July, August, and September were extremely busy months for County Board work. Big picture--in July I helped secure funding for the Cystal City to DCA Walkway, the Board adopted our Capital Improvement Plan, and we approved a critical economic development agreement with COSTAR.
In August I opened a successful Arlington County Fair and continued work on towing and criminal justice reform. We also reconstituted the Human Rights Commission, a step I will describe more below.
In September, the Board approved significant additional housing in the Courthouse/Rosslyn neighborhood, began speed camera enforcement in 10 school zones, and agreed on a public/private partnership to expand field capacity at Kenmore Middle School. I'll update you on the housing actions below. On missing middle, that will wait for another newsletter--sorry.
In July, the County Board passed a resolution in honor of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission's 60th Anniversary. I am honored to serve as Chair of NVTC this year.
Perhaps the most important action the Board took over the past 3 months was the approval in July of our economic development agreement with Costar, the company you may have seen through ads on homes.com or apartments.com. County Manager Schwartz aptly described the agreement as the 2nd most important economic step we have taken over the last 5 years, with the Amazon agreement first.
The July Board meetings included adoption of our 10-year plan for capital improvements in Arlington--our infrastructure plan. The plan invests wisely in priorities that will help strengthen economic growth and the quality of life for our residents. My focus was on South Carlin Springs Road, where I helped secure $500K in additional funding, Madison Community Center, where I helped add $250K, and on funding to better serve those with disabilities via adult changing stations via a pilot program. To learn more about our CIP, go here: County Board adopts $5.2 billion 10-year Capital Improvement Plan (govdelivery.com)
I joined Unite Here Local 23 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in July in support housekeepers' efforts to unionize. Work deserves to be valued and workers should be treated with respect. The workers won their election in August, but there is more to do to help some who were fired get their jobs back
The Board took other critical steps in July on one of my longstanding top priorities, housing, by approving a project with Habitat for Humanity for accessible units at the Reevesland Farm House and by approving a part of the redevelopment of the Barcroft Apartments, the big agreement we reached in 2021 when I was Chair of the Board. To learn more and for a summary of the County Board actions in July, go here: Arlington County Board Wrap-Up for July 2024 Meeting (govdelivery.com)
Arlington County is continuing to work on mental health, both as part of a requirement from state law and as part of our local emphasis on this critical area. Learn from Tiffany Jones about our Marcus Alert work in 1 minutes 40 seconds.
Perhaps the most significant value add that I helped deliver in July was securing funding for the Crystal City to DCA Connector (CC2DCA) through work on the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority's Board. CC2DCA is the walkway that will be built from Crystal City to Reagan National Airport.
I dropped by Path Forward to donate clothes and support our critical effort to better serve those in need of housing/shelter in Arlington. Thanks to Scott Miller for hosting.
August was a busy month with work on criminal justice issues, towing, and the human rights commission. On criminal justice, I have been working on re-establishing the Community Criminal Justice Board, a cross-departmental effort to address our jail, diversion of individuals from our jail, and the interplay of the various participants in our system. August involved work with Falls Church and with our stakeholders to gain agreement on a resolution updating the Community Criminal Justice Board, which passed in September.
Towing is another ongoing body of work that required significant work in August. Arlington has new legal authority from the state of Virginia to require permits of towers and regulate towing. Arlington's Trespass Towing Advisory Board, which I serve as Board liaison to has been considering next steps. Draft and final updated regulation of towing will come to the County Board in October and November or November and December.
Torri Huske, an Arlington native and Gold Medalist this past summer, came home to a heroes welcome. Watch this 3 minute video for a little inspiration. Torri makes us all proud to be Arlingtonians.
The Human Rights Commission also has been one of my priorities this summer. The Board voted to reconstitute the Commission on August 27th. We made several changes to help clarify the Commission's role that I felt were necessary. First, clarifying that the Commission does not have jurisdiction over our schools, a conclusion of law that our County Attorney agrees with. If human rights concerns are happening in our schools, Virginia law and best practice dictate that our School Board or Superintendent have jurisdiction, not a County Board created position.
