election

A second Democratic hopeful launches bid for District 2 House of Delegates

By Jo DeVoe
Kevin Saucedo-Broach, a candidate for Virginia’s 2nd District in the House of Delegates (courtesy photo)

(Updated at 9:35 a.m. on 03/22/23) A second candidate has emerged for the open seat in Arlington’s new 2nd District in the Virginia House of Delegates.

Last week, Kevin Saucedo-Broach, a former Chief of Staff for Del. Alfonso Lopez (D-Arlington), announced his candidacy for the district, created after a 2021 redistricting process.

Saucedo-Broach, the treasurer for the Democratic Latino Caucus of Virginia, will run against Adele McClure, the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus executive director, in the Democratic primary this June.

According to the Virginia Public Access Project, Saucedo-Broach and McClure, who announced her candidacy more than a year ago, are the only two candidates in the running. Former candidate for state Senate and County Board Nicole Merlene withdrew last year after buying a home outside of the district’s boundaries.

If elected, Saucedo-Broach — who identifies as bisexual — says he would be the first openly LGBT legislator of color in Virginia’s history.

“It would be an incredible honor to bring my hometown’s progressive values of openness, compassion, and justice to the House of Delegates,” Saucedo-Broach said in a statement.

As Lopez’s chief of staff, he says he helped pass legislation that allowed undocumented residents to pay in-state college tuition rates and receive financial aid, as well as another that established the first statewide LGBT governmental advisory body in the South.

“As someone who has spent over a decade organizing to elect progressives in Virginia, I can’t sit on the sidelines while MAGA Republicans like Glenn Youngkin step up the attacks on low-income, immigrant families like mine to push an extremist agenda,” he continued. “I am more than ready to fight back and to take that fight all the way to Richmond.”

Saucedo-Broach is outspoken on LGBT equality, healthcare and anti-poverty measures.

The fourth-generation Arlingtonian says healthcare reform in particular motivated him to get involved in politics.

“I started organizing a decade ago to help expand Virginia Medicaid, because I was terrified of what would happen to my mom if she couldn’t afford health insurance,” Saucedo-Broach said. “The struggle to access vital primary and mental healthcare services has deeply impacted my entire family and I know that far too many other people in our community are struggling with it, too.”

He says his grandmother died by suicide in Arlington in 1992.

“I’m running for Delegate to ensure that all Virginians have access to the kinds of services that could have saved her life, so we might keep other families from suffering the same pain mine has,” he said.

Saucedo-Broach notes that he is a longtime volunteer with Arlington County Democratic Committee, a former chair of the local party’s Latino Caucus, and former executive board member for its LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus.

District 2 mostly consists of the Metro corridor communities of Rosslyn, Courthouse, Clarendon, Crystal City and Pentagon City, and the single-family home neighborhoods surrounding them.

The Democratic primary will be held on Tuesday, June 20.

Libby Garvey among the notable locals supporting challenger for Commonwealth’s Attorney

By ARLnow.com
Josh Katcher, candidate for Commonwealth’s Attorney, at the Arlington Democrats meeting in January (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

A fundraiser for Commonwealth’s Attorney candidate Josh Katcher has drawn some notable local names.

Katcher is running in June’s Democratic primary to unseat his former boss, Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, as Arlington’s top prosecutor. Both bill themselves as justice reformers, though Katcher is associating a local rise in crime — albeit one in line with national trends — with what he calls the “multiple failings” of Dehghani-Tafti’s leadership.

Garvey emailed supporters Friday evening, inviting them to a fundraiser for Katcher this coming weekend. More from the email, below.

Dear Friends,

The first local candidate that I am supporting publicly this year is Josh Katcher running for Commonwealth’s Attorney. I hope you will consider supporting Josh as well and perhaps join me at the event on Saturday, March 25 at 3:30 pm.  It would be great to see you there.

If you have any questions, I’m happy to discuss the race.

All best,
Libby

Names also appearing on a flyer for the event include former School Board member Barbara Kanninen, former Rep. Jim Moran, and former County Board candidate Chanda Choun.

