Over the past month Arlington has moved fully into the recovery part of 2021. We have made significant progress on vaccines and the Governor's statewide social distancing and mask orders have been lifted. As far as other actions, the Board has worked on police practices, housing on the Serrano and in Crystal City, and on our Capital Improvement Plan, to name a few areas of work described further below.
Last Sunday was hot, so I picked up gatorades for the volunteers at our walk up vaccination site at Walter Reed. We still need volunteers to help this coming week. Go here to sign up:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0c45a9af2faafdce9-arlington
Vaccine Distribution
As of May 28th, Arlington County has over 107,000 Arlington residents fully vaccinated and more than 134,000 of our estimated 234,000 people have received one dose. As a percentage of our eligible population, that is nearly 57% with one dose according to the Virginia Department of Public Health and over 45% fully vaccinated. This week we have had several days with zero cases reported and our test positivity percentage at 0.5% and falling.
We absolutely need to keep asking EVERYONE we know to get vaccinated so that everyone makes it through COVID's dark tunnel. But it is also true that Arlington's rates of vaccination are high and we are, finally, winning in our ongoing fight against this horrible disease. To see Vice Chair Cristol and I discuss the County's vaccine related work, go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWPJ5fmQ9ZA
Police Practices and a Civilian Review Board in Arlington
At our Tuesday, May 18th meeting, the County considered how to establish a Police Civilian Review Board in Arlington. The key questions leading up to this initial discussion were whether or not the Board will have investigatory and subpoena power. The proposal we considered is a draft--advocates raised fair questions asking for a delay in the advertising of a public hearing.
I share the concerns, but ultimately voted to advertise a July hearing so that we can spend the next 50 plus days debating how we want the commission to be set up--developing the right provisions for our review board. I did so only after reviewing the draft in detail and determining that investigatory authority can be enacted in July, verifying that point with the County Attorney first. I should note that binding disciplinary authority from the review board over police officers will not be considered in July: I think recommendations on discipline are appropriate in certain circumstances, but that our police chief should ultimately make such decisions.
The Board also moved to eliminate a local ordinance that required residents to identify themselves to police officers in certain circumstances if asked. The change is recommended by Acting Police Chief as not in the interest of safety. This action has not received much attention, but it is critical step as we work to improve safety and trust in our community. For a longer summary of our actions, go here: https://newsroom.arlingtonva.us/release/arlington-county-board-to-consider-measures-designed-to-use-best-practices-for-policing/
For a discussion of the Board's actions from me and Vice Chair Cristol, watch this:
Watch this 10 minute discussion of the Board's May Actions on Police Practices
Affordable Housing: the Serrano
Many of you know from my emails over the past year that one of the subjects I have worked most on is the conditions at the Serrano on the west end of Columbia Pike. On May 7th, the unacceptable living conditions came to a head at a Housing Commission meeting. Since then, the County has been working to step up to address the conditions, which include mice and mold.
For context, we have taken several steps at the urging of the Board and the ultimate initiative of our staff. The property management company at the Serrano was replaced in February. Regular meetings every two weeks were held for several months to seek to address the problems. The developer of the building is AHC, Inc., which has developed and owns about 3,000 affordable units in Arlington.
Nonetheless, I am and will take responsibility to step up to work with our staff to make this right and address the problems. Since May 7th, our staff has been meeting daily on this. Residents have been offered the opportunity to move out and have their relocation costs covered; so far 22 of the 280 residents at the Serrano have done so.
We have also worked via inspections at the property and the County Manager and our senior staff and I walked the property on May 14th. AHC, Inc's President and CEO is retiring, effective tomorrow, May 31. We are inspecting every unit and AHC is doing so as well. The work is by no means done; we are working on this with urgency. As a County we must do better on inspection and upkeep of affordable units, holding developers and ourselves accountable with resident health and safety paramount. We also must see improved results for our neighbors in need at the Serrano as soon as possible.
I voted for Terry McAuliffe, Hala Ayala, and Takis Karantonis. You no longer need a reason to vote early under Virginia, so please vote. Go here to see where and when: https://vote.arlingtonva.us/Early-Voting
Mary Kadera and the June 8th Primary Elections
Mary Kadera won the Democratic endorsement for a seat on the Arlington School Board. Mary received 59% of the vote in a School Board caucus with the greatest turnout in Arlington's history. Mary is thoughtful, committed to excellence for all students and collaborative. I am very grateful for all of you who voted for her and helped her win. I also want to thank Miranda Turner for running. I believe elections should provide an opportunity for competition on the ideas and leadership we need. I supported Mary strongly, but Miranda raised reasonable issues related to our shared accountability and I want to thank her for running.
The June 8th primary elections are underway, so please vote early or on the 8th. So many continue to fight so hard for the right to vote: we cannot take this right for granted. My choices: former Governor Terry McAuliffe for Governor, Hala Ayala for Lieutenant Governor, Mark Herring for Attorney General, and Takis Karantonis for County Board. Please vote: https://vote.arlingtonva.us/Home
I found a few minutes to go to Queen Mother's on the pike at LaCocina to support a great small business with one of the best chicken sandwiches I've ever had: https://gotab.io/loc/queenmothers
Other County Board Actions in May
At the May meetings, the Board also took several other actions of note:
We approved our Vision Zero action plan to work toward no walking or traffic deaths by 2030. https://newsroom.arlingtonva.us/release/county-board-adopts-vision-zero-action-plan/
Arlington's parks were ranked 4th out of 100 communities in the annual parks evaluation by the Trust for Public Lands. https://newsroom.arlingtonva.us/release/arlington-parks-ranked-among-nations-best/
The Board approved significant additional house in Crystal City via a development project that will add more than 700 units. For a 4 minute video on Crystal House, go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyZMtVCfPVg
The Board asked our Logo Review Panel to take additional steps to recommend additional options, reporting back in September. The Panel has done great work. We are asking for one more round of suggestions as we work on replacing the logo which is currently based on the Lee House at Arlington Cemetery, which is not acceptable based on the primary legacy of Robert E. Lee being inextricably linked with the inhumanity of slavery.
The capital plan for Arlington through our Capital Improvement Plan process has begun. Three year CIP as opposed to 10 year this year. https://newsroom.arlingtonva.us/release/county-manager-presents-3-year-cip-proposes-november-bond-referendum/
The County has developed new tools on race and equity as part of our ongoing work: https://newsroom.arlingtonva.us/release/new-tools-for-advancing-racial-equity-in-arlington/
For the Full County Board Wrap up, go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqwyGvGpy1k
