v o l. 40, no. 6 www .arlingtondemocrats.org june 2015...

Vol. 40, No. 6 www.arlingtondemocrats.org June 2015

REID GOLDSTEIN

continued on page five

Goldstein wins big in smallturnout for SB endorsement

If you haven’t already gotten your ticket forthis year’s Arlington Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, youneed to move quickly. The deadline is 11:59 p.m.Thursday.

The dinner will be held this Saturday, June 6,at the Westin Arlington Gateway Hotel at the cor-ner of Glebe and Wilson, the site of the J-J for sev-eral years now.

The reception begins at 6 p.m. and the dinnerwill start at 7 p.m.

This year’s main speakers are Rep. Don Beyer,in his first appearance at a J-J as congressman, whowill share the experiences of his first half-year onthe Hill, and Stephanie Cutter, who was deputymanager of President Obama’s 2012 re-electioncampaign and will have many insider stories toshare.

To order tickets, go to the ACDC website,www.arlingtondemocrats.org, and click on, “Getyour tickets today” near the top of the page. Theregular ticket price is $130 a head.

The hotel is just a short jaunt from the BallstonMetro Station. Parking is available in an under-ground garage on Vermont Street that is accessiblefrom Fairfax Drive. Vermont is just a few hundredfeet from Glebe. Turn south to access the parkinggarage.

The annual J-J is both our premier fund-rais-ing event of the year and our premier social eventof the year.

The occasion is also believed to be the oldestcontinuous political event in the world—notArlington’s J-J, but the general event. What wasoriginally Jefferson Day began about two centuriesago.

Beyer addresses J-J Saturday

Reid Goldstein won theDemocratic endorsement forCounty School Board by an al-most 2-to-1 margin but with asmall turnout.

Goldstein won 1,242 votesor 65 percent to 648 votes forSharon Dorsey.

The total turnout of 1,900votes was the lowest since the2007 School Board Caucus andthe second lowest for a caucus orfirehouse primary since 2001.

As of the moment, Goldsteinhas no opponent for the Novem-ber election, but the deadline forfiling is not until June 9 so anopponent can still materialize.

ACDC uses caucuses for School Board en-dorsements because the option of a primary is notavailable. A primary is run by the state governmentand is not an option since School Board posts are

by law non-partisan. Parties inmost jurisdictions around thestate “endorse” rather than nomi-nate candidates. Some endorseby a vote of the party leadershipor what is called an “assembledcaucus,” which voters must attendfor hours.

Arlington uses an “unass-embled caucus”—often called a“firehouse primary”—becausethat allows the largest numbers ofvoters to attend as voters simplyshow up, vote and depart.

The table on Page Five showsall of Arlington’s “unassembled”caucuses of the 21st Century and

the notable ones of the 20th Century.The caucus this year was managed by Steve

Baker with a staff of John Grant, Maggie Davis,Peter Owen, Carrie Johnson and a supporting staff

continued on page so\ix

There’s still a week left in which youcan vote EARLY in the primary and beatthe crowds on Election Day.

The technical term is “in-person ab-sentee voting,” but it just means votingin the weeks before actual Election Day.

Voting is on the third floor of theCounty Building, 2100 Clarendon Blvd,in the Registrar’s Office.

The hours this week are:Monday, June 1 8 a.m.-5 p.m.Tuesday, June 2 8 a.m.-5 p.m.Wednesday June 3 8 a.m.-5 p.m.Thursday, June 4 8 a.m.-7 p.m.Friday, June 5 8 a.m.-5 p.m.Saturday, June 6 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.

Note that there is no early voting onthe Monday before the June 9 primary asthe staff will be busy setting up the vot-ing equipment in all 52 precincts.

ACDC urges everyone who can tovote early. First of all, it’s convenientbecause you pick the day. But also itavoids the embarrassment of forgettingElection Day. Every year, we hear frompeople on the day after an election askingwhen Election Day is.

When there’s a presidential electionin the offing, there are television stationsand newspaper headlines screaming inadvance. But before a primary, there isno big publicity.

Others miss voting on Election Daybecause they have a crunch at the office,were called out of own or wake up ill. Allthat’s avoided by voting early.

At the Registrar’s Office, just checkone box if you work outside Arlington oranother box if you think you will be ab-sent for any period on Election Day onpersonal business, such as having lunchin Old Towne or buying flowers inMerrifield. The clerks at the desk willpoint out the box for you to check.

Don’t wait

for E-Day—

vote now

ACDC Voice, June 2015,

Report from Chairman Kip Malinosky

Published monthly by theArlington County Democratic Committee

2001 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite #604, Arlington VA 22202Mailing address: P.O. Box 7132, Arlington VA 22207Tel: (703) 528-8588 Fax: (703) 528-2321

http://www.arlingtondemocrats.orgChair: Kip Malinosky — [email protected]

Editor-in-Chief: Warren L. Nelson —(703) 243-7867 (h), [email protected] Editor: Eric Wiener — (703) 524-6899 (h), [email protected]

Views expressed do not necessarily represent those of the ACDC unless expressly approved by an appropriate committee resolution

Copyright ©2014, ACDC, All Rights Reserved

Jerry Botland

Computer Consulting

Troubleshoot and resolve computer and

computer related problems.

Perform upgrades, set-up wireless routers and print servers.

Transfer old files, address book and emails

from an old computer to a new one.

Phone: (703) 933-0558 — [email protected]

America is becoming a more liberal na-tion. This may seem counterintuitive after theRepublican victories in 2014, but for the firsttime since Gallup began asking voters whetherthey consider themselves more socially lib-eral or conservative, the percentage answer-ing liberal now equals those answering con-servative. And, of course, it’s more than onesurvey. On issue after issue—marriage equal-ity, decriminalizing marijuana, combating cli-mate change, and immigration reform—Americans have been moving forward in amore liberal direction. Let’s examine the is-sues.

