Opinion

The Right Note: What Else is on the Ballot?

By Mark Kelly

The Right Note is a weekly opinion column published on Thursdays. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

Mark KellyIf you are like me, your attention has been focused on the ongoing drama surrounding the government slowdown and not as much on local news over the past two weeks. In addition to the statewide, General Assembly and local races on the ballot in November is the referendum to create an Arlington public housing authority. The issue had not received a good deal of coverage before the slowdown drama, and I am not sure the yard signs its supporters have now deployed will do much to break through the noise.

The proponents of the referendum say Arlington’s current approach to affordable housing has proven ineffective in keeping up with the market forces that are driving up housing prices. They argue we should try the approach used by Fairfax County and the City of Alexandria and bring Arlington’s efforts directly under the county’s umbrella rather than using existing public-private partnerships. They say that it would leverage local dollars to obtain additional federal assistance and reduce duplication of efforts.

The opponents of a public housing authority say Arlington already spends a higher percentage of its budget than neighboring jurisdictions without adding to government bureaucracy. This argument actually united the local Democrat and Republican Parties in opposition in 2008.

It has done so again this year. At their September meeting, Republicans debated the merits of getting more bang for our taxpayer dollars, but ultimately decided they could not be assured Arlingtonians would get more value by creating a new local government agency.

There is a lot of valid criticism to be had for how the Arlington County Board “negotiates” with developers. The negotiations often come down to a set of demands a developer must meet. Developers are usually willing to quietly go along with the Board’s demands in exchange for more density than they would otherwise be entitled to. The Green Party, which is backing the referendum, opposes the additional density as well.

Outside of affordable housing, such negotiations have led to empty ground floor retail, an empty art gallery space, and proposed construction of a taxpayer-subsidized black box theater. One could argue strongly that the Board’s planning record leaves a lot to be desired, and that maybe a change to its approach on housing is in order.

While I must admit that part of me would like to strike a blow against the County Board’s business as usual approach, I have to agree with my fellow Republicans on this one. There is no guarantee a public housing authority get additional results on affordable housing, but we would guarantee the expansion of local government. And as regular readers here know, I think we pay too much in taxes for a government that is already big enough.

Mark Kelly is a former Arlington GOP Chairman and two-time Republican candidate for Arlington County Board.

Peter’s Take: Arlington Should Lead Now on Ethics Reform

By Peter Rousselot

Peter’s Take is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

Peter RousselotLast week brought the welcome news that the Arlington School Board has put out for comment a new draft policy to set stricter limits on the circumstances under which School Board employees and elected School Board members may accept gifts. Congratulations to the School Board for taking the lead in this area.

It’s time for the Arlington County Board to do the same.

The current Arlington County Ethics Policy is much too vague and weak. On the subject of gifts, for example, the current Arlington County policy urges its employees to “ensure that no favors, gifts, gratuities or benefits are received for actions taken.” This provision simply urges county employees not to violate current Virginia criminal law. Arlington County can do much better than this.

As months of scandalous disclosures about Star Scientific, Gov. Bob McDonnell and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli have demonstrated, current Virginia criminal law has become a national laughingstock because of what it allows rather than what it forbids. Should Arlington County be satisfied simply by telling its employees: “don’t be criminals?” No.

Nor should the County Board wait around to find out what the Virginia legislature might do next year in this area. Like the School Board, the County Board should start to work now because defining higher ethical standards correctly will take some time.

Fortunately, the County Board does not have to reinvent the wheel. There are models available to use as a starting point. For example, the office of the New York State Comptroller has created a model code of ethics for municipalities.

Even though the New York model code was created for local governments in that state, almost all of the issues it addresses are generic issues that should be addressed by a county in Virginia as well. Examples of such issues include:

  • Gifts (Section 17)
  • Recusal (Section 6)
  • Investments (Section 8)
  • Board of Ethics (Section 18)

As I wrote in an earlier column about Gov. McDonnell: just because something might not be illegal, doesn’t make it ethical.

