County Board - Regular Meeting

Yeah, it's middle break. [snorts] I was going to say it's been it's been a lot of sitting lately. Marathons every day.

Well, just last 10% could be the most important. This is somewhere around our 15th of 23 work sessions. Um, and today today is an a excellent chance for us to listen to our commission leaders, the chairs of our uh key commissions. We're grateful for your uh you and your fellow commissioners

service. We're mindful that you don't do it just for the money. Um, but we are thrilled to have you here. We're going to work in little groups, little blocks that will then we'll hear your presentation and then we'll follow up with questions. So, first we have Climate Change, Energy, and Environment Commission with Chair Leuen. I think I've got it right. and uh then forestry and natural resources commission with chair Haynes and Parks and Recreation with Chair Barker. And so first we'll go to you and we'll sort of roughly hope to have you know 3 to five minutes. Neither do you have to filibuster nor do you have to run so quickly through your materials that you don't cover all your main points uh that you wanted to. And so first it's over to you Cynthia. [snorts]

Thank you. Hi, I'm Cindy Leuen, chair of C2. As you know, I want to thank you all for the opportunity to speak to for all the commissions to speak because I do know you've been sitting in these meetings forever and we appreciate it. So, I have three comments, three points which I've had the chance to make with each of you. So, I'll be relatively brief. Uh, first, the climate action resolution set out that a budget question framework would be the base for this year's budget to advance the whole of government approach. Uh, and that's something that the resolution specifically called for and didn't happen as we all envisioned and we're really disappointed. I know I was really excited to see the budget made me realize what a geek I was. I was like Christmas morning, oh no, there's no budget framework. I know there was progress. I know that each department did a climate change slide. Uh, but it wasn't really embedded in the budget as was visually envisioned. So, we want to assure that we will use it next year. And what we learned this year is you have to start really early. So we will be working with or nagging our climate depending on your perspective our climate policy office. Uh and we look forward to your support in keeping with resolution. So that was point one. Second, we sent a letter in November early uh trying to get early in the budget about uh an increase of two staff members for the air team which implements the climate uh actions. As you know, that didn't happen in this difficult budget year. Uh but the climate policy office, waving at Jen again from the back, uh uh lost one of its four positions and that position when the climate policy office was set up originally came from air. So that's sort of a loss from air. Uh there's the vacant air position assigned to facilities that was also eliminated and then an air staffer has been moved to dees communications. It's not exactly that instead of being up two, we're down three because there are stories there. But still, all of these decisions taken

together do chip away at the county staffing that's dedicated to uh to addressing climate change. And we would [snorts] really encourage you to add one position. Uh it could be shared between CPO or ERI. I'm happy to defer to the county staff leadership about where it could be leveraged the most and used the best, but you know there there's great stuff happening in CPO and AIR and they know what to do but they're limited resources. So uh and now my third point was about the climate action fund which we're very excited that there are plans to spend it given the urgency of the climate crisis. their plans to spend it in the next year or two and not wait for the climate action plan. Totally support that. We there's plenty of things we know what to do. There's no shortage of good ideas for how to use that remaining 1.5 million. Uh we're C2. We would like to just support that part of it be used for direct financial incentives. That's what we think is the most likely to change behavior and leverage the actions you can incentivize businesses and residents to take. They need a push. Um I know in the dees work session staff was talking about uh the existing building pilot giving direct financial in incentives to existing buildings which we were very supportive of. That was part of the GBIP for a while and then it was just it's too hard. Why should existing buildings do anything? we've got to give them a real reason to do that. Uh and bonus density obviously doesn't work for an existing building. Um so we support that. Buildings are the single largest contributor of greenhouse gases. Uh and similarly with residents, it's hard to get them to spend the money and deal with the hassle. Direct financial assistance is can be, you know, Alexandria has at least three programs I know of uh that help residents. one they give uh there's a

grant program for multif family apartment complexes where they'll give actual grants to install EV charging. Another example is giving free programmable thermostats to homeowners. So these are the kinds of things that are moving individual. So we'd love to see pilot programs from the climate action fund looking at how to move private behavior. Anyway, we're really excited about the development of the climate action plan, grateful for the funding, and we really see a lot of progress being made across the county, and I want to thank you all for your leadership in that because I think Arlington really is heading toward being a national model that we all want it to be, and it's happening, but we want to just keep going. So, thank you again.

Thank you, Chair Leuen. We'll go next to Carolyn Haynes. Thank you very much. Uh nice to see you and again I would echo what what Miss Owen said about appreciate all the hard work you all are doing in this really difficult budget year and the commission appreciates uh the challenges that you all face in trying to develop a balanced budget. Uh we did note that the department of park and recreation is taking on a disproportionate amount of the cuts and we especially noted the proposal that the four positions in the parks and natural resources will remain vacant in FY27 under the proposed budget. Uh we're especially concerned about the urban forester position and um hope that these will be filled in the future and that this is just a temporary um aberration on these positions. Um, actually the commissioner really wants to commend the the county manager and the staff for the budget that they put together because it really does acknowledge the investments in our natural capital and the importance of of looking at this as a long-term uh proposition for all of the the necessary elements to make this work so well. In particular, we're um strongly support the funding for the invasive species management. uh we would love to see that built into the baseline budget because it's it's difficult to uh do the multi-year planning for invasive species without having that ability to plan over the long haul. Uh also want to support the funding for ongoing deer management this year, the first year, even though the weather didn't cooperate, the um the process seemed to work really well and we'll be getting a more full report on that. But that's increasingly urgent to make sure that we can um make sure our forest can be restored and regenerated by reducing the deer brows. Also very much support the nature center funding and the programming there is returning to some of the prepandemic levels after being

severely cut during COVID. And um uh the commission very much supports the the uh continued funding there for the as an important community resource for environmental education for a very wide and diverse audience. We also support the contribution for the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust to it continues Arlington's commitment to land conservation in our region and fulfills the commitment with a memorandum of agreement. We also obviously support uh the continued funding for tree canopy and tree watering. And I just wanted to point out that as evidenced by the recent results of the public m uh public spaces master plan survey, the nature and outdoor programs were ranked as the second highest priority for Arlington residents just behind fitness and wellness. And we know that the economic, environmental, and health benefits of having nearby nature in our community are absolutely critical. And as the population continues to grow and the demand for these natural spaces increases, we feel it's really important to preserve and manage these spaces. And uh we appreciate the acknowledgement in this budget of that kind of long-term investment. So thank you.

Thank you. And out of this round is Chair Barker. Jill,

I brought I brought a letter from us from November. Thank you very much for allowing us to speak today and I'm very pleased to make these comments. The PRC is very proud that the Department of Parks and Recreation won two nationally recognized awards this year. Even very department has excellent leadership and skilled employees. We are also pleased with the continued emphasis on funding programs for atrisisk youth and summer campers that need subsidies to attend. the recent strategies and funding are working and thank you for the continued support in fiscal year 27.

We are very unhappy however with the decrease in invasive plant removal funding. Oh yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. You can you heard me right? Do I have to Okay. Absolutely. But you know the universe. Oh the universe. Okay. That's very important. Hello universe. [laughter]

Thank you. I said a lot of great things, but now I'm saying what I'm unhappy about. Um, unfortunately, we're unhappy about the decrease in the invasive plant removal funding um, in the operating budget from the high of 300,000 in fiscal year 25 to 100,000 last year and going forward. In the November 18th, 2025 letter that I just passed around, we requested um that you guys give budget guidance uh for uh to acknowledge the billions of dollars that Arlington's natural land provides in financial and intangible benefits by increasing the funding in both the operating and capital budgets for invasive plant removal. I realize we're not talking about the capital budget today, but I'm going to mention it. County-owned public spaces, even without any structures and improvements, are valued in the billions of dollars. And a county report on the 2016 tree canopy survey, it might be even more now, estimated the value of our just our trees at $1.4 billion. Natural areas provide an impressive array of benefits from the promotion of mental and physical health, increased community cohesion, storm water management, climate mitigation, heat reduction, reduction of air and water pollution, and the enhancement of biodiversity. So PRC is requesting the 300,000 in the fiscal 27 operating budget and that the 1.5 million of funding in the capital budget under the natural resiliency program be expanded and redirected to invasive plant removal and native planting projects. We request this funding because one, a stitch in time saves nine. The longer we wait to do this, the more expensive it's going to be. Secondly, it these um native lands provide protection of our infrastructure

and storm water resilience. And third, they protect the tree canopy that we have spent decades and millions of dollars investing in. The invasive plant removal program should be funded on a permanent basis, not with seriatum one-time funding that discourages long-term planning. Your leadership is necessary to aggressively restore our natural lands. The county board has already demonstrated leadership on this issue in so many ways. For example, through the dees program where homeowners can receive a utility credit for native plantings and the requirement that site plan developers implement native plantings and minimum tree cover on their sites. Not only that, thousands of volunteers hours are poured into our parks every year by members of Armen, EcoAction Arlington, the Northern Virginia Bird Club, and other groups. We invite you to join us. [laughter] [gasps] A ground swell of support is growing for native plant restoration due to these education projects. We are asking for a very small percentage less than 1% of the value that these lands provide that be to be invested um in the preservation for future generations [clears throat] in furtherance of maintaining our natural capital. PRC is pleased that the proposed budget includes funding for the deer management program, the tree watering and maintenance program, the Northern Virginia conservation trust, and the tree canopy fund. However, a more permanent solution for funding the tree canopy fund should be found. PRC is comfortable with the proposed fee increases for programs because the county is committed to making sure no one is ever turned away for the inability to pay, but we look forward to analyzing the DPR cost recovery formula

once it is updated. We regret but understand the austerity measures including the closing of the Barcraft Center and the gymnastics program, but we ask that the center be reopened as expeditiously as possible. Many of our parks, fields, and gyms are already overs subscribed. Um, and increased use is on the horizon because of all the increased density housing that we're that we're going to site plans over. So, leaving facilities vacant should be avoided as much as possible. We really appreciate all your hard work and um thank you for letting these be.

