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From YouTube: Chris ZImmerman's New Year's Address 2014
Description
Outgoing Arlington County Board member Chris ZImmerman's address at the Board's annual organizational meeting, January 1, 2014
A
New
Year's
Day
is
always
a
time
to
look
forward
and
to
reflect
for
me,
this
one
may
be
a
little
more
reflective
than
most.
This
is
the
18th
and
last
time
I
will
participate
in
this
annual
right.
From
this
vantage
point
next
year,
I
will
have
the
privilege
of,
as
my
friend
Margaret
lampe
used
to
say,
watching
it
over.
A
My
toes
as
I've
said
before,
to
be
elected
to
public
office
is
the
highest
honor
bestowed
on
a
citizen
in
the
American
democracy
to
serve
an
elected
office
in
Arlington
is
truly
a
privilege
and
I
am
very
conscious
of
the
great
privilege
I
have
been
given
in
being
chosen
by
my
fellow
citizens
to
sit
in
this
seat
five
times.
I
want
to
congratulate
mr.
Tejada
on
his
leadership
in
moving
Arlington
forward
together
in
2013,
as
I
listened
to
the
ambitious
agenda.
A
Our
new
chairman
has
laid
out
for
the
coming
year
expounding
the
twin
concepts
of
environmental
and
economic
sustainability,
I'm
thinking
about
the
kind
of
community
that
Arlington
is
what
we've
been
able
to
do
over
the
years,
the
legacy
that
we
inherited
and
that
we
will
pass
on
wii?
U
came
to
this
board
in
the
1990s
were
heirs
to
a
legacy
of
transit,
oriented
development
which
provided
a
foundation
on
which
to
build
a
model:
sustainable
community,
a
walkable,
livable,
diverse
urban
village,
a
microcosm
of
the
measures
that
are
needed
throughout
the
nation.
A
Arlington
is
envied
and
emulated
as
a
model,
not
just
for
what
we've
done,
but
for
how
we've
done
it
through
good
times
and
tough
times,
we've
taken
on
hard
challenges
that
other
communities
back
away
from
and
we've
stayed
with
our
commitments.
I'm
often
asked,
especially
by
elected
officials
from
other
key.
How
do
you
do
it?
Those
who
ask
often
seem
to
suspect
that
there
must
be
something
different
about
Arlington
Ian's.
Of
course,
Arlington
is
richly
endowed
with
talent.
A
Its
name
regularly
appears
at
the
top
of
the
list
of
most
educated
counties
in
America,
but
I
have
come
to
the
conclusion
that
it
is
not
that
Arlington
has
more
people
who
are
smart
enough
to
do
all
these
things.
It
is
that
Arlington
has
more
people
who
know
that
they
are
smart
enough
to
figure
it
out.
It's
only
partly
education
and
talent.
A
lot
of
it
is
attitude,
a
collective
commitment
and
a
can-do
spirit.
A
Somehow,
in
recent
years,
much
of
our
country
seems
to
have
become
gripped
by
I
can't
do
mentality,
but
just
can't
do
things
we
used
to
be
able
to
do
propose
anything.
Ambitious
and
a
chorus
of
naysayers
arises
to
shout
it
down
across
the
airwaves
and
the
internet.
Before
there's
even
a
chance
for
thoughtful
discussion,
it
costs
too
much.
It
won't
work.
It
will
bankrupt
as
bad
things
will
happen.
The
government
can't
be
trusted
to
do
anything,
and
so
the
country
that
built
the
interstate
highway
system
and
metro
rail
can't
even
pass
a
transportation
bill.
A
We
can
forget
high-speed
rail,
even
as
every
other
developed
or
developing
country
races
past
us,
we're
told
to
ignore
climate
change,
even
as
the
reality
is
ever
more
evident
and
costly.
We
shouldn't
even
try
to
provide
health
care
for
all
of
our
people
and
so
on.
It's
as
though,
as
a
national
society.
We've
lost
that
self-confidence
in
our
collective
enterprise
that
belief
in
ourselves
that
commitment
that
spirit
that
once
made
all
things
possible
today
there
are
local
echoes
of
the
can't
do
cars.
A
Those
who
would
have
us
turn
away
from
the
progressive
legacy
that
has
made
this
community
the
success
that
it
is
to
give
up
our
belief
in
Arlington,
but
in
Arlington
we've
never
lost
the
spirit.
The
commitment
we've
aimed
high
we've
been
ambitious
in
our
undertakings.
We've
sought
to
challenge
others
to
share
in
our
confidence
in
the
possibilities
of
our
community,
our
former
county
manager,
mr.
Karle,
equipped
in
Arlington.
A
We
don't
do
easy
and
it
was
a
statement
of
pride
because
for
decades
we
have
taken
on
the
hard
challenges,
met
them
and
emerged
stronger
I
think
we
still
have
that
pride
I
still
believe
in
Arlington
and
I.
Think
most
of
you
do
too.
As
I
noted
a
year
ago,
Arlington's
long,
sustained,
successful
approach
to
governing
rests
on
three
commitments:
an
unshakeable
commitment
to
progressive
moral
values.
A
We
affirm
the
worth
of
every
individual,
celebrate
diversity
and
promote
inclusion,
a
commitment
to
long-term
investment
in
our
community
to
improve
the
quality
of
life
and
grow
the
tax
base,
so
that
we
can
live
up
to
our
moral
commitments
fund,
the
best
schools
in
the
region
and
support
all
the
services
that
Arlington
ians
expect
and
a
commitment
to
the
process
of
governing
what
some
call
the
Arlington
way
that
is
open
and
inclusive,
actively
engaging
the
public
from
early
on
in
decision-making.
That
values
civility
in
discourse
and
is
decisive.