McMenamin Announces Another Run For County Board
Local attorney Mike McMenamin announced earlier this week that he would try once again to become an Arlington County Board member.
McMenamin, a Republican who received 26 percent of the vote last year in his unsuccessful bid to unseat Board Member Chris Zimmerman (D), said in a statement that he is running "on behalf of every forgotten neighborhood and citizen in this county."
"Very little has improved since last year," he said. "At the behest of special interests, the board continues to defy the interests of voters. A responsive government does not reward its own poor performance… with raises."
There are two spots open on the Board this year and, so far, he is the only Republican to have announced a candidacy.
After the primaries, McMenamin will be up against Board Vice-Chairman Walter Tejada (D) and whoever wins the Democratic primary. As of right now, only former School Board Member Mary Hynes has entered the race to be the Democrats' nominee and it appears as though she will be uncontested.
Despite losing all 50 Arlington precincts in the 2006 election, McMenamin is optimistic about his chances for this year and doesn't plan on altering his campaign strategy too much.
"The events of last year created a tsunami in terms of what happened in Arlington," he said in an interview. "We ran a really solid campaign last time [and] now we have name recognition. We're going to run hard and we're going to run good."
-David Schultz
Chairman of Arlington GOP Resigns
Jeff Miller announced last week that he has resigned from his post as chairman of the Arlington County Republican Committee (ACRC). He was midway through a two-year term that was set to end in April 2008.
Miller said that he couldn’t be as accessible as the position required and that he will now concentrate his efforts on his private consulting business. "[My] concern is, given the importance of this year's elections in Arlington and statewide, that I wouldn't be able to put in the amount of time that our committee members deserve," he said in a statement.
Bill Holbrook, the ACRC vice chair, has announced that he will seek to replace Miller as ACRC chair. He said the upcoming November elections, with several open seats in Arlington, will be crucial for Republicans as they try to gain a foothold in an overwhelmingly Democratic county.
"This is a critical time for Arlington’s Republicans," Holbrook said. "We have numerous opportunities to take positions on the County Board and School Board."
Mike McMenamin, a Republican who announced his candidacy for County Board earlier this week, said that he has "a lot of respect" for Miller.
"He had a lot of balls up in the air and [the chairmanship] takes up a lot of time," McMenamin said. "[Miller] did a great job and I'm sorry to see him go."
Miller also received support from his counterpart, Arlington County Democratic Committee (ACDC) Chairman Peter Rousselot. "[Jeff and I] have a very good working relationship," he said. "Working with him was consistently a good experience and I wish him success."
The ACRC will decide who their new chairman will be at their monthly meeting on March 28 at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association building. Visit ACRC’s Web site at www.arlingtongop.org.
-David Schultz
Assembly Puts Amendment On Ballot To Allow Tax Exemptions
The Virginia General Assembly last week endorsed a constitutional amendment which would allow localities to exempt up to 20 percent of a home's value from real estate taxes. Two Arlington lawmakers, State Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple (D-31) and Del. Bob Brink (D-48), spearheaded the amendment.
In a statement, they said that they proposed the exemption because, during the massive inflation of housing prices over the first half of the decade, the Virginia Constitution limited local governments' abilities to give tax relief.
"This will be useful for localities in years when residential assessments are rising very rapidly and commercial assessments are not keeping pace," Whipple said.
Governor Timothy Kaine (D) is expected to sign the measure. "I congratulate Sen. Whipple and Del. Brink for their early leadership on this critical issue," he said in a statement.
Any constitutional amendment must first be approved by the General Assembly in two consecutive sessions and then approved by voters as a referendum. Therefore, if the Assembly approves the tax exemption again in their next session, it will go on the ballot in November 2008 at the earliest.
The approval of the tax exemption comes at a time of shifting real estate values in Northern Virginia. Home assessments in Fairfax County are projected to decrease in 2008 after six straight years of double-digit increases. Assessments in Arlington County are also decreasing for the first time in more than a decade.
However, Whipple said that the amendment is still necessary because it will give more leeway to local governments to control their own tax base. "It's a very flexible tool for localities to use [when] housing values rise," she said.
Whipple also noted that the tax exemptions do not need to be used uniformly by every Virginia locality and that, if housing values are stagnating, local governments do not have to use them.
-David Schultz
One Of Arlington's Most Wanted Turns Self In
Only days after the creation of a public list of Arlington's most wanted criminals, one of the listed suspects surrendered himself to the County Police Department.
Police unveiled an Arlington's Most Wanted List late last week in an attempt to gain the public's help in apprehending the suspects. The list was posted on the police department’s Web site on Thursday and featured photos of suspects along with a description of the crimes they are accused of committing.
On Monday morning, one of the ten fugitives profiled on the list, Cheffrey Drayton, 24, turned himself in to Police authorities. Drayton is accused of for assaulting a police officer in an incident that occurred at a community center in August of last year.
According to a Police Department statement, the Most Wanted List has also yielded new tips about other suspects.
The list can be viewed at Arlington County Police's Web site, www.arlingtonva.us/police. The Police request that anyone who sees these individuals should not try to capture or confront them but, rather, should call 911 immediately.
Anyone with information about a fugitive is asked to call the Police Tip Line at 703-228-4242 or the anonymous Crime Solvers tip line at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).
Daylight Savings Time Starts This Weekend
Daylight Savings Time goes into effect this weekend, several weeks earlier than usual. Clocks will be set forward by one hour at 2 a.m. on Sunday. The change will take place earlier this year because of a law passed by Congress in 2005 that extended Daylight Savings Time by four weeks.