may 2014 dems lost big time - arlington democrats · fast on may 10, all three school board candi-d...

Vol. 39, No. 5 www.arlingtondemocrats.org May 2014

Dems lost big time...

...or was it the County Board

Arlington Democrats suffered a major defeatin April as John Vihstadt, a Republican running asan independent, crushed Democrat Alan Howze inthe special election to fill the County Board seat ofChris Zimmerman.

Vihstadt won 57 percent of the vote to 41 per-cent for Howze, with the remaining 2 percent go-ing to two other candidates.

It was the first loss Democrats have sufferedin a County Board race since 1999—15 years ofuninterrupted victories. And that 1999 loss alsocame in a special election to fill a County Boardvacancy.

In 1999, the Republican only held the seat afew months before being defeated in November fora full four-year term,

And this year, Vihstadt and Howze will bothbe on the ballot in November looking for a full four-year term.

It is widely expected that many more Demo-

crats will turn out in November, increasing hopesthat Howze can win the full term. But it is widelyconceded that Vihstadt’s victory margin was sub-stantial and that the November race will be a majorchallenge for Democrats.

The overriding issue of the special election wasthe proposed Columbia Pike streetcar—an issue thathas divided Democrats, many of whom feel it is tooexpensive to justify and who supported Vihstadt.

The poll results suggest the county is dividedgeographically on the trolley issue. Howze won 12precincts. All but two were in South Arlington. Ofthe 10 precincts that touch Columbia Pike, sevensupported Howze.

The total turnout for the election was 22,223voters. That set a new record for turnout in a spe-cial election, exceeding the turnout of 21,624 in2003 by a modest 2.78 percent.

Another issue frequently cited by Vihstadt vot-

The Democratic defeat was huge in the specialelection, and the overriding conclusion of Demo-crats who campaigned long and hard was that vot-ers were ticked off at what they perceived as “arro-gance” by the County Board. What was most re-markable, however, was that this concern about ar-rogance was not just voiced by those who voted forJohn Vihstadt but by legions of voters who stuck bythe Democratic candidate, Alan Howze.

After the ballots had been counted and the badnews was clear, ACDC Chair Kip Malinosky askedSteering Committee members to provide him withtheir written views on what the election represented.

What comes across in their submissions is nearuniform agreement that the special election wastaken as a referendum on the conduct of the CountyBoard—Howze did not lose the election, the CountyBoard did.

Some who analyzed the election disagreedstrongly with this “arrogance” charge. But they saidthey found it prevalent as they campaigned andtalked with voters. And they said that attitude is whatthe party—and, more particularly, the CountyBoard—must deal with.

Many around the party argued that this wasonly a special election with a small voter turnout—the typical scenario where the GOP does well—andthat things will be different in November. But thatwas not the view that prevailed among those partyworkers who were most active in contacting voters.

The turnout was large for a special election, arecord, in fact. ACDC’s ground campaign effortwas widely seen as very effective in getting out theDemocratic vote. But as one campaigner said,“Many of them then voted for Vihstadt.”

“Not Larry Sabato” (Ben Tribbett) commented,“The Democratic GOTV was one of the better ef-forts I’ve seen in a special election—hats off to KipMalinosky and his team. It’s a good lesson to re-member that strength of campaigns only really mat-ters in close elections. There is nothing you can docampaign-wise if the voters decide to go elsewhere.”

A Steering Committee member echoed thatview: “If the voters aren’t with you—especially ifthere is a strong tide flowing against you—you canrarely overcome it.”

And why did the voters decide to go elsewhere?

continued on page twelve

continued on page twelve

We’ve got more

candidates than

the Redskins put

on the field at any

one time! There’s

10 for Congress

and three for

School Board. You

can’t follow the

game without a

program! Check

out all the candi-

dates in this

month’s issue

starting on Page

Six.

Program!

Program!

Get your

program!

What’s all this

business about

Libby Garvey

being kicked

out of the

party?

For all the

facts, see

Page Five

ACDC Voice, May 2014,

Report from Chairman Kip Malinosky

Published monthly by theArlington County Democratic Committee

2050 Wilson Blvd., Suite 200, Arlington VA 22201 (enter at rear)P.O. Box 7132, Arlington VA 22207

Tel: (703) 528-8588 Fax: (703) 528-2321http://www.arlingtondemocrats.org

Chair: Kip Malinosky — [email protected] Editor-in-Chief: Warren L. Nelson —(703) 243-7867 (h), [email protected] Editor: Eric Wiener — (703) 524-6899 (h), [email protected]

Views expressed do not necessarily represent those of the ACDC unless expressly approved by an appropriate committee resolution

Copyright ©2014, ACDC, All Rights Reserved

Jerry Botland

Computer Consulting

Troubleshoot and resolve computer and

computer related problems.

Perform upgrades, set-up wireless routers and print servers.

Transfer old files, address book and emails

from an old computer to a new one.

Phone: (703) 933-0558 — [email protected]

At this month’s Second Saturday Break-fast on May 10, all three School Board candi-dates will be appearing—BarbaraKanninen, Nancy Van Doren and GregGreeley.

This will not be a debate, but a timewhen everyone can pose their own questionsto the candidates. The breakfast comes fivedays before the caucus to endorse a candidate.

As usual, the breakfast will start at 8:30a.m. and be held at Busboys and Poets inShirlington. And please remember to bringcash rather than plastic.

It is hardly a secret that public schoolsin Arlington are outstanding. Last Tuesday,12 schools were recognized with VIP awardsby Governor McAuliffe for high studentachievement. There’s a reason our greatestchallenge in Arlington is ever increasing en-rollment of new students. Parents know thattheir kids can get a world class education andthat is why many more folks choose to livehere.

Of course, there are many reasons for thesuccess of our schools, but it’s not because ofa parade of standardized tests, tax cuts orvouchers. Our success is due to investing inour students with new and remodeled schools,paying for top quality teachers, and expand-ing pre-kindergarten programs. Democrats onthe County Board have prioritized transfer-ring funds to the schools, and Democrats onthe School Board have focused these fundson ensuring student success.

