►
Description
from the Arlington County Board Organizational Meeting, held on January 3, 2023.
A
And
now
I'd
like
to
turn
to
our
chair,
emerita
Miss
Crystal.
Thank
you
very
much.
Mr
George
Dorsey,
congratulations!
Garvey!
Thank
you
for
leading
us
this
year,
ahead
in
Walden,
fro
wrote
that
in
the
long
run,
men
hit
only
what
they
aim
at.
Therefore,
they
had
better
aim
at
something
high,
as
we
convene
this
year
on
the
board.
Even
amid
the
uncertainty
of
our
immediate
moment,
we
are
preparing
for
decisions
that
will
affect
our
community's
long-run
future.
A
A
Decarbonization
efforts
are
making
a
difference,
and
but
there
is
still
so
much
human
suffering
that
will
be
avoided
only
with
action
from
all
of
us,
and
so
we
celebrate
the
news
that
Arlington
County
operations
now
run
entirely
on
renewable
electricity,
a
full
two
years
ahead
of
schedule,
and
now
our
bigger
challenge
is
helping
our
whole
Community
decarbonize
to
meet
our
goals,
which
is
why
I'm
truly
looking
forward
to
seeing
the
office
of
climate
coordination
and
policy
go
from
a
mere
idea.
Last
year
to
a
fully
functional
operation,
catalyzing
and
organizing,
as
we
start
2023.
A
At
the
same
time,
we
will
have
to
resist
the
easy
Allure
of
just
electrifying
the
status
quo,
especially
when
it
comes
to
Transportation,
because
respectfully
we
aren't
going
to
new
car
shop
our
way
out
of
climate
change,
and
we
know
that
our
vision,
zero
goals,
like
our
community
energy
plan,
depends
on
reducing
overall
vehicle
miles
traveled,
which
means
that
public
transit
has
got
to
compete
on
convenience
and
ease
of
use.
We
are
on
the
edge
of
some
big
ideas
about
bus
in
2023.
Building
on
the
very
successful
extension
of
free
art
rides
for
APS
students.
A
Thinking
about
regional
Bus,
Service,
more
dynamically
and
interconnectedly,
with
new
studies
and
actions
underway
with
Walmart
and
with
the
northern
Virginia
Transportation
Commission.
And
finally,
we
will
be
getting
into
some
of
the
specifics
of
our
own
art
system
like
improved
routes
and
service
levels.
As
we
begin,
our
update
to
the
master
Transportation
plan
this
calendar
year.
A
Sometimes
our
problems
present
as
literal
Billboards
staring
Us
in
the
face.
Like
the
14-foot
commercial
brokerage
advertisement,
I
saw
entering
Brooklyn
this
holiday
pleading
tired
of
zoom
in
large
font.
This
unsettled
aspiration
for
a
return
to
pre-pandemic
in-person
work
reminded
me
at
least
that
we
are
not
the
only
Community
wrestling
with
difficult
years
ahead
as
office
leases,
expire
and
challenge
our
local
revenues
and
their
therefore
budgets
and
levels
of
service.
But
what
about
the
long
game,
five
or
more
years
from
now?
A
How
can
we
hasten
and
not
just
hope,
for
recovery
and
a
more
resilient
local
economy?
The
good
company
in
which
we
find
ourselves
regionally
and
Ashley
means
that
we
will
have
case
studies
to
consider
for
supporting
adaptive,
reuse
and
thanks
to
the
collaboration
of
our
teams
at
AED
and
cpht.
We
will
have
actions
ahead
early
this
year
to
update
our
policies
to
welcome
21st
century
uses
in
our
commercial
buildings,
be
they
micro,
fulfillment
facilities,
blends
of
traditional
office
and
education
functions.
A
Even
Urban
agriculture
and
we've
got
to
con,
retain
our
competitive
Advantage,
our
Workforce
as
Terry
Clower
of
George
Mason
shared
in
a
panel.
This
fall,
Workforce
and
talent
is
the
overwhelming
driver
of
business
citing
decisions,
and
so
it
should
be
motivating
like
14-foot
billboard
motivating
to
all
of
us
that
the
past
few
years
have
shown
major
domestic
out
migration
from
Arlington
in
Nova,
largely
in
clower's
observation,
at
least
25
to
35
year
olds.
If
we
are
losing
the
Next
Generation.
In
his
words,
our
office
occupancy
rate
is
close
behind
them.
A
So
if
meeting
our
climate
goals
demands
less
greenhouse
gas
emissions,
intensive
ways
of
living
and
sustaining
our
economic
competitiveness
hinges
on
our
ability
to
retain
newly
mobile
Talent
than
the
long
run
certainly
demands
our
attention
to
housing.
This
is,
in
fact,
a
checked.
My
seventh
organizational
meeting
speech
in
a
row
calling
for
advancement
of
legalizing
missing
middle
housing.
The
study
and
its
Origins
have
indeed
been
a
long
time
in
coming,
but
I
do
believe
that
patience
has
proved
a
virtue
on
this
issue.
A
2023
is
also
exciting
because
it's
our
first
opportunity
to
think
Beyond
and
after
the
missing
middle
housing
study
when
it
comes
to
the
zoning
of
our
lowest
density,
neighborhoods,
specifically
how
to
better
achieve
our
goals
of
preserving
tree
canopy
and
minimizing
impacts
on
neighboring
properties.
Ideas
like
those
from
our
draft
forestry
and
natural
resources
management
plan
about
how
shifting
setbacks
from
front
to
back
could
protect
backyard
trees
or
from
our
Planning
Commission
about
whether
shifting
our
Paradigm
from
lot
coverage
to
floor
area
ratio
could
allow
us
to
get
prescriptive
about
what
we
care
about.
A
Most
the
volume
spacing
shape
of
homes
while
allowing
adaptation
for
changing
conditions
and
greater
Variety
in
design.
To
be
clear,
the
former
recommendation
is
an
urgent
one
and
the
latter
the
beginning
of
a
much
more
extensive
analysis,
but
my
point
in
Sharing
both
is
that
they
together
reflect.
The
Ingenuity
of
this
community
is
up
to
the
challenge
of
shaping
our
long-run
housing
future.
A
In
short,
as
we
begin,
2023
I'm,
actually
thinking
about
Arlington
in
2033
and
Arlington
in
2053,
our
economy,
our
environment,
our
homes,
our
Collective,
the
values,
I
think
that
in
thoreau's
words,
we
had
better
aim
at
something
higher
for
that
future,
because
it
is
only
as
bright
as
our
aspirations
for
it.
Thank
you
and
happy
New
Year.