county government

Fourth of July Closures

By ARLnow.com

The long holiday weekend has begun, and that means many county services are stopped or altered.  Here’s a list of changes:

  • All courts are closed.
  • DMV locations are closed.
  • All libraries are closed.
  • Human services offices are closed.
  • Park grounds are open but all administrative offices are closed.
  • Barcroft Sports and Fitness Center is open from 6:00am-6:00pm.  All other centers are closed.
  • Trash and recycling pickup runs on regular service, but some special collections are altered.
  • Public swimming pools are on an altered schedule.

The police department has also provided a list of road closures for activities on July 4. In addition, police are reminding event attendees that:

  • Alcoholic beverages, grills and fireworks are prohibited on county and federal parkland during Independence Day activities.
  • Vendors will not be allowed in the area of the Iwo Jima Memorial.
  • Coolers and backpacks are subject to search.

Officials are encouraging people heading to the Air Force Memorial or the Iwo Jima memorial to watch the fireworks to take public transportation.

Flickr pool photo by Timkelley

Top Zoning Official Leaving County Gov’t

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 6:05 p.m.) Arlington County Zoning Administrator Melinda Artman is resigning her post to enter a seminary.

In a statement, released after ARLnow.com first reported the resignation, Arlington County Department of Community Planning, Housing and Development Director Robert Brosnan called Artman “a dedicated and talented public servant.”

“She brought a high level of professionalism and a strong sense of fairness to her work,” Brosnan said. “She arrived in Arlington at a time when the Zoning Office was beginning a transformation into a higher performing organization and she has helped shape the office and the work of the staff in a very positive way. We thank her for her service to Arlington County, and wish her the very best as she embarks on this new challenge.”

Artman plans to leave her position in August to join the Virginia Theological Seminary, where she will pursue her dreams of becoming an Episcopal minister.

Artman became Arlington’s zoning administrator in 2008, after 11 years with the Loudoun County government. She has 37 years of public service experience, including 25 in Northern Virginia. Her tenure in Arlington has been marked by a string of controversies tied to her by-the-books enforcement of the county’s stringent zoning code.

“By many accounts, Artman hasn’t been a favorite person among property and business owners,” TBD.com noted last year, in an article about Artman’s desire to help with the comprehensive rewrite of the county’s zoning ordinance.

Brosnan says he will name an acting Zoning Administrator “soon.”

Striking ART Bus Drivers Fired, County Reacts

By ARLnow.com

County transit contractor Forsythe Transportation has fired 35 ART bus drivers who went on strike to protest alleged sexual harassment and other grievances.

In a statement, Forsythe said the drivers were fired for violating a clause in their contract that prevented them from striking unless the company violated terms of an arbitration.

“We knew that this could happen, but we were surprised by the number of terminations,” Arlington County Transit Bureau Chief Stephen Del Giudice told ARLnow.com. “It’s a regrettable situation all the way around… It’s regrettable that drivers took the job action, and its regrettable that Forsythe felt the need to terminate the employees.”

Del Giudice said that the county was “not a party to the contract between Forsythe and its drivers” and therefore was limited in terms of what it could do to help resolve the conflict.

“It would be inappropriate for us to interfere in their labor relations,” he said.

The initial service disruption caused by the sudden strike last Monday was quickly resolved as Forsythe managers stepped in to handle the routes of striking drivers. The company then went on a hiring spree to fill the bus driver positions left vacant by the strike. Full service was restored by Friday, Del Giudice said.

One of the new drivers was involved in a minor accident yesterday, but Del Giudice said that the new hires are all licensed and experienced bus drivers who have been drug tested and “given training in Forsythe’s operating procedures and our [ART] routes.”

“We’re going to continue to insist on Forsythe providing the highest standard of safe and reliable service for our customers,” Del Giudice said.

Slow Progress on Courthouse Plaza Brick Work

By ARLnow.com

Work on the brick pavers at Courthouse Plaza appears to be behind schedule.