Arlington County can and should set higher ethical standards for its employees and elected County Board members than those set by Virginia’s criminal laws.

It’s time to get started.

Peter Rousselot is a former member of the Central Committee of the Democratic Party of Virginia and former chair of the Arlington County Democratic Committee.

Peter’s Take: On the NRA’s $500,000 Ad Campaign

By Peter Rousselot

Peter’s Take is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

Peter RousselotLast Friday, the Washington Post revealed that the National Rifle Association has committed to spend half a million dollars in negative advertising against Terry McAuliffe in the Virginia Governor’s race.

This NRA announcement prompted McAuliffe to say that he is “a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. I’m a hunter. I own guns. … There are certain individuals who just should not own a gun.”  Cuccinelli responded that no new laws are needed because “Virginia has excelled at ‘screening out people with mental illness from gun purchases’ and ‘prosecuting people who attempt to buy guns illegally’.”

Whatever it might have stood for decades ago, the NRA today is simply a trade association of gun manufacturers who want to sell as many guns as possible. The NRA and other extreme opponents of reasonable gun laws are fond of the slogan, “guns don’t kill people; people kill people.” This NRA slogan is worthless in helping us decide whether new laws are needed to reduce gun violence.

We need to scrap the NRA’s slogan, and use our own common sense: a combination of guns and people kill people.

If we could do away with the worthless slogans and extreme partisanship surrounding this issue, it would be easier for folks to sit down together and develop reasonable solutions. We need to keep an open mind to solutions including, but not limited to, new laws that address the role of both people and guns in violent gun deaths.

Advocates of stricter gun laws also ought to be supporting more:

  • mental health screening,
  • mental health treatment, and
  • effective sharing of mental health data

Gun rights advocates also ought to be supporting reasonable:

  • restrictions on sales of weapons designed for modern warfare,
  • restrictions on bulk sales of massive amounts of ammunition, and
  • universal background checks prior to gun sales

Aaron Alexis, the Navy Yard shooter, worked at a series of consulting assignments around the DC Metro area, including assignments in Arlington. Aaron Alexis purchased the gun he used in Lorton, Va..

We all have a stake in what should be done to prevent tragedies like those at the Navy Yard, Sandy Hook or Virginia Tech.

The next tragedy could easily happen in Arlington.

Peter Rousselot is a former member of the Central Committee of the Democratic Party of Virginia and former chair of the Arlington County Democratic Committee.

The Right Note: Kudos to the Civic Federation

By Mark Kelly

The Right Note is a weekly opinion column published on Thursdays. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

Mark KellyIf you missed the story in the midst of all the federal government slowdown news, the Civic Federation passed a resolution calling on the county to hire an internal, independent auditor. The vote was 40-2.

This idea is about more than the well-documented trolley cost under-estimate and the super stop fiasco. Arlington has an annual budget of more than $1 billion, hundreds of millions in cash on hand, and county debt of around $1 billion. Taxpayers simply deserve to receive financial information from an independent voice, similar to federal government offices of inspector general (OIG).

Like federal OIG offices, it is the hope of many of us who believe strongly in this concept, that new auditors will be given autonomy from the County Manager and County Board. Otherwise, taxpayers cannot have full confidence that findings were not in any way compromised by the chain of command.

Unlike the current budget impasse in Washington, the call for additional transparency and accountability from our county government is not a partisan issue. If you look at the Civic Federation executive committee, it is led by former Republican County Board candidate Michael McMenamin, but also has former Democratic County Board candidate Kim Klingler as a member. And of course, you cannot get 95 percent of the votes at the Civic Federation on a resolution without receiving votes from across the ideological spectrum.

The big question remaining is, why does the County Board continue to reject this idea?

One excuse most certain to be offered by the board is that we cannot afford it. To that I would respond — the Arlington County Board spent $1 million on a bus stop. And, the County Board will spend millions in closeout funds next month.

