The Right Note

The Right Note is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

Every year the Arlington County Board takes one month off from its regular meeting schedule in August.

Having been on a policy maker’s staff, it is safe to assume county staff is even more grateful than the Board for the opportunity to take a breather and catch up.

Here five things a Board member could do in August to learn more about the impact of their decisions:

1. Find a homeowner who wants to get a building permit and walk with them through every step of the process. Be copied on every email. Make all of the trips to the county offices, including those to pay fees.
2. Work with a small business owner who is trying to start a venture in the county for the first time. Help them fill out every piece of paperwork. See if as a Board member you can explain the necessity for each and every form and tax. Ask them if they favor big businesses getting tax breaks and incentives while they receive nothing.
3. Find another business owner who wants to put a sign on the front of their establishment or do some renovations. Fill out that paperwork. Go to the zoning office. Be with them when the inspector comes. Participate in the call with their contractor when the county requires a change.
4. Spend a day in the life of county employees. Go out to a water main break and ask the people fixing them whether the aging infrastructure is maintained. Do a ride-along on the late-night shift with a police officer. Spend a day in a fire station. Work as a custodian in one of our public schools as they prepare buildings for the new year. Spend an evening cleaning up during the County Fair.
5. Convene an off the record meeting with 5-10 Arlingtonians who did not vote for you and ask them what they think could be done to make this a better place to live, work and raise a family.

There are many other things the Board could do to step outside their bubble and gain perspective on the decisions they make. It would undoubtedly be beneficial to us all.

The Right Note is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

A report out of Toronto is that a local man built a set of stairs at a public park after the city quoted a minimum of $65,000 to do the job — the high end for the estimate was a whopping $150,000.

By contrast, the cost for materials and labor for the completed project was $550, which was paid for by asking some neighbors to chip in.

Toronto is now threatening to tear them down until they can build the more expensive version. The city attempted to block off the eight stairs with caution tape in the interim, but from the looks of the photos, people who like using the stairs are continuing to do so anyway.

Almost certainly, the stairs were not built to city code. Just as certainly, there is no acceptable reason the project should cost at least 120 times more than your average man on the street can build it. But as we have learned in Arlington, when the government is involved in a project or “solving a problem,” it almost always costs the taxpayers more than it should.

Arlington gained national notoriety for our $1 million, open air, not quite big enough to keep you dry if it rained, bus stop. That price tag was explained away as a prototype absorbing costs for design and engineering. Then it was announced the county had lowered the cost per stop to a still mind-boggling $575,000. Better, but still equivalent to the construction costs of a rather large custom home.

Arlington this week announced it would pay nearly $3.9 million for a building assessed at $2.4 million. According to County Board chair Jay Fisette, paying 44 percent over the assessed value was the best deal they could get from the building’s owner. The total cost of moving the county’s Head Start program to the location will come in at $10.5 million once renovations are complete.

In 2014, Arlingtonians looked at the county’s record under one party rule and voted in an independent. Following up on his campaign platform, John Vihstadt lead the effort to bring a County Auditor on board.

In June, the County Board approved the County Auditor’s FY 2018 work plan. And there is nothing wrong with the plan as a first step. However, if the Board is able to dole out an extra $1.5 million for a piece of property, they should be prepared to find an additional $150,000 for the Auditor’s office budget and hire two more people to speed up the pace of reviewing how the county spends our money.

The Right Note is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

Outgoing Arlington County Board chair Jay Fisette says Arlington should be a city, not a county. From a practical standpoint, it would be a distinction without a difference. Having the word “county” in our name does not give us some massive inferiority complex.

The only explanation for Fisette’s musing is a political one. If Arlington became a city, the Democrats would almost certainly move all of the city council elections to November of presidential election years to give Republicans or independents the worst chance possible of winning.

Lest you think this is political paranoia, remember that outgoing Democrats on the Alexandria city council voted in 2009 to move their elections from the spring to November after losing seats.

There is further evidence that leaving office is making Fisette a little more politically honest. In his recent State of the County address, Fisette said current Arlington Public Schools’ spending growth “is not going to be sustainable” and further made the point that “we need to reduce per-student costs.”

We spend roughly $22,000 for every child enrolled in APS now, but calling that spending into question is politically treacherous territory in Arlington.