Thank you each for sharing your thoughts and doing so um succinctly but also fully. Um I will open it up should colleagues have questions and I am willing to filibuster but I do not intend to like to actually have questions. Mr. Karan Tonus.

Thank you. Um first of all um I I believe this is the right moment to profusely thank the members of the commission for taking in numerant I mean innumerable hours and and and giving us their talent and expertise and time. I have a specific question for C2E2. We are not only uh you know making balancing the budget and trying to get there but we are giving also budget uh guidance for the way forward and I wanted to be more specific about elements and I'm looking my ah here I have them uh elements of of a of u guidance that we could get could get into into the guidance uh in how to make more operational the the the climate the growing of climate competence within different departments because in order to report and budget for that I suppose or at least I assume that you have to have something happening before that right uh which on the departmental level so as we are discussing the uh climate action plan I was thinking of three things. One is to actually encourage different departments to to name or to focus to somebody who will be actually responsible for climate action in each department and somehow be be visible and uh be able to articulate or work towards goals and uh pathways to accomplish these goals. Therefore, at some point they will translate into into budget uh requests. The second thing uh that I was thinking is uh and that's something that

as an advisory commission you could be very helpful with uh to to to discuss a little bit what we see as good examples as state-of-the-art examples of uh climate action leadership in in other jurisdictions both here as well internationally. The third uh the third item is to maybe narrow the scope in the this time narrow the aperture in what leading initiatives could be because in in climate action nor normally what we see is you take one thing and then you learn a lot right you you do heat pumps or you do solar installations or you do tree canopy uh intensively and then in the process you you have a you you learn a So, how is that enough or what am I missing?

Uh, I think that's great. I think that you might just turn the mic,

right? Sorry. I think the staff has done a lot of looking at other jurisdictions and I think uh also that the three advocacy organizations have provided some climate models uh from other jurisdictions. Uh but would you like us to I mean we see a lot of great ideas out there. We haven't, you know, we don't, you know, I can look at these Alexandria programs and think they would work great here and heck, why don't we do those, but I don't know that those are the best. But I'm happy to provide information about those to the staff team. Um, so we could do more work on that and get back to you with some proposed budget guidance if that would be helpful. Yes, it would be because at the same time we have the climate climate action plan right now before uh before our residents. So providing early leadership in that helps both um and so I would be really very thankful for that.

Okay, happy to do that. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Karen. Miss Cunningham,

I would echo my thanks as well um both to each of you and to my colleagues for letting me liaz with each of you this year. It's been really fun. [snorts] Um, so I just have two questions. I think, um, one isn't really a budget question, but we don't get to grill you in this fashion otherwise, but for C2E2 in particular, I know there's been some conversation about the SPRC process and how we can make sure to get your input earlier. Um, we're working on standard site plan conditions, which will help with that a little bit, but we've also got adaptive reuse, and I know sometimes it feels too late. So, is there anything you want to lift up for the five of us while you have us about what's working, what's not working, what you wish we could do differently, if if there is anything. Well, that is a very timely question uh because at the planning comm because we wrote a letter uh to that you all got because there is the uh Waverly Ridge SPRC right now where they did not provide any uh sustainability information and we sent you a letter last week saying we think that if the developer refuses to provide sustainability information they just shouldn't be allowed to go through that part of the SPRC process. the meeting number two where sustainability is considered until they have and in fact Nia Bagley who was the chair last night you guys may maybe this is hot gossip but last night she moved to uh she moved to reject that project

um and we were very very appreciative of that because if we don't it's one thing not to one thing to decide that this is all that the project can do and we need the housing and whatever it's another thing just not even to know. Uh so we would love that kind of rule or staff policy that and you know it just said to be provided later. Well, when is later because it's pretty late after you've already approved the project. I think it's I think our leverage is pretty much too late at that point. So I think that would I we you know we've complained about getting information late. uh but we and people developers have been providing it earlier and I think that's thanks to planning staff pushing for it earlier because in that online engagement which is the first step we have taken we've taken to ignoring the 100 character limit and just sending a list of stuff that we want um and we've been getting it and it's been great it's been so helpful um we've talked about you know what if we moved the sustainability to the first SPRC meeting in the instead of the And we've talked about having these projects come to C2e2 separately the way they go to the transportation commission, but I don't think we need to do that. There is SPRC's there is an SPRC with sustainability on the agenda. I think that that is will work if we can get the information posted when it is supposed to be and then we can write letters and get additional information so the issues are fully developed by the time of the second SPRC. I mean, you're right. At some level, they need to bring in their contractors before they ever do site plans so that they [snorts] can, you know, we've heard that from Turner Construction and others, you know, even before they start talking to the county. It needs they need to be thinking about sustainability earlier, but I don't think we can I don't think we can fix that necessarily. Um,

yes, that would be helpful. I have two others. You want me to pass it along and back clean up?

Go ahead. Um just briefly on um on invasives, I know we've heard that from all three of you very consistently and thank you for bringing the November letter. Uh we do have that in as a question for staff and for the legal team um and then to be considered in CIP as well. Uh so keep keep focusing us there. Um and then the last one is for parks. I think um because of several programs being considered this year and also future uh facilities that may be coming online at some point, there's been a lot of conversation here at this table, but also in the community about whether we should include in cost recovery the cost of the facility itself. So today, our cost recovery for our recreation and park programs is mostly based on personnel expense. Um, and I think I would put to the commission a question of whether we should change that or whether we should consider both pieces. Um, I think we're hearing about it on Longbridge, we're hearing about it on Barcraftoft, we will be hearing about it on the boat house. Um, of how do we make sure that we have, you know, coverage for that. I think the theory to date has been we have facilities because we are the county and we want to have facilities and then each activity has to cover itself within the facility. But we may need to reframe that or at least recheck that we're good and can explain it to each other.

The question or comment

it's an opportunity for comment but you do not have to. So it's also it's a request for work this year. So but if there is comment feel free. I I have thought about this a little bit in the wake of the gymnastics and finding out that um some of the college programs were um u using this space and providing revenue for it. But after reflecting on uh what we want as a county, what we want is our kids and our uh users to have um as much of the resources as possible. So I I would caution us about how we approach that um in terms of the revenues and um uh at the per student level. I'm not sure that that's always going to be right. I will say that the I as far as I know DPR has been working on their cost recovery. They were supposed to have it done. They have a formula. They were supposed to have an update done last year but they didn't hit that target. So that will be coming out and I'm sure they'll be thinking that through. But it might differ from one one uh program to the next as well, you know. Yeah,

I think it's just something to keep in mind and it's been a lively discussion this year. So, it's it's good to um roll it into the cost recovery explanation at least. That's it. Thank you. Count me is interested in guidance with respect to that particular question. It might operationalize the budget uh piece. Um, and it will take work uh take to heart uh some of the concerns that you mentioned regarding the budget process that there's been some growth but not everywhere we want to go. Uh, Miss Coffee.

Yeah, I'll [snorts] keep it short because um thankfully honestly none none of what you've shared today is like breaking news. We we've talked about these things a lot before which is good because breaking news at this stage really could really shake things up. So, just echoing the thanks across the board. Um, I know you volunteer a lot of your time for this and it really does matter and we have all of your letters printed and and out here and um and the one thing that I will just uh flag is on the climate action fund kind of direction. This is one of the areas I've already pinned for our CBO staff to go into budget guidance. I think it it is ripe for some degree of of specificity from us as to what it is that we want to see. And so your suggestions are are very helpful and noted and um hopefully we can make something work there. But thank you.

Thank you, Vice Chair Coffee. And it's great to hear and learn in real time that that's one of your guidance items. We're working on the numbers quite a bit and we also have a plan and a focus on our guidance. Uh, Mr. Spain.

Well, thank you, Mr. Chair, and to the uh illustrious chairs that have shown up before us today. Thank you for being with us. I uh you know, one of these commissions I I chaired last year, and it was a pleasure, Caroline, to be the liaison. I'm probably going to come at this a little bit differently. Um because yes, we have your your letters and there's a there's a lot of information in there for us to digest. some of the asks uh that you have laid out are areas whereby we are still in deliberation as a board right whether that's the wood shop whether that's the climate policy officer whether that's you and we've made some investment with MV the North Virginia conservization trust so all that is still uh you know kind of ongoing and in the air I think you know we've done something different this year and I'll be you know thinking about this as this is my second year on here. I believe quot wholeheartly that your thoughts, your desires, your concerns that you have were probably well suited at the time when we have appropriate departments here because right now quite honestly we're in the fourth quarter of this ball game when it calls to budget and for us to try to like try to figure all this out and some of these are letters that we just received. It just, you know, for me it's just a lot to digest. But what I will ask you this because I go to a lot of these commissions and this is for everyone. Um I'm concerned about participation, representation modeling within your commissions. So I want to hear from each one of you about do you believe that your commission in and of itself is meeting those expectations laid out within your charter? How do you feel about attendance? How do you feel about uh you know uh equitable decision making which is primarily from the makeup of your commission? So I want to hear your thoughts about the commissions in of itself because I've gone to a lot of commissions where they just can't

make for make form right. So give me your thoughts on that or give us your thoughts on that about this past year and what you've been seeing. Uh that's that's a big question and a great question. Uh, I think our commission is made up of very committed people. I I think we've worked hard to try to get diverse expertise. Also, we've worked hard to try to get diverse representation across the county, but we've been less successful at that.

