Arlington Connection, Oct. 26 – Nov. 1, 2011,
A Streetcar Named Disagreement
Green Party candidate disagrees with Democratic incumbents about streetcars.
By Michael Lee Pope
The Connection
Should Arlington County drop hundreds of millions of dollars on a new Columbia Pike streetcar system? The all-
Democratic County Board is solidly behind the program. But when voters head to the polls in November,
they’ll have a choice. Green Party candidate Audrey Clement says the streetcar system is a waste
of money, unnecessarily diverting a funding stream that could be used to improve bus service in
other parts of the county. “It’s a sinkhole,” said Clement. They’re taking a stream of revenue and sinking it into one project, which is a mistake.”Clement says Columbia Pike is already well served by buses, including the ART service as well as Metrobus service. As a result, she said, the county should find another use for the funding stream identified to pay for the $160 million initial capital investment in purchasing the streetcars.

But incumbent Democratic County Board member Mary Hynes said that elected officials promised the business community that the money from the add-on tax would be used for capital investment rather than funding the operation. “We made a commitment,” said Hynes. “And it wouldn’t be right to go back on that commitment.” “Before the streetcars were approved, we had a full community process where people could participate and tell us what they wanted,” said Tejada. “People overwhelmingly supported the streetcar option.”

ARLINGTON COUNTY has been moving toward installing a streetcar on Columbia Pike for almost a decade. Since that time, the county has adopted a land-use plan to revitalize Columbia Pike and approved redevelopment in anticipation of the streetcar system. Supporters of the plan say delaying the investment will add to the tax burden on the existing community because the demand for services will continue as future development fizzles. The Green Party candidate isn’t buying it. “Arlington likes to bill itself as this great place for transit, but most of the county just isn’t walkable,” said Clement. “The county hasn’t invested in bus service in the north and west parts of Arlington.”

Hynes agrees, to an extent. When asked about Clement’s criticism, she acknowledged that she would like to see increased bus service in parts of the county that are currently under-served or not on bus routes at all. But because those areas are largely suburban, she said, they don’t have the kind of density that could justify a county-subsidized bus service — especially considering the fact that the county already subsidizes existing bus service to the tune of about 80 percent.
“Much as I would like to see bus service expanded, the ridership would be very small,” said Hynes. “The question is do we want to subsidize that?”
FOR NOW, Hynes said, she feels the responsible course of action is to maintain the course of action with the streetcar system. Although the initial capital investment is far more than purchasing buses, she said that the county could potentially save money in the long run because more than one car can be operated by a single driver, saving on labor costs. And county leaders are expecting the system to lure additional development to the corridor, creating more tax revenue to fill
county coffers. Clement isn’t so sure this is working. “Our schools are already overcrowded and our roads are clogged,” said Clement. “I’m also not sure that it’s the best idea to add streetcars to streets that are already clogged with traffic.”
This issue isn’t academic. Every year, $24million of revenue is collected from the addon tax that charges more for ommercial property than residential property. Hynes and Tejada would like to see that money go to the streetcar system while Clement said she would work to divert those resources toward expanding bus service to other parts of the county. Although both of the Democratic incumbents acknowledged they would also like to see expanded bus service, they said that abandoning the streetcar system now would be the wrong move for Arlington.
“We’re trying to push the envelope with this,” said Tejada. “We really see this as the next phase of public transportation, something beyond Metro and light rail.” Hynes and Tejada also agreed that setting money aside for the Metro system must have seemed questionable, although today the rewards are clear.

Meet the
Candidates
❖ Walter Tejada, 54: A native of El Salvador, Tejada came to America as a 13-year old and has lived in Arlington
since 1992. He studied government and communications at George Mason University. He lives in the Dominion Hills
neighborhood and votes at McKinley School.

❖ Mary Hynes, 56: A native of Ames, Iowa, Hynes was raised in St. Cloud, Minn., and moved to Arlington in 1977. She has a bachelor’s degree in textiles from the College of St. Benedict. She lives in the Lyon Village neighborhood and votes in the Lyon Village Community Center.

❖ Audrey Clement, 62: A native of Gainesville, Fla., Clement was raised in Pittsburgh and moved to Arlington in 2004. She has a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the University of Pennsylvania, a master’s degree in political science from Temple University and a doctorate
in political science from Temple. She lives in the Westover neighborhood and votes at Swanson Middle School

http://files.connectionnewspapers.com/PDF/current/Arlington.pdf

The Mt. Vernon chapter of the Sierra Club decided to endorse incumbent Democratic County Board members Hynes and Tejada over the Arlington Green candidate Audrey Clement, ignoring the incumbents sorry or nonexistent record for environmental measures in the Arlington community. The Sierra Club has proven itself once again to be merely a wholly owned subsidiary of the Democratic Party, and loses all its credibility as an organization that promotes environmental causes.