Speaking of APS, Superintendent Murphy received an early contract extension from the School Board just as he did in 2014. The 3 to 2 vote came a full year before his current deal expired.

James Lander, who had voted against the early extension three years ago saying it might set a bad precedent, cast the deciding vote in favor of the extension this time around. While Murphy surely will not turn down the pay increase, the split vote looks to the casual observer to be a vote of “no confidence.”

In the future, if 40 percent of the Board is not ready to grant an extension early, the Board should either stick it back in the drawer or work harder to find unanimity.

Four years ago, Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s business dealings were called into question during his campaign. In the last week, we learned that the Governor’s former company GreenTech Automotive is being required to repay $6.4 million of public funds to the state of Mississippi, funds that McAuliffe helped secure while with GreenTech.

Fortunately for Virginia taxpayers, McAuliffe’s application for such assistance here was denied because of concerns about whether the company was a legitimate venture. The legitimacy of the company aside, this incident is a reminder of the danger inherent in handing out taxpayer dollars for economic development.

The Right Note is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

After spending over $17 million for the yet-to-be-opened ART bus light maintenance facility in South Arlington, the county announced it is close to acquiring land for a third ART bus facility in Springfield.

The land cost for the heavy maintenance facility in Springfield itself is reported to be $4.65 million before up to $32 million could be added in the design and build process.

County officials admitted when the first facility was announced that it was too small to meet actual maintenance and storage needs, but that did not stop them from moving forward with it. The maintenance facilities are on top of the acquisition of land for ART bus parking in Shirlington.

As noted at the time, the South Arlington facility would save tax taxpayers $57,000 a year that Arlington pays to use existing Metrobus maintenance facilities. At that rate, the facility will pay for itself in about 308 years. If Arlington taxpayers are lucky, the heavy maintenance facility will pay for itself in 100 years or less.

Sure, Metro could stop allowing us to use their facilities, though it is hard to imagine they are looking to shed any extra revenue sources right now. Yes, it’s nice to have a facility that is our own. But spending millions on a “nice to have” project is the type of decision that can eventually get governments into financial hot water.

To put this in business terms, the decision to move forward with these maintenance facilities represents a negative return on investment. Only in government would you justify them as saving taxpayers money.

Of course, the government also calls it a spending “cut” when programs only grow by 4 percent instead of 5 percent. They also call reducing travel lanes and the resulting rush hour traffic backups, “road improvements.”

Speaking of “saving” money, our friends at the “Progressive Voice” printed more of the resolutions that the 8th District Democrats adopted this spring. On top of their list for spending money is universal health care.

With estimates of $400 billion annually to pay for universal health care in California alone, nearly $20 trillion in federal debt, and a 2017 federal budget deficit of $693 billion, there is simply no way to pay for it. And no, there not enough rich people in America to pay for it even if we doubled the amount they pay in income tax.

The Right Note is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

Now that the national political parties have moved past a $50 million special election for Congress in suburban Atlanta, all eyes will begin to move to the Old Dominion.

Virginians can expect a summer and fall filled with television ads, phone calls, and people knocking on your door asking you to get out and vote in the Governor’s race. Your Facebook feed will undoubtedly be filled with political opinions.

With all the political clutter coming our way, the opportunity to hear directly from the candidates for governor and compare them side by side will be limited to three debates. That is the number of debates Democrat nominee Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam agreed to appear at after Republican nominee Ed Gillespie agreed to 10.

Northam’s decision came on the heels of debating his fellow Democrat Tom Perriello five times in the run-up to the June 13 primary. Northam did say he would make seven other joint appearances with Gillespie, but showing up at the Shad Planking and making a stump speech is hardly the same thing as answering questions.

This is a growing trend for Democratic candidates for Governor in Virginia. Former Gov. Bob McDonnell challenged Creigh Deeds to 10 debates, but Deeds only agreed to four. Ken Cuccinelli asked for 15 debates, but Gov. Terry McAuliffe only granted three.

Northam made opposition to President Trump a key component of his primary message. Both he and Perriello made it abundantly clear they were tossing aside any nods to moderation as they raced to the activist far left base and the anti-Trump Resist movement.

Standing up to a President you do not agree with is certainly fair game as a campaign issue. And if more governors pushed back against the encroachment of the federal government, we would all be better off. However, Northam’s campaign engaged in name calling rather than pushing back on specific policies.

