Coalition for Good Government in Arlington - Decline to Sign

[Anonymous]

A petition is being circulated to change the form of government in Arlington to one used by four counties in Southern Virginia - Arlington County government is widely regarded as one of the best in our area. While everyone should make up their own minds, I strongly recommend that everyone check out the Coalition for Good Government and recent articles on the subject.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=114469401916512&v=info&ref=ts

I decline to sign!

[Anonymous]

I do not understand this issue, and neither side seems to want to come clean on what it is intended to do.

I would agree that the public safety budget is not a big enough reason to change the government. But there must be more to it because of the supporters.

I see that at-large representatives have some benefit, but a ward system might provide better representation for a pocket of individuals who feel that their neighborhood needs are not being met. For example, DC would be a disaster if all members were at-large because the wards are so entirely different. And Arlington's system is far from common in VA.

As for the second piece, it seems like there is a legitimate discussion about whether certain budgetary power should rest with the executive or a board. Yet I see nothing on the site or elsewhere that really discusses it.

I am betting that if I understood what was really going on, I might "decline to sign". But I think you have to make your case or at least that web site should.

So what's the real story here with this proposed change?

[Anonymous]

The change would move the politics much farther down the totem pole - currently, the county manager is a political appointee, all other department heads (including police, fire department, etc.) are not - although supervised by the county manager, they are not subject to re-appointment every time there's an election. From what I understand, the proposed system would change this, making all of these positions political appointments ... for me, the thought of a chief of police who's more concerned about his political life than public safety is just not a good idea. The "decline to sign" campaign simply wants to maintain the status quo in Arlington government (which I personally think is well run - we certainly have some of the best public services in the area, including public safety, libraries, the classes and programs offered through the county, etc.) There was a good article in the Post earlier this week: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/12/AR2010051201996.html

[Anonymous]

Thank you for that post. I can see that the Republicans and Greens are also supporters. I assume that they believe they would have a better chance of getting into government with a ward system.

So is there an area in Arlington that leans Republican, and are they not well represented on the issues that concern them because of the Democratic lock on government? DC has those at-large seats that allow for representation from non-Democrats so that at least other parties are heard from. Sorry for the ignorance, but I recently moved from DC to Arlington and I don't know the local politics that well.

[Anonymous]

I think the area around Ft. Myer leans republican - but it would take some radical gerrymandering to create a district that consistently voted republican in Arlington.