Arlington voters have a chance to make a good City Council even better this fall.
The city is struggling with the same growth pressures as its neighbors — primarily increased traffic congestion and how to accommodate a growing population without sacrificing quality of life. As those pressures become more intense, more creative and sophisticated approaches to them are needed.
We believe the challengers in the two contested City Council races offer the best credentials. We recommend voters elect Barbara Tolbert to Position 3 and Virginia Hatch to the at-large position.
Another contested race will appear on the ballot, but the challenger, Blair Anderson, has withdrawn because he’s moving out of town. His decision came too late to remove his name from the ballot, and he has thrown his support behind the very capable incumbent, Sally Lien.
Tolbert is challenging Scott Solla, who was appointed to Position 3 last year after Dan Anderson moved out of the area. The winner will finish the remaining two years of Anderson’s term.
Solla has served ably, but we think Tolbert offers a stronger vision for the city’s future and the skills to help achieve it. She has run the successful Arlington Fly-In for several years, showing her leadership and management skills. She emphasizes the need for the city to adopt a solid revenue plan so that services including transportation, public safety and emergency services stay ahead of growth.
She’s also a strong proponent of the city’s and county’s Transfer of Development Rights program, which seeks to preserve farmland in the northern valley in exchange for increased population density inside the city limits. Tolbert is on top of that issue, and understands that to make it work the city must forge a strong partnership with county planners and the County Council and remain assertive. She has followed the city’s comprehensive plan process closely, and wouldn’t have a steep learning curve if elected.
None of which suggests that Solla, who moved to Arlington about three years ago, hasn’t worked hard to get up to speed on issues — he has. But Tolbert’s energy, intelligence and knowledge of the city’s history are hard to beat.
In a close call for the at-large position, which carries a two-year term, we favor Hatch because she brings a thoughtful, sensible approach to issues, knows the city well after serving in a variety of demanding volunteer positions, and has the positive energy needed to take on tough challenges.
Our endorsement of Hatch over six-year incumbent Graham Smith is a closer call. We’re confident that Smith, a six-year council veteran, will continue to serve ably if re-elected. He’s worked in the financial industry for 30 years, giving him skills that come in handy on the council.
We’re puzzled, though, why Smith says he’s trying to stay neutral on Community Transit’s effort to locate a new Park &Ride facility in Arlington. Smith is the city’s representative on the CT board, and says he’s not convinced that the site CT wants for the facility is the right one for the city. The city’s CT rep, we think, should be actively pushing for the best site rather than staying neutral.
Hatch currently chairs the city’s Parks, Arts and Recreation Commission, a position she’s held for four years. She’s a tireless community volunteer who has been honored numerous times for her service, and her positive energy is almost palpable.
She’s done her homework on the issues, and would bring a smart, consensus-oriented approach to them that benefits from the input of the many active citizens she already knows.
She understands that the key challenges facing the city are all inter-related, and that it will take a coordinated approach to meet them. She favors building a long-term economic foundation by doing what it takes to draw good, family wage jobs to the city rather than “settling” for “easy money” from sources like gambling.
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