Arlington County Board candidates on schools

[Anonymous]

I firmly believe de Ferranti will be bad for schools. He hasn't said, or more importantly DONE anything that makes me trust that he won't be more of the Dorsey/Cristol crew that is sinking this county.

[Anonymous]

I think (hope!) Vihstadt will win this one. De Ferranti's best chance is to get the itinerant condo and apartment dwellers who don't follow local politics to turn out and vote all D on the ballot.

[Anonymous]

The only think that makes me worry about this race is the Kaine-Stewart race above it, that it'll get a whole bunch of people who don't normally vote out to oppose Stewart, and they'll blindly vote (D) down the ballot.

[Anonymous]

^^^ I think party line voting should be a big concern. I had just moved here in 2014 but it seems to me that many votes were driven by one major issue, the streetcar. This time around, I'm not sure what the big issue would be (schools, I guess? but many county residents don't seem to care about them), plus there is the anti-Trump, "blue wave" type of messaging that will encourage many to turn out just to vote Dem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^^ I think party line voting should be a big concern. I had just moved here in 2014 but it seems to me that many votes were driven by one major issue, the streetcar. This time around, I'm not sure what the big issue would be (schools, I guess? but many county residents don't seem to care about them), plus there is the anti-Trump, "blue wave" type of messaging that will encourage many to turn out just to vote Dem.

The Aquatic Center. It's a little different from the street car in that they just broke ground on the project so there's no going back now, but Vihstadt was the lone "no" vote on that project (and was "no" until the bitter end). de Ferranti can side-step it by pointing out that the project is already underway, but this election could be made about Vihstadt being the only one trying to put a check on an unpopular project and how replacing his with another Dem would open the floodgates to wasteful spending.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^ I think party line voting should be a big concern. I had just moved here in 2014 but it seems to me that many votes were driven by one major issue, the streetcar. This time around, I'm not sure what the big issue would be (schools, I guess? but many county residents don't seem to care about them), plus there is the anti-Trump, "blue wave" type of messaging that will encourage many to turn out just to vote Dem.

The Aquatic Center. It's a little different from the street car in that they just broke ground on the project so there's no going back now, but Vihstadt was the lone "no" vote on that project (and was "no" until the bitter end). de Ferranti can side-step it by pointing out that the project is already underway, but this election could be made about Vihstadt being the only one trying to put a check on an unpopular project and how replacing his with another Dem would open the floodgates to wasteful spending.

You know, I had that thought and was just trying to look back to the streetcar stuff to see how far along that was. In other words, whether the "we can't stiff our contractors or they'll never bid us again" argument was made and rejected then, or whether it was not to that point yet. As a new resident, it was all a bit of a haze to me then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The only think that makes me worry about this race is the Kaine-Stewart race above it, that it'll get a whole bunch of people who don't normally vote out to oppose Stewart, and they'll blindly vote (D) down the ballot.

Or maybe they will consciously try to send a message to the Va GOP that this will hurt at every level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^ I think party line voting should be a big concern. I had just moved here in 2014 but it seems to me that many votes were driven by one major issue, the streetcar. This time around, I'm not sure what the big issue would be (schools, I guess? but many county residents don't seem to care about them), plus there is the anti-Trump, "blue wave" type of messaging that will encourage many to turn out just to vote Dem.

The Aquatic Center. It's a little different from the street car in that they just broke ground on the project so there's no going back now, but Vihstadt was the lone "no" vote on that project (and was "no" until the bitter end). de Ferranti can side-step it by pointing out that the project is already underway, but this election could be made about Vihstadt being the only one trying to put a check on an unpopular project and how replacing his with another Dem would open the floodgates to wasteful spending.

You know, I had that thought and was just trying to look back to the streetcar stuff to see how far along that was. In other words, whether the "we can't stiff our contractors or they'll never bid us again" argument was made and rejected then, or whether it was not to that point yet. As a new resident, it was all a bit of a haze to me then.

IIRC, the street car project was moving through the design phase, but didn't have a final, approved design and signed construction agreement at the time of the election. The aquatic center not only has all of that, but they physically broke ground on the project earlier this week. So this election can't be about stopping the aquatic center, but it can be about making a statement that we're not okay with that kind of spending going forward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dem here voting for V. It would take some pretty specific statements from any other challenger to change that, as in "Shift scheduling? Over my dead body!"

+1 Mostly Dem here.

He has been a voice of reason and moderation on some things.

He is not crazy. He doesn't hate public schooling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only think that makes me worry about this race is the Kaine-Stewart race above it, that it'll get a whole bunch of people who don't normally vote out to oppose Stewart, and they'll blindly vote (D) down the ballot.

Or maybe they will consciously try to send a message to the Va GOP that this will hurt at every level.

Except he is not GOP
He’s an independent and has lived up to that title very well. He’s been a great addition to our governance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I still don't understand why millenial Marylander Cristol is on the board.

Because she's the ideal daughter/granddaughter material for liberal grannies for whom schools are dead last priority?

She makes me sick and I am a millennial who doesn’t even have kids yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I still don't understand why millenial Marylander Cristol is on the board.

Because she's the ideal daughter/granddaughter material for liberal grannies for whom schools are dead last priority?

She makes me sick and I am a millennial who doesn’t even have kids yet.

I think that’s common among younger voters who pay attention.

[Anonymous]

Cristol is just some random millenial chick from MoCo who has absolutely no ties or stakes in Arlington. Not sure if she owns property, no kids. I bet once her run is over at the board she will high-tail it back to Maryland.

The Arlington Dems should be shunned for supporting her.

We need some democrat women with kids in the schools who own property who are willing to run as "independents" and support Vihstadt.

[Anonymous]

Please volunteer with JV's campaign! He needs people to door knock, host coffees in their homes, volunteer to hand out stickers at the Arl Co fair, etc. There are lots of ways to get involved! If Matt replaces John on the CB, schools will be totally screwed. Matt is a Katie wanna-be, but not as smart.

Katie wants Don Beyer's seat. She knows she just has to wait it out in the County Board for another 8-10 years and Beyer will retire. He is already almost 70. Katie doesn't give a crap about APS because that doesn't translate into a national message. But she can run on daycare, AH, and economic development when she campaigns for Congress. She picks her issues with the longer term in mind. Hope someone runs against her next year, because unless you want her representing you in DC in a few years, we need someone to stop her political career now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please volunteer with JV's campaign! He needs people to door knock, host coffees in their homes, volunteer to hand out stickers at the Arl Co fair, etc. There are lots of ways to get involved! If Matt replaces John on the CB, schools will be totally screwed. Matt is a Katie wanna-be, but not as smart.

Katie wants Don Beyer's seat. She knows she just has to wait it out in the County Board for another 8-10 years and Beyer will retire. He is already almost 70. Katie doesn't give a crap about APS because that doesn't translate into a national message. But she can run on daycare, AH, and economic development when she campaigns for Congress. She picks her issues with the longer term in mind. Hope someone runs against her next year, because unless you want her representing you in DC in a few years, we need someone to stop her political career now.

Agreed. She reminds me of Tracy Flick from the movie “Election.”