County Board

Garvey Still Confident in Dorsey, Despite Fraud Allegation in Bankruptcy Case

By ARLnow.com

Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey says she has confidence in her Board colleague Christian Dorsey, despite his continued legal and financial troubles.

As first reported by the Washington Post, Dorsey’s long-running personal bankruptcy case was dismissed by a federal judge last week after Dorsey overstated his debt obligations in “an act of overt misrepresentation,” according to the bankruptcy trustee.

Dorsey told the Post that he “vigorously disputes” the allegation that he deliberately and fraudulently misrepresented his finances.

It’s not the first time that money issues have landed Dorsey in hot water. He failed to disclose a $10,000 political donation from a transit union, leading to his resignation from the WMATA board earlier this year. He promised to return the donation but initially failed to do so, at one point claiming that a check was lost in the mail, before finally delivering a cashier’s check in person to the union this summer.

Despite all the issues, Garvey said in a statement to ARLnow that Dorsey has her confidence.

“Throughout this most challenging year, Mr. Dorsey’s work and support have been extremely valuable as the Board and Arlington have navigated multiple challenges and crises,” Garvey said. “Because of my experience with Mr Dorsey this year and over past years, I am confident, despite his personal financial issues, that Mr. Dorsey has provided and continues to provide important service to the people of Arlington.”

“While I do not believe his personal financial issues affect his standing on the Board, the question for us all is how this affects Mr. Dorsey’s standing among the people we serve,” Garvey continued. “All our work is affected by perceptions among those we serve and with whom we work. At this time, I do not know how those perceptions will develop after this latest publicity nor how they will balance out with the very real benefit Mr. Dorsey provides to the Board and Arlington.”

ARLnow asked Dorsey whether he intends to continue serving his term on the Board, which runs through the end of 2023. Through a county spokeswoman, Dorsey said he “has nothing to add at this time beyond his quotes to the Post.”

Henry Clay Park Set to Be Renamed for Indigenous Activist Who Lived Nearby

By Jo DeVoe
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A park that’s under construction a few blocks south of Clarendon is expected to get a new name.

Arlington’s Park and Recreation Commission is recommending Henry Clay Park be renamed Zitkala-Ša Park, after a prominent Indigenous activist and author who lived in Lyon Park. The County Board is set to consider the name change at its Saturday meeting.

The park at 3011 7th Street N. remains closed while it undergoes extensive renovations. It is slated to reopen in early 2021 with the new name.

The Lyon Park Citizens Association presented the idea to the Park and Recreation Commission this summer. In October, the change received unanimous support from the Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board and majority support from the Neighborhood Conservation Advisory Committee, per a county staff report.

“This proposed name change comports with the County’s naming guidelines and will add significantly to the diversity of park names,” the Lyon Park Civic Association said.

Only a handful of individuals provided public testimony, mostly in favor of the change, though at least one person spoke out against it. The Commission voted for the change in late October.

According to the Department of Parks and Recreation, the park is where the original Lyon Park School stood. The building was renamed Henry Clay School in 1927 after Clay, a slave-owning Kentucky lawmaker and Secretary of State who fought a duel near Chain Bridge.

“It is believed that Henry Clay Park was created in the early 1980s and retained the name of the school previously located on the site,” the park website said.

Clay held abolitionist views but kept the slaves he inherited as a child, freeing them upon his death.

Zitkala-Ša (“Red Bird,” or Cardinal bird) and her husband, Captain Raymond Talefase Bonnin, moved to Lyon Park in 1925 and lived there until their respective deaths in 1938 and 1942. Both are buried in Arlington National Cemetery and their home still stands at the corner of 3rd Street N. and Barton Street.

Born in South Dakota in 1876, Zitkala-Ša was eight when Quaker missionaries recruited her to leave the reservation and attend a manual labor school. There, she was given the name Gertrude Simmons, her long hair was cut and she was forbidden from speaking her native language.

“Although she enjoyed learning to read and write, she experienced first-hand the damage of having her heritage stripped away,” Arlington Public Library wrote about her. “Feeling torn between her life on the reservation and her forced assimilation into white mainstream culture, Zitkála-Šá pursued higher education and distinguished herself as a public speaker on social and political issues.”

From 1911 to her death, she was politically active. She joined the Society for American Indians, speaking nationally on its behalf. She and her husband founded the National Council of American Indians and advocated for voting rights, healthcare, legal standing and land rights, the library said.