Right now the voters of Virginia deserve to know what the current Lt. Governor would do as Governor. How would you make Virginia’s economy the best in the U.S.? What would you do to improve educational options for all Virginians? How would you address the transportation needs of Northern Virginia?

Hopefully the next few months will be filled with policy specifics and not more name calling, but don’t hold your breath in this political environment.

The Right Note is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

Virginia, like a few other states, still begins its school year after Labor Day. There is nothing wrong with maintaining this practice. And if you are going on a beach vacation, those last two weeks before Labor Day often bring reduced prices as competition for space subsides.

But the final day of elementary school in Arlington is tomorrow, June 23. There is no reason it could not be the second Friday in June in all but the snowiest of years.

The Superintendent builds in a number of days throughout the year for teacher work days, as well as adding other “cushion” days to the calendar, to account for school closures while still meeting the minimum number of days necessary for instruction required by the Commonwealth of Virginia. As most parents know, after the SOLs are completed the amount of instruction that occurs in the classroom falls off dramatically. The final days of school are often filled with field days and movies.

APS could adjust the calendar for next year now and tell parents in September that not later than March 1, the system would determine if it needed to add days due to weather events into the next week of June. That would give parents enough time to adjust summer plans as necessary and would happen only rarely.

School Board candidates can add this “give a week back plan” to “no homework” as an agenda item to gain my endorsement in November.

Bloomberg to Receive a Boost

Between Virginia and Arlington, Bloomberg Bureau of National Affairs (BNA) could receive $2.5 million in benefits over the next 3 years for bringing 125 jobs to Arlington. $500,000 would be provided by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. $800,000 would come from the Arlington County Economic Development Incentive. And $1.2 million would be allocated for the continuation of an expiring property tax exemption.

Unlike BNA and Nestlé, most employers are likely to receive $0 for creating jobs in the County over the next three years.

Meanwhile, the Arlington County Board passed another in the series of meaningless resolutions meant to weigh in on a national issue this week. The Board supported the Paris Agreement by recommitting itself to steps they were going to take anyway to make County Government more energy efficient.

That time could have been better spent on a discussion of how to make Arlington a better place to do business for those employers that aren’t receiving huge taxpayer-funded handouts.

The Right Note is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

There is rarely a shortage of issues to write about in Arlington, or Virginia more broadly. But today, none of them seemed appropriate.

I have worked on Capitol Hill for most of the past two decades where members of Congress and staff are generally able to work together in a civil manner across party lines.

We care about our community. And we greatly appreciate that our ongoing safety and security is owed to the Capitol Police officers who are prepared to run into the line of fire. Speaker Paul Ryan rightly said yesterday something that cannot be understated, “an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us.”

Sadly, yesterday’s shooting is not the first attack directed at our community during my time here. In 1998, Capitol Police officers Jacob Chesnut and John Gibson were shot and killed while protecting Members of Congress, their staff and visitors in the Capitol building.

On September 11, 2001 as the Pentagon was already on fire, United Flight 93 was almost certainly headed toward the Capitol before being taken down by heroic passengers.

In October of 2001, deadly anthrax was mailed to Congressional offices.

In 2011, then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot while hosting a public event in Tucson, Ariz.

And then yesterday, there was an attempted massacre on a baseball field in Alexandria as Republican Members of Congress were preparing to play a game that raises hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity.

Those of us who work here are thankful for the Capitol Police officers who stepped into the line of fire to stop the attack, and we are praying for the injured, all the while knowing “there but for the grace of God, go I.” This was exemplified by the prayers of the Democratic baseball team practicing on another field immediately upon hearing the news.

Many want to immediately assign blame on the means used to carry out this attack, on political rhetoric, or on people other than the shooter. It is a natural reaction to immediately look for an explanation of why someone would ever consider using a bomb, gun, knife, or even a vehicle driving down a sidewalk to kill fellow human beings.

But this act was pure evil carried about by a madman, and it cannot ever fully be explained to those of us who believe that every human life is precious. Today, it must simply be condemned.

As we move forward with time for proper reflection, we can consider what causes such attacks to take place: the tone of our politics; the anger fomented on social media; the threat from radical groups; and the state of our mental health care system. And if we can do that without attempting to score political points, we may actually make progress toward healing in our nation.

