Neighbors,

The Arlington Parks Coalition (APC) has asked some tough park-related questions of the two candidates in the upcoming (June 14) Democratic Primary for County Board. I have posted the responses from the candidates on Google Drive and provide a link to each. I also provide below the exact language that APC used in its questionaire.

Note that the 5th question speaks specifically to Rosslyn, recognizing its inadequate park space / green space. The APC asks candidates what they will do for our neighborhood.

Best,
Mark Antell

Response from Eric Gutshall
https://drive.google.com/open?...-QiB8azh2OHYzVk9xVkk

Response from Libby Garvey
https://drive.google.com/open?...-QiB8WlVzVlpQWU9KRDg


ORIGINAL FORM OF REQUEST TO EACH OF THE CANDIDATES:

Dear [Board Candidate]:

Good afternoon. The Arlington Parks Coalition is a non-partisan group formed by residents to advocate for “…the preservation, enhancement and expansion of our current and intended County-owned parkland and community centers solely for public park, recreation and community center purposes…” This primary election for the County Board is an important opportunity for our community to engage in a conversation about critical issues confronting our County, including the ability of Arlington’s parkland and community centers to meet the needs of our current residents as well as anticipated future population growth.

We have been working with your campaign to establish a date for members of our Coalition and other parks advocates to meet with you to discuss issues of importance to the future of our parks and community centers. To facilitate that conversation, we are forwarding to you the set of questions below. We would very much appreciate if you could answer these questions as fully as possible and return your answers to us prior to the date that is established for our meeting. These questions and your answers will provide a starting point for our conversation about these and other important issues regarding our parks and community centers.

This same set of questions is being forwarded to [the other candidate].

We look forward to our meeting and a candid and robust discussion.

Sincerely,
On behalf of the Arlington Parks Coalition

Rick Epstein,
Co-chair



Question 1. Given our County’s continuing dramatic population growth and already crowded parks and recreation resources, do you support an accelerated program of parkland acquisition, and if so, what steps, including any innovative tools, do you advocate to materially expand our parkland and recreation resources?

Specifically, do you support County Board adoption of the recent near unanimous Civic Federation resolution urging adoption of a simple parkland acquisition program, including acquisition of an average of three acres minimum of parkland per year over the next ten years?

Question 2. Between 1995 and 2008, funding for park land acquisition per two-year park bond cycle was between $4.0 and $8.5 million, with most cycles at $8.5 million. But over the six years between 2008 and 2014, land acquisition bond funding totaled only $3.0 million. Even with an additional $5.47 million for parkland acquisition through additional budget allocations, the total funds available for parkland acquisition during this six year period was only $8.47 million. Given the compelling need for additional parkland and the dramatic increase in the cost of land in Arlington, do you support including at least $8 million in parkland acquisition monies in the two-year, November 2016 Park Bond measure?

Please describe any new and innovative funding mechanisms that you advocate to materially expand our parkland and recreation resources?

Question 3. The County’s Comprehensive Plan contemplates forty thousand additional housing units over the next 25 years, which will entail even greater demands for County services and for public land use.

Do you support using County parkland and community centers for housing, for schools, or for other uses, such as parking buses and other County vehicles, in order to meet both current as well as these increasing demands for public land? If your answer is “yes” to any of the foregoing, under what circumstances? What steps would you advocate taking, if any, to avoid such use?

How do you propose our County address the existing as well as this potentially dramatic growing gap between increasing population and our limited public lands and County services?

Do you support reconsidering the pace and/or amount of future residential development in the County?


Question 4. Virginia Hospital Center Property on Carlyn Springs Road

Would you support setting aside a portion (or all) of the Virginia Hospital Center property on Carlin Springs road for parks/recreation use if the County decides to acquire it?

Question 5. Rosslyn Neighborhood

Given the very high level of redevelopment and densification, and the continuing loss of accessible green space in Rosslyn, including the recent loss of a portion of Rosslyn Highlands Park to a private developer, what steps do you support to meet the current as well as increasing demand of people living in Rosslyn for play space/green space?