She also created the Indian Welfare Committee of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs, speaking in Washington, D.C., Arlington, and Fairfax.

She spent the rest of her life in as president of the Council of American Indians, “speaking and writing about the continuing political and social mistreatment of Native Americans,” the library said.

A county staff report recommends the County Board endorse the name change proposal.

Arlington County to Launch Variable Parking Pricing Along Metro Corridors

By Jo DeVoe

Arlington County is expected to pilot a program that prices parking by demand along Metro corridors.

The proposed $5.4 million program, funded by VDOT, is slated to be considered by the County Board this weekend.

Staff recommend that the Board accepts the state funding and approve the pilot that would alter parking prices based on the day, time and number of people competing for a spot. It would also give drivers real-time information on spot availability and price.

The grant has been approved by the Commonwealth Transportation Board and staff included the project in the 2021 fiscal year capital improvements plan, a county staff report says. The County will not have to match state funds.

“The Commonwealth’s recognition of the innovative nature of the project… serves not only as a recognition of the relative level of risk, when compared with a traditional highway or transit project, but also of the project’s promise and potential transferability to other locations in the Commonwealth,” said the county staff report.

In other words, the state is willing to take a chance on the system in Arlington, and should it succeed other communties follow Arlington’s lead.

Demand-based parking, which county staff call “performance parking,” is being piloted in a few cities across the country, including D.C.

The District Department of Transportation said this program, which was tested over the course of four years in Penn Quarter/Chinatown, “was largely successful.” It provided real-time information on spot availability and was able to lower or raise prices, which encouraged turnover and, as a result, increased the number of available spots.

Proponents say surge price parking reduces the number of cars on the road and lightens congestion caused by people circling blocks looking for spaces. At the time, critics said that D.C.’s surge-price parking would hurt low-income people looking to visit popular destinations.

The County Board last reviewed the idea for this system two years ago, when the board gave staff the green light to apply for “SMART SCALE” funding — to the tune of $6.1 million — to pilot the project.

If Arlington was chosen, those funds would not have been available until July 1, 2024. But the reason staff included the project in this year’s capital improvement plan is because the state gave the county a new offer.

“In the fall of 2018, during the application evaluation process for SMART SCALE, the Commonwealth, through one of the Deputy Secretaries of Transportation, approached Arlington County and asked if it would accept funding from [VDOT’s Innovation and Technology Transportation Fund] instead of SMART SCALE,” the county staff report says. “ITTF was designed specifically for cutting-edge projects like Performance Parking that advance the state of the practice in transportation.”

Work on the new system along the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor and Crystal City-Pentagon City corridor is expected to start kick off during the current fiscal year, which ends on June 30.

“A total of $700,000 is anticipated to be used for FY 2021,” the staff report says. “The balance of funding will be used in FY 2022 and FY 2023… These funds will be used for design, installation, testing, and deployment of a pilot hardware and software system.”

JBG Smith Proposes a Restaurant in a Courtyard Along Crystal Drive

By Jo DeVoe
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(Updated at 9:45 a.m.) Developer JBG Smith is making changes to plans it had for two courtyard eateries on Crystal Drive.

In 2018 the County Board approved a plan for two restaurants for the green space at 2121 Crystal Drive, which currently has walking paths, trees, a field, a lighted gazebo and seating. JBG Smith is returning to the County Board with a new plan that would combine the two eateries into one larger restaurant.

The current submission for a 5,640 square-foot space, dubbed “Dining in the Park,” reflects improvements made in response to feedback from potential restaurant operators, Taylor Lawch, Vice President of Development, said in a statement.

“We are excited about our proposal to further activate Crystal Drive and an adjacent public plaza with full service food and beverage,” Lawch said.

The County Board is expected to review the amended proposal on Dec. 12.

“We look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with the County and the community to advance our collective vision for National Landing as a vibrant 18-hour neighborhood,” he said.

JBG Smith has proposed a slate of new development in the Crystal City area as Amazon settles into its HQ2. Even before the HQ2 announcement, however, the company was looking for a way to activate the 2121 Crystal Drive courtyard, nestled among office buildings and occasionally used for events like Crystal City’s 5K Fridays.

In 2018, the County Board approved a site plan amendment to permit the construction of the two restaurants. In the first draft of the plan, the developer envisioned two restaurants: “one that resembles a greenhouse and one that calls to mind a tree house,” the Washington Business Journal reported.

Changes to the plan were on the the June County Board meeting agenda earlier this year, but staff recommended deferring the approval of the project while JBG Smith worked to amend it.