Um, but even diverse expertise, I've been looking for a solid waste. You know, no matter how many cocktail parties I go to and say, "Who do you knows a lot about solid waste?" I haven't gotten a single hit. Storm water has been another uh another one that's been difficult. Um we have a lot of people with a lot of expertise on energy. You know

there is a certain amount of turnover too. One of our great gets was a woman who uh had been general counsel at the secretary of the department of transportation and she just had to resign because she became Wes Moore's secretary of transportation for the state of Maryland. So, [snorts] um, C2E2 is lucky in that we have a lot of applications that come through. Um, so everybody's killing themselves to get on to C2E2 and then do they do the work and show up? Mostly they do. Uh, I find that it's been, you know, been people have family emergencies, people have deaths in the family, whatever. But I think it's been people have followed through. I think people are incredibly committed to the county. Um, do we occasionally have problems with every, you know, spring break maybe not the best time we could have planned our meeting. Um, but I I think we're very familiar. I think we have a sense that our job is to advise the board, look at what is happening, meet and understand what we hear from county staff, but feel free to give a second opinion or a different opinion. And I hope that's what you're looking for from us. But I'd love to get your feedback on that as well.

Probably after this session, I want to hear from the other two. But thank you, Cynthia. And the just so I understand the question, you guys may already, but it's both attendance and also represent representation across our community, the two two pieces. Okay. [snorts] Um yeah, thank you for the question and thank you for being our lead on last year and so you've been to our maybe lift your mic just a touch.

Been to our meetings. Um we have some diversity it in um definitely perspectives and um um living arrangements. So we have single family owners, we have people who are in multif family housing, that kind of thing. Um we've been working on age diversity and different stages of careers and all of that which is challenging because it's um you know the people that are willing to put the time in tend to be at different stages of their lives. Um so that's been a challenge. Um, I think we've got a pretty activist group though and in fact I think that's can be a barrier for some people because we do try to participate in all of the SPRC's and you know where we're invited which is most of them as well as a variety of other projects you know from I don't know tree canopy fund notable trees that kind of thing. So, um, it is a commitment. It's a pretty serious commitment and I think that scares some people away. Uh, and so I don't quite know how, you know, to manage that and because we don't necessarily want people on the commission that are just sort of warming seats. We do want people who are really going to be involved and willing to be pretty active. And I think that unfortunately, you know, eliminates people with small children or, you know, need to get their kids to bed by 7:00 and that kind of thing. So, I I don't quite know how to manage that one. Um and so that that's kind of the piece we're missing. You know, we've got um people early in their careers, people late in their careers, retired, that kind of thing. But that sort of middle piece is a little more challenge.

Joe, thank you.

Thank you for the question. Um Shrudy left us in good shape because she uh was probably the youngest uh commissioner ever on any Arlington commission. So we had a big emphasis from her uh legacy on getting younger people onto the commission. And so we have um a lot of people who live in apartments, which is a really important thing for um to inform a park and recreation commission. Um we have um a lot of people I think across across the county, but um I will say something that I've noticed which is a little concerning and that is the applicants that we get through the portal are all men. We almost never get a woman through the portal. the women that we have on the commission have mostly been recruited um and they're great. But um I just think that's an interesting thing to think about. The other big hole we have and we've had for a while is a soccer parent. [laughter]

But it makes sense. We had one for a while and then uh she had to get off because her kids were too involved in soccer. [laughter] So um anyway, I hope that answers your question.

It does. And Mr. chair as I close the the the genesis of my question is kind of twofold. We ask our departments when they give presentation to give somewhat of an equity analysis in their presentation. Hence is why I asked the question right then and your observation as chairs of uh you know your recommendations when they come to us should go through their own lens of some type of equity analysis right and if that is not happening then what we receive in essence is not really an equitable decision that's probably made up by a large plethora of individuals that make up the microcosm of Arlington. Hence this is why it's important we need to focus on making sure we have diverse commissions. Uh and to what my colleague Tacus Karanton stated about thinking about climate expertise or something similar to what we've done having folks in departments we may have to think about that for a little bit. I at least I would simply because we already have challenges within our race and uh race program in the county finding folks to volunteer and do that, you know, that similar type uh additional function to their jobs as representatives for department. So I I think uh thank you for what you've been doing. Um and u Mr. Chair and everyone that's that's all my questions. We're working on a lot of what you put forward. Okay.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Mr. Spain. I do think it's important if you think about the history of the environmental movement, it has not been as diverse in terms of Latino and African-American representation and those of more modest incomes uh as it just clearly hasn't. And uh I know that is a component and there are many different factors and variables that you're mentioning that you try to put into uh into into your commission. So, I appreciate Mr. Span you asking. Um, Miss Haynes, you have the the the painful reality of being pretty positive while I heard blindingly clearly about future years on urban forestry and invasive species. So, I don't have as much to share. That's not to discourage you from being positive on the manager's great work. I would say um when we think about invasives, it is very challenging for me. One of the gymnasts advocates said pointedly, we don't need invasive um funding. And I thought to myself,

what uh you know, there's so many factors and it is no mystery that there are 24,000 people who live on less than 40,000 a year. Those people are first for me. And yet it shouldn't just be an eitheror. So I'd invite you over the coming years. We're not doing books. Not doing one time for books this year. Um, probably one time for what?

For books, our library books, our collections. We're not doing that. You could argue that in this moment there might be no more important moment to have that uh invested in. All I'm sharing is maybe help me with a way to do some incremental progress on invasives. I believe it's easier when it's in the base budget than it is in the one time. So, I take the point. I'm just I think of Gary Shers who's up near my neighborhood had surgery twice. He's he's one man invasive. He wrote most of that November line.

Yeah. He's one man invasive wrecking crew and I think about how much better that park is than it than because of his work. So I am I'm just trying to share the perspective of the advocacy and then I'll um I'm sure that colleagues might have things to add, but I'm trying to give you what we're wrestling with because uh it's a challenge. And then um just and then I'll just share that atmosphere ready is tomorrow. And so there is a question on the environmental spectrum. You have saving the planet for 40 years from now and our grandchildren and then you have enjoying the planet at the moment which is also a bit of things and they're hard to invest both in all the time and uh so it is in my mind better engagement with you and our full community is the place where a climate policy position is still lingering in my mind. Although I can tell you colleagues that after spending the last two or three sort of 30 minutes of the last four hours with our spreadsheet, nice to have is not a thing right now. And so I want to just at least indicate that generosphere ready is tomorrow. And so we're still wrestling there. And it's not that I want, it's just I'm wrestling with we have um opportunity grants that go to health equity and go to hunger and those items and simultaneously we have to serve all objectives, but there are it's not both and on everything. Sometimes it's a tension with either or that we're really struggling with. And that what's that's what makes but I want to give you the last word because I I just wanted to be honest while also hoping to be graceful or gracious in not trespassing on something so critical. It's just this is what we hear and we're you know you mentioned gymnastics in your remarks but you ought to close if you want to add anything on basic

well not nothing against gymnastics from me [laughter] even even with that remark but I would like to uh point out that today I got an email that the state has um approved three new invasive plant um initiatives and the governor has signed them. One of which allows volunteers to work on state property. Last year there was an initiative that was passed through the government uh at the state level that allows volunteers to work on um you know local property. This is not something Arlington has yet picked up and run with. Uh, but there are I think I could probably create a company or a co-op and charge all these hundreds of people who volunteer $20 each and we would we would pay [laughter]

to take to be to have the privilege to take these plants out because these people know what it is that is at stake and they want to do it. I I could be completely wrong about that, but I think that might be a pathway to think about. That's totally fair with a uh a pilot program that's funded that has um you know money in it for chemicals, but also you're going to need some some staffing because running volunteer efforts is is staffing intensive. There's just no way around that.

You have to have the infrastructure in order to build the volunteers. Well, that's certainly relevant and I'm mindful that the colleagues don't need me pontificating about what we can't do. And I also you you got an innovative model and it's I'd love to see see what we can but grateful for all of the work and mindful that um it takes a ton of time to be a chair uh having been one in another life um for commissions. It is you don't get paid by the minute or the hour or the day. So, thank you so much and we will um continue to think Miss Kenham has I did I did not see I saw you leave.

I was I was just going to um on that point of invasives just share like I I think parks team shared with us last year that it's typically a three-year cycle. So, for bamboo in particular, which is our most challenging invasive, if you just do it one year, it's like you're rolling a really big boulder up to the top of the hill and then just standing there and letting go. And so it um is maybe not the best use of funds. [snorts]

Um so one thing that when we appropriated 300,000 there there was some narrative of doing two things. first of uh uh doing a thrust you know a a a targeted initiative and what we expected to learn from that was what is the appropriate uh system uh management you know routine that we should have this question is still not answered I understand that I mean I I'm good good friends with plenty of mathematicians and we try to figure out you know calculate how invasives propagate and how they you know what are the functions that they respond to and uh so there is a lot of uh geology geomorphology uh climate uh you know moisture or not uh dry periods or moist periods etc etc um species uh the uh so I don't know whether we are beginning to learn more about our ecosystem so that we can be more uh targeted in in our management choices. Uh the mix between professional is there a question coming?

Yes, there is. The question is how should we go about that? Is there is this something we should ask for your advice uh and and and try to you know focus on what's the model of management that we should be going towards. I think ARM I I learned from ARM that there has to be a model of management is not the same whe you know whether you are this side of the river or the other side of the river. So do we are we learning?

