Leaders of the Green Valley Civic Association have blasted county leadership for what they term as “offensive, arrogant and hateful” its suggestion that they stay out of the nitty-gritty of capital project that impact their community.
The comments came in an April 21 letter to County Board Chairman Christian Dorsey, complaining that the Green Valley community’s feedback on plans for an Arlington Transit (ART) operations and management facility still is not being taken seriously.
The letter, signed by association president Portia Clark and community-affairs head Robin Stombler, reminded Dorsey that, in 2021, the civic organization complained county staff was not sufficiently engaging with the neighboring community on the project.
In the latest broadside, sent in advance of County Board’s April 22 consideration of a contract change in relation to of the ART facility, the civic association contended that government staff “doubles down on the highly offensive suggestion that county citizens be relegated to only discussing the ‘aesthetics’ of the project” rather than be invited to provide more robust input on specifics.
“When brought to the county’s attention in the past,” the current letter noted, “the County Board stated that our Green Valley community might get ‘frustrated’ by the ‘complex’ matters and that we should ‘stay in the areas [that] are most appropriate.’”
“It is difficult to express just has offensive, arrogant and hateful this position is to our community,” the letter said. “Current conduct is not healthy, honest or helpful.”
Clark and Stombler also voiced concern about the county government’s plan, approved in April, for a pedestrian/bicycle crossing over Four Mile Run. While supportive of the overall goal, the civic association believes county staff have downplayed community concerns about the safety of the chosen location.
“Somehow, our collective civic voices on the matter do not warrant a mention in the county’s report [on the project],” Green Valley leaders wrote.