The Board is now slated to hear the site plan plan amendment at its Saturday meeting next week.

Photos (1-2) via Google Maps

Former ACPD Chief Cites County Board As Reason for Early Departure

By ARLnow.com

Arlington’s former police chief says disagreements with the County Board led him to seek an early retirement.

M. Jay Farr, who retired in September, wrote a letter to the editor of the Sun Gazette, which was published online today. In it, he refuted claims that he left amid agreements with Arlington’s new, reform-minded prosecutor.

“While it is true that Ms. Tafti and I did not look through the same lens all the time, we did strive to seek common ground wherever possible,” Farr wrote. “On those occasions where there was a difference of opinion, I found Ms. Tafti willing to consider the police department’s position. Overall, we had a very professional and respectful relationship.”

The former chief said his relationship with the County Board was not as positive.

Reference my retirement and early departure, I was in a deferred-retirement option that I entered into in December of 2017 and was obligated to depart the county in December of 2020. My decision to leave early was based entirely on my relationship with the Arlington County Board.

Board member Christen Dorsey’s comments regarding the Police Review Committee highlighted his concerns about the police department. He noted that this committee, a project out of the county manager’s office, once completed should finally provide recommendations for a police department that this community deserves. Not exactly a glowing endorsement of my efforts, or others’, over the past 30 years. It became apparent that the County Board and Mr. Dorsey were seeking to move in a different direction.

Farr added that he is “confident” that acting chief Andy Penn “is continuing to build a strong working relationship with the commonwealth’s attorney to provide the best service possible to the Arlington community.”

In an interview with ARLnow today, County Board Chair Libby Garvey said that while the Board had disagreements with Farr, he was a “consummate professional” and there was mutual respect between Board members and the former chief.

Garvey said the Board does want some policing practices to change — a public process to review practices and suggest changes was launched after the killing of George Floyd and an increase in local use-of-force complaints — but noted the such changes are likely to be incremental.

“We want to step back and look at our policing,” Garvey said. “I think the whole country is looking at policing. We’re part of that. I think our community expects us to do that.”

“I don’t expect there to be a major change because I think we have an excellent police force… but we’re moving into a different era,” Garvey added. “Moving into the 21st century you need to look at how you’re doing things. Life changes.”

Asked about the rise in crime in the county, Garvey said that potential reforms like removing uniformed police from mental health calls and traffic enforcement duties could allow officers to better focus on reducing crime.

“You want to have a community that’s strong and safe, I think we have that and we’re working to continue that,” she said.

As for disagreements among the police department, the County Board, and the prosecutor’s office, Garvey said it is healthy to have people from different backgrounds and perspectives hash out issues “in a professional and respectful way.”

“You don’t want groupthink where everyone agrees and thinks things are fine all the time,” she said. “I think the fact that there are some disagreements is a healthy thing — it’s about how you work them out.”

County Seeks Diverse Voices on Race, But So Far It’s Mostly White Women

By Jo DeVoe

(Updated at 10:30 a.m. on 12/02/20) Arlington is seeking diverse voices in its Dialogues on Race and Equity, but so far the biggest group of respondents have been middle-aged white women who are relatively affluent.

Arlington County Chief Race and Equity Officer Samia Byrd and Challenging Racism Director Alicia Jones McLeod, who are promoting a new questionnaire on the topic of race, see this as a sign to keep pushing for broader participation.

“It has been interesting… we are seeing predominantly white women, middle aged, homeowners completing the assessment,” Byrd told the County Board last week. “So we really, really want to encourage everyone — so we can hear all of the voices that we typically do not hear — to complete the assessment.”

So far, 69% of respondents were white, but not of Hispanic origin. Hispanic people accounted for 7%, and Black or African American people accounted for 9%. Asian or Pacific Islander representation rests at 4.5% and American Indian or Alaska Native rests at 2.2%. Another 4.5% marked “other.”

Women represent 60% of respondents, and men 31%, with 8% preferring not to answer, and less than 1% marking gender non-conforming or not listed.

“We want to understand the full Arlington experience, or Arlington as experienced by everyone, so that we can continue to move forward,” Byrd added, in a conversation with ARLnow yesterday.

On Monday, the assessment was released in Mongolian and Arabic. It is being pushed via social media, email and the distribution of hard copies. The assessment closes on Dec. 31 and results will be presented to the County Board in the new year.