The Right Note is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

On Monday, The Washington Post ran the following headline: “Metro hails SafeTrack as a success, but it has yet to translate into better services for riders.”

The article was not any better for the system than the headline. After one year and nearly $160 million spent addressing decades of deferred maintenance on its basic infrastructure, the system still has miles to go on repairs.

And despite what has been hailed as a good first step for safety, there is little evidence that Metro has been able to overcome the long held view that it is unreliable.

For years, many Metro riders were willing to look past the issues with reliability, including the inability to keep escalators and elevators in operational order, because fares remained relatively low. But as fares steadily increased and the severity of incidents increased, riders walked away from the system. Now you can jump on your smart phone, order an Uber or Lyft ride with little cost difference.

The Post also ran an editorial on Monday with its own solution for the problem: a 1 percent regional sales tax to pump $650 million into the system each year.

Such a measure would almost certainly pass if put before the voters in Arlington, though it would be up to the General Assembly in Richmond as well as officials in Maryland and D.C. And some additional funding is not necessarily an unreasonable ask if we want to put the system back on its feet.

But it is also not unreasonable to exercise caution and ask for real accountability in return. While General Manager Paul Wiedefeld is largely credited with taking Metro’s safety problems seriously, and has fired staff where appropriate and allowable, little has really changed to the underlying governance of the system.

However, Monday’s Post editorial continued by carping that, “Locally, some myopic GOP elected officials grumble” about Metro asking for more money when it’s not spending money wisely now. Setting aside the near unanimity of elected officials inside the beltway who are Democrats, what is wrong with expecting Metro to be set up for success before handing them $6 billion to spend over the next decade?

And in February the Post seemingly agreed with this political “myopathy,” editorializing in favor of reforms by saying, “governance reforms are critical, including enhanced flexibility for management to control costs and rein in unions, as well as a streamlined board of directors consisting of transit, finance and management experts rather than local politicians.”

And they continued, “It’s fair to demand management improvements, governance reforms and a workable long-term recovery plan at Metro.”

The Post was correct in February. The region should demand a transformational reform plan from Metro before providing any new revenue source. Metro’s failure to do so voluntarily by now means any new money must come with strings attached.

The Right Note is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

Two little discussed revenue raisers in the most recent Arlington budget were included by the County Board in April and formally voted on last week.

Your natural gas and electricity bills will go up in what was described as a “slight uptick” in a recent ARLnow story. The slight uptick is a rate increase of 50%.

Also included in the budget is an increase in local bus ride fares on ART, up 14% for adults and 18% for students.

Arlington’s ability and willingness to raise taxes and fees on its citizens is one of the biggest reasons why the county receives AAA bond ratings from all three credit rating agencies. According to the Fitch ratings, “The county’s revenue framework is solid in its unlimited ability to raise property taxes.”

So never worry that Arlington will lose its highest bond rating because the rating agencies view the taxpayers as a fully stocked ATM.

Last week, Progressive Voice published six of the 32 resolutions adopted by 8th District Democrats, under the heading of a “progressive agenda.”

While too many in the resist movement have dropped any sense of civility in the public policy debate, that the Democrats are listing what they are for should be applauded, even if we disagree.

Included in last week’s post was a dubious call to restrict the ability of your elected representatives the ability to review rules published by federal agencies by imposing a two-thirds supermajority vote to say what the law should be.

While Congress has delegated much of the rule-making authority to agencies, it still ultimately has the authority to make laws under the Constitution. If a majority of the House and Senate can agree on, and a President is willing to sign, a legislative initiative overturning a rule they believe to be out of step with the law, then our Constitutional process has worked as intended.

They also called for a $15 minimum wage across the country. It is still too early to tell what all of the impacts of this change will be in cities like Seattle who have been phasing it in.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 98 percent of full-time workers earn more than the current minimum wage. About 50% of those making the federal minimum wage are high school and college age, often working their first job or a job to help pay for expenses while in school.

Interestingly, 89 percent of teenagers who work are already making more than the current minimum wage. Any policy that has the potential to reduce opportunities for people to learn how to work on their first job on the economic ladder should be viewed with skepticism.

The list included criminal justice reform. This is an area where there is a good deal of crossover appeal to liberty-minded Republicans who believe that “overcriminalization” in America has resulted in over-incarceration and that individuals who made a mistake but want to put their lives together to be productive members of society should be given every opportunity to do so. Hopefully lawmakers on both sides will find areas of agreement in this area that can be passed into law.

