates — with a side of pickleball

By Jo DeVoe
Jail entrance at the Arlington County Detention Facility (file photo)

The pickleball craze could be headed to the local jail next.

Acting Sheriff Jose Quiroz, who is one of three vying for the support of local Democrats in the primary this coming Tuesday, said that one amenity he would like to add to the jail is a pickleball court.

In an interview by Arlington Independent Media (AIM), he said the court is “something different” — in addition to the existing basketball court and weight-lifting area in the jail — that deputies and inmates could use. He sees the additional court as a way to improve deputy wellness.

He also intends to add a relaxation room in the jail for deputies and to have wellness conversations with staff, facilitated by local nonprofit Center for Youth and Family Advocacy.

Those two measures are intended to stop the office from bleeding burned-out staff, a pattern in Arlington reflected nationally that sources say appears to be worsening within the Sheriff’s Office, with some deputies actively planning their departures. Already, the vacancy rate stands around 7%, up from a little greater than 3% in 2019, according to the 2024 approved budget.

“Our staffing all around is low,” Quiroz said in the interview. “We have a lot of vacancies.”

He is running against Arlington County police officer James Herring and retired sheriff deputy Wanda Younger. Early voting ends tomorrow (Saturday), while polls open for the Democratic primary on Tuesday. Quiroz’s opponents say they also have ideas for addressing what they say are morale and retention issues in the Arlington County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO).

Herring says the issue stems from deputies being forced to work overtime. They will leave Arlington for jurisdictions with better schedules.

If elected, he intends to advocate for better pay and benefits and, with input from deputies, create more balanced schedules that provide career growth opportunities and mentorship.

“If you can’t hire people faster than people leave your agency, it doesn’t matter how good your recruiting is,” Herring told ARLnow. “Losing a veteran deputy means more than just losing a filled position. It means that you’re losing their years of experience, their ability to mentor younger deputies, and their established connections with those in custody and in the community.”

(Herring’s AIM interview was just posted online this morning.)

He recently picked up endorsements from Abby Raphael, a former Arlington School Board member who also served as an assistant prosecutor, and former independent County Board member John Vihstadt. Both praised his plans for also improving inmate wellbeing.

Younger suggests ending the Sheriff’s unilateral ability to hire and fire deputies without cause. She also suggests relying more on auxiliary deputies — trained civilian volunteers, certified by the state, who sometimes have military or law enforcement experience.

“Hiring is definitely an issue. Retention is a main problem as well,” Younger said in her conversation with AIM. “In order to ensure they remain, we have to increase morale. That’s one area I would focus on.”

Quiroz has the endorsement of several other current and former local and state elected officials, as well as his predecessor, Beth Arthur, who stepped down in January and appointed Quiroz as acting sheriff.

ACSO has tried to tackle the staffing crunch by appointing a sergeant to assist with recruiting — which resulted in more applications processed and a slightly faster hiring window — and budgeting $20,000 in the 2024 budget for recruiting.

The sheriff’s office serves warrants, runs the county jail and provides security at the courthouse, in addition to some other local law and traffic enforcement responsibilities. One impact of the shortages has been fewer deputies providing security in courtrooms and more civilian court security supervisors filling in.

(more…)

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