About 1,200 assessments have been completed since the survey went online on Oct. 12, as part of a broader initiative from Arlington County and Challenging Racism to engage community members in dialogues on race and equity, in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd and the protests that followed.

More than 200 people have participated in a second component of this initiative — a series of six conversations — the last of which is set for Dec. 9.

The preliminary under-representation of people of color, immigrants and non-English speakers mirrors the feelings that participants have expressed about the Arlington Way, housing and Arlington Public Schools. Participants have frequently mentioned barriers that lead to under-representation in government processes, home-owning and APS gifted programs.

Byrd said the assessments and discussions will lay the foundation for her work with county officials and the community to dismantle systemic racism, where it exists, in Arlington County.

That work involves undoing the lasting effects from when unequal treatment was codified in law, Byrd said. While those historic policies no longer exist, they erected barriers that keep Arlingtonians from accessing housing, education, health and wealth to this day, she said.

“None of us here created the system, but we’re all a part of it, regardless,” she said. “Race is the center of it.”

In the assessments and conversations, many Arlingtonians identified the Arlington Way — a catch-all phrase for citizen engagement in local government — as an area where the means of participation disadvantage people of color, those who rent and those who do not have the luxury of time to participate in lengthy, iterative decision processes.

“The Arlington Way means different things to different people, but generally it is about engagement: how people interact with, and who has access to, decision-making, decision-makers and resources; who is at the table when those policy decisions are being made; who can weigh in when policy decisions are being made that affect everyone,” Byrd said.

The sentiment is not new: For years, there have been suggestions to retool, reform or scrap the process entirely, in favor of a different system of gathering community input.

The pandemic has, at least temporarily, resulted in one notable change to the Arlington Way: more public meetings are being conducted online, rather than in person, thus making it more feasible for some to watch or participate. Before, participation in in-person meetings might have required some combination of booking a babysitter, requesting to work a different shift, waiting for public transit, and sitting in a crowded room for hours on end.

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County Budget Cuts, Tax Hikes on the Table Next Year

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 4:45 p.m.) Facing a potential $41-56 million budget gap, the Arlington County Board is signalling that service cuts and tax rate hikes may be included in next year’s budget.

At its Tuesday meeting, the Board provided guidance to County Manager Mark Schwartz on the upcoming Fiscal Year 2022 budget, covering July 2021 through June 2022. Underlying it all is a big drop in tax and fee revenue caused by the pandemic.

“Our challenge in Fiscal Year 2022 will be to support our community as it continues to deal with an unprecedented medical, economic and educational emergency, even as the County faces continued fiscal uncertainty,” Board Chair Libby Garvey said in a statement.

“Our guidance to the Manager today starts what I expect to be a difficult conversation with our community about priorities, cuts to programs and services, and potential tax increases over the coming months, as we focus our limited resources on defeating this deadly virus, preserving our social safety net, protecting public health, and supporting our students and those in our community who face food and housing insecurity,” she said. “While the budget situation is serious, Arlington’s financial fundamentals remain strong.”

In a press release, the Board detailed what they want Schwartz to include in his proposed budget next year, including:

  • “Reducing programs and services where necessary”
  • “Consider a real tax rate increase, increased cigarette taxes, and a plastic bag tax”
  • “Fund affordable housing, with a primary focus on preventing evictions and providing housing grants”
  • “Food assistance, COVID-19 testing, contact tracing, personal protective equipment, and an anticipated vaccine program for the virus”
  • “Funding… to implement Rank Choice Voting in Arlington…  and the Police Practices Group’s recommendations”
  • Funds to open the new Long Bridge Aquatics and Fitness Facility, and a recommendation on when to open the new Lubber Run Community Center
  • An evaluation of “the advantages and disadvantages of moving to a utility model for funding stormwater management”

The Board’s guidance also calls for funds to be set aside “to support collective bargaining implementation,” following the May 1, 2021 implementation of a new Virginia law that allows localities to recognize and negotiate with public employee labor unions.

While reserve funds and federal coronavirus funds may help close up to half of the anticipated budget gap, Schwartz and his staff told Board members that difficult decisions may still be necessary. County revenue from commercial real estate taxes, as well as sales and meals taxes, is down significantly.

“The bottom line” is that “there is a significant gap to close,” Arlington County Budget Director Richard Stephenson said. “It will require some tough choices in the development and adoption of the FY 2022 budget.”

Board member Matt de Ferranti asked the public to be aware that the Board is “seeking options.”