We’re told by a source that the project will most likely not be completed this month, the anticipated completion date that TBD.com reported in February. No official word yet on how much longer the project might take. Multiple calls seeking information from the owner of Courthouse Plaza, Vornado Charles E. Smith, have gone unreturned over the past week.

Courthouse Plaza is the home of restaurants, small shops, a movie theater, a hotel, county government’s main office building and a Courthouse Metro entrance. The project has resulted in a gauntlet of fences around the plaza, and the displacement of some outdoor seating, but access to businesses and Metro has been maintained.

Currently, workers are using pools of water to test the sealant used underneath the brick pavers. The pavers themselves — which, we’re told, only arrived recently after a significant delay — are stacked near the county government building, awaiting installation.

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Following Storms, Power Outage Hits Courthouse

By ARLnow.com

Thunderstorms rumbled through the region tonight and knocked out power to parts of Arlington.

As of 2:30 a.m., 1,734 Dominion customers were without power in Arlington. The outage was said to be centered in the Courthouse and Clarendon area, along Wilson and Clarendon Boulevards.

In addition to restaurants and commercial offices, the outage also hit county government buildings in Courthouse. Some of the county’s internal computer networks were said to have been knocked offline by the outage. Firefighters responded to the county jail after the emergency generator reportedly failed to start, leaving the facility in the dark.

Dominion’s web site estimates that power will be restored no later than 7:00 a.m.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

High Temperatures, High Humidity — With temperatures expected to soar to just below 100 degrees today, the National Weather Service has placed the region under a Heat Advisory. “Drink plenty of fluids… stay in an air conditioned room… stay out of the sun… [and] take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside,” NWS cautions. The area is also under a ‘Code Orange’ air quality alert, meaning that air pollution concentrations “may become unhealthy for sensitive groups.” [Weather Channel]

Rosslyn Concert Moved Indoors — Due to the excessive heat, the lunchtime concert that normally takes place in Rosslyn’s Central Space plaza has been moved to the Artisphere (1101 Wilson Blvd) ballroom. Local group The Joe Rathbone Trio will perform in air conditioned comfort from 11:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Cost of Cherrydale Fire Station Increases, Again — Completion of the new Cherrydale Fire Station has been pushed back again, leading to county staff’s recommendation that the County Board increase funding for the project, again. Funding for the station was first approved in 1990. Construction began in March 2010. It’s now expected to wrap up “by late summer.” [Sun Gazette]

County Launches ArlingtonFamilies.com — Arlington County has launched a new internet portal for parents, featuring links to online resources for the parents of kids ranging from infants to teenagers. [ArlingtonFamilies.com]

Flickr pool photo by pderby

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Where Are the GOP Candidates? — So far, Arlington Republicans have not been able to find a single candidate willing to run in any of this year’s six county government races. The last time a Republican was elected to the County Board was the late 1990s. [Sun Gazette]

Police Looking for Missing D.C. Man — Police are hoping for the public’s help in finding a missing D.C. man. Matthew Hill, 26, was reported missing on Tuesday. His last debit card transaction was recorded at noon on Tuesday at an Exxon gas station in Arlington. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is encouraged to call D.C. police. [WUSA]

APAH Receives Housing Award — The Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing has been named “Developer of the Year” by the Housing Assocation of Nonprofit Developers. APAH received the award at a ceremony yesterday.

Arlington Gets Another AAA Rating — A third bond rating agency has given Arlington its highest vote of confidence. Moody’s affirmed Arlington’s AAA debt rating yesterday. This is the eleventh consecutive year that Arlington’s debt has received a AAA rating from all three rating agencies. [Arlington County]

Flickr pool photo by Philliefan99

Fitch Affirms Arlington’s ‘AAA’ Bond Rating

By ARLnow.com

Update at 4:25 p.m. — Correction to previous update: Arlington officials say that Standard & Poor’s has also assigned it a ‘AAA’ rating.