I would say yes and I think we've got some um amazing staff working on this too. uh dentels in particular has come to our commission several times to map out sort of the fiveyear 10-year plan and the consistency is really key because you can get them you can do that initial treatment but you've got to have the followup. Uh same with the newly identified species that's a huge focus is to get it before the early detection rapid response is to get it before it becomes an issue that we have to manage. So, I think staying on it and being consistent is what's really key because then she can fill out her spreadsheet when you get big um you know dips or or bumps, it's it's hard to manage that. And so, I think if we can if we can smooth it out and make sure it's consistent funding, I think we can really make some good progress. And especially, you know, with some of the new authorities that we have, if we can maximize the use of volunteers, too, and we've got an army of volunteers out there. or being

keenly aware that um long-term is key and keenly aware that there's an opportunity there to build guidance if you want to lead on building that guidance. Yeah, there is a you know the longer you go into time their intensity doesn't have to be very high. So uh you can spend less per year and have a cumulative effect. Okay, for more I'm just want I just want to point out that this is a model. This is a management model question that if we get it right, it can be easier on the budget [laughter] than otherwise and that's what I'm trying to focus on.

Sure. Fair. And that expertise I invite you you to to lead on guidance and maybe there's an opportunity to share guidance if you want to move there. um onward we all we will move to our next three and uh mindful of time and I take some responsibility for sort of moving but thanks to the three of you for coming and sharing your thoughts and I do always believe I think I've shared often enough perhaps with all three of you that the followup with the opportunity that you just had is is the key and the followup to the same with the some of the other suggestions that have been made if you are in a place to do that. So thank you so much. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you.

Let's go. All right. So, next we have our economic development commission, our tenant landlord commission, and our planning commission. Poison from last week.

Great. So, we'll offer you each a chance to uh and we'll go through a round of questions. In addition, we'll offer you each a chance to share two or three minutes of your thoughts and we'll start with our economic development commission, Mr. Gregorius. Great.

Thank you very much. Uh, and good afternoon, Chair D. Ferraranti and members of the county board. Uh, I'm Nick Gregorius, and I'm the chair of the Economic Development Commission. Um, recognizing this is the 15th of your work sessions, I'm going to try to be pretty succinct today. Uh, but I want to thank you for your continued uh, efforts uh, in in such a challenging uh, environment. Um today I'm going to try to focus on a few central themes. Um flexibility, clarity, and transparency which I think are going to be or continue to be of the utmost importance as it relates to economic development within uh the county. Uh the economic development commission fully recognizes how hard of an economic landscape it has been here. It's a topic of conversation during just about each of our nine meetings uh this calendar year uh as the region has continued to bear the brunt of a combination of macro and microeconomic changes and setbacks. We all unfortunately continue to operate in a prolonged environment of uncertain economic uncertainty which is never a good thing for planning or private sector business investment. When I was brought on to the EDC 3 years ago in 2023, I was tasked with being the subject matter expert as it relates to commercial vacancy, particularly in the office economy. While the office economy is only one piece of our ecosystem, it has continued to lag other asset classes for a variety of reasons. What was once a major driving force of Arlington's tax base is compressing rapidly and will continue to do so unfortunately for the foreseeable future. You've all heard about increasing vacancy rates, decreasing assessed values, and general return to office trends. So, I'm not going to pile on with those specific data points today. However, I do want to focus on how we at the EDC and I believe that we can create opportunity for a healthy future for all of us. In my brief time with you here today, I want to reiterate how critical it continues to be to make sure that Arlington is viewed as and operating as a businessfriendly environment, providing clear guidance and clarity on

regulations and policy while staying agile to continue to evolve to change in order to capture demand within this jurisdiction. In times like these, allocating budgets is extremely challenging. Each and every line item needs to be examined and particularly with revenue shortages, the EDC encourages the board to support programs initiatives which will foster economic growth and provide return on investment over the coming years. Specifically uh emphasizing uh that the AED economic uh Arlington economic development is a revenue generator for the county. The site selection process within the office world is hyperco competitive. And in my day job, I continue to have discussions with an increasing number of large larger employees or employers, excuse me, considering Arlington along with a number of competitive national locations, all of which have robust economic development departments. Uh, in that same vein, continuing to support AED efforts that provide long-term return on investment, specifically programs such as the Arlington Innovation Fund and Catalyst grants. However, note that this is more on the demand side. On the supply side, arming AED with investor and capital allocator friendly resources, providing support with data analytics and hyper local information to help inform those who are making or are considering making substantial investment in Arlington as opposed to other uh areas across the the country or the world. The momentum and positive developments related to adaptive reuse must continue to be a focus and we encourage the county board to view this as an opportunity to show additional creativity by allowing for more flexibility. For example, expanding the parameters which would allow more potential projects to be put into this expedited category to continue to emphasize the importance of speed to market and transparency of process. Further related to adaptive reuse and messaging to the market, we encourage the board to remove or at a minimum

significantly decrease the proposed drastic increases uh to fees that have been advertised, particularly as it relates to adaptive reuse. With this program still in its early stages, fee increases at least of what we've heard about that could be in the 50% range year-over-year has the uh the danger of sending the wrong message and there is absolutely headline risk with this proposed change. Further, we believe that providing transparency and simplicity related to this process will benefit the county from a cost perspective as to not repeatedly reinvent the wheel from project to project. Each and every project has the opportunity to make a significant impact on the fiscal health of the county along with providing residents with more housing choice. I may be oversimplifying here, but in my opinion, much of what has been discussed boils down to supply and demand. Uh we here at the stable cannot create demand. However, what we can do is provide clear and consistent guidance which makes investing in Arlington an easier decision uh business decision. Further investment in this community will lead to numerous benefits including but not limited to healthier office economy. Expedited removal of antiquated office products. So think boarded up storefronts if you will. New housing supply between traditional development sites and adaptive reuse sites. not only providing with more housing stock, but a variety of housing stock with different unit mixes, price points, target demographics, etc. And opportunities for bite-size conversions, trans transitioning from obsolete office into mixeduse projects, for example, retail to experiential retail, storage, multifamily, among other potential uses. Thank you for your time today and we at the EDC understand you have a lot on your plate as we all do and appreciate the opportunity to be heard as we continue to make Arlington an all-around successful county.

Thank you Chair Gregorio. Now we'll turn to tenant landlord Mr. Ferriier Feri [laughter] Ferrer. It's all right. Oh you think with D fantia I'd do better. Go ahead. It's actually annunci.

Um thank you all for the opportunity to address you all today. Um, we wish to commend the county board's directive to to the county manager as well as staff to prioritize our community safety social social safety net programs, especially in this current economic climate, specifically the allocation of $2.1 million for our eviction prevention program, which we know it's unique to our county and jurisdiction. Uh, these funds are vital to maintaining the stability of our neighborhoods and protecting our most vulnerable residents. Furthermore, we wish to thank the county and as well as staff for the continued support of $150,000 for the calf inspections, especially going into the current legislative climate with the new uh laws passed in Richmond. These would be um ensure that we're able to ens uh equitable, safe, and highquality housing within the county. related to eviction prevention. Um we wish if possible and also if it's budget neutral that the county uh explore a study on eviction prevention

um to see what we can do proactively in order to ensure that we have we can do the most with what the resources we have and also what additional preventative measures we could put in place either policy or um otherwise. And lastly, while we know you all are in uh a difficult financial year with FY27, uh we concur with the county staff opinion for the elimination of the associate planner position uh which is uh slated in the county manager's budget for $141,000 as well as the Arlington neighborhood college for $20,000. However, we strongly advocate for the restoration of the vacant principal planner position for $167,000. As alluded to by staff, the loss of this position will significantly reduce capacity on that team by a quarter and strain the bandwidth of the team that's already operating at a diminished capacity. Um, thank you all for the opportunity to provide these comments and look forward to your questions.

Thank you very much, Mr. Ferreria. Ferrera [laughter] working on it. Sorry, folks. Lead on. M Miss Baggley, you're next.

Thank [snorts] you. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and county board members. For the record, Nia Bagley, chair, planning commission. Several of our commission members attended the March 11th LRPC meeting during which CPHD outlined their fiscal year 27 work plan and informed us there is a proposed staff reduction of one FTE. While we certainly are aware of your highly unenviable task of needing to trim expenses across the board, this is the second year in a row that CPHD is losing positions. However, staff anticipates there will be no decrease in the number of projects they will be reviewing. Further, because new projects do generate more property as well as often retail tax revenue for the county, we are very concerned that the reduction of this FTE could actually cost versus save money in the long run if projects are slowed down due to staffing, which we believe is already spread very thin. All of us hope there will be brighter budget days in the future, but are also aware of the lengthy request process which has to be followed in order to add back a needed FTE. As such, we respectfully request you look very closely at and in the worst case scenario ask you to consider freezing versus reducing the one FTE at this time. Thank you.

Thank you very much for your comments as well. So colleagues, I know we have liaison to individual commissions and I know each of us would claim to be the biggest champions for your commission, but I also will pass the mic to see who would like to ask questions related to budget. Let's certainly questions as a focus. And if you have two questions, that's great. If you have three, that's less great. Lead on vice chair coffee.

Thanks. And on economic development, I think um really the core, you know, economic development is an expenditure, but it's also a driver of revenue. And I think one of the conversations we had um with Kate and her team during the budget work session was around what what should we be aiming for long term? Right? If we know that taking off obsolete [snorts] office is the right move right now, um that's great. But where does it become where is where is the tipping point where we do still need some office? We do not want to get rid of all of our um business and and other uh economic activity here. We're never going to be 100% residential. Um and I'm kind of wondering how you see um from a budget framework, especially some of the changes being made on the marketing team or marketing and communication side for AED. Um, and then also the grants and kind of financial leg work going on. You know, how do you see us landing and and what does EDC want to see in terms of those types of investments? Sure.