“As much as we might wish we were fully immune from economic challenges, we are not,” he said. “There won’t be good options — there will only be least bad options.”

Board member Christian Dorsey said the Board does not take the possibility of tax increases lightly, and cautioned against a budget that prioritizes other aims above the marginalized in Arlington, who have been disproportionately hit by the pandemic.

“It’s certainly not lost on me or any of you that we have a really blunt tool in adjusting real-estate taxes to raise revenue,” he said. “It’s a blunt tool that can cause harm to the people you’re seeking to try and help with other government expenditures and services.”

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JUST IN: Arlington Sees Third Consecutive Record Daily Case Average

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 11:30 a.m.) For the third day in a row, Arlington’s daily coronavirus case average has risen to a new record.

In Arlington, 58 new cases were reported overnight, following 74 new cases on Tuesday and 82 new cases on Monday. The trailing seven-day total of new COVID cases is now 382, or nearly 55 per day, a new record.

The state also set a new case average record today, reaching 1,761 new daily coronavirus cases over the trailing seven-day period. New restrictions on gatherings and alcohol sales, ordered by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, took effect Monday.

Arlington’s cumulative case count since the beginning of the pandemic is now above 5,500. It crossed the 5,000 mark only ten days ago.

The county’s test positivity rate has also ticked up, and currently stands at 7.1%. It was around 3.5-4.5% in September and October.

Hospitalizations, meanwhile, remain elevated but well below the levels seen this spring. Sixteen new hospitalizations have been reported among Arlington residents over the past week, according to Virginia Dept. of Health data.

During a presentation to the Arlington County Board on Tuesday, officials said that the virus is disproportionately affecting younger adults and the Hispanic community.

“The trend continues to illustrate the constant disproportionate burden for our Hispanic residents across the entire span of the pandemic,” said Aaron Miller, Arlington’s director of the Department of Public Safety Communications and Emergency Management.

For Nov. 8 to 14, this group had 29.3 cases per 100,000 people.

Eighteen to 29 year olds are breaking records for case numbers during the pandemic, with 28.38 cases per 100,000 reported last week.

“Since June, we have seen sustained increases and a disproportionate burden of illness that is higher than all other age groups,” Miller said.

The County’s contact tracing has found that one third of Arlingtonians who test positive knowingly interacted with someone who was positive or showing symptoms of COVID-19, while nearly one in five report that they attended a large gathering.

“That increase in people gathering together flat out allows for germ spread, and it makes it easier for coronavirus cases to rise,” he said.

Arlingtonians are also setting new highs for testing rates. Since the pandemic started, 84,601 PCR tests have been reported to the department, with 4,500 coming over the last few weeks.

“That is the highest number reported to date,” Miller said.

Nationally, all 50 states are currently reporting rising cases, and while COVID-related deaths in the U.S. crossed the quarter-million mark today, case mortality rates are lower than in the spring.

Drugmaker Pfizer reported new, strongly positive data from its vaccine trials today, and is now seeking emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration.

Pfizer and Moderna, which developed another vaccine that has proven highly effective in trials, are aiming to have 20 million vaccine doses each available in the U.S. by late December, the Associated Press reports.

Jo DeVoe contributed to this report

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Arlington Streetcar Anniversary — Today is the sixth anniversary of the cancellation of the Columbia Pike and Crystal City streetcar project. [ARLnow]

APS Still Planning for In-Person School — “Some have asked why we are proceeding at this time given the latest health metrics. It is important that we gather the information schools need to plan now, so that they have the time to prepare for possible transitions in January. Delaying the process would mean that we would not be ready to open our schools for more students, should we determine it is safe enough to do so.” [Arlington Public Schools]

More Taco Rocks on the Way — “Chef Mike Cordero and his sons, Nick and Anthony, are bringing a second Taco Rock location to Northern Virginia with plans to expand the brand to a chain of up to a dozen restaurants. Cordero and his restaurant group, Macnac Group, will deliver a 2,500-square-foot fast-casual taqueria and tequila bar at 6548 Little River Turnpike in the Pinecrest Plaza shopping center that will replicate the Rosslyn store that opened its doors in October 2019.” [Washington Business Journal]

Fireworks Banned on Public Property — “The use of personal fireworks is now officially verboten on publicly owned property in Arlington. The policy change was tucked away in a broader County Board action Nov. 14 that updates for the first time in three years the Arlington County Fire Prevention Code.” [InsideNova]