With the sale of more than $200 million in bonds coming up, Arlington got some good news yesterday from one of the bond rating agencies.

Fitch Ratings affirmed Arlington’s ‘AAA’ rating and said that its rating outlook is ‘stable.’

“Arlington County’s outstanding financial management, highlighted by conservative budgeting, timely tax and fee increases, and closely monitored expenditure controls, consistently produces surplus operating results leading to solid reserve levels and liquidity,” Fitch said in a statement. “The significant presence of the federal government serves to insulate the region from economic downturns and attracts high-wage employment opportunities from information technology, aerospace, defense, and consulting contractors. Economic characteristics remain exceptionally strong underscored by very low unemployment, superior wealth levels, and one of the most highly educated labor forces in the nation.”

Arlington receives new bond ratings before every bond sale — typically once per year. Officials expects to receive ratings from the two other rating agencies soon, according to county spokeswoman Diana Sun.

Video Throwback: The County’s New Web Site in 1997

By ARLnow.com

It’s hard to believe this video is only 14 years old, because for many of the internet generation it will feel like ancient history.

Yesterday Arlington put a county television news item from 1997 on its YouTube page. The video discusses the county’s newly-redesigned web site (or, in the parlance of the time, “home page”), which was described as “easy to use,” “updated and improved” and more “dynamic” than the previous web site.

Check out the early web graphics, the oversized cursor, the early Netscape browser (running on Windows 3.1), and the explanation of what a “URL” is.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Spring Cleaning For Bikes — Forecasts suggest we’re in for two very nice days to end the work week. It’s going to be warm enough that many seasonal cyclists may be thinking about dusting off their bike for a spin. Local cycling advocate Mark Blacknell has advice for getting your bike into proper riding condition after a winter in storage. [Patch]

Gas Company Urges Residents to Report Leaks — A public forum about gas leaks didn’t attract a large crowd, but it did feature officials from Washington Gas who asked residents to report leaks as soon as they smell them. [Sun Gazette]

Construction on Ballston Development Moving Along — Work is well underway on a new 10-story, 316,000 square foot office building at 800 North Glebe Road in Ballston, the former site of Bob Peck Chevrolet. Tenants are expected to start moving in next March. [CityBiz]

Arlington Wins Transparency Award — Arlington County has received a 2011 “Sunny Award” from the nonprofit Sunshine Review. The honor is bestowed on dozens of local governments each year for transparency on the web. Arlington’s web site earned a “perfect website transparency score” from the organization, which is dedicated to state and local government transparency. [Sunshine Review]

Flickr photo by Cobalt123

County Sees Revenue Loss As State Funds Dry Up

By ARLnow.com

The downturn in the economy has been unkind to the county’s finances.

Arlington has had to make service cuts in each of the past two budgets as taxes and other revenue sources dried up. After 2009, assessed property values suffered their first year-over-year decline since 1995, prompting the county to hike property taxes to make up for what otherwise would have been a dramatic loss of revenue.

When it comes to real estate taxes, the county can always increase the tax rate for an expected revenue shortfall. But one area that’s largely out of the county’s control is the funds it receives from the state. And in the past four years, overall state funding to Arlington County — excluding schools — has dropped $18 million.

County Board Member Barbara Favola cited the figure at a board meeting yesterday afternoon.

Starting in FY 2008 and up to the current FY 2011, Arlington has lost progressively more revenue each year:

  • FY 2008: -$438,214
  • FY 2009: -$2,603,394
  • FY 2010: -$7,045,368
  • FY 2011: -$7,900,610

Although state revenue still makes up about 6 percent of the Arlington’s budget, the overall decline has meant greater reliance on local sources of revenue, including taxes. As of February, state revenue was expected to decline by $600,000 to $62.6 million in the FY 2012 county budget that’s currently under consideration by the board.

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