The Arlington Young Democrats have passed unanimously, a resolution stating our opposition to the petition currently being circulated to change Arlington’s form of government. The text of the resolution is as follows:

Whereas a coalition of organizations is circulating a petition to change Arlington’s form of government from the County Manager Plan, which is unique to Arlington, to the County Board Form, and

Whereas the County Board Form would require that local elections be held in magisterial districts, instead of county-wide as under the County Manager Plan, reducing significantly the number of directly-elected county officials who are responsible to each Arlington resident, and

Whereas the County Board Form would require that all members of the County Board and School Board be elected simultaneously, instead of in staggered terms as under the County Manager Plan, which may inhibit long-term planning such as the development the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor, Shirlington, and Pentagon and Crystal Cities, and the plans for development of Columbia Pike, and

Whereas the General Assembly of Virginia has enshrined a number of practices in the County Manager Plan of government that Arlington currently enjoys but would be unable to maintain if it changes to the County Board Form, including, inter alia:

• The right to establish human rights ordinances prohibiting discrimination more broadly than is prohibited in state law, including Arlington’s prohibition of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation,
• The authority to establish Arlington’s Affordable Housing and Investment Fund and the authority to impose affordable housing requirements on developers as a condition of site plan approval,
• The authority to maintain Arlington’s regulations on child-care facilities, including Arlington’s requirement of a lower child-to-adult ratio than is provided in state law, and

Whereas the four counties, Carroll, Grayson, Russell, and Scott, that use the County Board Form are all rural in character and, combined, have less than half of the population of Arlington County, and

Whereas the Arlington County Democratic Committee resolved unanimously on 5 May 2010 to oppose the referendum to adopt the County Board Form of government and to work to persuade Arlington voters not to support the proposed change in government,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Arlington Young Democrats opposes the petition and any resulting referendum to adopt a County Board Form of government, and that Arlington Young Democrats encourages young Arlingtonians not to sign said petition and to vote against the referendum should it qualify, and

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Arlington Young Democrats will publicize its opposition to this petition by all appropriate means, and will dedicate a portion of its political action activities to encouraging fellow young Arlington to join in opposition to the proposed change to Arlington’s form of government.