Civic Federation

Civic Federation Makes Budget Recommendations

By ARLnow.com

The Arlington County Civic Federation will discuss the county and school budgets at its monthly meeting tonight.

At the meeting, the federation’s revenues and expenditures committee will reveal its suggested modifications to the county manager’s budget.

Among the recommendations:

  • A one-time 1.6 cent real estate tax reduction. (The manager’s budget recommends that real estate taxes hold steady at 95.8 cents per $100 in value.)
  • A $250,000 allocation for basic repairs to the Lubber Run Amphitheater
  • Only $400,000 for continued operations at the money-losing Artisphere, half the amount requested by staff.
  • Rejection of $239,000 in school funds for the David M. Brown Planetarium. The Federation calls for the planetarium to be supported with county funds, not school funds.

The meeting will start at 7:30 p.m. in the Hazel Conference Center at Virginia Hospital Center (1701 N George Mason Drive).

Kelly: Board is Out of Touch, Needs Diversity of Opinion

By ARLnow.com

Republican County Board candidate Mark Kelly says county government spending is out of control and he’s the man to help reign it in. If elected to replace incumbent Democrat Chris Zimmerman, Kelly said he would bring “diversity of opinion” to the “out of touch” county board.

“Between 2000 and 2009, the all-Democrat county board increased spending at a rate nearly three times inflation,” Kelly said in this opening remarks at Tuesday night’s Civic Federation debate. “Mr.  Zimmerman recently called that ‘cautious and careful fiscal management… only inside the Beltway would we call that cautious and careful fiscal management.'”

Kelly proposes to scrap the $150 million Columbia Pike trolley system, championed by Zimmerman. If elected, Kelly said he would push for the release of all county spending information online and support a 10 percent pay cut for board members to help pay for it.

Zimmerman, meanwhile, cited the rosy state of the county’s economy and standard of living as evidence that Arlington is on the right track. He rattled off a list of accolades recently received by the county: best place to weather the recession, best place to raise a child, top 10 intelligent cities in the world, and the highest fiscal rating by bond agencies.

“I’m proud of what we achieved,” Zimmerman said.

In particular, Zimmerman said he was proud of promoting smart growth, public transportation — including the creation of the ART bus system — and affordable housing.

“When you have prosperity, affordable housing becomes more of a problem,” Zimmerman said. “That’s what makes it the thing we have to work the most on.”

On the topic of zoning, Kelly called for more flexibility in the county’s dealing with local business. He said the recent controversy over dog murals in Shirlington and the three-and-a-half hour board discussion about signage and cafe seating is evidence the county is “micromanaging businesses.”

For his part, Zimmerman called for “new strategies to meet the needs of small business.”

“I continue to be dedicated to Arlington’s participatory tradition in planning and government,” he said.

(more…)

School Board Candidates Talk Planetarium, Overcrowding

By ARLnow.com

Miriam Gennari, the Green Party candidate for school board, made her case for why she should replace incumbent Sally Baird last night. To Gennari, the biggest challenges facing Arlington Public Schools come down to sustainability and environmental stewardship.

“The questions that we’re going to face have more to do with our environment than anything else,” Gennari said. “As we continue to plan our community to become more dense… we have to determine how we can best make those transitions while not having a negative affect on our children.”

Gennari touted her fight against styrofoam in school cafeterias two years ago. She also questioned the nearly $100 million spent on a Washington-Lee High School that opened in 2008 and is already overcrowded.

Baird, meanwhile, emphasized student achievement, saying she wants to continue her efforts to boost the graduation rate.

“First and foremost, we’re about helping kids achieve,” she said.

Baird recounted that when she ran four years ago, the student population was declining and someone asked if she “would have the courage to close a school.”

“There are generational trends going on here, so we have to be very careful about how we manage it… understand that in some places where the population is growing it’s not going to keep growing,” Baird said.

Both candidates were asked about the planetarium, which was set for closure under the superintendent’s latest school budget. The 40-year-old facility was saved by the efforts of the Friends of the Planetarium, a coalition of concerned citizens who agreed to raise funds for renovations.

(more…)

“Constitution” Outburst Interrupts Candidate Q&A

By ARLnow.com

“Do you believe in the Constitution, and do you follow it?”

That’s the question one man really, really wanted to ask of the three 8th District congressional candidates at a Civic Federation-sponsored debate Tuesday night. The moderator tried to move on to the next question before the candidates could answer, at which point the man began yelling.

Eventually, the candidates answered the question to get the guy to stop screaming. It’s not clear whether he actually expected anyone to answer “no.”

We have audio of the exchange, below.

Congressional Candidates Spar in Civic Federation Debate

By ARLnow.com

At a candidate forum sponsored by the Arlington Civic Federation, Republican Patrick Murray kicked off the post-Labor Day campaign season with an aggressive assault on the economic and spending record of ten-term incumbent Democratic congressman Jim Moran, previewing what will likely be a spirited two months of campaigning.

“Congress… is full of career politicians who are addicted to spending your taxpayer dollars and who will say and do anything to get re-elected,” Murray said in his opening remarks. “At the heart of that, ladies and gentleman, is my opponent, Mr. Moran.”

“For 20 years, he has spent taxpayer dollars… and what has it gotten us?” Murray asked. “We’ve got deficits as far as the eye can see. We’ve got unemployment that continues to go up. We’ve got $13 trillion of debt.”

Moran readily admitted that he has used his seniority on the House Appropriations Committee to steer money to the 8th District. But he said the money has made life better here — primarily by producing jobs.

“I earmark a lot of money through the appropriations process,” Moran said. “I do support federal spending, and I support the federal government… I’m doing everything I can to keep federal facilities here.”

Moran noted that Arlington has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country and has recently been named a one of the most “livable” communities in the nation.

Later, Murray took a shot at a television appearance in which Moran said the economy had recovered.

“Jim just doesn’t get it. The other day on Hardball with Chris Matthews, he [said] ‘I don’t know why everyone is so upset… the economy is recovered,'” Murray said to cackling laughter among his supporters. “On what planet has it recovered?”

During a question and answer session with Civic Federation delegates, Moran was asked about a glossy, 16-page newsletter his congressional office mailed out over the summer at taxpayer expense.

(more…)

Civic Federation Candidate Forum Underway

By ARLnow.com

It’s a packed house at Virginia Hospital Center’s Hazel Conference Center, where a debate between the local candidates for congress, county board and school board is about to get underway.

First observation of the night: lots of Murray signs on George Mason Drive on the way up to the hospital. Didn’t spot any Moran signs.

(Update: The first controversy of the night. The county Office of Voter Registration tweets that candidate signs are prohibited until 30 days before the election.)

The congressional candidate debate between incumbent Jim Moran (Democrat) and challengers Patrick Murray (Republican) and Ron Fisher (Green) started at 7:45 p.m. Patrick Murray spoke first, and received loud applause.

Update at 8:00 p.m. — Murray largely focuses on Moran, and Moran talked mostly about Moran. Moran also received loud applause, mixed with some whistling.

8:05 — Question for Moran on his controversial mailer from the indefatigable Bob Atkins. Moran says the mailing cost some $100k, not $1 million as Murray alleged. Murray on glossy mailer: “I thought it was a quarterly stock report from Goldman Sachs.”

(more…)