Second, we clarified that the Commission is an advisory body to the County Board and that before writing as a group to Federal and State entities, it must first get County Board approval. This relates to a request the Commission sent earlier this year for a DOJ investigation of our jail due to a death in our jail. I do not have any problem with the Commission raising the issues, but the correct approach would have been to recommend we ask for a DOJ investigation and not to write the DOJ without our prior approval. I feel strongly that the County Board must be accountable. It is not appropriate, however, for the Commission to speak while leaving the impression that it speaks for the County.
Underlying the Commission's work, in part, is concerns about our jail. The truth, however, is that the best venue for working on safety in our jail is and will be a Commission I have been working on--the Community Criminal Justice Board--and not the Human Rights Commission which has an individual rights mandate.
Finally, we reduced the number of Commissioners from 12 to 7 and explicitly stated that County employees are outside of the jurisdiction of the reconstituted Commission. The reduction in number is due to vacancies that preceded my time as liaison and the need to focus the Commission's work. Debating the Israeli-Palestinian War is not, in my view, the best use of this Commission's efforts. The Board should be the entity to consider resolutions on that topic.
On County employees, the new development that leads me to conclude that group adjudication of County employee claims is not best is the existence of collective bargaining. Under bargaining, there is added protection for Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Claims. There is also the ability to bring EEOC claims directly, our Office of Human Rights which hears cases directly, and the grievance process. These are all other fair and confidential mechanisms to make sure claims of discrimination by County employees are heard and heard fairly. Email me if you want to talk further about this.
Bottom line: the best way to further human rights is for the Commission to be refreshed, focus on non-profit and private sector issues and for the new Commission to gain momentum. For a summary of the action we took, go here: Arlington County Board dismantles Human Rights Commission - The Washington Post I am already working on interviewing and recommending new members of the Commission, including offering some who served on the last Commission the ability to join the reconstituted Commission.
Transportation is such a critical part of the investments that make Arlington a great place to live. Watch this documentary about the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, the regional organization I serve as Chair of this year.
September's highlight might have been serving as Chair of the Northern Virginia Transportation Comission at the 60th Anniversary of the organization's founding. The video above describes the work to create and fund Metro and over the ensuing decades and the work NVTC has done to move the region forward, literally and figuratively.
I joined Zuraya Tapia-Hadley in hosting an event on September 22 for Suhas Subrmanyam. JD Spain joined us as we work to take back the US House of Representatives by winning Jennifer Wexton's seat.
The Board also approved additional housing in September in the Court House/Rosslyn neighborhood via a site plan for the area where Rhodeside Bar & Grill and the National Science Teachers Association currently stand. The 187 additional housing units at this site are exactly the sort of transit-oriented development that adds to housing supply and is good for Arlington as a whole in that the residents will contribute more to our community than they take in services. For a summary of this step and all the Board's significant actions in September, go here: Arlington County Board Wrap-Up for September 2024 Meetings (govdelivery.com)
So, for all the things I would like us to do better, we are doing many things well. That positive but not perfect perspective is important for me and all of us to keep in mind.
In July, the County & regional transportation leaders marked the groundbreaking on a second entrance to the Crystal City Metro. Watch this 2-minute video for more.
The County Board and County Manager also made several critical appointments over the last year. Perhaps most important for our priorities,Jennifer Fioretti has been appointed Assistant County Manager for Climate Policy. Ms. Fioretti was selected by County Manager Mark Schwartz to lead our climate work in a critical role that we have struggled to get right. Jennifer Fioretti Named Assistant County Manager for Climate Policy (govdelivery.com) I am very hopeful that Ms. Fioretti will help us accelerate our work on climate, one of the the two defining challenges of our time. (Along with economic and racial inequity, imho.)