Endorsements listed on Dehghani-Tafti’s website include Reps. Don Beyer and Jennifer McClellan; County Board members Matt de Ferranti and Takis Karantonis; former County Board member Mary Hynes; former state Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple; current state Sens. Barbara Favola, Scott Surovell, and Dick Saslaw; School Board member Mary Kadera; former School Board members Nancy Van Doren and Monique O’Grady; Dels. Alfonso Lopez and Marcus Simon; Clerk of the Circuit Court Paul Ferguson; Commissioner of the Revenue Ingrid Morroy; and County Board candidate JD Spain.

Katcher recently criticized Dehghani-Tafti for her decision to prosecute a murder-for-hire suspect who was quickly found not guilty by a jury, after the case was highlighted on ABC’s 20/20. ARLnow hears that NBC’s Dateline is also planning to air an episode about the 1998 murder and the case against the victim’s then-fiancee.

School Board Chair Reid Goldstein won’t run for reelection

By ARLnow.com
Arlington School Board chair Reid Goldstein at Wakefield High School for the opening of Amazon’s new STEM-focused tech space (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated at 12:55 p.m.) The Chair of the Arlington School Board just announced that he will not be running for reelection.

Reid Goldstein was first elected in 2015, after winning a two-way Democratic endorsement caucus. An Arlington resident for nearly 40 years, Goldstein participated in various local committees and civic groups prior to his election and is the father of two Arlington public school grads.

He said today in a statement that he is “excited to explore new ways of serving the community.”

After serving nearly eight years on the Arlington School Board, I have made the decision not to seek another term. I have always believed that building a healthy and desirable community is not a spectator sport and have been committed to public service in Arlington for almost 25 years. However, as this chapter of my life comes to a close, I am excited to explore new ways of serving the community.

I am deeply grateful to the Arlington community, students, teachers, support staff, administrators, parents, and colleagues who have made my time on the School Board so fulfilling. Together, we have made great progress and I am proud of what we have accomplished.

I will make a formal announcement about my decision not to run at the next meeting of the Arlington Democrats on March 1.

He was lauded on social media this morning by the 2022 School Board chair, Barbara Kanninen, who also chose not to seek reelection last year.

This afternoon (Tuesday), Arlington parent Miranda Turner announced the launch of her second bid for a seat on the School Board.

Turner made a name for herself during her first campaign in 2021, calling for a quicker return to in-person learning when APS was still virtual due to Covid. She dropped out after her opponent, Mary Kadera, won the endorsement of the Arlington County Democratic Committee.

“I’m running because we have students in our schools now who need more from APS,” Turner said in a statement. “From quality instruction, resources to recruit, support and retain teachers, equitable support, high expectations for all, and oversight that asks tough questions — these are the cornerstones to a quality school system.”

Others may also make announcements at the upcoming Wednesday, March 1 meeting of the Arlington County Democratic Committee.

NEW: Realtor to launch County Board campaign tomorrow

By Jo DeVoe
Arlington County Board candidate Natalie Roy (courtesy photo)

A realtor who says she has doubts about the current Missing Middle proposal has emerged as an Arlington County Board candidate.

Realtor Natalie Roy, founder of the Bicycling Realty Group, is vying for one of two seats on the County Board that will be left open after Katie Cristol and Chair Christian Dorsey step down. She is running for the Democratic nomination in the party’s June primary.

Roy is the second Democrat to launch a campaign this week, following Tony Weaver, a local businessman and an Arlington County Fiscal Affairs Advisory Commission member.

The two will face off against three others who have already announced their bids: Julius “J.D.” Spain, Sr.; Maureen Coffey; and Jonathan Dromgoole.

She tells ARLnow her tagline is “I would love to be your Bicycling Board member,” as she bikes everywhere for her business. She is a 32-year resident of Arlington, where she and her husband raised three daughters.

Roy says she believes “the Board needs an energetic and experienced community activist who will serve the entire county.”

In listing her key issues, below, she said she supports “a more community-supported, planning-oriented approach” to housing than the “sweeping” Missing Middle proposal, which is up for an initial vote this weekend.