Two examples of what Democrats havebeen able to accomplish on education includetaking on standardized testing and expandingaccess to pre-kindergarten education. Del-egate Rob Krupicka worked with Delegate

Tag Greason to help pass a bill to reduceVirginia’s multiple-choice, Standards ofLearning (SOL) tests by one-third and putassessments back in the hands of teachers. OurArlington School Board Chair Abby Raphaelalso played an important role in shaping thislegislation for the Commonwealth. GovernorMcAuliffe campaigned on reducing and re-forming SOL tests and now a large part ofthat promise has been delivered.

A Democratic priority in Virginia sinceTim Kaine campaigned for governor has beenuniversal pre-kindergarten. Alas, the Repub-lican controlled General Assembly would notpass funding for every Virginian student tobenefit from pre-K. Instead a smaller pro-gram was passed helping low income stu-dents. Arlington, alone among Virginia locali-ties, has made the most of this program, fill-ing all 542 pre-K spots offered by Virginiafunds.

Now in Arlington, it is again time forDemocrats to choose a new School Boardmember since Sally Baird is not running forreelection. We are lucky to have three ter-rific candidates vying for the Democratic en-

dorsement: Greg Greeley, BarbaraKanninen and Nancy Van Doren. Let’s lookat why each of them is running and how theyplan to continue excellence in education inArlington.

Greg Greeley is a single father of twosons, who over the years has gotten more andmore involved in the public schools. He wantsto tackle the problem of overcrowding in theschools head-on and make sure we improveour long-term planning. He is also commit-ted to focusing on students with special needsto ensure they get the attention and choicesthey deserve.

Barbara Kanninen is a mother of twosons and has been involved with the publicschools for 20 years. She is running for a hostof reasons and top among them are promot-ing greater critical thinking and less standard-ized testing for our students. She is also com-mitted to making sure we deal with over-crowding issues.

Nancy Van Doren is a mother of fourchildren and has also been greatly involvedwith the public schools for the last 10 yearsas an advocate for children of all backgrounds.She wants to greatly focus on student successand meeting student needs. She wants to builda collaborative leadership style, communicatepolicy decisions, and engage the community.

Vote for one (or more, using instant run-off voting) of these three great candidates onMay 15 at Drew Model School from 7-to-9p.m. or May 17 at Washington-Lee HighSchool from 11 a.m.-to-7 p.m. and continuethe tradition of supporting Democratic excel-lence in education.

Dems support excellence in education

Breakfast Q&A forSchool Bd candidates


Next Monthly MeetingAll Dems Invited

Wednesday, May 7, at 7 p.m.

NRECA Building, 4301 Wilson Blvd.Corner of North Taylor and Wilson, just east of Glebe and Wilson

Free parking under building; enter from Taylor Street

This month will feature a 45-minute debate and Q&A

session with our three School Board candidates—Greg

Greeley, Nancy Van Doren and Barbara Kanninen. This

debate comes just eight days before the caucus to endorse

our candidate for the School Board. One hour before the

monthly meeting, there will be a reception for Roosevelt

Society members in the room next to our usual meeting hall.

The move is complete! ACDC is nowensconced in its new headquarters in CrystalCity—with lots of great dining spots at hand.The boxes were all packed in just a matter ofa few hours Sunday, April 27, by a squad ofeager and swift volunteers, with no backsstrained or toes squashed.

The professional movers came the nextWednesday and hauled everything from ourold Courthouse neighborhood office downsouth to Crystal City.

By Thursday morning, the office was setup and back in business.

Our new home is at 2001Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite604. As an historical reminder,Jefferson Davis was a longtimeDemocrat before he strayedfrom the fold in 1861.

A map of the site was inlast month’s Voice. It is oneblock from the Crystal CityMetro Station. There is also aCapital Bike Share station atone corner of our new building.And there is lots of free park-ing in adjacent buildings AF-TER 4 p.m. on weekdays andall day on weekends.

For those who would likea bite to eat, you will findnearby Cold Stone Creamery,The Good Stuff Eatery, Sub-way, Corner Bakery Cafe,Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks andlots more.

The move was overseen byDeputy Chair Stacey Whytewho would like to thank themoving crew of Steve Baker,Paul Bergen, CharleyConrad, Mary Detweiler,Norman Hill, Karen Kelly,Detta Kissel, Inta Malis, PatMcGrady, Kris McLaughlin,Kim Phillip and AlejandraSantaolalla. Also thanks toJane Bergen and CarrieJohnson for scaring up lots ofboxes and Eric Wolf for over-seeing the tech installation.

UMPHHH! — Charley Conrad totes that bale as AC DC volunteers packedup boxes with all the contents of the old headquarters in Courthouse andmoved into new quarters in Crystal City.

ACDC packs,moves intonew HQ site

Donkey EarsListening to the doings

of Arlington’s Dems

as overheard byas overheard by

as overheard byas overheard by

as overheard by

Dan Steen and Dan Steen and

Dan Steen and Dan Steen and

Dan Steen and Mädi

Green Green

Green Green

Green


It’s about time: The Arlington Civic Federation last month honored HerschelKanter, a Democratic volunteer for all seasons and all taskings, with the SunGazette Cup for his many years as a community leader. The Sun Gazettepointed out that Hershel has been a delegate to the federation from theWilliamsburg Civic Association for more than half the 98 years there has beenan Arlington Civic Federation!

A new Voice: Readers of ArlNow may have noticed that it has started a new“Progressive Voice” weekly column. Several Arlingtonians will rotate inwriting the column. The first to do so is Carrie Johnson, better known toACDCers as the List Lady for her expert maintenance of ACDC’s list of voters,volunteers and contributors.

