Mayor Barb Tolbert has worked very hard for Arlington for many years with honesty and integrity.
When Barb entered office, Arlington’s finances were terrible; her business and finance experience enabled her tough decisions to restore our financial health and bond rating. The only tax increases during her term are voter approved for road repair and to keep current service levels; she stopped automatic annual utility rate increases.
Barb was (and is) executive director of our airport’s Fly-In, Arlington’s largest tourism event; however, after being elected mayor, she gave up her salary and now volunteers as the Fly-In’s director, along with much other volunteer work in Arlington, past and present (too long to list here). Someone suggested a conflict of interest between her mayoral duties and airport activities; the state auditor found no conflict, and she’s working diligently to resolve other airport issues that predated her time as mayor.
Barb worked tirelessly during 2014’s Highway 530 disaster, making us all look good under the national spotlight. She lobbied hard and successfully for state funding to widen 172nd and fix flooding issues in Jensen Park. She directed Arlington staff to respond to citizen questions and complaints within 24 hours and streamlined our building permit process; we’re now the model for our region. Through Barb’s work, Arlington is a quarter-finalist in America’s Most Livable City, an honor accompanied by $65,000! Barb is always looking for more ways to make Arlington even better. We are fortunate that Mayor Barb wants to continue to serve us; please join me in re-electing Mayor Barb Tolbert.
Eyleen McCluskey-Shouman
Arlington
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