Amazon announced this week it will be locating a new headquarters with up to 25,000 employees in Crystal City; Arlington County Government and the State of Virginia have announced that they will be giving Amazon initially about $570 million and then upwards of another billion or so dollars longer term.
Join Arlington Greens and other community activists to protest this action at the public meeting of the Arlington County Board, Saturday, Nov. 17, 8:15 AM, at the county office building, third flood, 2100 Clarendon Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22201 (at Courthouse Metro station).
Arlington Greens several months adopted a position of opposition to any public subsidies for Amazon and asked for transparency and details on such offers. The county board refused to release such information, and indicated misleadingly that they had no such information at all. This was disingenous and misleading to Arlington voters. We Arlington residents are quite smart and educated and need accurate information to make informed decisions about our public dollars.
Arlington Greens will be at the Saturday, Nov. 17th County Board meeting at 8:15 AM along with other community groups, Our Revolution Arlington and DSA/Metro DC asking that the county board hold a lengthy public review process and provide the public with detailed information and an opportunity to provide our views.
We ask you to come and stand silently behind our one speaker who will ask the county board to delay approving any deal and public funds that will come out of our taxes for Amazon. Only one speaker will be permitted to speak and he is from the coalition of group. Bring your own sign or we will give you one to hold silently behind the speaker.
We know from initial reports in the press that Arlington County will have to come up initially with $22 million, and then many more tens of millions of dollars for transport. We simply do not know where Arlington County will obtain these millions as our spending for public schools, parks, Metrorail, public services, and social services take up every single dollar raised today. We assume that the county will have to raise taxes on us the Arlington residents to pay Amazon. The county cannot issue more bonds given the over $1.5 billion in bonds already issued or pledged for schools, parks, Metrorail, etc.
Please attend this Saturday and stand in solidarity with others in Arlington who are worried that this Amazon deal will negatively impact our community.
Location: 2100 Clarendon Blvd, third flood, Arlington County Office Bldg, Arlington, VA 22201 (at Courthouse metro station). Arrive by 8:15 AM; speaker will be start about 8:30 and the event over by around 9:30.