Life’s turning point: Max Burns, president of the Arlington Young Democrats,was recently domesticated by acquiring a brand-new, top-of-the-line vacuumcleaner. As older Dems can attest, this means he has finally passed beyond thebounds of collegiate-style life and achieved lasting adulthood. Burns himselfsaid, “You know that you’ve reached a turning point in your life when you’repouring a drink to celebrate the acquisition of a high-quality vacuum cleaner.”

Moving up: Kim Klingler, who chairs Democratic Values in Action (DVA), thecharitable arm of ACDC, has gotten a promotion in her day job. She recentlyleft Deloitte to join the Institute of Quality at the American Society of ClinicalOncology. She will be focused on patients and physicians in an effort toimprove practices and quality for those undergoing cancer care.

Back in the saddle: John Milliken, a former County Board member, is best knownin ACDC circles for creating the Democratic Messenger (originally the MillikenMessenger). Later, he became the commonwealth’s transportation secretary andserved on the Virginia Port Authority Board from 2002 until 2011, when Gov.Bob McDonnell unceremoniously dumped him as chairman and discharged nineother board members in the biggest shakeup in the board’s history. Last month,Gov. Terry McAuliffe re-appointed Milliken to the board—and announced hisdesire to name him chairman when that post opens up.

Women who accomplish things: Two Arlington Dem activists are among thefour women honored this year by the county’s Commission on the Status ofWomen. Atima Omara, who is national president of Young Democrats as wellas an Arlington Dem, was one of three named for the Commission’s “Womenof Vision” award, while Marj Signer, who has a done a little of everythingwith ACDC and the National Organization for Women, was recognized with theorganization’s lifetime achievement award.

National recognition: Krysta Jones, long active in ACDC, has worked as alobbyist by day and since 2006 has headed the Virginia Leadership Institute,which prepares African-Americans for pubic office. (Six have won electiveoffice and many others hold appointive positions.) Last month, Ebony maga-zine named her one of 2014’s Heroes Next Door.

The Democratic Party of Virginia(DPVA) has chosen as its new executive di-rector veteran political hand Robert Dempsey.He recently held the same role for the NorthCarolina party.

Dempsey takes over from LaurenHarmon, who left the post following an 11-month run capped by a trifecta of statewidepolitical victories.

The News & Observer of Raleigh re-ported that Dempsey had been dumped inFebruary by the Democratic chairman of theNorth Carolina state party, Randy Voller. Buta number of Democrats complained thatVoller was acting without cause.

Over 15 years in politics, the Buffalo,New York, native has worked on local andstate campaigns in multiple states, is a pastexecutive director of the Vermont DemocraticParty, and has Capitol Hill experience.

Just a week before Dempsey was named,the Virginia GOP hired Shaun Kenney as itsnew executive director. She must cope witha party organization in financial trouble andwithout any statewide office holders for thefirst time in decades.

According to the Association of StateDemocratic Chairs website, “The executivedirector is in charge of all day-to-day opera-tions of the DPVA, the management of partystaff, and serves as a senior advisor to thechair, steering committee, and central com-mittee.”

DPVA getsnew executivedirector

RobertDempsey


Garvey, Stamos, Rousselot exit leadershipLibby Garvey, Theo Stamos and Pe-

ter Rousselot have all departed voluntarilyfrom the Arlington County Democratic Com-mittee (ACDC) after publicly supporting JohnVihstadt against the Democratic nominee,Alan Howze, in last month’s special electionfor the County Board.

The state party’s rules bar anyone whohas publicly supported a candidate opposinga Democratic nominee from holding a lead-ership position in the party.

Garvey, a member of the County Board,originally refused to resign from the Arling-ton committee. That forced ACDC ChairKip Malinosky to appoint a committee tolook into the facts and determine if Garveyhad in fact endorsed the opponent of a Demo-crat, which would automatically remove her

from party office.That meeting was held April 28. Garvey

spoke for 15 minutes, explaining what she haddone and why. At the end of her presenta-tion, she provided a written resignation.

No such committee was appointed todeal with Stamos, the commonwealth’s attor-ney, or Rousselot, a past president of ACDC,because both of them had previously with-drawn from the committee.

The word “committee” in this case re-fers to the 157 members of the ArlingtonCounty Democratic Committee, which is theleadership of the Arlington Democratic Party.The ACDC members comprise all the precinctcaptains in the county and all elected officialsrepresenting any part of the county (mean-ing, for example, that Sen. Janet Howell is

not an ACDC member) plus assorted others,like all former ACDC chairs who still live inArlington County and state and national partyofficers who live in Arlington (meaning thatFrank Leone, who is a Virginia representa-tive to the Democratic National Committeeelected statewide, is an ACDC member).

There were rumors going about thatGarvey was being expelled from the “party,”but that is erroneous. The Democratic Partydoes not have a membership list. Anyone whoconsiders themselves to be a Democrat is ipsofacto a Democrat.

But the rules of the Democratic Party ofVirginia (DPVA) bar anyone who has pub-licly supported a non-Democrat runningagainst a Democrat from membership in theparty leadership, where campaign plans arediscussed and drafted.

The relevant paragraph of the state rules,called the “Party Plan,” is section 10.8, viz.:

“No Democratic committee member orofficer of any Democratic committee shallpublicly support, endorse, or assist any can-didate opposed to a Democratic nominee. If aDemocratic committee member is accused ofundertaking such public activity, the appro-priate Democratic committee shall vote onwhether the member has undertaken suchpublic activity. The member’s removal fromthe committee shall be automatic if the com-mittee finds that the member has engaged insuch public activity. Such action shall not betaken without at least ten (10) days writtennotice to the accused member and an oppor-tunity for him or her to refute such charges.”

It should be noted that the state rules donot allow a county committee to keep some-one publicly supporting an opponent on thecommittee. All the county committee does isdetermine if a member publicly supported anon-Democrat. If so, the member’s removalis “automatic”—no vote is required or evenallowed.