The progress on marriage equality hasbeen nothing short of astonishing. In 1996,President Clinton felt compelled to sign theDefense of Marriage Act (DOMA), blockingany recognition of same sex marriages. In2000, a Democratic senator up for reelectionrefused to even say the word “gay.” In 2008,none of the top tier Democratic presidentialcandidates supported marriage equality and,indeed, even California passed a constitutionalban on marriage equality. Now, thanks in largepart to Democrats in every level of govern-

ment, 72 percent of Americans live in statesthat recognize marriage equality. The Demo-cratic presidential front runner, HillaryClinton, in her opening campaign video in-cludes a couple looking forward to their samesex wedding.

After a decades-long war on drugs, a ma-jority of voters now support marijuana legal-ization, according to a recent Gallup poll. Fourstates and Washington, DC, already allowoutright recreational legalization and another19 states support the use of medicinal mari-juana. Democratic presidential candidate andSenator Bernie Sanders supports decriminal-ization and Hillary Clinton has called for anend to the era of mass incarceration.

It’s not just on social issues, but also oneconomic issues that Americans are becom-ing more liberal. A majority of Americans sup-port heavily taxing the rich to redistributewealth. Furthermore, in the same survey, 58percent of voters said the rich are taxed toolittle. There is a reason Hillary Clinton’s cam-paign video opened, “The deck is still stackedin favor of those at the top.” Democratic presi-dential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders is mak-

ing his entire campaign about inequality witha platform that is surprisingly in tune with vot-ers.

On climate change, the news is even moresurprising; a majority of self-identified Repub-lican voters say they support action to reduceclimate change, according to a recent Stanfordsurvey. Looking at the entire electorate, 81percent of Americans believe that human ac-tivities are contributing to climate change. JebBush apparently hadn’t seen this survey be-fore he said, “For the people to say the scienceis decided on this is really arrogant.”

And, on immigration reform, in a studywith more than 40,000 respondents, 60 per-cent said that there should be a legal path toearned citizenship. Immigration reform wasonce supported by President George W. Bushand Senator Marco Rubio, until very recently.As Hillary has said, “Not a single Republi-can candidate, announced or potential, isclearly and consistently supporting a path tocitizenship. Not one.”

All of this leads to the question: ifAmerica is a liberal nation, why do we haveso many conservative politicians? In threewords: message, money and organization.Conservatives have talk radio and Fox Newsgiving succinct talking points obscuring thelarger reality, whereas Democrats usuallyhave more nuanced and amorphous messages.

Republicans have been far better aboutinvesting money in state and local races,which leads to their ability to win the bulk ofelected offices. Therefore, it’s time for Demo-crats to hone our message for voters, raise themoney, and organize to win every local, stateand federal office.

America becoming more liberal

This month’s Second Saturday Breakfastwill be held four days after the June primaryand will be the public unveiling of our twoprimary winners.

Before they unveil, Mary Rouleau, execu-tive director of the Alliance for Housing Solu-tions, will outline the county’s affordable hous-ing program and answer questions about it.

The breakfast will be held June 13 start-ing at the usual time of 8:30 a.m. at the Bus-boys and Poets in Shirlington.

And you are asked to bring along cashto pay the bill.

Meet CB primarywinners at breakfast


Next Monthly MeetingAll Dems Invited

Wednesday, June 3, at 7 p.m.

Bumper Sticker of the Month

NRECA Building, 4301 Wilson Blvd.Corner of North Taylor and Wilson, just east of Glebe and Wilson

Free parking under building; enter from Taylor Street

Del. Alfonso Lopez will brief ACDC on theplan for targeted General Assembly races around thestate this year. Many of the regional contests will drawon Arlington volunteers to help put them over the top.We will also hear candidate announcements for thefinal Arlington candidates running for the GeneralAssembly.

Many Republicans in the commonwealthare foaming at the mouth over Attorney Gen-eral Mark Herring’s ruling last month that ex-isting abortion clinics cannot be required torebuild to meet state hospital standards.

They uniformly accuse Herring of im-posing his personal ideology on the issue.

But perhaps those Republican criticsshould be encouraged to read Herring’s nine-page Opinion, published May 4. It relies onvery compelling logic that the Board of Healthcannot apply new standards retroactively toexisting buildings. But few news stories havedetailed Herring’s logic.

The first significant reason Herring citedis that the General Assembly never said thenew standards should be imposed retroac-tively. Former Attorney General KenCuccinelli scoffed at that, saying everyoneknew that was the intent of the General As-sembly when it voted in 2011 to treat abor-tion clinics as hospitals when it comes tobuilding standards.

But the Health Board doesn’t imposenew building standards on old hospitals, sowhy should it impose them on old abortionclinics?

The commonwealth has 18 abortion clin-ics, of which five meet current hospital stan-dards but the others do not.

Herring wrote, “The Supreme Court ofVirginia has explained that ‘a statute is alwaysto be construed as operating prospectively,

unless a contrary intent is manifest’.” It hasalso written, “Absent an express manifesta-tion of intent by the legislature, this Court willnot infer that a statute is to be applied retroac-tively.”

The abortion clinic statute is silent on theissue of applying building standards retroac-tively.

Second, the Opinion states the long-standing practice in Virginia that new admin-istrative rules are nor retroactive. Herringpointed out that in the six years before abor-tion clinics were declared to be hospitals forbuilding code purposes, none of the changesmade in the building code were applied retro-actively.