  • Protecting our environment, by increasing green space, bringing back glass recycling, and protecting Arlington’s tree canopy;
  • Promoting affordability and diversity in our neighborhoods through a more community-supported, planning-oriented approach than the County Board’s current sweeping proposal;
  • Forging new partnerships between the Board, the school board and APS;
  • Improving public transit throughout the County and creating more protected bike- and pedestrian-friendly routes;
  • Enhancing Arlington’s fiscal sustainability and economic vitality; and
  • Promoting our health and well-being by providing exercise opportunities for everyone, from the most focused competitor on the soccer field and pickleball court to the casual stroller.

Before starting her real estate career 10 years ago, Roy says she worked for ran and worked for various national and state organizations, advocating for clean water, pollution prevention, clean beaches, recycling and gun control.

She has served on and led the PTAs of the local public schools her daughters attended and recently retired from a 17-year stint coaching varsity tennis at Yorktown High School. She is active in the Lyon Park Civic Association and the Lyon Park Board of Governors, which manages the Lyon Park Community Center, owned and maintained by the neighborhood.

Roy graduated from the county’s civic leadership program, Neighborhood College, and served on the Arlington Sports Commission as well as the county’s Complete Vaccine Committee.

For several years, she played on an Arlington mature women’s soccer team, the Speed Bumps, whose motto was “We might not beat you, but we will slow you down.”

Roy will officially launch her campaign for a seat on the Arlington County Board tomorrow (Friday).

Sheriff candidates call for more screening and 24/7 in-house medical care at county jail

By Jo DeVoe
1/4

(Updated at 5:55 p.m.) All three candidates looking to replace Sheriff Beth Arthur, who retired at the end of last year, say they have ideas for changing how the jail is run.

They each say their ideas could help save the lives of those detained in jail, which is overseen by the Arlington County Sheriff’s Office.

In the last seven years, seven men have died while in jail, six of whom were Black, which led the Arlington branch of the NAACP to begin pushing for greater transparency from the office as well as changes to jail operations.

In most cases, the cause of death was ruled to be a “natural cause” — such as heart disease caused by high blood pressure — although opiate withdrawal was a complicating factor in one such case. One man died because of a mix of drugs in his system and another died by suicide.

“I’m concerned because the status quo is not working,” candidate Wanda Younger, who recently retired from the Sheriff’s Office after 31 years of service, said when she announced her campaign to the Arlington County Democratic Committee last week. “I will work with the County Board and state legislators to ensure there is 24-hour mental health and medical care for those detained.”

She later told ARLnow that outcomes would improve at the jail with this 24/7 supervision, as well as new leadership and more deputies on staff. The Sheriff’s Office, like the Arlington County Police Department, has been experiencing attrition that has made it harder for the department to perform basic duties, she says.

“I am committed to changing the lives of the staff, changing the lives of the detainees and changing your lives,” she said in her speech.

Jose Quiroz, who took over as the interim Sheriff yesterday (Monday) after Beth Arthur retired, says he wants to implement biometric screening — something the Sheriff’s Office has been discussing but has yet to purchase.

Inmates in the jail’s infirmary, which consists of 12 beds, would wear devices to monitor their vital signs , notifying staff of a medical emergency such as a substance use withdrawal. Depending on funding, he says, he would eventually like all inmates to wear such devices.

“We’re in 2023, technology is advanced — let’s use that to our advantage,” he tells ARLnow, adding that jails in some less urban, less wealthy jurisdictions from Alabama to Montana are already using this technology.

James Herring, a police officer with Arlington County, says the county should bring medical care in house. He suggested staffing the jail with psychiatrists and therapists who report to the county as well.

“We need to shift from a system that only treats people when something goes wrong to a system that” identifies problems before they arise, he said, adding that the jail should conduct baseline physicals and mental health checks, Herring told us after announcing his candidacy last week.

That may be more expensive, but it would give the Sheriff’s Office “full control and full knowledge” over what’s going on.

“Ms. Arthur started as a budget analyst,” he said. “We got what you’d expect to get when a budget analyst takes over.”

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NEW: Three County Board hopefuls make their pitch to Arlington Dems during packed meeting

By Jo DeVoe
1/9

Three Arlington County Board hopefuls announced their candidacies to a packed house of local Democrats last night.

