To the editor: I agree with Mark Riley’s recent letter to the editor that Arlington needs new and improved governance. However, I do not believe that Del. Patrick Hope’s proposed legislation (HB 1225) goes far enough.
The legislation would allow the County Board to change the size of the body, and would allow the County Board to move from at-large representation to a district-based system. Why would we leave these decisions to the County Board? Why would we trust the County Board to do this with our best interests in mind, and not their own?
It is for voters of Arlington to decide what form their government should take. Leaving these decisions in the hands of those who have the most to lose and the most to gain seems like a corruption of the democratic process.
The County Board can hold community conversations about the form of county government until the cows come home, but we know board members take little heed of what the community wants.
For example, as James C. Webster noted in a recent letter to the editor, the County Board unanimously adopted the Pentagon City Plan last year “despite strong local neighborhood opposition and little public support for a staff recommendation that sided with most of what developers sought.”
The power to change Arlington’s form of government does not belong to the County Board. Indeed, the Virginia Constitution declares “whenever any government shall be found inadequate or contrary to these purposes, a majority of the community hath an indubitable, inalienable and indefeasible right to reform, alter or abolish it, in such manner as shall be judged most conducive to the public weal.”
Before it comes back next year, Del. Hope should modify his proposed legislation to allow Arlingtonians the final decision.
Elizabeth Grossman, Arlington