In fact, this standard is really a nationalstandard. When a county changes its construc-

tion code to require more space betweenhouses, homes that are closer than the newmeasure decrees are never torn down.

Virginia’s Uniform Statewide BuildingCode even makes that explicit. “Any build-ing or structure, for which a building permithas been issued ... shall remain subject to thebuilding regulations in effect at the time ofsuch issuance.”

MARK HERRING. . . attorney general

Helpful to readHerring clinicopinion first

Donkey EarsListening to the doings

of Arlington’s Dems

as overheard byas overheard by

as overheard byas overheard by

as overheard by

Dan Steen and Dan Steen and

Dan Steen and Dan Steen and

Dan Steen and Mädi

Green Green

Green Green

Green


A life of crime: Tiffany Joslyn, who has held a number of positions in both AYDand ACDC, is joining the minority staff of the crime subcommittee of the HouseJudiciary Committee as deputy chief counsel. After 6-1/2 years, she is leavingthe National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Choice award: Delegate Patrick Hope has been awarded this year’s Aggie WolfDefender of Choice Award by NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia. Hope said he wasfortunate to have known Wolf personally and “truly grateful to receive an awardin her name.”

We think this is good: Nils Lonberg, the younger son of Ruth and HerschelKantor, has been elected to the bioengineering section of the National Academyof Engineering for “development of fully human monoclonal antibody therapeu-tics using innovative transgenic expression systems.” (Do you want to read thatagain?) Nils is a graduate of Yorktown High, Class of ’74, with a doctorate fromHarvard. He is now senior vice president of Bristol-Myers Squibb for immuno-oncology and biologics discovery.

Why clarity is very important: During the School Board Caucus, John Grantwatched as a voter picked up a ballot and quizzically asked the ballot distributor,“Do I need to fill this out?”

For women: Former State Senator Mary Margaret Whipple last month hosted areception to review progress on the design of the planned Virginia Women’sMonument. Whipple is the vice chair, chief operating officer, publicist and chieffundraider of the commission for the monument to be installed on the StateCapitol grounds. Arlington Dem Krysta Jones also serves on the commission.The monument will honor the achievements of many Virginia women and featurebronze statues of 12, starting with the first European working woman in thecommonwealth—Anne Burras Laydon, brought to Jamestown in 1608 as the 14-year-old maid to the only other woman in the colony.

For your GOP friends: This is for all those Republican neighbors of yours whocomplain about how the county is run under a bunch of pinko Dems. For the 15th

year in a row, all three international credit rating agencies have given Arlingtontriple-A bond ratings. Only 39 counties or 1 percent of all the counties in thecountry enjoy this triple-triple-A status. Standard & Poor’s cited Arlington for a“strong economy, excellent financial management and moderate debt.” Fitchsaid the county is “well managed” and adheres to “conservative debt policies.”Moody’s cited “sound financial operations.” Tell your GOP friends to put that intheir pipes and smoke it.

Redistricting: We report frequently here in The Voice on redistricting. ThisThursday, June 4, at 7 p.m., George Mason U. is hosting a forum on its ArlingtonCampus, “Why Redistricting Matters.” The speakers will be Brian Cannon ofOneVirginia2021 and Sara Fitzgerald of the League of Women Voters. There’sno charge, but space is limited so you need to reserve a seat in advance by goingto https://www.eventbrite.com/e/why-redistricting-matters-tickets-16914510757.

We’re Number Seven: The Washington metropolitan area is now the seventhlargest metro area in the country with just a hair under 6 million people. And weare breathing down the neck of the Philadelphia metro area with just a hair over 6million people and little population growth. For you stats fans, the others aboveus are New York with 19.9 million, LA 13.1 million, Chicago 9.5 million, Dallas-Forth Worth 6.8 million and Houston 6.3 million.

The June 9 primary is just around thecorner with six candidates vying for two seatson the County Board and another five seek-ing the nomination for the House of Delegatesin five south Arlington precincts.

Messages from all 11 candidates will befound on pages 7 to 12 of this issue of TheVoice.

You have the option of voting early upthrough Saturday. That procedure is describedon Page One of this issue. If you plan to castyour ballot on Election Day, Tuesday, June 9,you might want to mark your calendar nowas there won’t be any big articles in The Wash-ington Post or screaming television newspieces about the upcoming primary.

And remember: you are picking TWOnominees for the County Board this year.There are five board members serving four-year terms, so this one year in the cycle hastwo seats up for election.

The seats to be filled are those occupiednow by Mary Hynes and Walter Tejada,both of whom decided not to run for re-elec-tion.

And this is a state-run primary, not anACDC-run caucus, such as was just held forthe School Board endorsement. In a state-run primary, you vote at your usual votingplace, the one you use in November. Thepolls, by state law, are always open from 6a.m. to 7 p.m.

The other primary is for the 45th Houseof Delegates District, currently held by RobKrupicka, who also decided to retire at theend of this two-year term.

Only five of Arlington’s 52 precincts arein the 45th District and only the residents ofthose precincts can vote in that primary.Those precincts are: 03 Aurora Hills, 12Fairlington, 22 Abingdon, 32 Oakridge and42 Shirlington.

The 45th District is based primarily in Al-exandria with some parts of Fairfax Countyand 18 percent of its voters in Arlington.

All five candidates seeking the nomina-tion are from Alexandria.

Residents of those five precincts willvote in both the County Board primary andthe House of Delegates primary at the sametime.

2 primariescoming upon June 9


hotocou

tesyic

Wiene

continued from page oneof several dozen.

After the caucus—held over two days onMay 14 and 16—Baker said, “As Democrats,we always want more voters and the broadestparticipation, but, for an off-off-election year,I was pleased to see Democrats from all overArlington coming together to endorse a can-didate for School Board.”

