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Description
County Board member Libby Garvey's New Year's address delivered at the Arlington County Board's Organizational Meeting of Jan. 3 2017.
A
To
you
know,
we've
all
got
the
speeches
and
we're
all
ditz
similar,
but
actually
everybody's
hitting
different
things.
We
do
a
lot
and
I
will
be
fairly
short
tonight
and
thank
you,
mr.
fassett,
and
congratulations
to
you
and
our
new
vice
chair
miss
crystal
congratulations
and
thank
you
to
all
my
colleagues
for
your
partnership
and
teamwork
during
my
chairmanship,
thanks
to
everyone
here
and
tuning
in
with
a
special
shout
out
to
the
Arlington
County
Civic
Federation,
for
holding
their
first
meeting
of
the
year
here
with
us
later
this
evening.
A
A
You
know,
even
though
last
year
was
a
transition
year
with
two
new
board
members,
a
new
manager,
a
new
chair,
I,
think
we
all
weathered
it
really
quite
well
because
of
who
we
are
our
staff
and
our
employees,
who
do
the
heavy
lifting
year
in
and
year
out,
are
always
a
source
of
strength
and
I
really
appreciate
the
good
work.
Everyone
does
even
more.
A
After
serving
with
chair
as
chair
and
having
the
chance
to
work
closer
with
all
of
you,
but
most
of
all
thank
you
to
our
residents
who
make
this
community
what
it
is
in
looking
ahead,
given
the
state
of
uncertainty
around
us,
local
government
is
more
important
than
ever.
I
think
you've
heard
that
theme
from
a
number
of
us
I
have
confidence
in
us,
because
ours
is
an
involved,
hardworking
and
talented
community
from
top
to
bottom,
and
that
is
the
key
to
our
success.
As
I
said
during
my
swearing-in
last
month.
A
Our
goal
must
be
to
connect
our
government
with
our
people
and
our
people
with
each
other,
so
we
can
embrace
all
our
resources
to
make
our
wonderful
potential
as
a
community
a
reality.
Now,
of
course,
the
most
important
way
we
connect
with
our
community
is
by
having
excellent
public
services.
Government
works
pretty
well
here
in
Arlington,
but
it
can
and
must
be
better.
Last
year
we
worked
hard
to
demonstrate
our
commitment
to
continuous
improvement
and
I
really
appreciate
our
managers.
Leadership
in
this
area,
Thank
You
mr.
Schwartz.
A
One
of
my
goals
for
2017
is
that
by
this
time
next
year,
people
in
businesses
will
be
able
to
pay
for
permits
online.
Now
this
may
seem
like
a
small
thing,
but
it's
really
an
important
in
movement
and,
as
I
said
last
month,
I
really
can't
wait
for
the
day
when
people
actually
describe
our
permitting
and
zoning
offices
customer
friendly
and
the
process
as
easy.
A
I
look
forward
this
year
to
continuing
to
expand
our
use
of
technology
to
connect
with
people
we
began
last
year,
webcasting
our
County
Board
work
sessions
and
the
meetings
of
the
planning
and
transportation
commissions,
and
within
this
new
year
we
should
be
able
to
begin
to
videocast
and
report
every
Commission
meeting
and
we're
going
to
be
finding
more
ways
to
get
feedback
from
everybody
who
wants
to
comment
and
I
know.
There
are
a
lot
of
people
who
want
to
comment,
and
that's
a
good
thing.
A
In
recent
years,
I've
been
taking
a
more
active
role
in
working
with
our
business
community
and
I
plan
to
continue
that
work
as
our
liaison
to
the
Economic
Development
Commission.
As
the
regional
economy
changes,
we
are
continuing
to
adapt
and
work
to
bring
down
our
commercial
vacancy
rate
and
I
believe
now
that
that
has
become
important
board
work
from
large
corporations
to
tech
companies,
the
local
small
businesses,
a
connected
business
community
is
one
of
Arlington's
biggest
strengths.
Last
year
we
increase
the
frequency
and
quality
of
our
meetings
with
the
school
board,
as
mr.
A
Vyse
tat
noted
and
our
schools
face
many
challenges
and
are
crucial
to
our
success
as
a
county.
From
my
time
on
both
the
school
board
and
the
county
board.
I
know
how
important
it
is
for
the
two
boards
to
maintain
a
strong
partnership
and
I
look
forward
to
continuing
this
partnership
to
make
sure
our
schools
are
the
best
possible
for
our
children
this
year,
I
also
look
forward
to
continuing
our
efforts
to
improve
transportation
along
columbia,
pike
and
throughout
arlington.
A
As
we
all
know,
transportation
is
not
just
an
Arlington
issue,
but
a
regional
one
and
I
will
continue
to
work
with
colleagues
from
around
the
region
to
connect
all
of
us
in
safe,
convenient
and
reliable
ways.
So,
as
always,
we
have
much
work
to
do
this
year.
We
will
have
new
issues
to
handle,
but
we
must
be
sure
we
follow
through
on
projects
already
underway
and
I
believe
our
local
government
and
our
community
are
as
important
now
as
they
have
ever
been
the
better.