Reminder to vote for SB candidate in the Arlington Democratic Caucus this week!

[Anonymous]

I posted this on another thread as guidance about what voting in the caucus entails. It was circulated in my neighborhood earlier this week by the civic association president. They make you sign a pledge, but at the moment there aren't any R or I candidates for School Board, and only one I for County Board, so it's not exactly onerous. This is highly liberal Arlington, whomever wins this caucus will in all likelihood be the next School and County Board members. Most caucus participants tend to be seniors, who aren't exactly voting based on school-related concerns. Affordable housing advocates will be out in force, not necessarily considering the impact on the school system of moving that many more families into Arlington. Read below, get educated, and then vote on Thursday or Saturday!

Arlington Democratic Caucus Procedures

Virginia voters do not register by political party. Any registered voter is eligible to vote in any Primary Election - but only in one party's primary on any one date.

However, political parties are able to set their own rules for participation in a Caucus. Following are the rules for participation in this week's Democratic Caucus for School Board and County Board:

You must be a Registered Voter in Arlington. Registration will be verified online via the Commonwealth of Virginia's voter list. (This list is updated daily. Persons who register early this week will likely be eligible to vote by the Saturday Caucus session at Washington-Lee High School.)

You must agree to sign the following statement: "I certify that I am a resident of and registered to vote in Arlington County, Virginia; I am a Democrat; I believe in the principles of the Democratic Party; and I do not intend to support, endorse or assist any candidate who is opposed to a Democratic nominee or endorsee in the ensuing election." [This is required by the party's by-laws.]

You will not be required to provide a photo identification card.


The unassembled caucus for the Arlington School Board endorsement and Arlington County Board nomination will be held:

Tuesday, May 9 (7 p.m. to 9 p.m.) at Francis Scott Key Elementary School,
Thursday, May 11 (7 p.m. to 9 p.m.) at Drew Model School and
Saturday, May 13 (11 a.m. to 7 p.m.) at Washington-Lee High School.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I do not intend to support, endorse or assist any candidate who is opposed to a Democratic nominee or endorsee in the ensuing election."

People need to pay attention to this.

[Anonymous]

Remind your neighbors and friends, especially those with young kids! Get out the vote. We learned in a big way in November that every vote counts.

[Anonymous]

The Sun Gazette endorsed Gutshall b/c he's the ACDC's favorite guy. We have to show them that the AH lobby isn't the only group that actually cares enough to vote.

[Anonymous]

Gutshall also was illegally putting out sample ballots without indicating they were from his campaign (made it look like it was from AC/DC). Not even sure he will get my number 4!

[Anonymous]

What is AC/DC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Sun Gazette endorsed Gutshall b/c he's the ACDC's favorite guy. We have to show them that the AH lobby isn't the only group that actually cares enough to vote.

Who is on AH lobby? My impression is that AH relate to their jobs, so it's parents against professionals?

[Anonymous]

ACDC = Arlington County Democratic Party

You'll see the / put in a lot b/c of autocorrect.

[Anonymous]

Most professionals don't benefit from AH. The folds who push it are wealthy, but it's not a parent/non-parent thing. The middle class is getting squeezed out of Arlington.

[Anonymous]

Most people we want to help, such as teachers, couldn't qualify for Affordable Housing.

[Anonymous]

People who don't understand AH in Arlington *think* they are helping teachers and county workers have affordable places to live. That's not what is happening though. Because of income restrictions (many set by federal regs) most teachers and county workers make too much money to qualify for the vast majority of AH units in the County. There are some units set aside for "higher income" levels, but they are the exception and not the rule. And AH construction has been extremely profitable for many developers. They are able to make a developer contribution to the County's Affordable Housing Investment Fund (AHIF) and in exchange the County board waives certain density requirements so they can build more units in their non-AH apartment buildings. Then many of those same developers get the contract from Arlington County to build the AH buildings, with funds from AHIF. I have spoken with many well-meaning AH advocates (including my own pastor) and their heart is in the right place, but they don't understand how they are getting played by the developers. And they don't understand how building more AH is contributing to the school capacity crisis-- it is not just kids moving into AH buildings, but it is also the fact that developers are trading AH donations for extra units in their non-AH buildings and that also drives up school enrollment. I would love to see one of these churches donate their land to the County to build a new school or daycare instead of just building apartment buildings over the sanctuary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most people we want to help, such as teachers, couldn't qualify for Affordable Housing.

So many issues here.

1) Arlington's liberal attitudes here are completely undermining the school system. The county has approved and built Affordable Housing without investing in infrastructure, specifically schools. That AH funding is now creating even more pressure on the schools and also depriving the school system of funds it desperately needs to get its overcapacity problems under control. This makes me crazy! Why would we keep doing this?

2) School teachers and first responders--the kinds of folks who absolutely cannot afford to stay in Arlington County--make "too much" money to quality for AH.

3) The main builder of Affordable Housing in Arlington is running a racket. AHC's 990 (tax return for nonprofits) reports in 2015 their president, Walter Webdale as making $370,363 and their SVP, Stephen Smith, as making $324,818 in annual salaries. BTW: Webdales lives in Reston, Virginia, so why should he care that he's soaking Arlington County taxpayers and destroying their school system to boot? Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing is living more "modestly." Their president is making (in 2015) $193,500. Nina Janopaul does live in Arlington County, so at least she's paying taxes to the district that pays her salary and pays tens of millions to the cause of affordable housing.

Let's get the county back on track: focus on infrastructure, solve overcapacity, give all kids a great public education, which means investing heavily in schools and reducing spending on other "niceties" in the county.

[Anonymous]

So which candidates will work in the interests of schools and NOT roll over to the AH pressure?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So which candidates will work in the interests of schools and NOT roll over to the AH pressure?

Fallon.

He's our only hope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So which candidates will work in the interests of schools and NOT roll over to the AH pressure?

Fallon.

He's our only hope.

Except in this essay he talks about how much affordable housing he helped create: https://www.arlnow.com/2017/05/04/peter-fallon-why-you-should-vote-for-me-3/

"We need County Board members who are committed to protecting and growing our affordable housing stock. As the Planning Commission’s liaison to the Housing Commission, I was able to make this happen. I played a significant role in creating over 1,000 units of affordable housing for our residents."

I'm afraid he is playing both sides.