Thank you. Um, very good question. Um, I'll try to answer it uh in a couple ways. Um, you know, I I think about I take off my EDC chair hat and think about um, you know, my involvement with AD prior to being in this role. uh and you know and frankly dealing with other economic development uh groups across the region depending on where my work takes me. Uh something that's you know really central is um two things obviously having the right talent the types of uh of talent that um will pick up the phone and be proactive and create opportunity uh is extremely important and um in my opinion uh in the past and and currently AD has a number of folks that fit that profile which gives me a lot of confidence. Um I think certain you know recent events examples of like the national innovation quarter etc those were all really driven by that group uh which is fantastic. Um what you know I try to look at where uh what am I being asked by decision makers and where is demand really kind of coming from. Um, and whenever we're dealing with or when we're talking with a company that's thinking about allocating jobs here, if they're of a certain size, they're always asking about, are there any types of programs that we should be considering? Um, and I'm not an expert at it, but for the most part, I think if there are fewer than more programs that are available to those types of of, you know, potential occupants, uh, that would be viewed as a negative and it could end up, you know, making the decision to move to one jurisdiction over another. Um, so that's happy to go into more detail, but I think high level that that would be my general feedback.

Yeah, I think that's and then I just I don't know if you specifically assessed as a commission the change to the communications team with the switch to a contractor more f focused on marketing. Um, we have had some discussions. It has not been um a topic of discussion in a full uh uh commission meeting. Uh with that said, in our discussions um with folks on the AD side, they do believe that it it uh it makes sense. It's a tough decision, but um they're we we will support them and and what they're looking to do. Great. Thank you. And just generally thanks to all of you as we thanked our last set of commissioners as well.

Thank you, Vice Chair Coffee, Mr. Keronus.

Thank you. Um so picking up on uh on uh the uh comment of Miss Coffee and the response. Yeah, I understand that uh if we you know in a in a conversation with you know first time encounter you know first time u storefront encounter where we say oh and here we have like 50 programs that you can take advantage of even if you don't really need them and they're completely uh we always thought that we have a different strategy like saying here this is a this is a place that has structural advantages so what I hear from you saying is we are actually not conveying their advantages in a in a convincingly in a convincing way, right? Um and and that's maybe part of uh maybe part of the discussion about what's the best way to communicate, what's the best way to market, to brand our LinkedIn, etc., etc. Would you agree with that?

Um I I think that um I think the communication is good. it's it's been there and the and the program um you know it in the past from my viewpoint um they've been very effective um but as more of a macro comment uh with just the you know the the advances and adoption of technology some of those built-in structural advantages that any geographic area may have had in the past in my opinion is compressed because of the ability to get from place to place pretty easily. um you know it's very frequent now that when we're you know in discussions with CEOs and CFOs a lot of their hires they're not in Arlington County they're not in the DC area they're they're elsewhere throughout the country so it's just a very you know it's it's been a rapid uh evolution um and uh you know because of that there's a whole new set of challenges

right uh one of the challenges that I always found that is uh extra difficult is um the uh diversification of our investment ment capture, right? Uh what's you know opening the uh the aperture so to say that we we started several more than a decade and a half ago with that. Do you feel that and and today it's more important than ever because this is the the key for resilience. Right. Right. Uh so do you feel that we're in the right place?

Um I I I would generally say that more flexibility is better and perceived as better. I mean, I think that um you know, folks uh you know, if they're going to attempt to take advantage of something a program like this that's going to lead to more jobs in the area, uh the the less kind of you know, fine print and and caveats is going to generally make a better impression. I fully understand that that's um a challenging thing to do, but that's the way a lot of folks would look at it,

right? Um thank you. Uh just as a footnote to that um the type of economic development agencies that we have in the region here is very different. Uh you know some are uh government agencies other are kind of a of a independent uh still governowned uh entity etc. This is something that I would would uh invite to think about. Uh Mr. Ferrera um you you the commission says the commission proposes uh and you convey that here. Thank you for that that we should study the eviction prevention strategy here. Is there something specific that we need to to elicit from that to understand better in order because it has been a a tough a very tough and and as we look ahead it's going to be tougher. So, is there something specifically we want to know?

Um, looking at especially it's concerning when we hear that the funds run out 3 days into the month uh for the fund uh that's allocated to it on a monthly basis and staff have been trying to remedy that to see how we can best stop eviction prior to that. Um, I know some of our development partners are better at it than others. And so seeing what we can borrow from them and learn from our own partners in the in the county and see if we could make those make them those policies actually regulations. So they can actually work with the residents earlier on rather than some of them just waiting until the resident lapses and then they're just taking them straight to court. So, are we after best management practices here?

I would say so. Um, but again, we don't know what we don't know. There could be another jurisdiction nearby that's doing a little bit of a better job or something that we can implement their best aspects of that project and bring it into our county. Right. I would I would love to have your the input of the commission on the scoping of that because we really need to begin to hire I mean prioritize what we want to learn first implement first and then what good comes after that because this is real real people's real their lives we're talking about. Thank you very very much and [snorts] thank you to the planning commission for standing up for good planning.

Thank you Mr. Katonis. Mr. Spain. I don't see yours. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to all of our chairs who are who are with us today. Um, I'm going to start off with a line of questioning. Um, similar to what I asked the last panel, I think most you've heard this. Uh, and by the way, madam chair of the planning commission at six o'clock 6:00 this morning, you know what I was doing?

I was watching last night's meeting. It was a lot to digest there. Um, and it's probably a good question to ask given that I think you had seven people who showed up uh and voted ultimately out of I don't know 13. So tell me a little bit about each of these commissions, right? How do you feel about um representation, participation, um people showing up to the meetings? You know again what happens in the meetings and decisions that are made uh in large part uh in my opinion is needs to be equitable. So talk a little bit about what are you seeing uh are people showing up? Do you feel there's enough representation there? Well I think

you turn to Michael please. Well I think what you saw last night was in part um two things. One, we were scheduled right up against Easter Monday and spring break, and that's very difficult for some because they have little kids and they travel.

Um, number two, we've only had commission emails for maybe a couple years now, and not everybody is good about looking at them. For most of us professionally, that now becomes a third or a fourth email that we are responsible for. I did do a little housekeeping items last night and I did ask the commissioners to please minimally once or twice a week check those emails because the way the commission email came about anyway was to help us when there's a you know a foyer um because none of us really appreciated having going through that the last time going through every single one of our personal emails and texts and everything else but we did it so I I think everybody understands that a little bit more generally our attendance has been better than it was last night, but I would attribute that to those two instances. So, um they just kind of came in against one another. It's tough on Easter Monday. So, especially after spring break. So,

but overall, you feel representation is pretty well for your commission in of itself. We in in terms of your question that you asked in the previous group, I think we're pretty age diverse. Um we also our vice chair is Hispanic, probably the first one that has been. Um four commissioners were brought in last year. We now have a total of 13.

Um so we shouldn't have quorum problems. Um and 50% of them are Hispanic and one is African-American. So there is uh you know more diversity than there has been in the past. Um but I think the commission even if you are not considered diverse yourself seeks to find the place where that conversation can take place. That's a really important thing. It's always been an important thing to most of us that I can observe you know on the commission. So that's a really important thing and and also as some others as you pointed out it's very hard to get somebody to want to volunteer for this and and just as an observation too I get asked I spoke at the chamber of commerce last week half the people didn't even know how you get on the commission I didn't know until I was asked by the late great Eric Gutshaw to be on the would I consider being on the commission even what the you know what is the policy so working with staff now and although you have a limited time frame as the chair. It is one thing that I want to look at more because I think there needs to be a little bit more transparency on how exactly [snorts] that occurs

and perhaps a little bit more community outreach to consider not just that commission but others. When I was at the chamber, I had uh one nice person come up to me and she says, "You know, I've really been thinking about being on economic development, but you know, I really I don't want to have to what kind of a time commitment am I making?" And I said, you know, and this is a conversation I had with my commission the previous month where I stated at the beginning of the meeting that we don't expect them to be at every meeting. I don't think anybody can be at all the meetings unless you're retired. you don't have much of a life. It's just not possible. So, but there's a virtual option and at the least thing you could do is, you know, watch the hearings and stay up to date. Check with the chair when the chair sends out the, you know, the summary of what to expect before you get to the, you know, to the meeting. So, there are a number of things that I think are happening internally that, you know, we're working on that. So, hopefully that answers your question. want to hear from tenant landlord and then uh Nick uh you thought I was going to come to you first.

No, [laughter] Andrew.

Sure. Um I echo uh my colleague sentiment. So regarding our commission and regarding diversity, we are um I I think one thing I strive for is and we've always strived for is to be more so socioeconomically diverse. However, I know that's sometimes a burden since if you're working a shift, that's an hour and a half or so that you're taking away out of your paycheck. I know I know our sister counties, some of them do offer honor area of some kind uh to encourage, I guess, participation from all members of the of the of the constituency. So, maybe that's something we can look into. I do echo we do need more outreach support since I know it's always a struggle. I mean we've we all speak with you all as liaison and usually the pool is three or four individuals and they're not really best suited to sit on the commission at times.

Yeah I will tell you in my travels still today Nia there are folks who come to me and ask the question what a commission what do you mean how do I get on that? So there's a lot of history behind that, but I want to hear from Nick. Nick and uh it's been a pleasure serving as liaison to EDC. And you know, we have our our five uh pillars and goals within the strategic plan of AED. Um and we have a couple vacancies that we're going to try to fill here, right? And I'm interviewing folks now. But uh to the question that I think came up earlier, you know, outside of CMRI and which is, you know, something we're working on right now. What I'm looking for when I think you asked specifically flexibility, you need flexibility, clarity, and transparency. Really, that's how you started off. What are you looking at right now for the folks? Uh what does the future hold in an innovative way, you think, for AED? um objectivewise what should we be looking at?

I mean this is this requires a very creative thought process and looking at you know I was talking to uh an applicant yesterday who talked a lot about about AI and digital technology and that things are changing so fast. Can you talk a little because I think we need to move at the pace of need. Sure. Yeah. Talk Yeah. talk a little about that.

