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TAXING AUTHORITY FOR SCHOOL SYSTEMS?
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Sun Gazette
VOLUME 82 NO. 7 JANUARY 19-25, 2017
ARLINGTON’S SOURCE FOR HOMETOWN NEWS SINCE 1935
Too Many Needs, Too Little Land?
BREAKING THE SHACKLES OF INJUSTICE
New County Panel Is Asked to Identify and Prioritize Options SCOTT McCAFFREY Staff Writer
Members of Worship Without Words were featured at the Arlington County government’s annual Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., held Jan. 15 at Wakefield High School. The event featured a host of performances and spoken-word tributes to the civil-rights leader. See the Web site at www.insidenova.com/news/arlington for more photos, and see Page 8 for winners of PHOTO BY DEB KOLT the annual Dr. King Visual and Literary-Art Competition sponsored by Arlington Public Schools.
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The calendar may have flipped from one year to the next, but the largest challenge facing Arlington leaders remains: too many needs for facilities that require space, not enough land to put them all on. “We’re trying to be both opportunistic and strategic,” said County Board Vice Chairman Katie Cristol at the board’s annual meeting with the Arlington County Civic Federation, a meeting in which board members were pressed – in sometimes testy exchanges – to explain how they would prioritize what goes where within the cozy confines of Arlington, and what might not fit. The community “needs to have a more adult conversation about not being able to fit everything in our 26 square miles,” board member Christian Dorsey said, clearly looking back over his shoulder at battles of recent years that have pitted advocates of schools, open space and other priorities against one another. “We just have to kind of pull together for the common good,” added County Board member John Vihstadt. But platitudes were not placating the Civic Federation delegates, who suggested the county government has allowed itself to be overwhelmed. “Our [government] planning processes are not keeping up with our density and growth,” said Edie Wilson, a delegate from the Shirlington Civic Association, who complained that while county officials