See below for Arlington County Board Democratic nominee Matt de Ferranti‘s latest endorsement – by Our Revolution Arlington, which cites “Matt’s position as a member of Arlington County’s Housing Commission and his history with Habitat for Humanity and Rebuilding Together give us faith that he will pursue this issue with the necessary tenacity and technical experience needed to make land trusts and other forms of shared-equity home ownership a reality in Arlington.” Also see below for Matt’s latest mailer, which highlights his “New Vision for Arlington’s Future” (“reduce the office 19% vacancy rate,” “grow and attract businesses,” “invest in our schools,” commit to 100% renewable power by 2035, “end child hunger in Arlington by 2022,” “work creatively and relentlessly to close budget gaps without cutting vital county services”).
Also note that Matt’s been endorsed by nearly every Sen. Tim Kaine, Gov. Ralph Northam, AG Mark Herring, LG Justin Fairfax, State Senators Adam Ebbin and Janet Howell, Delegates Rip Sullivan, Alfonso Lopez and Mark Levine; County Board Chair Katie Cristol and County Board member Erik Gutshall; “all five of Arlington’s School Board” members; the Arlington Education Association, Indivisible Arlington, Greater Greater Washington, etc.
In stark contrast, Republican John Vihstadt (note: he misleadingly claims to be an “independent,” despite his lifetime of donations to Republican candidates and activism within the Arlington GOP) has absolutely no vision for Arlington’s future, other than cut, cut and cut some more. In the mind of John Vihstadt, good Republican that he is, basically every investment in Arlington’s future is “extravagant,” “wasteful,” “gold-plated”…blah blah blah. I’d also note that Vihstadt’s crusade against the Columbia Pike streetcar, whatever you think about that defunct project, first of all wouldn’t have cost Arlington taxpayers anything, as it was all paid for by the state, feds, and a local/dedicated assessment on Columbia Pike businesses; second of all, would have spurred development that would have brought MORE tax revenues into Arlington’s coffers, helping to pay for schools and other “core services”; and finally, was accompanied by a promise from Vihstadt that if we scrapped the streetcar, we could build “bus rapid transit” quickly and cheaply – that was four years ago, and it hasn’t happened. Hmmmm.
Sign up for the Blue Virginia weekly newsletter
