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Forum to focus on potential governance changes for Arlington

Legislator will discuss what General Assembly might agree to in coming years
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Proponents of changing aspects of Arlington’s 90-year-old governance structure may get an inkling of what’s politically and logistically feasible, and what is not, at an upcoming forum.

The Arlington County Civic Federation’s Task Force in Governance and Election Reform – acronym “TiGER” – will host the gathering on Thursday, May 18 at 6:30 p.m. at Central Library.

At the forum, Del. Patrick Hope (D-Arlington) will detail the county’s unique, compared to other Virginia jurisdictions, governance structure and discuss what steps would be needed for General Assembly approval to enact governance changes at the local level.

Late last year, the Civic Federation adopted a package of proposals put forth by the TiGER task force. The key components:

• Expanding the five-member County Board and School Board to at least seven, while retaining at-large elections.

• Instead of having board chairs rotate annually among members, have board chairs serve at least two years in a row before a rotation occurs.

• Increase salaries for County Board members and School Board members. (County Board members already have enacted big pay raises, but School Board members are at the ceiling of pay allowed for such bodies under state law.)

• Implement ranked-choice voting in County Board and School Board races.

• Retain four-year terms for elected officials, but eliminate Arlington’s every-year elections, grouping County Board and School Board elections into an every-other-year cycle.

The package, which is advisory only and holds no force of law, was approved Nov. 15 of last year on what proved to be, to its boosters, an unexpectedly less than overwhelming response. The final tally: 57-20 with seven abstentions.

The year-long study of governance issues by the Civic Federation leading up to that vote was aimed at helping set the stage for future discussion with organizations and individuals that hold the power to adopt, or effectively veto, specific recommendations – the County Board, School Board, Arlington County Democratic Committee, other political parties, General Assembly, governor and State Board of Elections among them.

The package as adopted by the Civic Federation apparently went too far for some of those voting against it, but not far enough for others. It shied away from more aggressive proposals such as moving to district-based seats; reducing the power of the Democratic Committee’s nomination processes; having voters directly elect a County Board chair; and seeking to convert the county to city status.

“We’re not trying to do revolution here; we’re trying to do what we can,” said Michael Beer, who served on the task force and pressed for adoption of its recommendations as a fair compromise among competing ideas, as the matter was debated last year.

Because of the complexities involved and the lack of broad consensus even among those relative few who are aware of the effort, Hope – likely to be the point-person on the issue in the General Assembly – opted against bringing forward any governance legislation during the 2023 session.

The May 18 meeting, which is open to the public, also will include a presentation by U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-8th), discussing his proposal for multi-member congressional districts elected by ranked-choice voting. It also will feature Gretchen Reinemeyer, Arlington’s chief election officer, detailing the change to ranked-choice voting for the June 20 Arlington County Board primary.

There is no registration required for in-person participation, but registration is required to watch via Zoom. For information, see the Website at civfed.org.