Well, thank you. Um, if I could start with with the EDC and the makeup of that really quick and I'm happy to go into anything else, but I think um, you know, if I were giving it a grade, I'd say where we are now is probably a B+. I feel pretty good, but there's always room for improvement. Um, we've been very uh, thoughtful um, about goals for this year. I mean, CMR CMRI sounds like only one thing, but it involves so much. Um and that could take up all of our meetings the whole year. But um you know we we choose to also uh you know have a number of panels, a lot of different involvement. But thinking fundamentally when I'm no longer in this role and other folks have turned over, we're trying to be a lot more um thoughtful and durable when it comes to the best practices nominating and governance. And some, you know, specific examples of that are, you know, if there was kind of a a commissioner matrix in the past, I wasn't aware of it. So, we created one where we look at a number of different uh qualities of those folks, you know, uh what are their backgrounds? Uh have they been in public sector, private sector, military, are they entrepreneurial, whatever it is. Uh and we try to come up, frankly, with skills gaps. I mean, I'm trying to model it the way that maybe a public company or a a private company would look at a lot of their oversight. And I I think that that helps guide us in identifying when we look at new applicants, you know, is this someone who we think could really add to a role right now or a hole right now or a future hole. Another thing that is a little bit more um subjective, but in my, you know, this is my fourth year on this, beginning of my second term on EDC when it relates to attendance and and at the end of the day really being involved, I think that there are certain intersections of uh profile and and what folks are doing in their day-to-day basis that can help drive their involvement or lack thereof. And it's a

balance. So, for example, if we get a bunch of CEOs on this, that's great, but they're going to be traveling on a very regular basis. So, attendance is going to be tough. So what we're trying to focus on among other things is can we identify people that are local here with the where the bulk of their day-to-day business is within the local Arlington community which would lead them to have a lot more kind of you know webs within the community a lot more involvement a lot more relationships but at the same time they're not getting on a plane or a train or somewhere else and and going to be gone most of the time. Um, so you know, where we are now, I I feel pretty good, but you know, um, there there are a number of, uh, uh, you know, good applicants right now that we're reviewing. We always need to be looking for for great people. Um, so that's how I would generally answer. If I missed anything, I'm happy to.

We'll we'll we'll Yeah, we have some really good applicants. We'll talk. We'll continue to talk. And I think the makeup of the commission should be, you know, you know, across the board, uh, diverse, right? Even from small business to CEOs to folks from the community to labor to I think there's some aspects that have been perhaps missing in the past. And so I'm glad we're working together to kind of rightsize that. All right. Thanks. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Spain. With that, um I'll just uh add I got the opportunity to join you at the when the early morning I think in January and it was excellent your preparation then and your leadership. I'm struck by the six chairs in this room and how uh we're very very fortunate to have each of you. Andrew, your predecessor was became a personal friend. He didn't want the job but he took it and then he took it forever. and uh you have more than filled issues in a very different style and super grateful and Nia you had the wisdom once to say that you were not thinking that you would ever wish to run for office and therefore you were forever a wise soul in my world um but beyond that leading the planning commission is a huge contribution substantively all I will say is I didn't walk into this meeting uh this conversation being in a place to freeze the one principal planner position there is some alignment between almost all three of you but certainly the the two of you. I know there is a cost to freezing a position. Um I don't want to oversignal that we know what will happen 18 or a year from now when we're building the next budget, but at least I'm one that has swayed and wanted to indicate that in addition to being able to talk, I can listen to and hear uh the thoughts that you have. But for each of the three of you, thank you so much. We'll try to keep going as we go to our next three who are with us. But thanks to each of you very much. And we have Mr. Marakin and we have uh I don't know if Mr. Kornfield or

Mr. We both are participating uh remotely. Oh sorry my apologies and we we always like your sticker that you have voted as voting is important irrespective of how one votes it's important to participate. So thanks very much for joining. we will go um we'll just sort of work across and Mr. Weey, are you here remotely? He is. Okay. Yes, sir. I am.

Good to hear your voice and good to see you ever so briefly. Um why don't we start today with uh Mr. Kornfield and then go to Mr. Maken and then to you Mr. Wei and thank you for your leadership of the technology advisory commission. Over to you to share your thoughts, Mr. Cornfield. Thank you. Oh, here we go.

I'm not so good with technology. [laughter] Uh, thank you for the opportunity to talk to you all. Um, I want to summarize recent recommendations that the commission has submitted to the county board. Um and then conclude with a proposal to create civic use case teams uh that would help the county derive maximum community and fiscal benefits through the development of AVA and other AI related tools. Summary of recent recommendations. First, um we remain committed um to pushing you to integrate policy specifics about technology into the comprehensive plan. Data integrity and storage, access controls, personal privacy, vendor alliances, power requirements. That is not an exhaustive list. in the follow-up letter I will submit to the county, I will have a bigger bigger list of what what needs to go in there. Second, um, and this is another one of our favorites, institute enterprise level governance and service management throughout county data systems and their functionalities. A good start, as we have argued, would entail a standard naming protocol for web content and budget item tags for technology related items. We also favor a software inventory as recommended by the audit commission to reduce duplicative of costs and track price increases in software. Three, we think county data should be managed as a publiclyowned

strategic asset. Simply put, when third parties make use of county data, they should pay for it. Fourth, the new cyber security engineer position at DTS is a good addition given the accelerating innovation cycle in quantum computing which ratchets up the challenges of guarding against data tampering. Um that ratchet took a big turn yesterday while I was writing this um when Anthropic released Claude Mythos preview um which the company regards as so dangerous to cyber security that it only released it to a few dozen other companies. Fifth, we support the establishment of a small business development center at Fuse as a promising medium and long-term revenue generator for the county notwithstanding cuts in the federal contributions to the center. Now, a new idea. Um, I am advocating the creation of civic use case teams. Um, and by this I mean harvesting harnessing, excuse me, the AI capabilities introduced with AVA toward two goals. Economic optimization and greater civic participation in governance. Greater as in more participation and more representative of the county's population. A use case is a technical term in systems engineering. For the purposes of this recommendation, I will stick to a lay person definition that I got via Google AI, which is a use case is a structured description of how a user interacts with a system to achieve a specific goal.

A civic use case would put the citizens of the county foremost in mind as users. And the team I would like to see assembled to take on various aspects of technology and [snorts] technological change would consist of current DTS employees, G10 members, TAC commission members, department officials, and fuse residents. What would be some civic use case topics? Snow removal. [clears throat] AI is a logistical gift and we should make more use of it. Privacy right awareness. I don't think most people in this county or in this country are aware of what their privacy rights are. And in the Commonwealth, we have a new privacy right law from 2023. I bet most people have no idea what's in it, let alone how to evoke it. Housing assistance, that's a tough one. EMT dispatching that's like snow removal that's a logistical matter um and small business startups which is the one I would suggest is the prototype now in each case you in each use case the team would look to discern what works in terms of efficiency education engagement and equity we need to reach more lowinformation citizens let me anticipate Mr. Spain's question. Our commission is extremely diverse with one big exception. Everybody on it is highly educated and [clears throat] technically adept. That is not representative of the county. And we need to make concerted efforts not just within our commission but and I think with the help of AI um uh to get more

people uh and more different kinds of people engaged in in public affairs. So expenditures I think would be minimal on this this idea uh except as teamwork absorbed county employee time savings and revenues. I couldn't begin to tell you how much we could save. Um, I've asked people at DTS to give us estimates on how much we save each year through call deflection, the use of of bots as an introductory um in interface with with people asking questions of of the county and then send them to real human beings. We have no idea how much we save. We need to learn. Thank you for listening.

Thank you, Mr. Cornfield. There's plenty there and also in your letter. Uh let's go to Mr. Makeen and then Mr. Wei.

Good afternoon. It's a pleasure to join you. Uh I am here on behalf of the social services advisory board. Uh we are a statemanded commission uh founded in 2024 here in Arlington and our charge is to provide input to the department of human services on policy issues specifically related to VDSS funded programs. So, Virginia Department of Social Services programs uh like Medicaid, that's probably the biggest one. Uh SNAP, Tannif, and others. Uh today, in the context of the FY27 budget, I'd like to call attention. I'm going to just focus on one main area uh on what's ahead for Medicaid. Uh I'd specifically like to focus on the Medicaid expansion population who are adults ages 19 to 64 who earn below 138% of the federal poverty line, which is just about $22,000 per year. uh for a single adult in Arlington. There are more than 8,000 uh people who fall into this category. Uh adults in Medicaid expansion have uh a wide variety of life situations. Um incomes, medical needs, that is truly a diverse group if we're talking about diversity. They can be unhoused adults with complex medical needs. Uh and they can be house adults working to make ends meet, working multiple jobs. Uh but working for an employer that doesn't provide steady hours or a living wage or of course employer sponsored health coverage. Contrary to stereotypes, most adults on Medicaid expansion do work. They are employed. Uh it's good data from the Kaiser Family Foundation on that. But they work in jobs with unpredictable schedules or they work gig jobs or part-time jobs where they don't qualify for the employer sponsored coverage that their employer only offers to full-time employees. So, you might ask, you might see this coming here, uh, with the, uh, Medicaid expansion, most people working, what is the problem with meeting the requirement from HR1, the big bill that adds work requirements. That should be no problem, right? If most people are working, uh, unfortunately, it's not that simple. Uh, HR1 has us moving to checking someone's

