WELCOME

After 28 years of service in Arlington County’s local government, first on the School Board and then the County Board, I have stepped into a new role and life chapter: Private Citizen. My career has equipped me with extensive experience, valuable connections, and an unwavering passion for fostering good local government in Arlington and in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia (DMV) region, an area I call home.

July 2 Blog: A Few Thoughts on July 4 & Some Local News

Dear Friends:

My best July 4 wishes to all my readers. This 250 anniversary is not what any of us expected it would be I think, but all the resistance efforts going on across the country feel very appropriate. I certainly have felt closer to our revolutionary ancestors than ever before.

Some of you may have seen this piece in the NY Times: The State of American Resistance is Stronger than You Think. I like their framing of authoritarianism: “Authoritarianism is about how we can do less for each other and still feel OK about it.” And their logical conclusion is therefore: “A key piece of fighting against authoritarianism is asking the question: ‘What more can we do for each other?’”

We saw that so clearly in Minneapolis and around the country with resistance to ICE camps. Luckily all resistance that helps each other does not have to be as difficult as what we see from incredibly brave ordinary Americans on the news. And, I know most (all?) of my readers are already doing many things to “gum up the works” of this regime and to help our less fortunate neighbors.

Helping our neighbors feels like one of the most patriotic things we can do this July 4. One easy resistance action is to assist our neighbors with their food bills. With school out – so children do not get meals at school – and higher grocery prices making it harder and harder for more and more Arlington families to be able to feed themselves, such simple help is needed more than ever. Many groups are helping, but I’ll mention here the Arlington Presbyterian Church which is collecting grocery gift cards and in kind contributions which you can drop off. There are 5 crucial items they are collecting and gift cards from Aldi and Giant which are most helpful.

Our Visibility Brigade couldn’t pass up sending a classic message from the Fairlington bridge: “No Kings Since 1776.” Our team will be on the bridge early July 4 and won’t stay past 11:00 or so. The heat promises to be extreme but it feels important to be out on this 4th. It also felt like we could hand off protesting to Mother Nature for the rest of the day. Algae started off with a resistance message that went viral several weeks ago and continues to inspire fun jokes and memes. (That Reflecting Pool debacle is just too spot on!) Now heat is taking over for the next few days and will make Mother Nature hard to ignore. And perhaps there will be some thunder and lightning just to upstage the fireworks. If you are out on the 4th, or any other time during this heat wave, have plenty of water and take care.

News: As I was writing this blog, I learned that our wonderful Treasurer and my friend, Carla de la Pava (left), is resigning as our Treasurer effective July 3. She has done an outstanding job, tackling the delinquency rate for taxes with both support and compassion for those who haven’t paid their taxes because of issues like dementia, or illness or misunderstanding. For those who are just shirking their responsibility, she’s been tough and follows through. Carla deserves our thanks and gratitude. I would be worried by such a sudden departure, but I know Carla’s Chief Deputy Treasurer, Kim Rucker (right) will be stepping up. Kim has been with the Treasurer’s office for over 30 years and will keep a steady hand on the office.

Treasurer is one of the many local offices that are crucial to how well a community works, but are relatively unseen by most people….as long as everything goes well. It’s important that voters make sure the office is filled by capable people who are committed to the public good. We’ve been really lucky with Carla and her predecessor, Frank O’Leary. I think we will continue to be lucky with Kim.

Yours in peaceful and patriotic resistance,

Libby