![]() ![]() ![]() Clement says money would be better spent on schools and libraries, and Ms. Wavro is concerned that it will increase automobile congestion, Ms. Garvey and her challengers Matthew Wavro and Audrey Clement have all displayed little understanding of the subject. Transportation planning has been the dominant theme during this election. None of the three candidates for Arlington County Board have engendered our confidence, but the incumbent, Ms. He offers no explanation for how the city or region should accommodate growth, except to say “not here.”Īrlington County Board: We recommend voting for Libby Garvey. The challenger, Andrew Macdonald, is a classic anti-growth candidate who proposes to rein back the density of redevelopment projects. He has also pursued a transit-friendly transportation agenda pushing BRT corridors and an infill Metro station, with a possible streetcar connection to Arlington. Euille, the 3-term incumbent, has shepherded extensive community planning efforts for redevelopment in Potomac Yard, the Beauregard Corridor, and Alexandria Waterfront. We urge you to vote against the amendment.Īlexandria Mayor: We recommend voting for Bill Euille.Īlexandria voters face a stark choice, between one candidate who is strongly pro-smart growth, and another who would force growth out of Alexandria farther from the regional core. Routine projects could become prohibitively expensive, and get mired in court for years at a time. The overly broad language in this amendment would put a stranglehold on local government in Virginia. Residents had some concerns about the breadth of eminent domain after the Supreme Court’s Kelo decision, but the Virginia legislature already addressed these issues with a 2007 law. For example, if a city in Virginia adds a median to a road in front of a business, even without actually taking any of the owners’ property, they could have to to pay every property owner because the access is in some way reduced. As several editorials have noted, the amendment is worded so broadly that it might require local governments to give significant financial compensation to property owners for any number of mundane and necessary actions. The latter issue is particularly troublesome. Specifically, the amendment prohibits governments from using eminent domain for economic development, and broadly redefines takings law to require government compensation for any action that reduces access to private property. This proposed amendment to Virginia’s state constitution would enact new rules on local governments’ eminent domain authority. Question 1 (eminent domain): We recommend voting AGAINST Question 1. In Arlington, we recommend that residents support all 4 bond measures and, despite some reservations, re-elect Libby Garvey to the County Board. We hope Alexandria residents will re-elect Mayor Bill Euille. We suggest that voters reject statewide question 1 on eminent domain. However, Virginia voters also have the opportunity to make some very important choices on local matters this November. The major attention in Virginia this election cycle has focused on federal races, with high-stakes ad wars for both the Presidential and US Senate races.
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