ACDC Chair Kip Malinosky said afterthe vote, “We are proud to endorse Reid. Hehas demonstrated leadership on educationalissues and in the larger community. Reid willnot only be a great voice for balancing theneeds of school facilities, but also for improv-ing instruction for all of Arlington’s students.”

Goldstein, a 30-year Arlington residentand the son of two public school teachers,said: “I am grateful for and humbled by thesupport of so many Arlingtonians, and I ap-preciate the work of the Arlington CountyDemocratic Committee in making this pos-sible. I want to thank my wife and daughtersfor their patience and support, as well as mycampaign team for their outstanding hardwork. I thank Sharon Dorsey for a positive,thoughtful and energetic campaign, and AbbyRaphael [whose seat Goldstein is seeking tofill] for her years of service to Arlington fami-lies.

“Arlington has an outstanding publicschool system. We face the challenge of grow-ing enrollment as families are drawn to Ar-lington by our tradition of excellent educa-tion. We must maintain that excellence goingforward as we work to close the achievementgap, provide for growing enrollment, and en-sure openness and respect for diversity. I lookforward to working with Arlington Democratsin the November election campaign, and hopeto earn election to the School Board to workfor our schools for the next four years.”

SEALED — After the first day ofCaucus balloting, the ballot boxwas sealed by Peter Owen (left) andJohn Grant. The sealing tape wasthen signed by Jack Dorsey, son ofcandidate Sharon Dorsey (right)and candidate Reid Goldstein.

Goldsteinwins big insmall turnout

Photo courtesy Cragg H

ines

Barbara Kanninen


Around the middle of the 19th Century,it morphed into Jefferson-Jackson Day cen-tered on a festive dinner, usually a formal af-fair, but often a pot-luck meal or a picnic insmaller communities.

Without question the most famous gath-ering in two centuries was the Jefferson Daydinner of 1830 in Washington attended byPresident Andrew Jackson. It was the veryfirst Jefferson Day event and was held April13, Thomas Jefferson’s birthday, and was usedto extol the benefits of his political philoso-phy.

After the dinner, the tables were clearedand, according to the custom of the day, end-less rounds of toasts began. It had been ru-mored beforehand that Vice President JohnC. Calhoun was planning to use the occasionto clothe his Nullification Doctrine—the rightof the states to nullify federal policies—in themantle of Jeffersonian philosophy.

Robert Hayne, the senator from SouthCarolina and a Calhoun acolyte, lifted hisglass and toasted, “The Union of the States,and the Sovereignty of the States.”

President Jackson then rose to his feetand the room hushed. In a booming voice,Jackson toasted, “Our federal Union: It mustbe preserved!”

Calhoun appeared flummoxed. He re-alized he had failed to win Jackon’s backing.He then raised his glass to: “The Union: Nextto our Liberty, the most dear.”

This year’s Arlington J-J will not be asdramatic, but it is an opportunity for somegreat speeches and will also see the presenta-tion of awards to ACDC’s outstanding vol-unteers from 2014—volunteers who havecontinued the great traditions of the Demo-cratic Party into its third century.

continued from page one

Hillary Clinton will make her first cam-paign appearance outside the early primaryand caucus states by speaking at the VirginiaState Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in Fairfax Fri-

day, June 26.The state J-J is being held three weeks

after Arlington’s annual J-J dinner.Since formally announcing her candi-

dacy, Clinton has made campaign stops in thefour early caucus and primary states—Iowa,New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

Virginia’s presidential primary is usuallylate and not much of a factor in nominating aDemocratic candidate. So, her appearance inVirginia might be viewed as the first stop ofthe 2016 fall campaign, where Virginia is oneof the likely battleground states.

But there’s more—because Virginia isone of the few states with a fall election thisyear, with every seat in the General Assem-bly up. Her June 26 speech is expected, there-fore, to be an effort to mobilize the troops to

get out and work for the Dem candidates.Her decision to appear in Virginia now is

thought to have been influenced by Gov. TerryMcAuliffe, who was national chairman of her2008 campaign, and Susan Swecker, the newchair of the Democratic Party of Virginia anda long-time worker in the Clinton cause.

The event will be convenient forArlingtonians, as it will be held just a hop,skip and a jump down the pike at the PatriotCenter on the George Mason University cam-pus in Fairfax from 5-8 p.m.

Tickets are also generously priced. At-tendees can get stadium seating without ameal for just $30 a head. Dinner table seat-ing on the floor with the meal is $125 a head.

To order tickets now, go to: http://virginiademshrc.tumblr.com/

Don’t missArl. J-J thisSaturday

Hillary in Fairfax June 26 for state J-J

ACDC Voice,June 2015,

Candidates in County Board Primary

Bruce Wiljanen

Andrew Schneider

The issue I wish to address when electedto the County Board is communication. Howwell the County Board shares its intent withthe citizens of Arlington is the most basicmeasure of their success. It is incumbent onour County Board members to clearly defineand communicate their long-term agenda tothe people of Arlington, and to guide theCounty Manager and staff to work towardintended outcomes.

We have no shortage of citizen input intothe formation of individual county govern-ment positions through our civic associations,commissions, task forces, and other focusedinterest groups. It is the digestion and com-munication of these valuable and essential in-puts into a clearly reasoned rationale for a votewhich seems to be lacking to many Arlingtoncitizens.

It would be very helpful in the forma-tion of a strategic vision for the future of Ar-lington if we could define a few basic prin-ciples which would serve to guide our future

I end this campaign in the same way thatI began it – committed to listening, open toideas and innovation, dedicated to bridgingdivides across our community, and workingtirelessly to continue Arlington’s legacy ofprogressive values and policies.

