The biggest additional step we should take in the short term is additional analysis to understand the needs of those laid off. Our unemployment rate has been up to 3.2%. But, last month saw a slight downturn. We need to learn if that will continue and, more importantly, the stages of life our federal employees are in.

We are already holding resource fairs and providing dedicated services to former feds. I’m also helping lead the Commercial Market Resiliency Initiative to convert empty office buildings into housing, to create additional affordable homes. We can also bolster our stock of employers, to make way for job growth in the private sector, now that federal work is more limited. This is why I’m working to attract diverse employers like Costar. Finally, the threats to SNAP funding and federal nutrition programs mean Arlington must step up by expanding food assistance and strengthening partnerships with local community organizations to supplement these necessities.

In the short term, we will pass guidance in our Capital Improvement Plan that commits to a public private partnership to add over $500 million in funding for housing. Implementing it and gaining detail to it will take work over the coming months and years. I am committed to that work.

As far as what we are already doing, housing affordability is a top priority for our local government in Arlington, because the baseline cost of living here is so high. To combat rising costs, preventing evictions and increasing our supply of family sized units is essential. I also support affordable housing projects to ensure geographic diversity such as Leckey and Queen's Court. More recently I’ve worked to preserve 1,300+ apartments at Barcroft for lower income families, and have supported zoning changes to permit duplexes and triplexes where only single family homes were allowed before. I also support ongoing work under the Housing Arlington umbrella.

I believe that real safety means every resident is protected, regardless of immigration status. It is our responsibility to provide support to immigrant families facing persecution, and I have worked to amend policies to prohibit voluntary collaboration with ICE. More broadly, I will always prioritize services for vulnerable residents—low-income families, immigrants, federal workers, and LGBTQ+ individuals—and ensure critical services like police, fire, Metro, and schools stay strong for the benefit of all Alingtonians. In the recent budget, I championed funding for immigrant families impacted by deportations.

I also invite League Members to watch my remarks on this issue from January, after the murder of Renee Good. There are less eight minutes and succinctly reflect my commitment to the safety of our immigrant communities and all of Arlington. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zpGD30C0OU&t=11s

We are taking steps through adaptive reuse. At the July meeting we will be adding 607 housing units in the former Drug Enforcement Agency space in Crystal City. This will bring down our vacancy rate by 1% County wide. We've done more than 6 buildings already from Clarendon to Crystal City. Continuing that work is good for our vacancy rates and economy and housing. Staying strong with this work while listening to community concerns is where I am and where I believe we need to be.

Transforming some of these buildings into multi-use spaces is the first step. This will require fast-tracked regulatory and zoning changes, creative repurposing of vacant buildings, and commercial real estate market diversification. I believe this challenge has the potential to become an opportunity for economic and community growth with the right interventions.

I support the continued use of ranked choice voting in County Board elections because I believe it is more inclusive and a better way to reflect voters choices. The format reduces negative campaigning, increases voter choice, and encourages broader candidate diversity. While adopting this change, we must continue to educate our residents to minimize any surprises or confusion at the ballot box. Implementing rank choice at the state and Federal levels needs to be considered carefully, in my view. Federal multiple candidates rank choice was used to disenfranchise voters of color in the past, so I would want to think carefully on that front, even as now such an approach would not be legal. Broadly, clear support in County Board elections. School Board law does not allow primaries, which makes rank choice only available through caucuses run by parties, which Democrats currently do, along with online voting. Support that approach as best with imperfect laws.

I would provide job counseling for displaced federal workers and try to have the County hire as many as we can

I would like to bring in new business to lower taxes to make Arlington more affordable

I would not turn over immigrants to ICE unless they were extremely violent criminals

Bring in new business by: 1) recruiting new businesses; 2) speeding up the permitting process; 3) relaxing zoning restrictions; and 4) lowering initial taxes for businesses

I'm neutral on ranked choice voting

Arlington should take a proactive, structured approach that addresses immediate challenges while strengthening the county's long-term resilience. Arlington needs to develop a comprehensive strategic plan that establishes a long-term vision for economic resilience and fiscal sustainability. Examples of things we could do in the near-term include: establishing workforce development programs to help displaced federal employees and contractors transition into the private-sector through retraining, career counseling, and job placement assistance under a centralized office. We should continue investing in economic diversification by attracting more small businesses that broaden the local tax base and employment opportunities. This will also help to reduce our commercial real estate vacancy rate. For long-term strategic planning, we must develop housing, infrastructure, and transportation strategies that reflect changing demographic and employment trends.

rlington’s current posture on housing has not created the desired results, namely affordability, equity, and housing diversity. We need to reexamine our Expanded Housing Opportunities policy to determine our housing goals and then work on developing a policy that will achieve those goals in actuality. I firmly believe we can speak to those on both sides of this issue and find solutions that meet the needs of neighbors and the whole community and I am committed to doing just that. Tearing down homes to build McMansions or rentals raises the cost to buy a home in Arlington, dashing the dreams of so many who want a place of their own. Arlington needs to develop expanded Auxiliary Dwelling Unit (ADU) policies, a plan to preserve older or smaller homes because they are more affordable, work to preserve the footprint of homes when a home is torn down and rebuilt, and must do more to convert vacant or underutilized commercial properties into housing.

Immigration enforcement is a function of the federal government, and the county should not have a role in that. Arlington welcomes all immigrants, documented and undocumented, and I am committed to policies which will continue to welcome all immigrants to Arlington.

Arlington has the highest commercial vacancy rate in all of the DMV —at about 25%—and that speaks to the failure of the county to attract, keep, and work with businesses. I’ve heard some say our vacancy rate is so high because we have a large portion of office space, but there are many cities with a similar amount of office square footage. Nashville, for example, has almost the same amount of office space as Arlington, but their vacancy rate is 14%. Pittsburgh has a little more office space than Arlington and their vacancy rate is 18%. The fact that our vacancy rate is so high isn’t about square footage, it’s because we haven’t handled this issue as well as other cities have. The process of starting a business or maintaining a business in Arlington is unnecessarily complex and inefficient, I know because I own a small business here in Arlington. When I’m elected, I’ll consolidate departments, staff, and processes within the county manager’s office to make starting and running a bus

I support the continued and expanded use of ranked choice voting because it gives voters more choice and helps ensure that election winners have broader support. It creates opportunities for more candidates to compete and gives voters greater confidence that their preferences will influence the final outcome. The system also encourages candidates to appeal to a wider range of voters because earning second- and third-choice rankings can make a difference, For these reasons, I believe expanding ranked choice voting can strengthen elections by encouraging broader voter participation, rewarding candidates with wider public support, and making election outcomes more representative of voters' preferences. I would like to see Arlington allow for the ranking of all candidates, not just the top three. Further, I’d like to see it used for more than just the County Board and School Board races.