They are former NAACP Arlington Branch president Julius “J.D.” Spain, Sr. researcher and Center for American Progress policy analyst Maureen Coffey and Jonathan Dromgoole, who facilitates LGBT appointments within the Biden administration for the LGBTQ Victory Institute.

Last night (Wednesday) at the Lubber Run Community Center, more than a half dozen people told Arlington County Democratic Committee meeting attendees about their intentions to run for the County Board, Sheriff, Commonwealth’s Attorney and seats in the state legislature.

The three County Board candidates are vying for the two seats that immediate past Chair Katie Cristol and current Chair Christian Dorsey will vacate at the end of this year. In June, the candidates will participate in a party primary to see which voters will get to run with a “D” by their name in the November election.

Coffey bills herself as a Millennial renter with expertise in housing discrimination and child welfare policy. Jonathan is also a Millennial renter who leads the official Latino caucus for Virginia Democrats. Spain is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who has, at times, challenged the Arlington County Democratic Committee on its influence over local politics.

Coffey says she has seen first-hand how hard work is sometimes not enough to overcome life circumstances such as drug addiction and incarceration. She pledged to prioritize the most vulnerable in Arlington and more clearly articulate the County Board’s long-term vision for the county:

I’ve worked to become an expert on young children, and families and the adults that support them, which provides an understanding of almost every policy area that families come in contact with in their daily lives. This work has taught me to see every part of our lives as interdependent and woven into one. That’s the vision I want to bring to the County Board. Arlington has been a leader and a model for good policy for a very long time, but I have to ask myself, ‘Where are we going?’ We know we don’t have enough affordable housing, we know we don’t have enough child care, and we know we don’t have enough mental healthcare. We need a plan to meet these needs and, at the same time, protect what we love about Arlington: safety, parks, a sense of community.

Dromgoole introduced himself as a proud immigrant from Mexico and a proud product of public schools and teenage parents who came to America for a better life.

From a young age, he acted as the family interpreter for everything from doctors visits to navigating the education system and the family budget. He says Latino residents need that voice on the County Board.

We need to have conversations that will re-engage and inspire our neighbors to be part of the solution rather than feel left out because they weren’t part of a board and feel their voice doesn’t matter. Some in our community aren’t asking for much: Some want streets to be safer for their kids by investing in street lights, reducing speed limits and improving roads. Some are asking for their voices to be heard and policies to be explained in a language they understand. Some want the County Board to be reflective of their lived experiences as someone who has chosen to call Arlington home but fear they may never have the opportunity to buy into that American Dream.

Spain told the audience that what voters need on the County Board is experience — “personable and inclusive leadership.”

I believe that every child who grows up in Arlington should be able to live here as an adult and that means prioritizing affordable housing. I believe we should try to ensure that every corner of our community prospers and that means providing access to job training, ensuring living wages and supporting workers’ rights. With one in five Americans suffering mental illness, I believe that we should fully address the mental health crisis in our comm, and that means ensuring our gov has resources to support everyone with support services. I believe that means everyone should be able to live in Arlington without fear, that means standing with public safety officials while also assuring appropriate oversight and accountability. It is our duty to protect the environment and that means prioritizing sustainability and reinforcing our infrastructure.

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JUST IN: Christian Dorsey says he will not seek reelection

By ARLnow.com
Katie Cristol and Christian Dorsey (Staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

Arlington County Board vice-chair Christian Dorsey says he will not seek reelection next year.

He released the following statement to ARLnow this morning.

Now that the County Board has concluded its meetings for 2022, I am ready to turn my attention to 2023 and have decided that I will not seek re-election to the County Board.

It has been my distinct honor to have represented and served this community as a Board Member since 2016. Together, we have navigated tough times and advanced key priorities and initiatives that have made Arlington stronger, and I look forward to continuing that work in the year ahead while welcoming new leaders for 2024 and beyond.

Dorsey, the Board’s lone Black member, declined to answer additional questions about his decision “at this time.”

“We can wait a bit on the reflections,” he said. “Much work still to do.”

First elected in 2015 — along with Board Chair Katie Cristol, who is also not seeking reelection — Dorsey’s tenure on the Board was marred by a messy personal bankruptcy, tax filing and payment problems, and his resignation from the WMATA board following campaign finance ethics concerns.