We deserve, and can afford, an inspector general to account for how each dollar is spent. If our elected officials do not provide this accountability, we can only assume the County Board and County Manager prefer to maintain total control over the dissemination of information about our taxpayer dollars are being spent.

Mark Kelly is a former Arlington GOP Chairman and two-time Republican candidate for Arlington County Board.

Morning Poll: What Are Federal Workers Doing to Pass the Time?

By ARLnow.com

Night view of the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument and Capitol from ArlingtonHundreds of thousands of federal workers are now on unpaid leave after Congress failed to reach an agreement on funding the government.

The furloughed workers spent part of Monday on the job, winding down their work in order to ensure as orderly a shutdown as possible. Today, they’re staying at home.

If you’re a government employee, what are you doing today to pass the time? Pick the answer that best represents your primary “time passing” activity today.
 

Morning Poll: Sponsored Content

By ARLnow.com

ARLnow logoARLnow.com is considering adding a new type of sponsored content, and we’d like our readers to weigh in on it.

Currently, we have two types of sponsored content: that written by us, and sponsored by an advertiser (e.g. Pet of the Week and Startup Monday); and content that’s written by an advertiser for the purpose of being informational and useful to readers, not directly self-promotional (e.g. Your Beermonger, Ask Adam).

So as to not flood our homepage with sponsored content, we limit the amount of sponsored articles to 1-2 posts per day.

Due to inquiries from advertisers, we are now considering adding a third type of sponsored content to the mix: a directly self-promotional article written by a local advertiser. The article would be clearly labeled as such. You’ve probably seen examples of such articles in newspapers and magazines, labeled as a “special advertising section.”

We would only accept articles from local businesses and organizations, and would not accept anything political in nature. Such articles would be published up to once a weekday, at 5:00 a.m., before the Morning Notes and other daily content.

Whereas newspapers and magazines are able to print extra pages to accommodate more advertising, the nature of the web means we have a fixed number of advertising positions. We think this type of sponsored content would allow us to generate extra income to fund our local reporting, would provide advertisers with an attractive new marketing option and would not clutter the page or be intrusive to readers.

What do you think?
 

If you’re a local business or organization and would like to know more about this potential opportunity, please email scott[at]arlnow.com.

Peter’s Take: Questions Remain About Arlington’s Cash Surplus

By Peter Rousselot

Peter’s Take is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

Peter RousselotIn a column last month, I urged Arlington County to explain the enormous growth in the size of its cash surplus relative to its operating budget.

Deputy County Manager Mark Schwartz took the time to write a detailed response. Mark deserves kudos for providing it.

Mark’s response presents some explanations that make sense, but provides other material that is cause for significant concern. Since Mark has referenced too much material to address adequately in one column, I’ll discuss today two aspects of that material: general cash management policy and the transportation capital fund.

General Cash Management Policy

The material Mark presented reveals the lack of a coherent, consistent policy for when, how, and under what circumstances taxpayer-funded cash ought to be accumulated in, and then spent from, the multiple different types of Arlington County funds he described.

Some funds have very specific purposes, accumulate cash for a short time, and then spend that cash on the purposes specified. That’s good, but the county ought to have a policy to do that for all its cash surplus funds.

By contrast, Arlington Public Schools does have a coherent, consistent cash management policy that is designed to apply to all its cash surplus funds: At APS, the fund balances don’t just sit there and grow indefinitely.

Transportation Capital Fund

Arlington County’s Transportation Capital Fund (TCF) is an example of a fund that is accumulating taxpayer cash without any adequate explanation for how and when the money will be spent.

Moreover, the following critical TCF details are missing:

  1. the expected cost of each of the individual projects specifically mentioned;
  2. how the total cost of all projects specifically mentioned compares with the total amount of money accumulated in the fund;
  3. the financing plans for any shortfall between the total cost of all projects specifically mentioned and the total amount in the fund, and
  4. how the county proposes to pay for other known and desired, but unmentioned, projects that are eligible for payment out of the fund.