Frankly, the Mt Vernon chapter of the Sierra Club-which include Arlington, and much of Fairfax County-proved once again to be on the wrong side of the environment. The Sierra Club refused to back the Arlington Greens proposal to ban single use plastic bags and food styrofoam containers in Arlington stores on Earth Day 2011. It refused to support Arlington Greens who opposed widening I-66 highway in Arlington to accommodate more single-person cars in rush-hour.

The Sierra Club’s credibility with independent, Republican, and even Democratic leaning voters is low or nonexistent owing to its position as a junior partner of elected Democrats in Virginia. The club’s endorsement of Barbara Favola (intertwinned with many Arlington developers and their money and interests) in the August Democratic primary for state senate against progressive Democrat Jaime Arzeiga Soto demonstrates the crass, cynical level to which the Sierra Club has fallen.

At the state level, the club has been outstandingly ineffective in promoting environmental legislation. Could part of the reason be that the club is merely an appendage of elected state Democrats who receive large corporate contributions from polluters and coal interests?

Arlington and Virginia Green Party officials sent the following letter to the Sierra Club, asking for its justification of rejecting the Arlington Green candidate Audrey Clement who has a long and distinguished environmental record and platform:

My name is Miriam Gennari and I am the Press Secretary for the Green Party of Virginia (the real Green Party). I wanted to speak to you about endorsements of candidates this election cycle. I am particularly interested in an endorsement by the Mt. Vernon Chapter of the organization. They endorsed Mary Hines (D) and Walter Tejada (D), both incumbents over Green Party candidate Audrey Clement. I have been following this race very closely, I have attend meetings where Ms. Clement has outlined a plan for renewable energy, increased recycling and conservation measures for government, school and private business as well as robust education initiative on all areas related to protecting the environment. I have also seen her speak boldly about the need to move “Beyond Coal” in Virginia, an issue we as a party are very focused on and have work closely with the Sierra Club to promote. In fact, some have said that her platform is too heavily weighted towards protecting the environment. Even her jobs program revolves around free energy audits for home owners, so perhaps she is guilty of as charged. What can one expect from an environmentalist. Conversely, I have heard Ms. Hines and Mr. Tejada speak on several occasion. In many cases I have recorded their remarks and other then using the words sustainability and protecting the environment, neither appears to have plan on how they would accomplish that goal. Also their Waste to Energy Program is something after speaking to Glenn Besa the Sierrra Club opposes, the Energy Task Force does not call for renewables in new buildings, even as destiny is increased and enforcement of recycling is so poor in Arlington that we remain average in VA in spite of our single stream recycling program with government on of the biggest offenders at on 12%. In fact both Hines and Tejada publicly applauded Audrey for efforts to stop the spot widening of RT. 66 an issue with wide support by environmentalist in Arlington. Since you are the political arm of the Sierra Club you understand your endorsement carries great weight in an election and your endorsement sends the message to the community that the candidate you support mirrors the values of your organization. I want to be sure there is nothing I am missing as I prepare a story for the media. I could really use your help in understanding how these endorsements came to be. I have been in touch with Pat Soriano, Political Committee Chair at Mt. Vernon, but it seems his business schedule is interfering with his response to my questions. I would really appreciate your urgent attention to this inquiry.

Sun Gazette, Letter to the Editor:
If Board Isn’t Owned By Developers, It Is Rented by Them Tuesday, October 18, 2011 9:30 am

Editor: Your Oct. 13 endorsement of Democrats Mary Hynes and Walter Tejada for re-election to the County Board started out as a well-reasoned indictment of the incumbent Democrats for their failure to address substantive issues (“too stuck in the weeds on issues where the big-picture view is sorely needed”), and for their sponsorship of a failed Columbia Pike trolley idea.

Then, you rapidly went off into outer space, delivering nonsense instead of your usually excellent analysis.

You criticized Green Party candidate Audrey Clement for her notion of “the popular but laughable refrain that developers are the real power behind the scene in Arlington.”