His official county biography lists some of his accomplishments during his time on the Board.

During his tenure as Chair, Mr. Dorsey guided the Board’s adoption of: the Vision Zero transportation safety plan, the update to the Public Spaces Master Plan, the update to the Community Energy Plan, the renaming of Route 1 to Richmond Highway, the economic performance agreement and land use entitlements for Amazon’s headquarters in Arlington, principles of collaboration with the City of Alexandria on joint efforts to ensure inclusive growth with expected economic development, and an Equity Resolution that detailed the scope of work in Arlington’s mission to realize racial and social equity.

Christian is Chair of the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG), where he has represented Arlington since 2016. Previously, Mr. Dorsey served as Arlington’s Member on the Transportation Planning Board (TPB) in 2019 and 2021. Additionally, Christian served as a Principal Member of the Board of Directors for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, aka Metro, and as a Commissioner on the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission from 2016-2020.

In 2022, Christian is serving as the County Board liaison to the Civilian Oversight Board, the Commission on the Status of Women, the Human Rights Commission, the Neighborhood Complete Streets Commission, the Sports Commission and Aquatics Committee, the Emergency Preparedness Advisory Commission, the Fiscal Affairs Advisory Commission, the Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center, the Clarendon Alliance, the Arlington County Fair Board, and the Rosslyn BID. Christian is also Co-Chair of the County Board’s Audit Committee.

Outside of public service, Mr. Dorsey engages as a policy and communications consultant supporting progressive organizations in realizing their missions. Prior to joining the Board, Christian was a senior leader at the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank that promotes economic policies that foster broadly shared prosperity.

Dorsey’s decision sets up a Democratic primary in June for two open Board seats. The primary will, for the first time in an Arlington County-run election, feature ranked choice voting.

Two announce candidacy in upcoming races as Ingrid Morroy announces retirement

By ARLnow.com
1/3

(Updated at 10:10 a.m.) Candidates are starting to emerge in the races to replace two retiring, long-time local elected officials.

Last night’s Arlington County Democratic Committee meeting featured candidate announcements from Jose Quiroz, who is running for Arlington County Sheriff, and Kim Klingler, who is running for Commissioner of Revenue.

Quiroz, a 21-year veteran of the Arlington County Sheriff’s Office who would be the county’s first Latino sheriff, has the endorsement of retiring sheriff Beth Arthur.

More from a press release:

Tonight, Jose Quiroz announced his candidacy to be the Democratic nominee for Arlington County Sheriff before the Arlington County Democratic Committee. Jose has served the Arlington County Sheriff’s Office for over 21 years, rising through the ranks of the office and gaining experience in virtually every division.

“As Sheriff, I am committed to running a safe and progressive jail focused on rehabilitation and refocusing lives.” said Jose, “As part of this commitment I will explore eliminating phone and video call fees from the jail so that people in jail are able to maintain contact with their friends and family, which will make it easier for them to rejoin the community after incarceration.”

Additionally, current Sheriff Beth Arthur announced her early retirement this evening. As Chief Deputy, Jose will succeed Sheriff Arthur in January 2023. “I am incredibly thankful to have the support of Sheriff Arthur, a true leader and trailblazer as the first female Sheriff in Arlington County. I wish her well in her retirement after nearly 36 years with the office.”

On assuming the office, Jose will be the first Latino Sheriff in Arlington County. More about his platform and experience can be found at his campaign website: joseforsheriff.us

In Arlington County, the Sheriff’s Office is responsible for running the jail, providing courtroom security, transporting prisoners, serving summonses and assisting with traffic enforcement.

Also announcing a run for public office last night was Kim Klingler, a local civic figure who currently runs the Columbia Pike Partnership. Klingler is running for Commissioner of Revenue — the elected head of the local tax collection office — and would replace Ingrid Morroy.

Morroy, who first took office in 2004, announced her retirement and endorsed Klingler, according to a press release from the Columbia Pike Partnership.

Last night during the Arlington Democrats monthly meeting, Ingrid Morroy announced her retirement as Commissioner of Revenue for Arlington County and endorsed Kim Klingler, Columbia Pike Partnership Executive Director as her successor.

