My Story
Our experiences in life shape us as people. My experiences formed my values and outlook, which I believe served me well as a County Board member, its Chair and advocate for everyone in our community. My first awareness of politics and being a Democrat was when I was 9 years old since my parents were Kennedy supporters. In 1970, I was a college freshman and met my future husband, Kennan.
Our first dates were during civil rights and Vietnam War protests. While I’m not in these pictures of the demonstrations for justice for Black Panther Bobby Seal and against the Vietnam War, I was there. The early 70s was a tense time. Protesting students had been shot. Many cities had demonstrations with riot police, tear gas, and even soldiers. I learned from those experiences that standing up for political principles can be dangerous even if you’re not looking for trouble.
Two years later, my father deserted our family and I went home for a semester to work. I had 3 younger siblings. My waitress pay put food on the table until my Mom could get back on her feet. I learned that I was lucky to be able to finish college. Not everyone can, even if they start. Also, as anyone who’s waited tables knows, service people work hard.
After college, Kennan and I married and went to teach in the Central African Republic with the Peace Corps. These pictures are from the Lycee in Bambari where we lived for 2 years. It was difficult work but we found it immensely rewarding.
We learned more than we taught, and we found out that everyone has the potential to do great things. People who live without running water and electricity can still be smart, learn and enjoy life; but it’s not easy for them. I discovered I could help make a difference.
After Peace Corps, Kennan and I settled in Arlington. We started our family and I became active in the PTA. I saw inequities in our school system; tried to advocate; got frustrated and ran for School Board. I ran on equity in education and called for an audit of our Capital Improvement Program, which clearly had problems. No one wanted me to call for that audit, but I felt I had to. I lost the election, but the audit happened, and found significant mismanagement. The next year, I ran again and won. It was clear to me that you need to be persistent and not give up in order to get things done. You also need to do what you believe is right, even if others disagree.
I saw this clearly again during the Iraq War. I was part of a small group of people from our Quaker Meeting. Once a week we held an hour-long silent vigil at the Capitol holding a banner that said “Seek Peace and Pursue It” (Psalms 34). I got the permits for us and participated pretty much every week, rain or shine, for about 3 years
​​At first, many people would yell curses or make rude gestures when they walked by. A few would surreptitiously give us thumbs-up signs. People were afraid to have others see them take a stand. That’s when I realized how important it was that we held that vigil and let people know they were not alone in opposing the war. We gave them an example of standing up for what we believed was right. Over time, fewer and fewer people yelled at us. After several years, no one criticized us and other people would even come and stand with us.
During my 15 years on the School Board, I worked with people across the County and saw how important both equity and wise spending are for government. There were challenges but we made big strides. We cut the achievement gap between groups of students by over half on several measures. You can see some of those measures on the graph from our school budget the last time I chaired the School Board (APS: School Budget, FY2012, p. 54). We built or renovated almost every school; pretty much on time and on budget.
Wakefield High School was our last school to be renovated and bond money was tight. One of my proudest achievements, after cutting the achievement gap, was bringing together the Yorktown and Wakefield PTAs to create enough political pressure to put planning money into our budget for Wakefield. I did not foresee the 2008 recession, but that planning money meant we were ready to build when construction costs plummeted. This allowed us to afford the beautiful and much needed school that is pictured here. Though we still have work to do and crowding is again an issue, Arlington schools now deliver an excellent education in good facilities. I learned that if you keep your focus, over time, you can get a lot done.
​​During those years, Kennan introduced me to cycling. We got a tandem bike and had almost 6,000 miles of great rides. This picture is from a wonderful ride we had on Mt. Desert Island in Maine. Sadly, Kennan died of a heart attack in 2008, which is the most difficult experience I’ve had in my life.
I started a fund in his memory to support Phoenix Bikes, a nonprofit shop where minority and underserved youth can learn to repair bikes and run a business. It transforms young lives. I learned to always try to find positive outcomes and that helping others actually helps you. I learned, again, to never give up.
In 2012, I was elected to the County Board and looked closely into the streetcar project proposed for Columbia Pike. After careful study, I realized this project would be an economic and transportation disaster for the Pike and the County. This picture from Toronto shows just one problem of mixing streetcars and traffic. I had to do everything I could to stop that project, including supporting an Independent candidate for County Board, whose election bid was successful. Today, I’m pleased to work with my Board colleagues to support good Metro, VRE and bus rapid transit projects that serve Arlington and the region.
This brings us to my final years on the County Board. I loved serving Arlington on the Board because I could help people through good government that values equity. This can be seen in Arlington's Affordable Housing Master Plan, Community Energy Plan, Public Spaces Master Plan, the Equity Resolution, Childcare Initiative, and more, all adopted or updated in the past few years.
And, I loved that I learned new things every day. I had to. With Amazon’s move to Crystal City and the Pandemic, we entered a new era. Arlington always managed change and development well, but needed to change the old paradigm that the most vulnerable in a society are the first to suffer from change and the last to benefit. The community rose to that challenge in many ways during Covid as community members formed volunteer networks to help provide food and supplies like diapers to families who had suddenly lost their income. Many County workers pivoted to strengthening our safety net to make sure everyone had food, shelter and medical care while others carried on through the pandemic repairing our roads and keeping clean water flowing.
When we began to settle in to the “new normal” after the Pandemic, I began to feel we’d made a transition of sorts and it was time for me to retire from elected office and let the next generation step up. As I announced at the January 2024 Board meeting when I began my third chairmanship of the Board, "both my head and my heart” told me it was time to retire from elected office at the end of the year.
I had always planned to stay active, but the second Trump administration made it immediately clear that not only my Arlington community was in danger, but our nation’s democracy. I’m now as active as ever but in a different way. My life experiences have shaped my values and taught me valuable lessons which I am now using to help others as best I can through Libby’s Local List and local actions to build local community and resist the destruction of our nation.