See below for video of tonight’s Arlington County Civic Federation debate. I’ve watched a bit of it, will watch more tomorrow. For now, the candidates are as follows (not surprisingly, I strongly support the Dems).
County Board candidates: Matt de Ferranti (D) vs. John Vihstadt (R who claims to be an I)
School Board candidates: Barbara Kanninen (D) vs. Audrey Clement (I)
VA-08 candidates: Don Beyer (D) vs. Thomas Oh (R)
P.S. Matt de Ferranti said:
“…another example of how the state and local are linked. We have Tim Hugo, who basically single-handedly stopped transportation investment for Arlington; we’re losing about eight to ten million dollars a year because he could not get on the same page as the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce and the Arlington Chamber of Commerce. State issues and local issues in that way I see as linked. And I won’t tell you that experience doesn’t matter. John’s got 35 years. Scott thinks I’ve been here a nanosecond. I’ll tell you I’ve been here a little more than a nanosecond. But his experience is relevant. But it’s also relevant that [John Vihstadt] couldn’t bring himself to vote against the one person who could stop our current president. That’s relevant. I’m not saying that’s dispositive; John’s a good guy. But Donald Trump will be the worst president in our nation’s history and it is a relevant fact that John wasn’t able to vote against him. He voted for a candidate but not the only candidate who could stop Donald Trump. That’s relevant…There’s a link between the state and the local. There’s a link between national and local. We are [in a] different climate because Donald Trump is president with respect to inclusivity and funding…”
Matt de Ferranti also nailed Vihstadt, correctly, for having no vision and for not bringing forward solutions, only “identifying problems.” I’d add that some of the things Vihstadt claims are “problems” are actually NOT problems, but this guy’s a Republican to the core in not liking to invest wisely in making the community a better place in both the short and long run.
P.P.S. Don Beyer was solid, steady, informed, etc. as always. Thomas Oh was kinda all over the place, including in his, er, “interesting” closing statement. On November 6, I strongly encourage everyone in Arlington to vote Democratic up and down the ballot.
P.P.P.S. Audrey Clement’s main criticisms seem to be that Arlington schools spend too much money, shouldn’t change the name of Washington-Lee High School, are not getting the student test scores they should, are cutting down too many trees in building new schools, are not doing enough about the minority achievement gap, etc. Not sure how many of these are fair critiques…
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