The Columbia Pike Partnership supports Kim’s decision to run for Commissioner of Revenue. “We’re excited about this opportunity for Kim. During the campaign and months ahead, Kim, the staff, and the board will remain focused on our mission and work in the community,” says Columbia Pike Partnership Board Chair Shannon Bailey.

The Columbia Pike Partnership does not endorse any political candidate in the 2023 election.

Klingler has twice unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for County Board, in 2012 and 2017.

Morroy and Arthur have both been relatively popular in their respective roles, re-elected with more than 95% of vote in 2019 after running unopposed.

More recently, Arthur has faced scrutiny after a series of deaths at the jail, primarily among Black men. A wrongful death lawsuit was filed against Arthur and the Sheriff’s Office earlier this year by the family of one of the men who died. The jail has since updated some of its medical protocols.

More candidate announcements are expected in the coming weeks and months. Two County Board seats will be on next year’s ballot and at least one will be open, with County Board Chair Katie Cristol not seeking reelection.

“We’ll have a lot more candidates announcing,” Arlington County Democratic Committee chairman Steve Baker told the Sun Gazette. “Next year will be a busy year.”

Next year’s Democratic primary will be held in June and will feature a ranked-choice voting system.

Former prosecutor launches bid to replace his boss as Arlington’s Commonwealth’s Attorney

By Jo DeVoe
Josh Katcher (via Josh for Arlington/Facebook)

Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti now has a challenger — someone who once worked for her.

Former Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Josh Katcher will go up against the incumbent in the Democratic primary in June. Katcher was hired as Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney by Theo Stamos in 2012 and he was promoted to deputy in 2021 near the outset of Dehghani-Tafti’s tenure.

“I am running because my opponent Parisa Dehghani-Tafti has not only broken her promises on reform prosecution, she also has broken the office in the process,” he said in an email to supporters, reprinted on Blue Virginia.

In a separate statement, tweeted out by Washington Post reporter Teo Armus, Katcher says he brings “unique insight” to the “multiple failings under the current administration’s leadership.”

“Crime is rising in Arlington,” Katcher said in the announcement. “There is no doubt about it and we have the data from the Arlington County Police Department to prove it. People are concerned about their safety and their property. Denying this or falsely alleging it is part of some media-driven narrative doesn’t solve the problem.”

Katcher said his first two promises are to acknowledge what he says is rising crime in Arlington and to increase transparency by releasing data housed in the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney within a year of taking office.

“The stakes could not be higher for our community,” Katcher said. “This election is not about whether we should be engaged in reform prosecution. The question is really whether we are going to miss this generational window of opportunity to get it right. Every victim, witness and defendant who comes through the doors of the courthouse deserves a Commonwealth’s Attorney that delivers real reform and real justice.”

Reported property crimes offenses increased 7.4% over 2020, according to the 2021 ACPD crime report, mostly driven by fraud and theft, but also increases in vandalism, robbery and burglary. In 2021, ACPD says it arrested several suspects who were “frequently responsible for multiple cases within Arlington or regionally.”

Crimes against people increased 24%, driven by increases in simple and aggravated assaults, an upward trend since 2018, according to ACPD stats. The police department, meanwhile, has cut some services, such as follow-up investigations on “unsolvable” property crimes, in the face of staffing shortages.

In interviews with ARLnow and statements on Twitter, Dehghani-Tafti says that crime is not, in fact, trending upward. She points to low murder rates and to the fact that Arlington’s overall crime rate remains well below state and national averages.

In response to concerns about property crime sprees and repeat offenders, she has said the approach for the last 40 years is to blame, as is a lack of investment in diversion programs.

Dehghani-Tafti beat incumbent Theo Stamos in the 2019 Democratic primary, with a platform focused on criminal justice reform. She pledged to fix systemic flaws in the criminal justice system such as cash bail and punishment for marijuana possession.

Since taking over, her office has launched a wrongful conviction unit and a restorative justice program for young adults. Her critics, however, say she offers criminals lenient plea deals and lets them go free as a result of bond reforms.

Ahead of the primary, Katcher says he faces “an uphill road” to victory because Dehghani-Tafti will “receive hundreds of thousands of dollars from PACs outside of our community.”