Bumper Sticker of the Month


DonBeyer

Congressional Primary Candidates

The two political parties need to cometogether and meet our national responsibilityto bring millions of immigrants out of theshadows. It is time to pass comprehensiveimmigration reform. I’ve heard tales ofhardship from many people who braved bor-ders to find a safer and more prosperous homehere in the United States. One friend, Manuel,had a choice in his Salvadorian village be-tween joining a death squad or being killedby it. He fled in the middle of the night andtoday is an American citizen with a happy lifefull of opportunity.

America has always been a nation ofimmigrants and over half of the employees atthe Beyer Auto Group were born overseas.Hard-working, new Americans are the life-

blood ofthis nationand keepo u re c o n o m ys t r o n g .There mustbe a path tocitizenshipfor peoplewho con-tribute somuch toour com-munities.

W ealso needto ensurethat chil-

dren who came here early in life have thechance to attend college, receive in-state tu-ition, and have the opportunity to achieve theirdreams just like every other hard working stu-dent. I fully support the DREAM Act andwould urge my colleagues in Congress to dothe same.

This is one of the issues I will priori-tize in Congress, if you will help me getthere. I bring proven leadership, a principledrecord, and progressive ideals to the race. AndI would be honored to have your vote on June10th.

To learn more about me, and my cam-paign, please visit:

www.FriendsofDonBeyer.com Facebook.com/FriendsofDonBeyer@DonBeyerVA

The Democratic primary battle for thenomination to succeed Jim Moran is nowdown to 10 candidates, after Nancy Najarianfailed to get enough valid signatures on herpetitions and Alfonso Lopez decided to with-draw.

Del. Lopez said he did not see a path tovictory and did not want to call on supportersto put more time and money in a race he didnot view as winnable.

Lopez said, “After we closed thefundraising quarter, I took the time to evalu-ate, with my team, the position of my cam-paign. It is clear to me that I do not have theresources necessary to run the campaign wewanted and that the people of the 8th Districtdeserved. With that in mind, I do not want toask my supporters to continue to make thesacrifices of time, treasure and talent that theyhave so generously made thus far.”

Del. Mark Sickles of Fairfax County hadreached a similar conclusion earlier and with-drawn his candidacy.

On this and the succeeding three pages,The Voice presents messages from each of theremaining 10 candidates vying for the nomi-nation on Tuesday, June 10.

This is a state-run primary election, nota party caucus, so voters should go to theirusual polling stations anytime from 6 a.m. to7 p.m.—the standard voting hours in Vir-ginia—on primary day.

Early voting is now underway at theRegistrar’s Office in the county building, 2100Clarendon, third floor, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.weekdays.

After the filing deadline passed March27, the State Board of Elections had a draw-ing to determine the order in which candi-

date names will appear on the ballot. Thecandidates appear on these pages in ballotorder.

On the GOP side, the Republicans helda convention April 26 comprised of 332 del-egates from the component parts of the 8th Dis-trict—Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Churchand parts of Fairfax County. They selectedMicah Edmond, a Marine Corps veteran,former congressional aide and African-Ameri-can who converted to Judaism as a youth.

Meanwhile, the candidates filed reportswith the Federal Election Commission show-ing the contributions they collected in the firstquarter. Here are the total receipts in the firstquarter, including loans to their campaignsfrom the candidates themselves:Don Beyer $672,104Bruce Shuttleworth $332,188Mark Levine $322,808Nancy Najarian $301,996Laverne Chatman $298,697William Euille $214,571Patrick Hope $186,534Adam Ebbin $178,800Charniele Herring $121,315Alfonso Lopez $ 79,903Mark Sickles $ 63,686Derek Hyra $ 26,048Satish Korpe $ 14,055

Republican Edmond reported collecting$44,341.

In the cases of Shuttleworth, Levine andNajarian, the totals include loans from the can-didates exceeding $200,000 each. In termsof individual contributions, Beyer’s campaigncollected more than twice as much as anyother campaign with Chatman in secondplace.

Ten are left in battle fornomination to succeedMoran in Congress

The raceThe race

The raceThe race

The race

for the Housefor the House

for the Housefor the House

for the House


LavernChatman

CharnieleHerring


MarkLevine

Lavern Chatman was born and raised inNorthern Virginia and has dedicated her lifeto putting progressive values into action. Shegrew up in a working class family—her

m o t h e rwas a 30-year postalemployeeand her fa-ther a localautomobilet e c h n i -c i a n —where shelearned thevalue ofhard workand the im-portance ofeducation.L a v e r nwas the

first in her family to graduate from college,earning her bachelor’s degree from MountVernon College at George Washington Uni-versity.

She has dedicated most of her life to pro-gressive advocacy, full-time charities and non-profit organizations and advocacy groups.She and her late husband James I. Chatmanstarted the Chatman Fund at the NorthernVirginia Community Foundation to supportdevelopment programs for children in ourcommunity who are lacking the resources tosucceed.

As President and CEO of the NoVA Ur-ban League, Lavern’s work focused on socialjustice, affordable housing, youth empower-ment, financial literacy, and eliminating theeducation achievement gap.

Lavern’s tenacity and success acrossNorthern Virginia has earned her the reputa-tion of a person who can deliver results andget things done. She is working with Con-gressman Moran on issues that impact localsmall businesses affected by the recent gov-ernment shutdown.

She is a progressive Democrat, a com-munity leader and mentor to young men andwomen. Lavern has spent her life in thetrenches fighting for our community herein the 8th District and she will continue tobe a champion of progressive causes in Con-gress.

The millennials may be the first genera-tion in American history to be worse off thantheir parents. College graduates in their 20’sand 30’s are returning home to live with momand dad. They are drowning in a sea of redink.

The problem, of course, is collegeaffordability. In the last 30 years, the cost of acollege education has astoundingly almosttripled even after taking account of inflation.Meanwhile the public subsidy to students hasremained stagnant. No wonder today’s gen-eration is feeling the pain.