Frankly, this lack of transparency with respect to the TCF suggests one of two things:

  1. lack of effective planning, or
  2. a cynical attempt to hide the county’s true intentions for deploying scarce taxpayer dollars.

Either way, this is not good financial management.

Peter Rousselot is a former member of the Central Committee of the Democratic Party of Virginia and former chair of the Arlington County Democratic Committee.

The Right Note: Studying the Trolley Again

By Mark Kelly

The Right Note is a weekly opinion column published on Thursdays. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

Mark KellyThe County Board announced it has awarded a $97,000 contract for yet another study of the Columbia Pike trolley. The study will look at data about the current trolley and bus plans versus bus-only alternatives.

In the past, the Board has ignored the data and input it does not believe fits the narrative that a trolley on Columbia Pike is, well, a big shiny ball of awesome. And, the consensus among people I talk to who are regular “Board watchers” is this study is a play to see if the Board can take another run at federal funding. As Chairman Tejada said, the trolley is “County Board policy.”

Not that you need reminding, but the trolley’s poster child thus far is a $1 million “super stop” that is so super, you cannot really stay dry under it when it rains. The “super stop” is for buses now, but is one of over 20 that will be used for the trolley as well.

One point about the not-so-super bus stop that is often missed in the debate is that it took 18 months to build. If you commute on Columbia Pike, imagine if it takes 18 months to install all the necessary infrastructure for the trolley. Worse, if you own a business along the Pike, imagine how many people will want to brave the construction to visit your store during the construction.

It is no secret that I have endorsed a bipartisan group of Arlingtonians who view this trolley project as a boondoggle. Arlingtonians for Sensible Transit not only opposes the trolley, but offers real insight into the alternatives. But, no cost estimates, usage data or public concerns have been able to move the Board from its position thus far.

Unfortunately, the Board’s ongoing “trolley at all costs” approach should not surprise us.

Thanks to Frank O’Leary, we know our Board has built up a record surplus after telling us for years that it was facing “tough choices” caused by “budget shortfalls”. After spending millions of dollars in excess revenues in the closeout process on non-budgeted items each fall, they have implored us to be OK with raising our taxes the next year because there was “just no way to avoid it.”

The average Board Member has 15 years of experience spending our money in this manner and are showing no signs of stopping. Until voters change a Board Member or two, it is safe to assume the Board will see no real incentive to change its behavior.

Mark Kelly is a former Arlington GOP Chairman and two-time Republican candidate for Arlington County Board.

The Right Note: Does One Endorsement Matter?

By Mark Kelly

The Right Note is a weekly opinion column published on Thursdays. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

Mark KellyLate last week, Terry McAuliffe lost the endorsement of a pro-business technology PAC here in Northern Virginia. After state Sen. Janet Howell (D-32) and others tried unsuccessfully to intervene on his behalf, with what amounted to threats of retaliation, the truth came about about the rationale behind the endorsement.

According to a Washington Post report, “. . . Cuccinelli had detailed responses to questions in candidate interviews, three board members said, while McAuliffe was uninformed and superficial . . .”

The Post story continued,

“He (McAuliffe) didn’t want to get pinned down to any details. He didn’t give any details.”

And.

“Two people present said that in response to a question about how he’d accomplish his goals as governor, McAuliffe told the PAC board that as an Irish Catholic he’d be adept at taking people out for drinks and doing whatever it takes to get things done.“

And.

Cuccinelli, by contrast, the person said, “was precise. He was thoughtful. He thought through all the issues. He had a clear position on all those issues, and he didn’t agree with the council on all the issues.”

To top it off, McAuliffe said, “I am not going to read every bill when I’m governor. I’m going to hire people to read them for me.”

So, to be clear, McAuliffe walked into an important interview with only vague ideas for what he wanted to do as governor. He had no clearly thought out positions on the issues that mattered to the people he was meeting with. He had no desire to read or understand legislation that would be up for his consideration. And, his fall back position was to invite people over for drinks.