She has received a substantial donations from the Justice and Public Safety PAC, which is funded by billionaire philanthropist George Soros. By contrast, Katcher promises a “people-powered” campaign.

Whoever wins the Democratic primary in June will face off, in November, with any independent or Republican challengers who may emerge over the next year.

Katcher was born and raised in Fairfax County, according to his website. He earned his law degree from the University of Virginia and briefly worked in litigation in New York City before becoming a local prosecutor.

He currently lives in Arlington with his wife Jill, their children Juliet and Jamie, and their dog Louie and has served in a variety of roles within the Arlington County Democratic Committee.

Arlington sells bonds to pay for many projects. But are they the right tool?

By Jo DeVoe
Election Day in Arlington (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

On Election Day, a majority of Arlingtonians approved six bond measures, worth $510 million, that will fund a variety of projects throughout the county.

The biggest expenses for the next 10 years include upgrades to its Water Pollution Control Plant, where local sewage goes, and funding to build a new Arlington Career Center campus.

Arlington County finances these big-ticket projects by selling bonds, mostly to institutional investors like Travelers, State Farm and Blackrock, but also — to an extent — to retail investors and residents. It uses bonds, in the aggregate, to pay for smaller-ticket items: new park playground equipment or upgraded HVAC units, lighting and kitchens and new, more secure entrances in Arlington Public Schools.

But earlier this month the bond market took a huge hit, falling more in one day than it had in a decade, the Wall Street Journal reports. Investors had sold off government bonds — normally seen as an “ultrasafe” investment for companies and retirement accounts — in response to higher interest rates, which the Federal Reserve raised to tackle inflation.

That might mean a new type of investor buying Arlington’s bonds.

“With the historically low interest rates over the past decade, smaller retail investors have not been as big a presence, however with recent rate increases their participation may increase,” county spokesman Ryan Hudson said.

A list of top bond holders from 2020 (via Arlington County)

But for Chris Edwards, a researcher with the libertarian think tank Cato Institute, the current market is more of a reason why wealthy jurisdictions like Arlington should not be using bonds to pay for projects.

“There’s more of an argument for a government to issue debt when interest rates are near zero, which they were a few years ago,” he tells ARLnow. “The era of historically low interest rates for last 10 years is over. It seems we’ll have inflation for a number of years now and that means Arlington’s borrowing costs are going to be higher. It’s the same reason now is not a good time to buy a house with a 30-year mortgage.”

For the county, bonds are a “generational equity issue,” Hudson said.

“The use of municipal bonds spreads payments over ten or twenty years, which more closely aligns with the useful life of County projects and requires future residents to bear some of the burden of paying for the costs of projects from which they directly benefit,” Hudson said.

In other words, it wouldn’t be fair or financially feasible for current residents to fully fund multi-year capital projects, like the $48 million issued for the Lubber Run Community Center, in one year.

Support for county bond referenda has plateaued since the 1980s, after climbing from an average passage rate of 58% from 1951 to 1979 to an average rate of 75% from 1980 to 2021, Edwards wrote in a blog post discussing bond passage margins in Arlington since the 1950s.

Bond support in Arlington since the 1950s (courtesy of Chris Edwards/Cato Institute)

While the 2022 bond referenda all passed, registered voters were marginally more supportive of wastewater plant updates (85% approval) and stormwater improvements (80% approval) — perhaps in response to recent flooding events — than they were for renovations to county buildings (72%), parks (79%) and schools (77%), according to results from the Virginia Dept. of Elections.

Although three-quarters of Arlington residents generally vote for bonds, there is some criticism about the method for funding projects as well as to the kind of projects it is applied.

“I think, especially a place like Arlington, I don’t see an advantage in using debt,” Edwards tells ARLnow. “If the County Board thinks it needs a new library or high school, they should make the case to raise property taxes to fund the things they want. In my view, that would be more transparent.”

Voters tend to reject tax increases but they tend to support bonds, he said. That dissonance, he concludes, is the result of “a case of misinformation.”

“Bonds increase taxes in the future because the government is going to have to pay the interest on those bonds,” he said. “Who are we, today, to impose interest costs on Arlingtonians 10-20 years down the road?”