Oh really? I would like the Sun Gazette to cite just one major development project that Democrats Hynes and Tejada have halted or opposed in their years on County Board. In the past two years, Hynes and Tejada supported a 50-percent increase in density (i.e. development) in Crystal City and increased density around the East Falls Church Metro station.

May I ask where the children of the thousands of new Crystal City residents will go to public school, with nearby Oakridge Elementary School using 116 percent of its capacity this school year?

In August, another Democratic politician, state Senate candidate Jaime Areizaga-Soto, in his primary race against current Democratic County Board member Barbara Favola, accurately described the dollars that she received from her developer friends.

If the current County Board is not “owned” by the developers and related business interests, then perhaps they are “rented”: involved in a cozy, incestuous relationship that puts the interests of the broad Arlington community last, and the profits of the developers first.

Arlington Greens have consistently said that the County Board’s regulation of developers does not take a holistic approach, counting all the social, environmental, transportation, housing and secondary financial costs of development on the Arlington community.

Our pubic schools are overcrowded; our streets are congested during rush-hour; the Metrorail system is running dangerously beyond its own rush-hour capacity; and many moderate-income residents are displaced owing to higher rents and taxes.

Under these circumstances, do we want a County Board that routinely rubber-stamps site plans, or one that looks skeptically and rigorously at any new development?

The Occupy Wall Street protests in recent months throughout the U.S. highlighted that the lower-income 99-percent of Americans are dissatisfied with an incumbent government that protects the business interests and wealthy, and shifts those costs onto the middle class.

We need an Occupy Arlington Courthouse movement to turn our rascals out of local office here in Arlington as well. Vote Green this year.

John Reeder, Arlington
Reeder is chairman of the Arlington Greens.

http://www.sungazette.net/arlington/commentary/if-board-isn-t-owned-by-developers-it-is-rented/article_d8bc5800-f977-11e0-9e06-001cc4c002e0.html

Audrey Clement, candidate for the Arlington County Board is looking at waste
management from all angles. Most recently her campaign team has been reaching out
to the pet owners in Arlington County and educating them on the options for picking up
pet refuse. Clement volunteers are chasing down pet owners and handing out
biodegradable “doggie poop bags” at dog parks and on bike trails. Each bag is stuffed
with her campaign card.

On Saturday October 8, at the Lacey Wood Parkʼs Dogtober
Day and Baker Bash several pet lovers shared why they agree with Ms. Clement. Time
for a Walk, a pet walking and sitting company only uses biodegradable bags. Owner
Christine Keough explains why. “We wanted to use something that is not going to fill
our land fills with waste.” When asked if making the decision to use the bio bags, which
are made primarily of corn starch, was a big financial investment, Ms. Keough
responded, “ Not much more at all, actually quite affordable and the decision has not
affected our low rates.”

John Reeder Arlington Green Party Chairman, explains the campaign rationale, “We are
hoping pet owners will like the idea of reducing their carbon footprint and and ultimately
show support for the ordinance to ban single-use plastic bags which Audrey submitted
to the County Board on behalf of the Arlington Green Party in April.

It appears the decision to switch could prove a wise business move, as many pet owners
have already made the transition. Kim Klingler was out mingling among the pooches
with her two furry friends, but instead of taking a bag offered by volunteers, Kim shared
that she already uses biodegradable bags. Cost is not an issue because she orders
bags online at what she describes as a “great price.” Kim went on to say, “I know plastic
bags are a big issue in landfills as well as littering the Chesapeake Bay, once I
understood how easy it was to switch, finding the right size bag for my dogs was the
only challenge.”

“This switch to biodegradable bags is more then symbolic,” says Chairman Reeder, a
long time opponent of plastic bags. “They clog drains, gum up recycling conveyers belts
and are among the leading contributors to pollution worldwide.” The manufacturers of biodegradable bags report that they decay as quickly as an apple.

It seems Arlington County is obsessed with development. Having approved plans to increase the density of Crystal City by 50 percent, construct a 600,000 sq. foot high rise on the EFC Park and Ride lot and redevelop Columbia Pike at triple density, County Board will soon approve plans to construct a 532 unit apartment complex on Wilson Blvd. between Kansas and Lincoln Streets in Ballston (Virginia Square Towers) and a new six story headquarters for Lockheed Martin in North Crystal City (Monument View). Also on the drawing boards are plans to construct a 22 story office tower (Penn Square) behind Costco’s in Pentagon City. County Board touts these projects as proof of its commitment to “Smart Growth,” i.e. dense development along transit corridors. (more…)