Over the past month, Arlington has realized visual progress in changing our logo, changing the name of Lee Highway to Langston Boulevard, and made plans to invest in small businesses and enacted a plastic bag tax to help our environment. It's also been a busy month outside of Board meetings--a full summary is below.
Let's start with the small business grants as they are targeted to small businesses that have not received federal or state funding. These grants will benefit our businesses most in need:
Watch Arlington Economic Development Director Telly Tucker and I discuss the $2 million in small business grants that we will be providing over the coming 2 months.
The small business grants of $10K per eligible business would not have been possible without the election of Joe Biden and a Democratic Senate. The $2 million of available funds via the Grant 2.0 program comes from American Rescue Plan which was passed by votes of Democratic Senators with Vice President breaking the tie. For more information or to apply by October 20th at 11:59 pm, go here: https://arlingtonva.jotform.com/211883970946974
Arlington County's new logo. Go here to watch a 5 minute video on this decision
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_Vgt2rSAXI
The Board also took final action to change Arlington County's logo from one based on the Lee House in Arlington Cemetery to the one pictured above that has a square, the original square of Washington, D.C. with Arlington's land in that square bolded. We know the prior logo was based on the Lee House and Congress voted in 1972 to memorialize Robert E. Lee at that house.
To listen to my thoughts on the logo, the Governor's race, logo, and mental health and police officer retention, click above, look for the blue circle at the bottom of the page and move it to the right to 19 minutes, 10 seconds.
https://wamu.org/story/21/09/24/the-politics-hour-september-24-2021/
At our September Board meetings, we also discussed retention problems we are facing with our police officers and Department of Human Service mental health counselors. For a description of that work, listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_lnMfkfvH4
The mural of John M. Langston, for whom Lee Highway was renamed at the September Board meeting.
I've written to you in previous emails about the name change from Lee Highway to Langston Boulevard, the major transportation artery through North Arlington that is also a key part of the heart of our community. It's now done: passed by the Board to be implemented over the coming weeks, months, and year. Later in October the street signs will be changed. Thousands of Arlingtonians for decades to come will learn the history of John Mercer Langston, the first black Congressman elected from Virginia in 1888.
The Board approved a 5 cent plastic bag tax, which will begin in January and will help keep our waterways and environment clean.
The Board also approved a 5 cent tax on plastic bags that will take effect in January, fulfilling a long-held priority for the County Board, me, and so many residents committed to improving our environment. Only a small part of the money from the fee will come back to the County with 3 and later 4 cents going to Richmond, but the benefits of this step will be important as we clean up our waterways and community.
I also want to share with you a statement regarding the death of an inmate at the Arlington County Detention Facility last Tuesday. Sheriff Beth Arthur, Commonwealth's Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, and I each joined in the statement expressing our condolences. https://newsroom.arlingtonva.us/release/arlington-county-statements-on-the-death-of-an-inmate-of-the-county-detention-facility/
The County Board does not have legal authority on criminal matters--under Virginia law the Commonwealth Attorney has that role and she cannot comment during investigations. The Sheriff has authority in the jail. All three of us take this seriously and are committed to an independent investigation. None of us can make further comment because of the ongoing investigation--an ethical responsibility Ms. Dehghani-Tafti identifies that responsibility in the above statement.
Finally, the Board took several other important steps:
Our police Civilian Oversight Board is being set up: we are accepting applications through November 12th to serve on this critical board: https://newsroom.arlingtonva.us/release/arlington-county-board-seeks-applications-from-residents-for-community-oversight-board/
The Board invested $15 million on stormwater infrastructure in the Westover area, a significant step in our ongoing responsibility.
The Board is engaging to further clarify Arlington County's commitment to being a welcoming community for our immigrants. https://newsroom.arlingtonva.us/release/county-board-to-consider-policy-framework-for-a-commitment-to-strengthening-trust-with-immigrant-community/ Over the coming week or 10 days, we will be following up to listen to our community's preferences on this.
We held a ranked choice voting work session last week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVFaBsWYzrc There are implementation questions that we have to work through. Our registrar raised questions that I want to follow up on, but I was very glad we had this initial conversation. Our Civic Federation is asking us to hold off on implementation into the new year, so more to come over the coming months.
We are now 22 days from the November 2nd elections. You can vote any weekday at the Courthouse. Saturday and Sunday voting are also available: see this link https://vote.arlingtonva.us/Early-Voting or the button above. Voting early helps us win by reducing the number of voters needed on election day. It also enables you to volunteer on election day. To volunteer or to canvass go here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc3ZF2zbN2D5Jln7Lu7VKb1i5izG-IQtBcx92eN8FWGMjF7hg/viewform
Thank you for reading and for your continued support as I work to serve you,
Matt
ps. If you want to reach me, please email [email protected] as I will fix my Matt for Arlington email over the coming two weeks.