Yet, his campaign was apparently shocked that he would not receive the endorsement. So much so in fact, that they made a desperate attempt to strong arm the organization to change its mind by saying they would be unwelcome in Democrat offices in Richmond.

It is fairly well established that McAuliffe’s claims about his business success with Franklin Pellets and GreenTech Automotive have little basis in reality. GreenTech is particularly egregious since McAuliffe claimed to have done so much, but when asked about why they were under SEC investigation seemed to know so little.

The bottom line is that McAuliffe’s qualifications as a “pro-business Democrat” were threatened by losing this endorsement. While one endorsement may not matter in the ultimate outcome on election day, it shows Terry McAuliffe’s “I’m not Ken Cuccinelli” campaign is starting to wear thin.

Mark Kelly is a former Arlington GOP Chairman and two-time Republican candidate for Arlington County Board.

Peter’s Take: Time to Finish the Job

By Peter Rousselot

Peter’s Take is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

Peter RousselotIt’s time to finish the job of providing Foreign Language in the Elementary School (FLES) programs at all Arlington public elementary schools.

As the Sun Gazette reported last week, parents at the elementary schools that currently lack FLES demanded again at the Sept. 12 School Board meeting that the School Board follow through on its repeated prior commitments to provide FLES. The School Board Chair re-affirmed that doing so is an APS priority. Parents who support finishing the job now are asking supporters to sign a petition.

This is a matter of simple fairness. Why is it taking so long?

The case for FLES in our globally competitive 21st century was made and adopted by APS years ago. It’s an excellent case, supported by many peer-reviewed studies that go back decades. The problem certainly is NOT that FLES lacks sufficient merit or that APS has not thoroughly studied FLES.

As I wrote in an earlier column, the major part of the problem lies with the County Board’s unnecessary spending on projects like the Aquatics Center, Artisphere, the Clarendon Dog Park, and the Columbia Pike streetcar. In the new normal for Arlington’s budget environment, the County Board’s improvident spending on such projects has made it harder for the School Board to complete its justified commitment to FLES.

Another reason the School Board may have been having trouble finishing the FLES job is that many Arlington teachers believe they should receive pay raises to make up for raises they didn’t get during the Great Recession, and that such raises should have a higher priority than completing the implementation of FLES. That’s a false choice.

Both these teachers and the parents who want the School Board to finish FLES are being constrained by the County Board’s misguided spending. It’s time for the teachers and the parents to join forces and tell the County Board to change its budget priorities.

Both Arlington’s residential and commercial real estate taxpayers are the common source of funding for all of these competing demands. Our public money is both fungible and finite across the entire spectrum of school and county spending.

Providing all of Arlington’s elementary school children with better opportunities to learn one language in addition to English deserves a higher priority than it has been getting.

Let’s finish implementing FLES now.

Peter Rousselot is a former member of the Central Committee of the Democratic Party of Virginia and former chair of the Arlington County Democratic Committee.

Morning Poll: Is Arlington the ‘Hoboken of Washington?’

By ARLnow.com

S.E. Cupp (photo via Twitter)Is Arlington the “Hoboken of Washington?”

That’s what conservative commentator S.E. Cupp said of her current home, during a party to celebrate the relaunch of CNN’s Crossfire earlier this week.

Cupp, who is one of the four co-hosts on the show, told the packed party crowd that, when she recently moved to Arlington from New York City, she didn’t realize she was moving to the “Hoboken of Washington.”

Hoboken, N.J. is a city of 50,000 situated on the Hudson River across from Manhattan. The city is noted for its upscale shops and condominiums, and bills itself as “America’s most walkable city” and a “bicycle friendly community.” The city’s website prominently features a flyer for the Hoboken Arts & Music Festival and a public service announcement about cleaning up pet waste.

Do you agree with Cupp’s analogy?
 

Photo via Twitter

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