My proposal to solve this problem is re-freshingly simple. Instead of increasing Fed-eral aid to colleges that raise their prices—based on the gap between what a student canpay and what a college costs— we should in-crease Federal aid to colleges that lower theirprices and sign an agreement with the Fed-eral Government to keep their rate of increase

at ors l i g h t l yabove therate of in-flation. Wethen end allFederal aidto “for-profit” in-stitutionsbut keepaid to 2-year voca-tional andtechnicals c h o o l sand negoti-ate those

costs down as well.It’s true Republicans are likely to fight

us on increasing financial aid or subsidizingstudent loans back to the levels of the priorgeneration. Simply allowing the Governmentto negotiate lower costs for college does notcost the Government a penny more.

My negotiating proposal without in-creased subsidies can be scored by the Con-gressional Budget Office as a net zero tax-payer cost.

For more information about my plan,visit my website at LevineforCongress.com.I hope that I can count on your vote on June10th.

Standing up for Virginia’s families—whether it is homelessness prevention, fight-ing for better public education, or standingup for a woman’s right to make her ownhealthcare choices, Delegate Charniele Her-ring has a strong record opposing far-rightRepublican overreach.

However, one of the most importantqualities we need in our nextcongressperson, is not only to fight forVirginia’s values, but to also reach out ahand across the aisle and work with theother side to come to solutions that willmake Washington work for us.

This is a situation Charniele has facedagain and again in the House of Delegates.Without sacrificing progressive values, find-ing a middle ground and working together isthe only way to get Washington to start work-ing once again. Our next congresspersonneeds a record of success.

Charniele Herring is a fighter and survi-vor who stands up for women and families.Born in a military family, Charniele was raisedin Northern Virginia. She fought through hardtimes, including living in a homeless shelterfor a period during high school.

Charniele worked her way through lawschool to become the first African-Americanwoman to represent Northern Virginia in theGeneral Assembly where she was named alegislative hero by the League of Conserva-tion Votersa n da w a r d e dthe Solid asa RockAward bythe Vir-ginia Edu-cation As-sociation.Charnielewas thef i r s twoman tobe Demo-c r a t i cWhip inthe Houseof Del-egates and she served as the first-ever Afri-can-American Chair of the Democratic Partyof Virginia.


BruceShuttleworth


AdamEbbin

PatrickHope

Arlington Democrats—Many of yousupported me when I first ran to represent usin the House of Delegates, and have contin-ued to support me in this campaign. Thankyou. Arlington is my home—Kristen and Ihave raised our three daughters here- and yoursupport means so much.

I want to give you an update on our cam-paign. I re-c e n t l yl aunchedmy ‘EveryNeighbor-hood Mat-ters’ touracross thed i s t r i c t ,and amwell on myway to vis-iting all 52precincts inArlington.E v e r yneighbor-hood has

their own set of issues, and I’ve enjoyed meet-ing so many new people, from as far north asMadison to south in Fairlington.

After chairing the Arlington CommunityServices Board for five years, I first decidedto run for office to stand up for our most vul-nerable populations—the sick, the handi-capped, the poor, and the elderly. One thingI’ve been talking about in this campaign ispredatory payday lenders—or legal thieves. Ijust saw one open on the corner of Lee High-way and George Mason, and they’re makingtheir way into our community. I’m currentlyworking on a proposal to put them out of busi-ness by replacing these predators with thepostal service.

I founded the Virginia Progressive Cau-cus to stand up for our values, and you knowI’ll continue to do so in Congress. This pri-mary is about electing someone who will domore than just vote the right way, but whowill also fight for our values on issues thataren’t always talked about. That’s why I’mrunning to be your next member of Congress.

Please e-mail me [email protected] if you haveany questions. I hope to earn your support.

I’m a different kind of Democrat. Therearen’t any like me on the left side of the aislein Congress: Naval Academy, West Point,Fighter Pilot, Harvard Business School. Somepeople look at my resume and say, “Why thatsmells quite Republican.” Then they talk withme; and they don’t say that any more.

Here’s why:Republicans don’t call for a different kind

of “shock and awe” – overinvestment in NIHand NCI and improving disease and canceroutcomes. More investment in the PeaceCorps and the State Department will improvenational security better than all the drones inthe world.

Republicans don’t call ACA “a step inthe right direction – but the final destinationhas to be Universal Healthcare.”

Republicans don’t say “no non-violentvictimless criminal should be behind the barsof our prison-industrial complex.” Prison isperhaps the worst place for rehabilitation –and the most expensive.

Republicans don’t say that “immigrationis a great problem to have” and “we shouldput in place policies that enable us to ‘teardown that wall’” – referring not to Berlin butto our southern border.

Republicans don’t call for Gun Sense –especially after operating the most dangerousweaponry in our military.

Republicans don’t call Unions a criticalcounterbalance to managerial greed.

Republicans don’t recognize ClimateChange as the greatest threat to our civiliza-tion.

R e -publicansdon’t sayany of that– I do. Andif you wantto hearmore ofthat inCongress,then I’mthe candi-date foryou – a dif-ferent kindof [email protected]

For more than a decade, I have repre-sented Arlington in the General Assembly—more than twice as long as anyone else in therace.

In Congress, I will continue fighting forNorthern Virginia’s progressive priorities—working with members of both parties to pro-tect Obamacare and raise the minimumwage.

I’ll aggressively address climate change,strengthen gun laws, reduce social and eco-nomic inequality, protect a woman’s right tochoose and ensure we never abandon thepromise of Social Security and Medicare.

In endorsing me, County Board ChairJay Fisette said, “Adam has earned the respectof his colleagues in Richmond as an effectiveand serious legislator and would represent uswell in Congress.”

I haveo b t a i n e dfunding foran Arling-ton /Fa l l sChurch Of-fice of thePublic De-f e n d e r .Later on Is e c u r e dc a p i t a lconstruc-tion dollarsto helpb u i l dArlington’sDoorwaysShelter forWomen and Children.

