Dear Friends,

Brooke and I moved over the last month, which explains my slight delay in writing you. I have been continuing to work hard on the priorities we share.

For the last 7 years, this view from my condo in Courthouse was home.
The 2018 campaign and a key part of my life happened here.

Our new home is my first with a small yard and is located in Northwest Arlington nearer both of our parents. Both Brooke and I are happy and grateful for the move. Arizona, our dog, really loves it, too :)

Arizona under the blankets watching Netflix on the couch.

What the move does not change--and never will--is my commitment to equity and expanding opportunity for everyone in Arlington, especially those most in need. Those ideals remain etched in my heart, governing the actions, values, and decisions I make personally and as a Board Member.
Information about Voting Early and By Mail in Arlington ([link removed])
At our August 25th meeting, in order to make voting easier in this pivotal election, we authorized 5 early voting locations, which are more than Arlington has ever had. I also pushed for additional drop box locations in historically underserved neighborhoods so that everyone can vote easily. I am hopeful we will activate these drop boxes soon.
With Mary Detwiler & Liz Fuhr greeting voters at the Courthouse to help get out the vote, early.
The law has changed, so this year you do not need an excuse to vote early. I view it as essential that as many of us vote early as possible. I ask you to vote early: doing so is critical to winning Virginia for the Biden-Harris campaign, electing Cristina Diaz-Torres and David Priddy to the School Board, and helping focus our efforts on North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Georgia. Please vote as soon as you can.
Board Actions on Housing and Hunger on August 25th ([link removed])
The board also took action on eviction prevention and hunger to provide additional resources for our neighbors in need. I am proud to say we have helped over 1550 households over the past 8 months avoid eviction and we are continuing this essential work. We also put more resources into fighting hunger, which is an important ongoing priority. On evictions, there is a new federal program and ongoing work locally. Our Department of Human Services deserves much of the credit, along with the Board for making eviction prevention a priority and our County Manager for allocating resources toward it. More to do, but we are working on it.

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I promise you will be glad if you watch this 3 minute video on renaming Lee Highway

Over the two weeks between our August 25th meeting and the September regular Board meetings, the Board focused attention on COVID 19 response and issues related to Arlington County's logo. The work to address structural racism must include work on housing, hunger, and educational equity, as well as health equity and the disproportionate impact of COVID 19 on our Latinx and Black communities.

Our work must also address the name of one of our key roads--Lee Highway--and the logo and seal that Arlington County uses. The video above is worth watching as it captures my views on renaming Lee Highway.

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Watch this to learn more about changing names of streets, our logo, and seal.

The Board ultimately agreed to revisit the name of Lee Highway and the logo and seal via a process to be announced before the end of the year. At our September 12th meeting, I reiterated and expanded slightly on the the view I shared with you last month. Our logo and seal is based on the building that has been a national memorial to Robert E. Lee since it was so designated by Congress in 1972. We must change it through an inclusive process as soon as reasonably possible.

Not all of you will agree that this is being done as quickly as necessary. I hear you and respect your views. We will move quickly, thoughtfully, and inclusively. We will follow up and follow through.
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6 minutes on banning firearms in county buildings, parks, and permitted events
Perhaps the most constituent requests for meetings over the past month have been about the gun ordinance we passed at our September 12th meeting. I listened to many Arlington residents who opposed the ordinance and the more than 1100 who signed a petition in support of it. Ultimately, the Board made one change to reduce ambiguity in the ordinance in response to the one concern of opponents that I thought was most reasonable and merited action.

On the whole, however, I ran for office in part to take action on big issues like this one: this step for common sense regulation of firearms moves Arlington and Virginia in a direction I think is in the interest of keeping all of us as safe as possible. The concerns of Mom's Demand Action Arlington were well shared at the hearing. My conclusion and vote for the ordinance aligns with them and the changes Democrats in Richmond enacted after winning the Legislature in 2019.
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This video summarizes where we stand on the FY 2020 Budget.
Another major piece of work in September was on COVID 19 response. We decided after much reflection not to continue our sidewalk ordinance. I voted to let the Board's efforts there lapse. I feel that our efforts towards compliance had not been shown to be successful and our test positivity rates had and have been declining significantly below 5%. We will focus our efforts on testing in Buckingham, Green Valley, Arlington Mill and on testing and treatment where we see higher test positivity rates.

As far as our budget, so many of the things we should do on child care, hunger, COVID 19 health issues, and housing depend on sufficient funding. We are facing a real challenge this year as described by Chair Garvey and Board Member Cristol in the short video above. To see a critical power point on where we stand now, go here:
Budget Update Power Point ([link removed] )
Over the coming months and year, our priorities of health, hunger, housing, economic recovery and education will be competing for funding more than at any time since I was elected.
Click here to help Joe Biden and Kamala Harris--We are up in Georgia and Iowa, but not Texas yet!!! ([link removed])
Lastly, I want to say a word about the next 33 days before the November 2nd election. I have been writing postcards and chipping in with donations and I will be calling voters. This is undoubtedly the most important election in my lifetime, so I am working to prioritize the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and a Democratic Senate.

I will send more about the election via email early next week. For now, I ask you to think about how much you care about the outcome of this election and then act on those feelings rationally and with commitment: we must each do all that we reasonably can to make a difference in November. Our Democracy and indeed the American Dream's very existence as a practical reality are on the ballot.

Yours in service of that Dream,

Matt

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Matt for Arlington . 2001 15th St N Apt 506 . Arlington, VA 22201-2693 . USA