As I knocked on doors around ourCounty—regardless of the neighborhood orthe age of the resident, or howlong they’ve lived in Arling-ton—I often heard the samethings, “I am worried aboutthe cost of living in Arling-ton,” “Please keep the schoolsgreat,” “Spend moneywisely,” “Take care of afford-able housing,” and, almost al-ways, “I love Arlington.”

I love Arlington too. Iwas raised in Arlington and Iam thankful to be a product ofArlington schools. I’ve fo-cused my campaign on 1) En-suring greater collaborationwith the School Board to

decision making. I think wecould agree on some of these.

(1) We are a smallcounty, and are getting nolarger, except in population.Therefore, our need for landfor county facilities will grow.We should identify sites ap-propriate for public use, andwork to purchase them. Theseuses include schools, fire sta-tions, affordable housing, andsupport facilities. Land pur-chases would be an excellentand far-sighted use of ourbonding capacity.

(2) Do not sell or tradeaway any open greenspace or parkland to beused for any other purpose. These lands areessential to our civic health and our well-be-ing, and once lost can never be replaced.

(3) In any negotiations over the futureof Interstate 66, insist on acquiring the air

rights over any recon-structed sections of theroadway. It is the only wayfor us to create new “land”in the county, and while itwould be suitable only forspecific activities, it cer-tainly would become veryuseful.

I’m sure it is apparent toyou that all of these sugges-tions are about land use. Itis the most basic of ourneeds as a community, andas such, a place where wecan come together to beginto solidify a vision of the

Arlington we wish to become. Once we com-mit to keeping our current land holdings andworking together to acquire more, we canbegin to rationally discuss our priorities forland use in the future, rather than disagree overhow to further divide that which we have.

better manage our growing school populationand budget, 2) Working with AED and ourbusiness community to ensure we maintaina strong commercial tax base, 3) Improv-ing Customer Service to provide first-classservice to residents and businesses through-out the County and 4) Putting an end tosandbox politics by not getting bogged down

in the politics of the per-sonal and adversarial. Weare one County that thriveswhen we all work together.

I have the experience toserve our County effec-tively. I’ve been the Presi-dent of the Yorktown CivicAssociation since 2010, ABoard member of Commu-nity Residences since 2009,a graduate of LeadershipArlington, and a member ofLeadership Arlington’s In-augural 40 under 40 in2014. I was a 4 year var-sity swimmer at William &

Mary and obtained my MBA from the Uni-versity of Maryland.

That said, experience is only one factorwhen choosing who to vote for. Please alsoconsider my values and my leadership skills.My values are your values and I will standwith you as a Democrat and I will always sup-port our Democratic nominees for office. Andmy leadership skills will always be centeredon strong principles, listening and collabora-tion, with a strong dose of humility and inno-vation. I pledge to do my best and to neverstop listening.

I am honored to have the support ofSenator Mary Margaret Whipple, CountyBoard Chair Mary Hynes, Former CandidateAlan Howze, Clerk of the Courts PaulFerguson, Former Treasurer Frank O’Leary,and Aneesh Chopra and so many neighbors,friends, active Democrats and others in ourcommunity.

Thank you for the opportunity to run andthe chance to serve you. I’d be honored toearn your vote on June 9th.


James Lander


Peter Fallon

I’ve been honored to serve as your Arling-ton School Board member these past 5 years,most recently as Chairman.

I’m running for the county board becauseour wonderful community isin the midst of change and ex-perienced, forward-thinkingleadership can make a differ-ence. Our challenges in-clude: declining nonresiden-tial tax revenue with a grow-ing population, creatingstrains on our county servicesand infrastructure, e.g.schools and transportation.Arlington must find ways toimprove transportation in or-der to bring appropriate de-velopment, educational op-portunities, and affordablehousing to our community.

My specific proposalincludes: developing two circular lines, one in

This campaign has been an exciting anddeeply enjoyable time. As I’ve knocked ondoors and attended debates, I’ve met voterswho remain optimistic about the promise ofbeing an Arlingtonian. They see that the po-litical times have gotten tougher, but theyhaven’t lost sight of the long-term vision thatmakes us a standout community. Neither haveI.

We need to protect that progress.In six months, we will lose two experi-

enced Democratic board members. I’veworked closely with both over the past 25years, including nearly a decade of service onthe Planning Commission, Housing Commis-sion and Transportation Commission. I’vetaken my knocks for defending unpopularideas that later became the beacons drawingnew residents and businesses to Arlington. It’stime we recommitted our County Board to en-suring Arlington remains great.

As I’ve campaigned across the commu-nity, this message has resonated with a widespectrum of voters. Some of our strongestDemocratic leaders – Sen. Barbara Favola,

South Arlington and one in North Arlington. InSouth Arlington, I would lead an effort to pur-sue a continuous bus route connecting Colum-bia Pike, Crystal City, Shirlington, and Bailey’s

Crossroads. This would enableus to connect areas primed fordevelopment and pave the wayfor bringing Northern VirginiaCommunity College into Crys-tal City, where we currentlyhave eight vacant buildings.Our educated workforce needsto locate where we want ourbusinesses. Additionally, Iwould seek to implement aworkforce development pipe-line in partnership with the hos-pitality industry. Crystal Cityis home to 10,000 hotel roomsthat could potentially providepaid internship programs forour adult students and our im-

migrant population.

In North Arlington, I would lead an effortthat would connect Lee Highway, VirginiaSquare, Ballston, and Rosslyn. Convenient trans-portation, in this area, would provide a pathwayfor development along Lee Hwy and enable usto expand the opportunity for work and afford-able housing. I propose exploring public/privatepartnerships with developers and academic in-stitutions to build micro-units for graduate stu-dents and county employees. This approachwould keep Arlington dollars in Arlington.

