The Arlington County board — which has been governing with just four members since December — will be operating at full capacity again after Tuesday’s special election, with three candidates vying for a spot vacated by former board member Barbara Favola, who resigned in December.
Democrat Libby Garvey, a member of the Arlington school board; Republican Mark Kelly, a Capitol Hill staffer; and Audrey Clement, a longtime Green Party leader, are running to replace Favola, who left after being elected to the state senate.
All three candidates have emphasized setting realistic budget priorities in Arlington, with Garvey, a 15-year-veteran of the Arlington school board, running a campaign focused on maintaining the county’s “core services” — public transportation, affordable housing and education among them — while the county experiences increased development and growth.
“Arlington’s going through a lot of growth and change right now,” she said. “Those who live here love it, and it’s about setting priorities as we go through change. I’d like to see us do a better job of setting priorities and sticking with them.”
Republican candidate Kelly, the legislative director for U.S. Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kansas, has been even more critical of the county’s funding initiatives, slamming current county projects like the Artisphere arts center and a proposed trolley proposal along Columbia Pike. He wants to reduce Arlington’s debt service by 25 percent and hire an inspector general to conduct county government audits, and wrote on his campaign website that he wants to see an end to the “status quo mentality that one-party rule brings to Arlington.”
Like Kelly and Garvey, Green Party candidate Clement has also focused on budgetary constraints in her campaign. The county, she said, should be funding only “basic services” like schools, infrastructure and public safety, and said the board has “lost touch with the voters.” She said she’s against a potential tax rate increase in the county and, like Kelly, has criticized the Columbia Pike trolley initiative and the Artisphere arts center. Clement has no elected experience, but has served in several leadership positions in the Green Party and currently serves as the Virginia Green Party’s co-chair.
Polls open at 6 a.m. Tuesday and close at 7 p.m. Voters with questions about their polling places can visit arlingtonva.us or call 703-228-3456 for information.