School Board Member Sally Baird said,“For more than a decade, Senator Adam Ebbinhas represented Arlington with distinction. Amasterful coalition builder, Adam skillfullyunites those with divergent interests aroundcommon goals. With Adam in Congress, Ar-lington and its neighbors will have an effec-tive representative who stands up for themwhen it matters most.”

I’m not running to be just your memberof Congress; I’m running to be your effectivemember of Congress.

Find out more at www.AdamEbbin.com.


DerekHyra

SatishKorpe


WilliamEuille

Everyone should have the opportunity tosucceed in our society. For over 40 years, Ihave served my community – working as anelected official, as a businessman and withnon-profit organizations. I am the only can-didate who has worked for the entire regionof Northern Virginia on issues important toall of us. I am the candidate who is ready torepresent the 8th District on Day One.

We can grow the economy leaving noone behind. As Mayor of Alexandria, I passedVirginia’s first living wage law. In Congress,I will support raising the federal minimumwage to more than $10.

I worked with Alexandria’s Small Busi-ness De-velopmentCenter tohelp smallbusinessessecure thecapital theyneed tothrive. InCongress, Iwill workwith theS m a l lB u s i n e s sAdminis-tration tohelp moreentrepre-

neurs launch Virginia businesses.I know what it feels like to want better

living conditions for your family. As mayor, Iworked to turn housing projects into mixedincome housing, preserving affordable hous-ing for the future. In Congress, I will cham-pion efforts to expand affordable housing andgrow Northern Virginia’s economy.

I will continue to defend a woman’s rightto determine her own medical care. As a strongsupporter of the Affordable Care Act, I willwork to make sure everyone has access toquality health care.

I also strongly believe that all people areequal under the law. In Congress, I will pushfor legislation to ensure marriage equality andequal treatment for same-sex couples.

I ask for your vote on June 10. Let’s workto make sure everyone is part of our successin Northern Virginia.

The economy continues to recover, withnotable improvements since the Great Reces-sion. However, there are persistent challengesthat make many Americans continue tos t r u g g l efrom pay-check topaycheck.

As oure c o n o m ygrows, fartoo manystill do nothave a joband remainin poverty.In fact,over 46m i l l i o nAmericansare livingat or belowthe poverty level and the number of high pov-erty areas grew in the last decade.

In Congress, I will fight to combat pov-erty and ensure equitable development. Weneed to send needed resources to the placeswhere poverty is on the rise, the inner sub-urbs. We need to reform programs, such asthe Community Development Block Grant,to place community development funds toareas where poverty is disproportionately in-creasing. We also need to increase investmentsin our small businesses, especially inunderserved communities, through expandingthe U.S. Small Business Administration 7(a)and 504 loan guarantees. This will create moreemployment opportunities in underserved ar-eas, setting the stage for equitable growth.

Moreover, we must unionize the grow-ing service sector so that it pays middle-classwages. We also need to promote mixed-in-come housing developments in opportunityneighborhoods. By refining the Low IncomeHousing Tax Credit we can better accomplishthis goal. As a former U.S. Treasury and Hous-ing and Urban Development employee andSBA advisory appointee, I worked closely onmany community development, housing, andsmall business finance programs. I will bringthis knowledge to Congress to help fight pov-erty and promote equitable growth in all ourcommunities.

Why is one in four eligible Americansnot registered to vote?

Democracy by definition is a form ofgovernment in which all eligible citizens par-ticipate equally. As the oldest running democ-racy in the world, it is high time we as Ameri-cans strive to increase participation of our citi-zens and return to a true government by thepeople. With 51 million eligible Americansnot voting, we have got a lot of work to do.

Of those registered, a staggering 40%have not been voting. Over the last fewmonths, I have met many Virginians who havebecome discouraged and disengaged from thedemocratic and electoral process.

I am a firm believer in the power of thepeople. Over the last two decades, I haveworked to increase political awareness andintegration of more Americans into the demo-cratic process.

This democracy is about you, the people.As your congressman, I will work to this aim— taking to Congress the voice of my con-stituents, the voice of the people.

I am not a career politician, but an engi-neer, entrepreneur, community leader, politi-cal tivist, and proud resident of Northern Vir-ginia for the past 30 years.

It is time we reengage voters who feeldisenfranchised, and feel their voice is not be-

ing heard.It is timewe encour-age moreof our citi-zens to reg-ister andget in-v o l v e d .G o v e r n -m e n tshould notbe run bythe pursestring, butby thepeople! Itshould not

reflect the sentiment of a few, but all!A government by the people is most ef-

fective with participation of all the people!The time is now and I ask for your vote.

www.korpeforcongress.comwww.facebook.com/korpeforcongress


Nancy Van Doren for School Board

Candidates for School Board

Arlington Public Schools are at a criti-cal juncture: We must continue to improveeducational outcomes for all our studentswhile also finding space for over 700 new stu-dents each year. This challengerequires a leader who has a deepunderstanding of our students andschools. I am that leader. Thishas been confirmed recently by A-PAC, the political action arm ofthe Arlington Education Associa-tion, which has recommended meas its candidate.

For the last decade I havededicated myself to working withscores of Arlington parents, stu-dents, and teachers to ensure APSis responsive to individual studentneeds. I am the only candidatewith such extensive experience atthe operational level in ourschools. I am also the only candi-date with hands-on experience atthe school and system level inmultiple areas, including facilities improve-ment, transportation, instruction, special edu-

cation, family engagement and diversity. Thisexperience and knowledge is essential to en-sure student, parent and teacher voices areheard at the Board table while critical deci-

sions are made relatedto facilities and studentachievement.

