Remarks by Susan Cunningham
47 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 2
Thank you Chair DeFronte for trying to wrangle us. It is no easy task, I assure you. How to not repeat. I think we all heard a lot of very passionate and mostly really thoughtful and caring testimony. So thank you all for being here, for supporting one another in large part and for listening to one another. Because this is our community and while it is hard and we have many different opinions and different cultures and backgrounds, the ability to be together to grapple with the challenges that we face is really, really important and always moves me. I will start with the biggest issue that we…
Great. Well, we also recognize October as National Arts and Humanities Month, where we celebrate the creativity, talent, and contributions of artists and cultural organizations that enrich our community. According to the Americans for the Arts, Arts and Economic Prosperity Six study, the nation's nonprofit arts and culture industry not only fuel our souls and our energy and our well-being, but also generate $150 billion in economic activity, support over 2.6 million jobs, and generate almost $30 billion in tax revenue in the year of the study. So here in Arlington, we take that very seriously…
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I'm ready for a motion unless there are other questions.
Okay. I move that the County Board adopt the revised charter of the Audit Committee. Second.
I was just going to highlight two things. One is on your slide about stakeholder engagement. I have heard from across the community and the commissions, the chamber, and here within our own workforce Just enormous kudos and appreciation for the approach your office has taken in really building those partnerships and stakeholders and that when you shine the light on something, it's not to do gotcha, it's to help us be better. And I always chuckle when I see any audit report where it's like there's the findings. The findings are the things that do need some work. But what's not mentioned is the…
So I think we talked a lot in the middle of the snowstorm and in July when we last had our briefing about school access and coordination. And I know from an economic resilience and a mental health resilience and just a, you know, keeping the economy going, it's really important to get our kids back in school, especially our youngest kids back in school. What coordination has been ongoing with APS? How can we work with them both on access but also on bus routes and alternate bus stops so that we can get the kids back in school faster?
And I guess I would first of all celebrate the great work that's been done here so far and highlight that the community's request to all of us was to make sure that there's a unified schools and county plan. So I think we need to make room for that. It's October now. And I think if there's more we can do to help make space for that or reinforce that. I think it's really, really important and the school community and the families really need to know what to expect. I know last year there was a little bit of back and forth. It was a very unusual and difficult storm, but they were going to open…
Great. Well, I think I might just put it in the chair's hands. I think it might be worthwhile while we're still fresh on last year's storm for the boards and the executives to get together to make sure we're going to be saying again in five years that we've gotten even better at coordinating. I think it's just it's that important. for our community. Last thing on schools is you mentioned that CDL licenses are one of the big pain points. And I imagine we have a lot of CDL license holders in our bus fleets, including our school bus fleet. Have we attempted to cross pollinate there where while…
Yeah, just a huge thank you for all the work and for our team ambassadors, especially. I'm interested if you've drawn any conclusions about kind of engagement strategies and what's working and what's not working so that we might incorporate them in other processes.
Great. And then I'll just tag two things because I know you guys are going to keep working on it. But we've heard a lot from families and community members and young people about transportation options and sort of connectivity. I think it's in your wheel there and I'm sure it's coming up in a couple of different places, but just wanted to raise that. And I think particularly as we're all really focused on the micro mobility and e-bike safety and, you know, both the freedoms that it have created but also the potential hazards and how we as a community can best support our young people and then…
Maybe just carrying on in that same vein, I think there's also others in the community, including the Independent Police Auditor and the Commonwealth Attorney's Office, as well as surely within your own department, folks who should probably have a chance to view before the release. Is that all also on schedule for this week so that we will be able to do the public release?
Okay, great. And then can you say anything more about the timing and venue of the release, or when will you be able to say that?
OK, and you'll let us and the public know as soon as you've got it nailed down. OK, great. Yeah, I would just, again, thank you for the work. Gratefully, this is not a situation we've been in a lot in Arlington. And I think it is incredibly important that we are getting the policy set so that were this to happen again, we would move very, very swiftly. I have, while I think the last couple of weeks have been really focused, I do feel like we could have, should have and pushed to move a little bit earlier back in the summer. And I think we've talked a lot about within the board how we can make…
Thank you for the presentation and looking forward to the next couple of weeks as we get into it a little bit more deeply. I do want to elevate even before we go there, both for us up here and for our community and for our partners in the state delegation. We heard a lot this year, more than usual, that folks, maybe because there were 2,500 bills or whatever it was, that folks in our community were not able to keep tabs of what was going on in Richmond. And I know we can be a conduit for that, but we can't be the whole mouthpiece there. But I really think we need to examine how did that go…
Great. Thank you. And then just in terms of the key issues, I'll echo what some of my colleagues have said about the importance of WMATA. Absolutely. That is an economic engine, not just for us in Northern Virginia, but very much for the Commonwealth. And we need to have that be a shared expense. For the condo initiative, particularly around the liability issue that has kept us from having new condos be built, not just maintaining old ones, that is an important rung on the ladder to homeownership and part of the overall mix. The other three I'll just raise up, the micromobility efforts around…
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Great, I move that the County Board adopt an ordinance, attachment A of the staff report, effective November 1st, 2026, to amend and reenact a non-codified ordinance titled, an ordinance to amend and reenact a non-codified ordinance enacted at the July 16th, 2022 County Board meeting, establishing an interim rate, effective January 1, 2025, for County-owned electric vehicle charging stations. to one, repeal the interim rate, two, enact a new base fee for use of county stations, three, establish a dwell time fee for county stations, and four, authorize and direct the county manager or the…
Just a question for staff. I think the notion of this is all good. It sounds like maybe it's not a lot of work right now, but to kind of items to keep in mind. But to the point of the fees being different for the two different vendors, I think it's great to have two different vendors so that we can compare, as you said, and to hedge our bets a little bit. Is there a way that without going in and changing contracts that are probably not up for renewal right this millisecond, Is there a way we could adjust for that in the fee structure, or is that something you want to ask us to consider next…
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I will be very brief because you all touched on so much. But I would just say one of her lasting and last contributions to all of us was to loosen the rules around absentee voting. And so I suspect she would want me to remind you that voting is open on this floor. And you can early vote. And you should encourage everyone to exercise their right to vote in Virginia and everywhere else.
Great. Well, I think all of our honorees would are looking down and are thrilled to see our young people stepping up and building a better world for all of us. We are delighted to have the winners of the county's first climate action plan youth art contest and their families here with us today. And you guys have done a terrific job sitting through the first bit of our meeting. You guys rock. Many of you know, but some may not, that the Climate Action Art Contest invited all Arlington students in grades K through 12 to imagine a more sustainable future and share what climate action means to…
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