He said he is not against debt for big projects with long-lasting benefits, such as D.C.’s bonds to fund sewage improvements. But smaller things, like school improvement projects, should not be bond-funded.

There is also concern from some that the county is close to maxing out some of the limits that it self-imposes in order to regulate how many bonds it issues. These limits exist to ensure Arlington maintains its triple-A bond rating, given by credit agencies that have determined the county has an excellent track record of paying back its debts.

The county tries to keep how much debt is paying off to 10% of its general expenditures. Over the next 10 years, the ratio is expected to peak at 9.85%.

Ratio of tax-supported debt service to general expenditures (via Arlington County)

Another ratio that the county is close to maxing out is the ratio of debt per person to income per person, which cannot exceed 6% and over the next 10 years could range from 4.5-5.9%.

It is possible for the county to max out on how many bonds it can issue, Hudson said. But when asked if Arlington County could still issue bonds in the next 10 years, Hudson said “the short answer is yes.”

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Arlington prosecutor Parisa Dehghani-Tafti launches reelection campaign

By Jo DeVoe
Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti at Arlington Democrats election watch party in November 2019, when she was elected to office (Staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Parisa Dehghani-Tafti announced today (Tuesday) that she is running for reelection as Commonwealth’s Attorney for Arlington County and the City of Falls Church.

Dehghani-Tafti, who campaigned on criminal justice reform, won her first term in 2019, after beating incumbent Theo Stamos (D) in a contentious and expensive primary that saw more than half a million dollars in donations to the challenger from a justice reform group.

She pledged to fix systemic flaws in the criminal justice system to which, Dehghani-Tafti asserted, Stamos was blind. This included cash bail, a requirement that defense attorneys hand copy all the prosecutor’s files about their criminal case and punishment for marijuana possession.

“Three years ago, when I first sought our community’s support, I promised that our community would become a model for how to run a criminal justice system that provides safety and justice for all,” Dehghani-Tafti said in a statement. “In just three years, in the midst of a global pandemic, in the face of constant resistance from the forces of the status quo, and fighting against a right-wing recall campaign against me, we’ve achieved that and more.”

The recall effort, which never amounted to a serious threat to her seat, was led by a political group named Virginians for Safe Communities that also targeted as her counterparts Buta Biberaj and Steve Descano in Loudoun and Fairfax counties, respectively.

Today, in a press release announcing her reelection bid and on Twitter, Dehghani-Tafti says she has made good on many of her campaign promises.

Her office launched Virginia’s first Conviction Review Unit to investigate wrongful conviction claims, after the General Assembly passed a law expanding the pool of defendants who can challenge convictions.

It started a program, dubbed “the Heart of Safety” program, to find alternatives to prosecution in certain misdemeanor and felony cases committed by juveniles and young adults. It also partnered with local and national nonprofits to create diversion programs that reduce racial disparities in the criminal legal system, and received a U.S. Department of Justice grant to run restorative justice program.

In her Twitter thread, she added that her office never asked for cash bail and stopped prosecuting simple marijuana possession before the General Assembly decriminalized it. She says her office assigns one prosecutor to preside over a case from start to finish and allowed defenders to access court records electronically. Over the last three years, the jail population has dropped by 30%, as have certain types of crimes.

Additionally, she says, her office did not certify a single child as an adult in 2021 and Arlington’s behavioral health docket now allows individuals experiencing mental health crises to obtain treatment without incurring a criminal record.

“We did all of this while making sure our community remains safe,” she said in today’s statement. “While homicides rose 30% nationwide, in our community they dropped by 50%. In 2021 and for about 16 months, Arlington County and the City of Falls Church recorded zero homicides. This year, to date, one.”

Critics, however, have asserted that crime is up under her tenure. They accused Dehghani-Tafti offering criminals lenient plea deals and letting them go free as a result of bond reforms. In one case, an Arlington County Circuit Court judge rejected her plea deal — a local example of a broader judicial tug-of-war between judges and reform-minded prosecutors — and Dehghani-Tafti fought for prosecutorial discretion, with support from a criminal-justice organization. (more…)

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