As a school board member, I bring a recordof achievement and will bring significant skillsto the county board. In my tenure, I’ve workedto maintain Arlington’s outstanding school sys-tem. Within the last year, I have overseen re-duction costs within Arlington Public Schools’annual budget while continuing to focus on stu-dent achievement and providing pay increasesto our talented teachers. I understand the im-portance of nurturing a collaborative relation-ship between the school and county boards.

I ask for one of your two votes on June9th for Arlington County Board.

Del. Patrick Hope, Del Rip Sullivan andformer Treasurer Frank O’Leary have stoodup to support my campaign. Organizationsthat reflect our progressive values haveagreed, including Blue Virginia, the Arling-ton Education AssociationPAC, and The WashingtonPost.

But the endorsementI most seek is yours, onJune 9th.

That’s how we’re go-ing to make positivechange for those in need ofaffordable housing.

That’s how we’re go-ing to ensure our childrenmove out of trailers andinto modern classroomsthat prepare them for ex-cellence.

That’s how we’re go-ing to solve the transpor-tation problems that threaten our continuedgrowth as an urban village.

Though local politics isn’t sexy, we oweour best to Arlington. I look forward to bring-ing my long record of accomplishment toserve you on the County Board.

We need a County Board member thatcan rebuild the trust and col-laboration that makes our localpolitics work. I can promiseyou that, though we may notalways agree, I will always betransparent with you and re-spectful of the many opinionsthat make our communitygreat. The County Board – ourCounty Board – should be will-ing to pledge nothing less.

I hope that when you castyour ballot on June 9th, you’llconsider using one of your twovotes to support my plan for anArlington for everyone.

To learn more aboutwhere I stand on the issues,

please visit www.fallonforcountyboard.orgPeter


Katie Cristol

Christian Dorsey


In last month’s VOICE, I shared detailson my civic and policy experience and rea-sons for running; for more information onthese areas, please visit http://www.katiecristol.com/about.

In conversations with Democrats andneighborhood leaders across Arlington, I havecome to believe that many of us—in all cor-ners of the County—still share a common vi-sion for diversity and smartgrowth. But our consensusabout how to achieve it has frac-tured. We have rebuilding to doin Arlington, to prove that ourelected leaders can partner withthe community on everythingfrom preserving neighborhoodparks to selecting the nextCounty Manager. Rebuildingisn’t just about replacing: It’s anopportunity to build better,stronger and for the long run.

To achieve our sharedcommitments of affordability,diversity and smart growth, Iwill:

The mission for Arlington Democrats isto nominate candidates who will address thegrowing insecurity that has taken hold in ourcommunity. For over twentyyears, I have worked to seethat Arlington realizes its fullpotential while ensuring thatindividuals and communitiesin need are not left behind.

Serving as chief execu-tive officer for organizationsthat increase literacy develop-ment for low-income chil-dren, develop moderate in-come housing and empowerstudents to combat racial andreligious inequity has pro-vided me with many years ofexperience in providing qual-ity, high demand services onmodest budgets. Today, I ama senior leader at the Economic Policy Insti-tute, a think tank that conducts research to

• Design and target solutions to addressthe diversity of causes for renter and home-owner dislocation risk (e.g. expansion of theProperty Tax Relief Program to enable moresenior homeowners to age in place and the“Live Where You Work” program to assistArlington’s teachers and firefighters in estab-lishing long-term residence).• Pursue increased housing supply through

flexibilities in our zoningrequirements. For example,converting vacant commer-cial space into “micro-apartments” and permittingadditions that enable multi-generational or multi-fam-ily households to sharespace without dramaticallyaltering neighborhoodlandscapes.• Continue transportationmomentum on ColumbiaPike by accelerating ex-panded bus-service plansand supporting the Pikemultimodal project.

• Focus on childcare affordability andbuild on emerging efforts—including crisisservices for sexual assault and inclusive zon-ing for women’s health centers—to ensureArlington is a model community for womenand families.

To bring in new voices and restore com-munity trust, I will:• Develop a set of best practices—draw-ing from community organizations servingunderrepresented constituencies—for engag-ing new perspectives in our civic life.• Use the lever of the Board appointmentprocess to ensure greater representation on ouradvisory groups.• Engage the community in the search forthe next County Manager, soliciting and re-flecting input from diverse stakeholders.

I hope you’ll add your name to the grow-ing list of Arlingtonians endorsing our cam-paign, including Commissioner of RevenueIngrid Morroy, former Delegate Karen Darnerand former ACDC Chair Kevin Appel. Iwould be honored to earn your support onJune 9.

promote broadly shared prosperity.It has been my honor to serve Arlington

organizations such as the Arlington FreeClinic, A-SPAN, and Arling-ton Independent Media,among many others. I alsohave served on the Tenant-Landlord (Chairman) andPlanning Commissions. I amnow planning for the capac-ity needs of our schools as amember of the APS FacilitiesAdvisory Committee.

My record of experienceand accomplishment equipsme to be the progressive,principled and inclusive pub-lic servant who can best rep-resent our party and work to-ward a vision that includes re-vitalizing our small busi-

nesses so that homeowners don’t bear a dis-proportionate tax burden; expanding afford-

able housing so that modest wage workersthrough retirees aren’t priced out of our com-munity; ensuring adequate school capacity sothat schools can focus on instruction; priori-tizing the nuts and bolts like fixing potholesand sidewalks and enhancing pedestriansafety, and creating opportunities for growthby improving public transportation.