I work col-laboratively and buildcoalitions to fix prob-lems and find solu-tions. This trackrecord of “getting thejob done” is my hall-mark. For example, asJefferson MiddleSchool PTA President,I worked with civic as-sociations, feederschools, parents, andstaff to get Jeffersonand its playing fieldsrenovated cost-effec-tively; I also ensured

families from all backgrounds were supportedand welcomed in school. When APS dis-

rupted its transportation system, I stepped up,served on the Multi-Modal TransportationCommittee, and worked to issue recommen-dations to get students safely to school. AsChair of the Arlington Special Education Ad-visory Committee, I spearheaded an effort tohave special needs services evaluated, result-ing in a blueprint for improved services andinstruction. I also created support groups forfamilies and advocated on their behalf, en-suring students got what they needed to suc-ceed in school.

These concrete accomplishments in lead-ership positions over the past ten years at theschool and county level set me apart from theother candidates. I ask for your vote duringthe Democratic School Board Caucus May 15and 17 so I can continue my work on behalfof Arlington students as a member of the Ar-lington School Board.

The April special election is over, but there’s more balloting to come in May and June. We arehaving three elections over three months this spring. Here’s the sked on what is coming up. Messagesfrom all the candidates in the next two elections appear in this issue of The Voice.

Thursday, May 15, and Saturday, May 17Democratic caucus to endorse a School Board candidateCandidates: GREG GREELEY, BARBARA KANNINEN, NANCY VAN DORENVote Thursday night 7-9 p.m. at Drew Elementary School, 3500 23rd Street SouthORVote Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Washington-Lee High School, 1301 North Stafford St.

This is to choose a Democrat candidate to run on the November ballot for a four-year term toreplace Sally Baird, who is retiring.

Tuesday, June 10Democratic Primary for CongressCandidates: 10 Democrats on a bedsheet ballot.Vote at your usual precinct polling station6 a.m.-7 p.m.

This is to choose a Democratic nominee for the November ballot to fill the seat of retiring Rep. JimMoran for a two-year term.

One down, two more to go


Barbara Kanninen for School Board

Greg Greeley for School Board

I am Barbara Kanninen and I am run-ning for Arlington County School Board be-cause I believe that together we can makeArlington Public Schools the best that theycan be.

Our schools are important to all of us,whether we are parents, teachers,homeowners, or simply citizens who want tolive in a community that values education. Ihave long been engaged in local Democraticactivism, so I have made “pounding the pave-ment” a centerpiece of my campaign. As I’vecanvassed all of Arlington’s 52 precincts theselast few months, I have met many of you, aswell as your neighbors. It has been invalu-able to hear your thoughts and concerns aboutArlington’s schools and the community.

We’re facing complicated issues thatspan many dimensions—from budgeting andcapacity planning to optimizing classroominstruction—and I bring an equally expansiveset of experiences to the table. I have volun-teered in schools and worked with childrenin Arlington and DC for over 20 years. I haveserved on School Board and County Board

Over coffees, breakfasts and outside the1000 doors I’ve knocked on since December,I’ve had great conversations about how tomake our good schools even better. It’s beena chance to listen and learn andto share my own vision for ourschools.

I’m so grateful to haveearned the support of SallyBaird, Karen Darner, AdamEbbin, Patrick Hope, IngridMorroy, and so many otherDemocratic and communityleaders. Today, I ask for yoursupport. I hope you will agreethat I am the best choice to serveon the Arlington School Boardright now.

I’m a 27-year resident ofColumbia Pike; my son at-tended Randolph ElementarySchool, a Title 1 school thatstruggles to meet the needs ofits diverse learners. There Iworked closely with families, staff, schooladministration, and neighbors to build a stron-

advisory committees, and I’m a professionaleconomist, children’s book author, and long-time Democratic activist. These experienceshave given me hundreds of hours with kidsand teachers in classrooms,a deep familiarity with bud-gets and data analysis, and ahistory of working at thecommunity level ongrassroots organizing andengagement.

It is certainly clear thatwe, collectively, have theenergy, the brains, and thewill to do great things for ourkids and our community. I’mexcited about the possibili-ties.

My priorities for ourschools include promotingcreative and critical thinkingover standardized testing,tackling overcrowding withstrong leadership and con-structive community engagement, giving

teachers the support and resources they need,supporting children with adult mentors, in-vesting in the arts and strengthening our sci-ence, technology, engineering and math pro-

grams, and prioritizing fund-ing for teachers and class-room learning.

I’m proud to be endorsedby State Senator BarbaraFavola, former White HouseChief Technology OfficerAneesh Chopra, formerSchool Board members EdFendley and Diane Smith,former County Board candi-dates Cord Thomas and Pe-ter Fallon, former ACDCChairs Mike Lieberman,Dan Steen, and Larry Rob-erts, as well as many school,community and Democraticleaders and activists.

I would be honored tohave your vote.

ger neighborhood school. My son now attendsJefferson Middle School and will attendWakefield High School. With a perspectiveshaped by my experience in South Arlington

schools, I will bring acritical balance to theschool board. I will workto meet the needs of allschool communities. As a member of theArlington public schools(APS) Facilities AdvisoryCouncil and chair of itsProjections and CapacitySubcommittee, I havebeen immersed in themost critical issue facingour school system—ourcapacity crisis. About7,000 additional studentswill enter APS in the nextdecade. I am alreadyworking to ensure thatAPS provides sufficient

resources to meet the needs of all our chil-dren in the best way possible. APS named me

an Honored Citizen for my work on these is-sues.

An Air Force veteran and business pro-fessional, I have managed budgets and staffand know how to address our community’sneeds in fiscally responsible ways. Workingwith the County Board (which funds ourschools), I will ensure that we plan smartly,use our resources wisely, and ensure ourschool system’s current and future needs aremet.

Finally, as a foster parent and parent ofan English language learner who is now aDream Project scholar, I know we can do bet-ter for kids with special needs. We must closethe achievement gap. Our children with spe-cial needs, whether they are language, abil-ity, or gifted, must get the early interventionand consistent, effective support they need tosucceed in school and in life.