The Right Note is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

It is no secret that Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) wants to expand Medicaid in Virginia.It is also no secret that the General Assembly will not vote to give him that authority.

It is perfectly ok for the Governor to keep taking his case to the public to try and put pressure on the General Assembly to come around to his way of thinking. He has continually done so, but with no success.

Not only has the General Assembly refused to pass expansion, it has gone so far as to include in its budget a prohibition against any attempt by the Governor to assume that authority through executive action. The Governor has attempted to line-item veto that provision in the budget.

The problem for McAuliffe is the Virginia Supreme Court has held that under our Constitution, a Governor cannot veto a condition of Medicaid without vetoing all of the funding for Medicaid. In light of this well-established precedent, the General Assembly rightly ignored that veto as being improper.

Then earlier this month, McAuliffe issued an executive order instructing state agencies to treat his veto as binding. Now if his administration attempts to implement Medicaid expansion through executive authority, it will open the entire subject up to legal challenges much like his executive order on restoring felon voting rights did — a case he lost for ignoring the law.

Whether you are for Medicaid expansion or against it, it should give you pause when a Governor attempts to do an end run around the Virginia Constitution. Worse yet, the Governor is trying to make this end run with the ultimate goal of re-writing Virginia’s Medicaid laws from the executive branch before he leaves office.

The Governor’s spokesman pointed out the Governor was issuing this executive order because he was elected on his promise to expand Medicaid. What the Governor’s spokesman left out of the statement is that a majority of the General Assembly was elected on the promise not to. And like it or not, they are the branch of government charged with writing the laws.

Democrats who support Medicaid expansion should ask themselves, is it worth establishing a precedent for a future Republican Governor to have power to both ignore line item veto restrictions and rewrite laws over the objection of the General Assembly in the executive branch?

The Right Note is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

Congratulations to Erik Gutshall for winning the Democrats’ County Board caucus. Now Republicans should nominate an opponent.

I have met Erik on a couple occasions since he first decided to run against Libby Garvey last year. We have children who attend Gunston Middle School together. In this politically charged time, we have shared in civil conversations. I like Erik.

But Erik is running his campaign on the same “progressive values” as the man he seeks to replace. His website could very well say, “if you elect me, the next four years will be just like the last 20.”

So here are four reasons Republicans should nominate a candidate or endorse an Independent who is committed to shaking up the status quo:

1. Erik Gutshall supported Arlington’s efforts to give economic development handouts to large corporations. While we may not be able to stop the “me too” economic development giveaway approach right away, the primary focus of the next county board member should be to improve the business climate for job creators of every shape and size. The time for talk on making Arlington’s bureaucracy better is over. The next Board member should offer a comprehensive reform plan from zoning to the business license tax and call on the Board to start acting on it within the first six months.
2. We need a Board member willing to ask tough questions on transportation decisions, like narrowing streets in a way that creates more traffic congestion. But the number one transportation priority for the next County Board member is to demand a Metro reorganization in exchange for additional Arlington tax dollars. Arlington has simply not demonstrated enough leadership on this critical system dating back to the years Chris Zimmerman served on the WMATA board.
3. John Vihstadt needs an ally with a 100 percent commitment to spending within our means. Vihstadt has found a niche on the Board. He has worked with fellow members to achieve some positive results to hold the county accountable. But it is difficult to imagine a scenario where anyone else on the Board would support a year over year freeze in spending, even if you could demonstrate why circumstances warranted it (school enrollments significantly declined for example). There is simply a super-majority bias, four to one, to spend more. Erik would not change this ratio.
4. Vihstadt also needs an ally committed to reforming the year-end closeout process. It essentially amounts to a slush fund for County Board members to spend every year. In the same light, a new Board member should bring transparency to the revenue estimates which are continually low, require the Board to raise taxes, and yet produces tens of millions in year-end surpluses every year. Libby Garvey has expressed a willingness to consider reforms to the process, but two votes for it only gets you a discussion, not a majority for reform.

A Republican (or an Independent committed to similar principles*) may not ultimately win, but they should run. Republicans have until June 13 to make a nomination.

*With all due respect to perennial candidate Audrey Clement, it should be someone new.