monthly participation in work or other qualified activities, specifically 80 hours of work per month. Uh, and why is this a problem? Well, recall what I just said about who uh Medicaid serves. How can someone who gets paid for work completed, not necessarily at an an hourly basis, um but maybe it's a gig job, like I said, demonstrate that they worked 80 hours? Well, DEMAS, the Department of Medical Assistant Services at a state level, um has indicated that they can accept income reporting, so a total amount earned as long as it's the equivalent of 80 hours a month. Uh which is good. That's a good step for administratively. [snorts] But then other issues arise. So certifications will now have to occur uh two times a year instead of one. Doubling the case load for our eligibility workers and adding complexity because of what the uh recipient now has to do um several times a year. And remember these are folks that are in jobs that are not uh the most from the most forgiving employers. Um so even getting documentation of the work they have completed uh can be difficult. For time, I'm leaving out the segment of the population that has significant barriers to employment and is finally getting effective treatment for things like substance abuse or complex medical needs. In some cases, these folks may be able to qualify for an exemption to the work requirement. Um, but that is also a complex process. So, who helps them do that? Now, the administrative burden is intentional from HR1. Uh, from the beginning, the goal was to cut the size of Medicaid uh in order to finance a tax cut. And adding a work requirement does not improve health outcomes. doesn't even improve employment participation. We have good data from Arkansas in 2018 where 18,000 people lost Medicaid for what was later determined to largely be administrative reasons rather than they were actually ineligible. Often people found out that what they needed to reertify that they needed to resertify when they were already at a doctor's office for an appointment or in the hospital. So imagine needing to worry about calling or uploading documents when you're sick or in the hospital. This will increase stress for

caregivers. Uh so I don't know if any of you have ever tried to help an elderly uh family member who's uncomfortable with technology um attach a PDF to an email. Um if we are that person or sorry that might be the case too. U but you know if you're helping somebody do that you will know it's going to take a long time and everybody's going to get frustrated by the end of it. Um so you know that administrative burden is important to keep in mind at at the SSAB. We're grateful for the investments that this budget calls for in DHS and protecting staff so they can contend with this increased workload. Um, you know, it'll it probably will never be enough, but I think there have been really good investments made there. Um, and DHS was really finally catching its breath from the Medicaid unwinding process that you all remember post pandemic. U, but now they'll have to take this on along with and I haven't talked about the SNAP uh the SNAP work requirement and other federal actions. So to close out, I'll just say that there's much still to resolve with at a state level uh for Medicaid. Uh you know, there's a general assembly reconvene session in a few weeks. Um but the SSB asks that you keep uh Medicaid and these needs at the forefront uh whenever possible, making investments that help as many people as possible retain their Medicaid eligibility. And I highly recommend the work of the Virginia Healthcare Foundation through their sign up now initiative where they train community members on the ins and outs of uh Medicaid enrollment. you know, we'll we'll likely need a similar effort uh like we had at the launch of the ACA where we had a lot of investment at a federal level but across the board um for enrollment navigators to help people understand what was this new big confusing thing at the time ACA you know so the community health worker or the promot model uh has really good outcomes along those lines along with increasing investments um in nonprofits that help protect people's uh health and wellbeing. I think normally we'd be clo we'd be worried about people falling through the cracks of our safety net system, but now those cracks are intentionally set um intentional traps I would say by this federal legislation.

So we can do a lot to steer people away um from falling into that and to achieve the well-being and inclusion that we all care about here in Arlington. So thank you. Thank you Mr. Makin. Mr. Wei, we'll come to each of your comments, but first Mr. Wei.

Yes, sir. Thank you. So good afternoon Mr. Chair, members of the board. Uh my name is William Moy. This is my third and final year as uh chair of the Arlington County Commission on Aging where we work to ensure that our community remains age friendly and supports all residents to age safely, independently, and with dignity. I always like bottom line up front. So I'm going to give that to you now. The commission recommends increased support for nutrition programs such as meals on wheels and funding sufficient staffing in key DHS service areas to prevent housing instability and to support older Allontonians ability to remain safely connected to their community and to age in place. Now, here's some background. And Arlington's older adult population continues to grow. increasing demand for information, benefits, assistance, caregiver support, nutrition programs, and care coordination. But family caregivers who are the backbone of the aging system, uh yet they lack the training, respit or guidance needed to sustain their caregiving roles. So existing county staff and programs who are already operating at or above capacity are resulting in longer response times, reduce ability to conduct outreach, missed opportunities for early intervention and your that's why your FY27 budget is an opportunity to proactively invest in services and infrastructure that allow older adults to remain healthy, independent, and connected. So in that context, Commission on Aging respectfully encourages the board to consider targeted proactive investments that help stabilize older Arlingtonians as their needs continue to escalate in the current environment. Commission recommends increased support for nutrition programs such as Meals on

Wheels, and sufficient funding for staffing in key DHS service areas, including aging and disability resource center, nursing case management, and adult services to respond to the growing demand. These investments will help prevent housing instability and support older Arlingtonians ability to remain safely connected to their community and age in place. It's been an increase in evictions and housing instability as you've uh been hearing today, especially for older adults because the emergency resources that once helped to stabilize older adults, particularly utility and rental assistance are now much more limited. Additionally, many older adults are struggling with rising food, transportation, and health care costs. Food insecurity disproportionately affects older adults on fixed incomes. Programs such as home delivered meals improve nutrition and health outcomes and reduce social isolation. With the growing older adult population in Arlington, we must also ensure that staffing and resources also grow to support the escalating demand and needs. Arlington also continues to face constraints in its availability of long-term care, especially affordable assisted living units with the closure of Culper Garden assisted living, which has placed Arlington behind neighboring jurisdictions for long-term care beds. In this challenging environment, we deeply value the dedication of the county staff, especially within DHS and the Aging and Disability Services Division who continue to serve as a front line for older adults, people with disabilities, and caregivers. In partnership with DHS, we strive to ensure equity and inclusion in the work that we do. An age friendly budget aligns with Arlington's broader goals around health, housing, transportation,

and community well-being. your FY27 funding choices can reinforce Arlington as the best place where residents can thrive at every stage of life. So, in conclusion, on behalf of the Commission on Aging, thank you for your continued leadership and commitment to older adults. We look forward to continuing to work with you to ensure Arlington remains a livable and inclusive community for all residents. Thank you for the opportunity to share our perspective today.

Thank you, Mr. Wei. I know bottom line up front is appreciated by Mr. Spain, not Mr. Spain alone, but I also appreciate your three years of of leadership on the commission and the chance to be with you more last year, but enjoyed it very much. I'll open the floor to colleagues should you have comments. I do not see there's vice chair coffee. Go ahead.

Yeah, I'll I'll start by thanking all of you as we've done for everyone so far. Um, but in particular, um, for Brian and the Social Services Advisory Board, um, really appreciate your focus on kind of what comes forward to us from sources we cannot control. Um, and especially, you know, you didn't touch on it in your remarks as much as your letter that you sent us, but I think also the framing around protecting our vulnerable and public assistance being really foundational for the rest of our community's economic resilience and the way that um we all rely upon many workers who may be the recipients of public assistance. and without them in our communities, there are a lot more ripple effects and problems that come down the line. Um, and so thinking about the Medicaid impacts, which are coming regardless of whatever we want and knowing, you know, the manager put for SNAP, I think the cost is $2.2 $2 million for the local share or something one point 1 1.9 [snorts] um I think I think it's really key that we are thinking ahead about this um and I wonder if you have any thoughts about you know there's kind of the inside the county side of this of making sure maybe we do invest in enrollment or case management to make sure that people get the assistance that they are entitled to get even if we're making it harder. Well, we're not, but folks are making it harder for them to get it. Um, but then there's also the network of external nonprofits and stakeholder groups and and folks that are doing the work on the

ground and with people already. And um I wonder if you have any thoughts about how we fund especially on the health care side some of those nonprofit partners um and what we could do better there because I think that's where that's an area where I perceive our external county partnerships are weaker than in other areas of our social safety net. Yeah, I think that's you know I sort of broadly said investments in nonprofits because there are the ones that provide there are ones specifically that provide the health services and we you know I think increasing investment matching the scale of the problems is essential going forward. If we can't do it immediately in this budget I think we have to be prepared to do it as the challenges come in the coming months or you know the later this year. Um, but I think that those also the the other sort of correlary services that maybe aren't uh health at first uh but still help people uh understand what resources are available. I think there are many people that are just going to opt out of health services altogether. I mean the alternative to Medicaid especi if you're at a certain income level you might be told well apply for a plan on the marketplace on NACA. Um the problem is the subsidies for that have also been greatly diminished. Even if you get the most max subsidy and the least af the least expensive plan on that on the ACA, then you have significant co-pays and deductibles and somebody's making a rational choice about well, I'm paying this. I'm getting some help, but I'm not going to go pay $65 for a specialist visit. Um, and so I think reinforcing Arlington Free Clinic, I think reinforcing neighborhood health um is a a first important step as we go forward. Um, but then training community members that are advocates that are out there trying to give people this information so that they're not fearful of applying for benefits and that they actually can, if not for themselves, ensure that their children continue to access health services. That's a trade-off many people have to make. Um, I think there's more

that can be done in that community health and promot. Great. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Mayor Keen and Vice Chair Coffee. Mr. Spain.