We face important challenges that willrequire attentive and thoughtful leadership toovercome. I am prepared and eager to domy part, but I will need your help and yourvote on June 9.

Please join Delegate Patrick Hope, Com-missioner of Revenue Ingrid Morroy, SchoolBoard Member Abby Raphael, former Del-egate Karen Darner, the PAC of the Arling-ton Education Association and many of yourfriends and neighbors in supporting the Chris-tian Dorsey for County Board campaign.Visit www.christiandorsey.org to learn how.


Clarence TongClarence Tong

Clarence TongClarence Tong

Clarence Tong

Candidates in 45th House of Delegates Primary

The 45th House ofDelegates seat, nowheld by the retiring

Delegate RobKrupicka, is mostly inAlexandria with partsof Fairfax County and

five precincts insouthern Arlington.

The five ArlingtonThe five Arlington

The five ArlingtonThe five Arlington

The five Arlington

precicnts in theprecicnts in the

precicnts in theprecicnts in the

precicnts in the

45th Distict are:45th Distict are:

45th Distict are:45th Distict are:

45th Distict are:

03 Aurora Hills03 Aurora Hills

03 Aurora Hills03 Aurora Hills

03 Aurora Hills

12 Fairlington12 Fairlington

12 Fairlington12 Fairlington

12 Fairlington

22 Abingdon22 Abingdon

22 Abingdon22 Abingdon

22 Abingdon

32 Oakridge32 Oakridge

32 Oakridge32 Oakridge

32 Oakridge

42 Shirlington42 Shirlington

42 Shirlington42 Shirlington

42 Shirlington

My campaign is based on the ideathat all Virginians should have a fair shot.Whether it is access to affordablehealthcare, a responsible energy futuregood for our environment and oureconomy, or ensuring that all Virginianshave access to high quality educationalopportunities, I will fight in Richmondto protect our Democratic values and rep-resent the priorities of Northern Virgin-ians.

I am running for delegate because Istrongly believe in and have dedicated mycareer to public service. Over the lastdecade, I have served as a staffer on Capi-tol Hill and later became an Obama ap-pointee at the Department of Energy.

My wife Alice and I have made ahome in the City of Alexandria and haveworked to serve our great community. Iwas elected Chair of the AlexandriaDemocratic Committee, appointed to be

a Member of the City’s Budget and Fis-cal Affairs Advisory Committee(BFAAC), and selected to serve on theBoard of the North Old Town Indepen-dent Citizens Association (NOTICe).

Now, I hope to serveour community in a differ-ent capacity, as your rep-resentative in the VirginiaHouse of Delegates.

You can find moreinformation online attongforva.com. Over thenext few short weeks, Ilook forward to getting toknow more residents ofthe 45th District, and hopeto earn your vote on June9th.


Julie JakopicJulie Jakopic

Julie JakopicJulie Jakopic

Julie Jakopic

Mark LevineMark Levine

Mark LevineMark Levine

Mark Levine


I believe that Virginia can be a placewhere every child has the opportunity to reachtheir highest potential; every family has ac-cess to quality, affordable health and mentalhealth care; and anyone willing to work hardhas the opportunity to earn a fair wage, pro-vide for their family, and achieve a dignifiedretirement.

Like my predecessor, Del. RobKrupicka, the values of education and accessare important to me. As the incoming chair ofHopkins House, I know that early care andeducation are the foundation for future learn-ing, health, and economic participation. Allkids in Virginia need access to full-day kin-dergarten and pre-K opportunities in environ-ments that parents can rely on and find safe,that ensures that all children start school readyto learn. That’s why I helped Hopkins Housebuild two new schools that provide qualityearly care and education to low-income fami-lies.

Health care is fundamental for people tofully participate in society and the economy.Expanding Medicaid and reforming mental

I’m proud to be running to represent the45th District in the House of Delegates.

I am the only candidate in the race whohas drafted and secured the passage of legis-lation. I’ve done this at both the state and fed-eral levels. My first law, written in the 1990’s,was a state law to protect victims of domesticviolence that passed unanimously. In 2009, Icrafted DC’s marriage-equality law and de-fended it in court.

As Legislative Counsel for CongressmanBarney Frank on Capitol Hill, I had a fantas-tic mentor and legal strategist. Barney taughtme how to negotiate with Republicans to getthe best and most

At Yale Law School, we discussed whatthe law should be and how you design a legalsystem by taking into account equality, fair-ness, and the various social and economic in-terests and incentives at play. For more than adecade, I have hosted a nationally-syndicatedradio show and appeared on national televi-sion programs defending progressive causes.

My legislative priorities in Richmond are

aimed at improving the lives of strugglingVirginia families. I would work to enact Med-icaid expansion and paid family medicalleave. I would seek to raise the local mini-mum wage and tipped wage.

Right now, Vir-ginians are beingtaxed by the federalgovernment forhealth care but get-ting none of thatmoney back. Accept-ing federal Medicaidexpansion fundswould stimulate thecreation of tens ofthousands of newjobs while takingcare of Virginians indesperate need.

Paid familymedical leave wouldalso help Virginiaworkers deal with a medical crisis. The sur-

health are crucial. As a former chair of theAlexandria Community Services Board andfrom my family’s own experience, I know weneed meaningful mental health reform. Thatmeans changingr e g u l a t i o n s ,streamlining pro-cesses, and pro-viding adequatefunding, not mov-ing money backand forth betweenprograms.