To learn more, please visit my campaignweb site at www.greggreeley.com. Thank youfor your support on May 15 or 17!


continued from previous page

One Steering Committee analyst said, “Thiselection wasn’t about Alan or John or ACDC,it was about the current ruling coalition on theCounty Board and their aloofness, hubris andtone-deaf attitude toward their constituents.”

The solution, this activist said, is “trans-parency, sunlight, openness and good com-munication.”

Yet another Steering Committee mem-ber said he found “deep resentment within thecommunity ... and the widely held belief thatthe Board refuses to consult and be held ac-countable.”

And yet another Steering Committeemember who spent considerable time on thestreets and on the phones campaigning forHowze said, “More Democratic voters didshow up this year.... But many of those Demo-crats were not voting for our candidate. Weall know this from canvassing, phoning, poll-greeting.... A good number decided to take thetime to voice their anger and say, as they camein to vote, things like: ‘I have never, ever votedfor a Republican in my entire life, but I’mdoing it this time because all this spending isinsane—the aquatics center, the ‘million-dol-lar’ bus stop, the boondoggle streetcar’.”

This party officer did not agree with thecomplaint about “insane” spending, saying,“There’s a lot of misinformation out there.”But she said the prevailing attitude must beaddressed, both with better communicationand with “some humility.”

And still another Steering Committeemember—a very senior one—said, “TheBoard has, at times, seemed totally tone deafand has seemed to go out of its way to shutout, if not actively antagonize, business lead-ers, Republicans, independents, disaffectedcitizen groups, our state government, etc. Thisis a problem that has to be corrected.”

He added, “As long as we see this as thealarm clock wake-up call that it is, it shouldin the long run make us stronger. I am confi-dent that Democratic values still overwhelm-ingly prevail in Arlington.”

Another member of the Steering Com-mittee wrote, “I believe that real changes needto be made about the way Arlington is run,and about specific policies the Board has com-mitted to without obtaining citizen approval....Real changes need to be made to showArlingtonians we have absorbed the lessonsof [the special election]. Alan has made agood start, but obviously it is the sitting mem-bers of the Board who have to make suchchanges a reality.”

This Steering Committee member sug-gested that the Board “pledge to give votersthe final say on new capital projects like thestreetcar and aquatic center. That means aseparate bond initiative for them. Peoplearen’t stupid; they know that big projects arethrown into omnibus bond initiatives likeParks and Recreation Facilities or EducationFacilities. I heard a lot of complaining aboutthe aquatic center not being on a separate bal-lot line.... The Board is losing the citizens’confidence....Soon the majority view that thecounty is well-managed may crumble too.”

There was near uniform agreement thatHowze has intelligence and appeal as a can-didate, but that the campaign lacked verve—that Vihstadt successfully defined the cam-paign as one against the County Board, notagainst Howze, and that the Democratic cam-paign failed to engage him and to point outhis history that is inconsistent with Arlingtonvalues, such as opposition to gun limits andMedicaid expansion.

However, others felt Vihstadt did notcreate the dominant issue of anger at Board“arrogance” but merely rode it successfullyto a big victory.

In that view, the solution lies not in alarger Democratic turnout in November, butin a different attitude and approach to spend-ing issues by the Board.

Some used examples, however, that havelittle or nothing to do with the Board. Theycited non-responsiveness by county employ-ees when they posed questions, suggesting theconcern about “arrogance” went beyond theboard to the county government at large—aharder problem to tackle.

Still another Steering Committee mem-ber said in his analysis, “There needs to be acultural shift both in county government andin school government that revalues meaning-ful public participation. A much larger seg-ment of the population than I realized nowbelieves that the ‘Arlington Way’ is a joke,and that public participation is a sham. Pub-lic meetings and consultant-driven processesgive the aura of inclusion without meaning-ful impact on decision-making.”

This analyst avoided use of the word“arrogance,” instead saying, “Our governmenthas grown complacent and does not appearresponsive to citizen concerns.... It has madecivic participation a box to check rather thana means to decision.”

Howze moved to address such concernsthis month by proposing a countywide refer-endum on the streetcar. He said he supportsthe streetcar, but feels a referendum will be a

better forum for hashing out the issue.“Voters clearly didn’t understand why it

was the right investment at the right time,”Howze said. There’s an obligation to edu-cate people and then give them a voice. Theissue doesn’t lend itself to a 30-second soundbite, but the billions in economic developmentthat it will bring will help ... our overcrowdedschools.”

Del. Patrick Hope also endorsed a ref-erendum and said the County Board could putit on the ballot as early as this November byincluding the issue in the county’s transpor-tation bond.

County Board Chairman Jay Fisette toldThe Washington Post he was surprised by theproposal for a referendum. “I lived in Cali-fornia for awhile when we had 100-plus ref-erenda on the ballot. I became very disillu-sioned about the use of selective referenda onpublic policy issues.”

The Post also quoted Board MemberMary Hynes as saying, “It depends onwhether you think [a referendum] is a goodway to make public policy or not. I don’tknow that I think it’s the best way to have arobust conversation with the community aboutanything.”

ers was the high cost for the aquatics centerplanned for Long Bridge Park. However, thatproject was halted when bids came in farabove expectations and so is not really com-parable to the streetcar issue, where the Boardis pushing ahead.

In financial terms, campaign resourceswere close for the two main candidates.Howze raised $110,000 to Vihstadt’s $93,000.

In the ground campaign, ACDC contin-ued to dominate in terms of door-to-door can-vassing, phone banking and direct voter con-tact. In fact, many outside observers com-mented on how outstanding the ground cam-paign was for a special election.

But critics tended to focus on the sub-stantive content of the campaign, and espe-cially praised Vihstadt’s last campaign mail-ing as being very effective in presenting himas the more experienced candidate.

All of that, however, was overshadowedby what campaigners found was agroundswell of voter anger at what manycalled the “arrogance” of the County Board’sapproach to public policy decisions.

Campaigners find lots of anger this year

Dems lose bigcontinued from page one

may 2014 dems lost big time - arlington democrats · fast on may 10, all three school board candi-d...

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