Yeah, I'll just keep it quick. Uh, one, Mr. Uh, Bill Way, thank you for your service. Uh, and thank you for all the hard work you've been doing over there on the on the commission. Um, really outstanding work. I just want to go uh to Mike. Something you stated uh from our technology advisory commission really resonates. So, given what you stated about the compilation right now uh composition of the commission, highly uh educated technical folks uh what are we doing? What do you need help with in finding that, let's say, the that low information type uh constituent on your committee? Because I think you need a balance of a little bit of all of that. Would you say to ensure you're kind of tapping in going to the right places and spaces and hearing from the right folks? Do you you want just all highly educated folks there on this commission? Do you need a combination of other thing other folks? I plan to ask my commissioners that very question at the end of this month. We haven't done any outreach. Um, at least in the two months that I've been commissioner, we've had

applications come in over the transom. So I before you mentioned it, I'm I've been very concerned about participation in general in the county, but as for being members of the board hadn't thought about it yet, but it's on my it's on my uh agenda now and I think we have the capacity to do outreach. Um and we will. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Mr. Spain. Mr. Caronus.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um first uh Mr. Marine. Um I have been growing increasingly alarmed by the dropping off of people from ACA and because of HR1 and the problem is that we are only scratching I mean I I believe that the data from Virginia the initial data because there is a grace period and we don't even know how many people will not have paid the plan they signed up for and we don't even know how Many people will figure out in a dramatically uh you know disastrous environment because of the other [snorts] costs of living going up like fuel for example right now and housing costs being through the roof. Uh so in Virginia alone 33,000 people have dropped. I mean the u some of the associations that the professional associations that are um focused on health plans etc. was saying if we if we if we clock less than 100,000 Virginiaians uh dropping off ACA we will call it a victory which is chilling for me. Absolutely. What I am really concerned is that um there will be a significant effect in Arlington because those who we are in a high cost of living area which means that these budget decisions these individual budget decisions are conditioned by many other stressors. So it's more likely actually to fall off ICA here. And so um my question is whether and on on your board this begins to be a there will there begins to be concern that certain uh um you know services especially for example supporting uh strategically and

structurally supporting the free clinic. uh you know uh the there are there are business models delivery models that we had like for example neighborhood health that depends on Medicaid right and that's less available right now so therefore we are going back to the original delivery systems like the free clinic whether we should be focusing on that more than we do today. Yeah, I think [sighs and gasps] I think that's a helpful framing of the challenge because even though again our lens to SSAB is Medicaid but you know ACA is I think very closely related to the challenge here and um you know we in Arlington we do not provide primarily the county funded primary care as the you know tool that we're uh that that are delivered by county services uh neighboring some neighbors juris excuse me some neighboring jurisdictions do and what the challenge here now is with these changes to both Medicaid and ACA. Um, it's actually more of like a pay me now or pay me later kind of problem when it comes to health expenses, which is those folks that forego care are still going to go to the emergency room when they need the care. Um, and that is more costly for everyone. Um, not only harmful and sometimes traumatizing for folks to have to wait that long to treat a medical issue. So I think the challenge then becomes do we want if we want to respond to that and use the safety net to do so are we doing so in a preventative fashion? Are we doing it because um the free clinic can engage folks not only in their medical care but they have case management and other connections to other resources. Um I think neighborhood health is a distinct model and like you said it's very reliant on on Medicaid. They have to make their uh budget work as well. Also, if there are fewer folks with Medicaid, they may have to increase the, you know, the cost share from their sliding scale, which would also turn folks away if they can't make that trade-off because they're dealing with rent and other other challenges. Um, so I I do think

that's a that's a large structural question that maybe we can't fully define right now in this budget cycle, but I do think uh this is going to this is going to be a challenge that happens for the next several years. I think we should be having that conversation about, you know, an increased uh county investment in preventative care.

Right. Thank you. I I really, Mr. Chair, colleagues, I I really think uh we have been uh trying to understand in depth uh why we have this flag on food insecurity that you know grows and grows and grows and grows. This is just a prelude that tells us everything else is deteriorating at the same rate at the very least. So one of these uh I mean for me uh physical health uh probably requires the same type of attention initiative that uh mental health has uh you know uh enjoyed from our side in the last few years. So I'm I'm I want to continue be engaged in that and thank you for the social services board for bringing that up even if it's under the you know pressure of a disastrous uh legislation with disastrous uh results right now. U for Mr. Kornfield um I had the opportunity thank you for hosting me uh the other day. That was a a great conversation we had. I find a lot of interesting things coming up. Uh I'm sure that uh we still haven't fully we we don't fully understand what the uh AI changes uh bring to us. So I I really appreciate the commission's comm uh you know commitment to translate our list to us uh in in our language model. So which is not so big. So thank you. Thank you so much Mr. Wei. Uh um thank you so much for the comments of the Arlington Commission on Aging. It's not unrelated to what we just discussed with the social services board and I believe that aging or LinkedInonians have all all a lot of reasons to uh to be concerned. 15% of older adults live in poverty. I have underlined this um this statement. That's a lot. So this is really a lot

given how many older adults uh uh live in our community and how how fast this uh cohort in the population is growing. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Konis. Mr. Cunningham.

I'm going to try to stitch all three together because it's fun. Um but I I'm kind of struck by the conversation about the need for navigators and sort of training volunteers in addition to staff. um and then also by what's being done to many in our community about um having to re-qualify for a variety of benefits. And I wonder if in the in the use cases that you're thinking about about how to make government access more convenient, more penetrating into to low access users. Is there some way that we might put the three of you all together where the aging commission is both providing um recipients u and for some of your younger 55 plusers, you know, maybe the volunteers and then the technology use case is focused on how do we support in this time of drastic need um reducing the friction that we can and keeping the low the error rates low for both Medicaid re uh enrollment and for SNAP. So, I'll just issue that as a 20276 challenge.

Thank you, Miss Cunningham. I'm sort of trying to see if that's it. It it sort of seemed like you're both making comments. It's a challenge and if there's comments here, but otherwise it can be offline because I know there's a shortage of time. My instinct is to start with the simple and move up to the complex. And I can't think of anything more complex than healthcare. Yeah.

So, I'm not ducking it. I'd be happy. to to work on it. But I'd like to know a little bit more about AA's current capacities, what's within reach, and start with snow removal [laughter] and and and EMT dispatching and things that are are uh that could help us learn how best to use use AI. Um and and my my general view on AI is that for all the speculation and concern and it's all warranted, AI in the end is what we make of it. And I think it would be a great county goal to find a way to use AI to invigorate the Arlington way as as as as it were.

Great. Thank you. I I would just add the I think that's you know a good idea to to look at that more closely. We also have the advantage in Virginia that we we are one of the states that um for example engages in what's called exparte renewal. So it's taking uh existing data sources from tax tax returns or uh categor categorical eligibility for other benefits and enrolling and reertifying folks for Medicaid for that. So I think we're actually starting in a good place with what the state does and the no wrong door kind of approach to you can call you can email you and and yet now we're confronted with this sort of self-created problem um at a federal level. So that's where to your to your point, it's actually gets really hard to get into the the most complex scenarios where um I think the challenge is really going to be around uh documentation of employment and of income for folks that really are are working in these um difficult jobs. Um so that that's where hopefully there's some maybe some technology ideas that can help.

I would think HIPPA would be a an obstacle as well because you're only as good as your data. Sure. Yeah. Sure. Mr. my side, I'll I will reach out to my colleagues uh uh to provide any help that we can from the commission on aging.

Thank you, Mr. Way. So, I'll just um see if I can wrap up unless you had burning additional questions. The the the um um the thoughts I guess Mr. Wei keenly aware of nutrition having working worked at Feeding America for seniors and uh hear that concern. I guess the one on your paper that spikes in my concern at this moment is homeless homelessness amongst our seniors. Very concerned about that and that will be the subject of quite a bit of my interest and focus in the capital improvement plan um coming forward without knowing how much money we have in that capital improvement plan. But very grateful for your comments. I want to follow up and I'm hoping that the ears of God uh will be able to hear that a coding system tagging technology spending in and beyond the Department of Technology Services. Um I want to follow up on that and understand it a little bit better and see what our Department of Technology leadership might share about that. Um I don't know if you have any brief comments or um feel free we can have an additional conversation. I think I think and we've had both David and and Holly come to many of our meetings.

Um I think they feel overwhelmed. Yeah. And it's on their agenda, but it's not high on their agenda. Yeah. And I I understand that. But we we continue to push it because we think the better organized we are with respect to all our data, the better outcomes, including financial we we we will achieve. and um we submitted a letter to you in March with some um estimated statistics just from two departments on what what um

sure tagging tagging would be. So I will I'm happy to to reiterate that or elaborate that in in my followup letter from today's testimony to you.

That sounds great. And just because you mentioned it, because of the reality of the spreadsheet that I've been looking at, this is something that I'll ask that we follow up after the 22nd in the budget. Uh just cuz I realistically this is a big body of work and want to want to work on it. Uh but that's that sounds good. And then lastly, Mr. Madaken, I'm familiar with lots of areas of social policy. I am not as familiar I have been to the free clinic. I have engaged quite a bit with neighborhood health, but I'm not as familiar from a, you know, and I've been to, you know, our doctors in the in Cipfax um or excuse me, Sequoia and aware of what we have at Arlington Mill. I am not as familiar with the operational pieces of Medicaid um you know, as I would like to be. And so I'll go to the health foundation, but I invite you after the 22nd at some point I need to get tactile understanding of what this looks and feels like with HR1 um beyond sort of my policy understanding of what a foolish piece of legislation I believe it is. Um and then I would just say that um uh you know grateful for the work and to align with Mr. Karen Tonus, I've said it a number of times. I am going to be putting forward language that addresses health equity as guidance that so that we start this work as a matter of uh system. So that's uh plenty for me. Uh I think that concludes for colleagues except the three of us three of us uh three of you accept our thanks. Again, we are very lucky to have your leadership as chairs of your commissions. We're grateful for your service to Arlington. And with that, we're adjourned for this. Yes. Go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead.

Are we Are we adjourned or recessed? Recessed. Sure. We're recessed until this afternoon. Thank you for keeping me on time, the two of you, and on target. I I'll ask the attorney if there was a material difference between recess and adjourned. But you got it right. We're adjourned. Go. Recess. Recess. Recess. [laughter] We're recessed for all three of you. We're recessed until 6 o'clock tonight. Thank you. So justific No, no, no. You're right.