No oneworking full timeshould be livingin poverty. Wagesshould not be de-termined by yourgender, age, race,religion, nationalorigin, disability,or who you love. Consumers should be in-formed and protected from unfair business

practices. I am committed to ensuring Virginiais a fair, open place for all. As a former chairof the Alexandria Economic OpportunityCommission, I understand how important a

level playing field is for each of us tosucceed and for our communities tothrive. We worked hard to increase regu-lation of predatory payday lenders andprovide better protections for utilityconsumers, while strengtheningworkforce development programs toassist job seekers. I’ll work for fairwages and an increase in the minimumwage.

I am honored to have the endorse-ment of current 45th District DelegateRob Krupicka, Delegate Patrick Hope,and the National Organization forWomen. You can learn about these andadditional endorsements on our websiteat www.JulieforDelegate.com on the“Endorsements” page. I ask for your

support and your vote. To follow the cam-paign, contribute, or volunteer, please checkout our website at www.JulieforDelegate.com.

prisingly inexpensive proposal makes lifeeasier for both businesses and employees, afact every industrialized nation and the statesof California, New Jersey and Rhode Islandwell understand.

Finally, I am willing to take posi-tions that differ from some Demo-cratic leaders. For instance, I opposeboth fracking and off-shore oil drill-ing. And I would have stood with ourAttorney General Mark Herring,Rob, and Adam in opposing the re-cent legislation signed by GovernorMcAuliffe giving Dominion VirginiaPower a free pass from now until2022 to avoid Commonwealth scru-tiny. I think regulated utilities shouldbe required to rebate to consumerstheir excess profits.

This will be a close election. Everyvote will count. I ask for your voteon Tuesday, June 9.

For more information, please con-tact me personally [email protected].



Larry AltenburgLarry Altenburg

Larry AltenburgLarry Altenburg

Larry Altenburg

Craig FiferCraig Fifer

Craig FiferCraig Fifer

Craig Fifer

Over the past several weeks as I’ve spo-ken with hundreds of voters, one core mes-sage has come through loud and clear – ourschools need work. Excellent schools are thecornerstone to our Commonwealth’s contin-ued success. Business and families are at-tracted to places with strongschools and a solid commitmentto public education. The disparityin our schools across the 45th Dis-trict is a significant challenge, re-quiring attention and involvementfrom parents, teachers, administra-tors, local and state governmentagencies to ensure long term andsustainable improvements.

As a parent with children inour public schools, I am passion-ate about ensuring that all of ourchildren have the opportunity tosucceed and that our schools havethe resources to provide our chil-dren the tools to be successful. Iam committed to addressing these issues asmy first priority as Delegate.

For over 20 years, I’ve been honored toserve the people of Virginia professionally andthrough non-profit and politicaladvocacy. Now, I want to go to Richmond toleverage my skills and expertise for the peopleof the 45th District. I’m proud to have earnedthe endorsements of the Washington Post,longtime members of the General Assembly(including our state senator, Adam Ebbin), andother local community members. Like theWashington Post, they all believe that I have“the background and skills to make an excep-tional member of the state legislature.”

In endorsing me, the Washington Postcontinued, “Mr. Fifer, chief communicationsofficer for Alexandria, has broad knowledgeof local and state issues and has won praisefrom incumbents for his detailed commandof complex legislation. He is widely regardedas an authority on questions of open govern-ment, technology and access to public infor-mation, and he has a knack for clear and con-cise presentation. In addition to his long gov-

ernment service, Mr. Fifer also has extensivehands-on experience as an advocate forabused children in the court system. Thatbackground, combiningpolicy savvy and on-the-ground experience, is ex-cellent preparation for alegislator.”

I deeply appreciatesuch important support.But only one endorse-ment matters on electionday: the confidence ofthe voters of the 45thDistrict.

As your delegate,I’ll fight for dignity andopportunity for everyVirginian by investing inearly education, nutri-tion, and child protection programs to givekids a strong start to life; ensuring women canmake their own health care decisions; expand-

ing Medicaid and mental health services; andworking to eliminate the wage gap by ensur-ing women receive equal pay for equal work.

I’ll work towards effec-tive and transparent govern-ment by improving cooperationbetween state and local agenciesto make government work bet-ter; fighting for real ethics re-form and non-partisan redistrict-ing to make government morehonest; and applying proven bestpractices to decision-making tomake government more respon-sive.

I’ll help build safe andsustainable communities by pro-moting scalable transportationand transit systems to keep usmoving; supporting Virginia’s

first responders to keep us safe; and develop-ing sustainable energy choices to protect ourenvironment. I ask for your vote on June 9.

Over the past several years, we have cre-ated standards that identify what we want ourchildren to learn. While establishing high-quality learning standards is important, Vir-ginia has focused too much on the structureof K-12 education, and not enough on authen-

tic measures of stu-dent and school suc-cess. Standardizedexams have becomethe primary methodto measure students,teachers, schools,and districts, puttingintense pressures onstudents to passthose exams. Recentrevisions have re-quired teachers tofocus their efforts onpreparing childrento pass and excel atstandardized exams,

at the expense of developing the skills andabilities they need for success outside of

school.To strengthen our education system, we

must expand early childhood education op-portunities, reform the K-12 curriculum andreliance on the Standards of Learning (SOL)exams as measures of student and school suc-cess, strengthen students’ opportunities formeaningful vocational education, and reevalu-ate the state’s school funding formula.

Through my professional and volunteerexperience over the past 25 years, I have fo-cused on finding and implementing solutionsto a wide variety of problems at the local, state,national, and international levels. These is-sues have included local zoning to transpor-tation and from schools to homeland and na-tional security. Northern Virginia’s issues arereal and require a Delegate skilled at address-ing a wide variety of problems with a bias foraction. I appreciate your support and ask foryour vote to take my skills and experience toRichmond to address these issues on yourbehalf.

v o l. 40, no. 6 www .arlingtondemocrats.org june 2015...

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