Opinion

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.

As the County slow walks the “independent, third-party review” of the infamous $1 million Super Stop, recently released documents under Virginia FOIA reveal an even bigger fiasco than first reported.

We now know that in 2003, the County contracted with the consulting firm Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum (HOK) for Super Stop design work then estimated to cost about $470,000. For that kind of money, the County staff was entitled to go back and forth with HOK on minutiae, but on basics like protection from the rain nobody seemed to be paying attention. The focus on minute details and the contractor’s responsibility for “construction administration” refute the County Board’s attempt to shift blame to WMATA.

Now, the County Board has promised an independent, third-party review of what happened. That is exactly what we need. But, incredibly, a May 2013 internal County staff memorandum proposes that the same consulting firm (HOK) that created the Super Stop design be rehired to do this review.

Here is the County staff’s logic: “The intent of this work is to only have design modifications made, whereas if a different design firm were used, the concern is that an entire re-design would take place which would increase the project costs and schedule.”

County staff wants to hire (or rather re-hire) the fox to guard the henhouse. Hopefully, it’s not too late for someone to overrule this staff recommendation and get the independent review we were promised.

The continuing $1 million Super Stop fiasco is yet another red flag for the $310 million Columbia Pike streetcar proposal. The Federal Transit Administration concluded that the County Board underestimated this proposal’s cost by $60 million, and therefore Arlington and Fairfax counties were not entitled to the $75 million grant for which they had applied under the federal “Small Starts” program. The contractor who developed the cost estimate that was off by $60 million was AECOM, and Arlington paid them millions of dollars for that work.

The County has promised, but not yet delivered, a truly-independent review of a one million dollar Super Stop.
There are at least 310 times more reasons for the County to make and deliver on the same promise regarding the proposed streetcar.

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 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.

The hit show Parks & Recreation is “a hilarious ensemble comedy” that follows its lead character (played by SNL’s Amy Poehler), “a mid-level bureaucrat in the Parks and Recreation Department of Pawnee, Indiana, and her tireless efforts to make her quintessentially American town just a little bit more fun.”

Recent news about a private developer’s proposal to build a sports and entertainment facility in Alexandria — a facility containing many elements that are “strikingly similar” to Arlington’s planned Aquatics Center — again raises issues for Arlington that are a little bit less fun.

The Alexandria private proposal is just the latest evidence that Arlington’s Aquatics Center contains elements that exceed the type of core services for which Arlington should pay, or elements that are too extravagant, or both.

Of course, Arlington should be offering a series of geographically-dispersed swimming and recreational facilities at public expense. I applaud Arlington for working diligently to do that. But, the Aquatics Center at Long Bridge Park goes far beyond that to include “a 50 meter by 25 yard fitness and competition pool, a family leisure pool, a hot water therapy pool, a ‘teaching pool’, and a ‘free-form water play area’ that will …have a lazy river, slides, play features, and a zero-depth ‘beach’ entry.”

Just because there was a long public process during which many Arlington residents supported having the public pay for these features, or because there are many Arlington residents who might use these features, doesn’t make it right. Many of these design elements at the Aquatics Center are elements that either ought to be provided by the private sector or not provided.

This is precisely the reason why Arlington County Board Chair Walter Tejada’s comments about the Alexandria proposal miss the mark: “For our project we are looking to be inclusive, so people of all incomes and backgrounds will have access to our facilities… whereas in a private facility it’s for profit and the purpose is whatever the personal group sets forth.”

Arlington shouldn’t be making these kinds of design elements available at public expense to any members of the public because it is not an appropriate government function to do so.

The County Board has erred on this and other issues because the Board lacks a systematic framework for deciding which core services of government deserve funding in the first place.

It’s long past time for the Board to develop such a framework.

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 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.

In an earlier column, I explained why Virginia Republican Governor Bob McDonnell’s willingness to use a $15,000 gift from a Virginia businessman to pay for food at McDonnell’s daughter’s wedding was a serious lapse of ethical judgment — regardless whether the failure to report that gift violated Virginia’s notoriously lax conflict of interest laws.

Under existing Virginia law, public officials are allowed to accept gifts of any value (even $1 million!), provided only that they disclose gifts valued at more than $50. McDonnell has attempted to defend himself with respect to his failure to disclose the $15,000 gift on the grounds that the gift was to his daughter, not to him.

Little did I realize when I wrote that earlier column that Governor McDonnell and his family also have been guilty of a significant number of other bewildering and inexcusable ethical lapses involving charging Virginia taxpayers for various personal expenses. Those expenses included dog vitamins, sunscreen, body wash, nasal spray, sleep inducing elixirs, and a “digestive system detox cleanse.”

The dollar amounts of money improperly charged to taxpayers for these personal items do not appear to be of the same magnitude as the earlier $15,000 gift, but the insensitive and tone-deaf mindset revealed by these charges is even more troubling.

Regardless whether “it’s against the law,” elected officials have an obligation to set an example for the public by adhering to the highest standards of ethical behavior. They should be asking themselves this question: “if this is made public, what is the average person likely to say?”

If the average person is likely to say the behavior is wrong, then that same person will be justifiably unimpressed by an elected official’s defense that what was done “isn’t illegal in Virginia” or “is okay because the money I received was less than [insert dollar amount that triggers some legal liability.]”

When elected officials are in a position to grant public benefits to a private person or company, they just shouldn’t accept gifts from that person or company beyond some token amount (say, $50 or $100). Nor should they enter into any contractual relationship with that person or company — period.

Just because Virginia law says it’s legal, it doesn’t make it right.

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 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.

In a recent State of the County address to the Arlington Chamber of Commerce, Arlington County Board Chair Walter Tejada was quoted as saying, “Arlington is facing some economic uncertainty. One of the worst things…is to be complacent. It’s time to reinvent ourselves once again”.

I agree. Warning signs cry out for reinvention, adjustment, and change to county government policies and practices. One of the striking signs, noted in Tejada’s own address, is the county’s disturbingly high office vacancy rate of 17 percent –and rising. This is the new normal to which the county must adapt.

However, what struck me was that Tejada’s address highlighted a series of attempted defenses of various current county policies and practices, but did not mention the process the Arlington County government intends to pursue to reinvent any county policy or practice.

For example, Tejada extensively attempted to defend current Arlington County policies and practices with respect to the Artisphere, the National Science Foundation move to Alexandria, and the Columbia Pike streetcar.

I have previously explained the reasons why county policies and practices need to change with respect to the:

• Artisphere
• National Science Foundation
• Columbia Pike Streetcar

Anyone has a right to argue in favor of no change in the county government positions on these — or any other — issues. But, if you are giving a State of the County address in which you advise the audience that the county government needs to reinvent itself, but you fail to provide even a single example of a change to be implemented, how can that qualify as providing the foundation for the reinvention you say is needed?

The definition of reinvent is to change. As one dictionary puts it: “to remake as if from the very beginning: to reinvent government.”

The only fair conclusion is that the Arlington County government is guilty of the very complacency against which Chairman Tejada warned in his address to the Arlington Chamber.

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.