County to Implement Restorative Justice — “The Arlington County Board today accepted the Restorative Arlington Strategic Plan, which provides a framework for the County to adopt restorative justice practices in our public schools, legal system, and community settings. Arlington expects to receive a $75,000 grant award from the Annie E. Casey Foundation to help implement the plan.” [Arlington County]

Back to Normal at DCA May Take Years — “Officials at the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority believe it will take years for air traffic to return to pre-pandemic levels — at least until 2024, according to its proposed 2021 budget. MWAA said it expects airlines at its two airports, Reagan National and Dulles International, will finish the year with about 7.4 million passengers put on planes, a significant drop from the 24.3 million in 2019.” [Washington Business Journal]

Nearby: New &Pizza in Seven Corners — “Looks like 7 Corners area of Falls Church is getting an @andpizza — a fun, new addition to the neighborhood.” [@jstrelitz/Twitter]

County Board to Consider Renaming Town Square in Green Valley

By James Cullum

John Robinson, Jr. spent his time and energy advocating for Arlington’s minority residents, and on Tuesday (Nov. 17) the County Board will consider renaming the future town square in Green Valley in his honor.

The Green Valley Civic Association wants to rename what is currently known as Nauck Town Square, at 2400 S. Shirlington Road, to John Robinson, Jr. Town Square. The association asked the County to change the name last year, and the Planning Commission approved the recommendation.

“John Robinson, Jr., was a community activist who fought to break down segregationist barriers in housing, food counters and movie theaters in northern Virginia,” the Green Valley Civic Association said in their resolution. “Mr. Robinson coordinated with local authorities to take drugs off the streets and organized food, clothing and furniture drives for local families… Over the years, he opened his doors to hundreds of people who were homeless.”

The town square is currently under construction, with a projected completion date in the third quarter of 2021. The nearly $5 million project was approved in 2019 and will feature an outdoor stage, a plaza, and tables. Around the time the project was approved, the neighborhood changed its name from Nauck to Green Valley.

Robinson, who passed away in 2012, was the publisher of the Green Valley News, a free newspaper serving the historically Black neighborhood. He was affectionately regarded as the “Mayor of Green Valley” by neighbors.

The County Manager is recommending the Board approve the renaming.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Crystal City Development Approved — “The Arlington County Board today approved JBG Smith’s plan to develop Crystal Gateway, a nine-story office building with ground-floor retail,  at 101 12th Street S. in Crystal City. Community benefits associated with the project include the developer conveying 54,500 sq. ft. of land for Gateway Park, which will connect Long Bridge Park to Crystal City.” [Arlington County]

Teacher Groups Banding Together — “Representatives from teacher associations in Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, Arlington and Manassas Park will host a news conference Monday urging a return to virtual-only learning. In a statement Sunday evening, the Fairfax Education Association said it ‘stands with our colleagues from the Northern Virginia region to ask the Governor to return the Commonwealth to a full Phase II of the reopening plan and to recommend that our schools return to a fully virtual method of instruction.'” [InsideNova]

Feedback Sought for Police Chief Search — “The County Manager has launched a search for a new leader of the Arlington County Police Department. During the first phase of the search, the County is interested in hearing from the community. ‘We value the perspective of every resident and business,’ said County Manager Mark Schwartz… You can offer feedback through December 11.” [Arlington County]

Joint Chiefs Chair’s Wife Saves the Day — “When a bystander collapsed at the Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery Wednesday, a nurse was nearby and rushed to his aid. She happened to be the wife of the nation’s top military officer, Gen. Mark Milley.” [NBC News]

‘Click It or Ticket’ Starts Today — ” The Thanksgiving celebration is traditionally one of the busiest travel weekends of the year. As the holiday approaches, the Arlington County Police Department is teaming up with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on a high visibility Click It or Ticket campaign.” [Arlington County]

State Sen. Pushing Pot Legalization — “We’re continuing to build a bipartisan coalition to #legalize responsible adult use of #marijuana in Virginia. I am working hard to ensure that ending the war on drugs is a top priority.” [@AdamEbbin/Twitter, Virginia Mercury]

N. Va. Delivered State for Biden — “Updated counts from the Virginia Department of Elections show that President-elect Joe Biden, a Democrat, defeated Trump by over 520,000 votes in Northern Virginia, defined as the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William and the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas and Manassas Park… Across the rest of Virginia, Trump, a Republican, defeated Biden by about 70,000 votes, winning 50.2% to Biden’s 47.9%.” [InsideNova]

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