December, 2001 - Volume 86, No. 4
ACCF Meets on December 4th
December General Meeting
7:30 pm, Tuesday, December 4th
Virginia Hospital Center
Hospital Conference Center
1701 N. George Mason Drive
School Board to Visit
Federation's December Meeting
At the December general membership meeting, the Federation will host a
visit from the Arlington Public School Board and the APS Superintendent, Dr.
Robert Smith. In preparation for the meeting, the Federation�s Schools
Committee has developed and forwarded a series of questions for the School
Board Members and Dr. Smith to consider. The rules for the meeting and a
summary of the questions are contained in this issue of the CIVIC VOICE.
Here�s the agenda for December:
December General Meeting
Reports and Special Recognition
Presentation by School Board
Q&A with School Board
Federation 911 Scholarship Fund Kick-off Set
At the November meeting, members voted overwhelmingly to establish a
scholarship fund for the college-bound children of Arlington�s Firefighters,
EMTs, Police, Sheriff�s Deputies and Emergency Communications Center
Personnel. A ceremony has been organized by the Federation to mark the
initiation of this fund. All member organizations, the public and Pentagon
personnel have been invited to attend the ceremony in honor of Arlington�s
Public Safety personnel. The ceremony will begin at 1 p.m. on Sunday,
December 9th and will be held in front of Fire Station 5 at 1750 South Hayes
Street, Pentagon City [Ed note. - this is correct -- I fixed this copy].
County Board Chair Jay Fisette will be the keynote speaker. If you have a
moment, please stop by to say thank you to Arlington�s Public Safety
Employees for responding to the Pentagon attack on September 11th as well as
for protecting us throughout the year. Details on the scholarship fund well
be forwarded via a separate email flyer to this address group!
Civic Federation Loses A Longtime Member
Federation member and civic stalwart, Ben Winslow passed away on November
13th after a hard-fought battle against cancer. Ben, a Korean War veteran,
was a delegate from the Arlington Forest Civic Association, where he lived
for over 30 years.
Originally from Pennsylvania, Ben moved to Arlington to
work in social services for the Federal government. In his second bid for
public office, he was elected to the Arlington County Board and served from
1993 until 1996. In 1998, Ben was appointed by Governor Gilmore as the
Director of Policy and Planning at the Virginia Commonwealth�s Department of
Social Services where he served with distinction for 2 years. Ben also
belonged to the Committee of 100, Knights of Columbus and the Circle of
Friends for Homeless Veterans. He was a long-term member of the Arlington
Branch of the NAACP, the American Legion and served as the President of the
Arlington Optimists from 1997 to 1998. Ben epitomized the Arlington Way.
In recognition of his many civic achievements, Ben Winslow was honored by
the Federation in October of this year as an �Arlington Civic Hero.� It
seemed ironic and perhaps fitting that Ben passed away the very evening that
the Civic Federation was debating and adopting its Legislative Package for
the year 2002. Ben�s command of County issues, his sense of civic service
and his dedication to Arlington will long be missed by many in the Civic
Federation and by the Arlington community as a whole.
Reminder
The County Board Office (CBO) needs your help to update its list of civic
associations and organizations. If you haven�t updated yours, contact Ms.
Eileen Feldman (CBO) at 703-228-3121 or via email at
countyboard@co.arlington.va.us � Do it today to ensure your organization
stays informed!
Questions and Visit Rules for the School Board & APS Superintendent Visit
The School Board and Superintendent will make presentations, followed by a
question and answer period. Although the public is invited, only Federation
delegates and alternates may ask questions. Questions from delegates and
alternates will be entertained as recognized by the meeting�s Chair.
Delegates and alternates who are recognized by the Chair will speak via a
walk-around microphone (handled by the ACCF VP). Delegates are not
required to submit questions in advance. Questions should be concise, no
more than thirty seconds in length, and not statements of position.
Argumentative, multi-part, and follow-up questions will not be permitted.
Topics for the School Board Visit
The following topics and questions for the School Board were developed by
the Federation�s Schools Committee and submitted in advance:
1) How do you expect the revenue sharing plan to affect the way the APS
develops its budget? How would this affect a citizen�s ability to have
meaningful input into the budget process?
2) Currently a student can stay in the ESL program for eleven semesters and
be exempt from fulfilling some of the state requirements during that time.
What incentive is there for an ESL student to exit the program early? State
policy exempts certain students' SOL scores from counting toward their
school's SOL accreditation. The result is that two schools could be
accredited, but because of their demographics, one may have 99% of the test
takers count toward accreditation while the other might have 50%. Where do
the exempt students fit into the equation of �how well a school is doing?�
3. Arlington continues to enjoy success in recruiting (and retaining)
teachers. The new evaluation system seems to be a success. If recruiting,
retaining, and evaluating are not a problem, why is there a need for the
teacher excellence initiative? Which problem is being resolved?
4. Describe the implementation of integration of special education students
into general classrooms. What percentage of special education students are
being integrated? What percentage of special education students are in true
self-contained classes? When a project's space requirement is determined,
is it based on student programming needs, taking into account special
education integration, or is it based on the number of teachers in a
school's program? How is the co-teaching model factored into space planning
considerations?
5. Approximately four years ago, the School Board stated its intention to
have an evaluation component for all new programs. Is this in fact
happening? For example, after three years of conducting an elementary
school first language pilot program, what is the empirical data showing?
A Public Services Committee Report On The Role Of Citizens In Emergency
Preparedness
By Kim Smith and Jackie Snelling
The recent attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon have left
many citizens wondering what plans exist in their communities to insure
handling of emergency situations. Not surprisingly, President Bush has
created a Presidential Task Force on Citizen Preparedness to make
recommendations next month for how Americans can help prepare for potential
terrorist attacks -- including ways that Americans can help local officials.
The Civic Federation�s Public Services Committee established a working
group to study Arlington�s planning in this area and to consider the role
the Civic Federation and Civic Associations might have in community
education, communication, planning and response to emergencies. The
Committee prepared a list of questions on the topic, which were submitted to
the County in advance of their public forum on Emergency Preparedness.
Transcripts of the County�s Forum are on the County Web site at
�www.co.arlington.va.us/emergency/index.htm.� The Civic Federation�s
questions and the County responses are also on the County Web site as well
as the Civic Federation Web Site. The Committee plans to meet with county
staff for clarification on some of the answers. Since County Staff have
indicated that the local Red Cross is better equipped than the County to
manage and coordinate citizen and volunteer efforts, the Committee will also
meet with the local Red Cross staff responsible for community education and
disaster planning.
A follow-up interview with Captain Mark Penn of ACFD provided additional
insights into the organization of emergency management in Arlington.
Captain Penn is the Deputy Coordinator for Emergency Services for Arlington.
He and Fire Chief Plaugher work with the other parts of the County�s
government that respond to emergencies. Arlington has an Emergency
Management Team (EMT) and a Local Emergency Planning Committee. Arlington
also participates in a regional task force.
According to Captain Penn, Arlington�s Emergency Management Team consists
of the County Manager and relevant department heads. The EMT has various
Task Forces, including a Communications Task Force responsible for
communication during an emergency. An Emergency Planning Team, comprised of
County Staff with expertise in emergency services, now meets weekly to
discuss contingency plans. Captain Penn also serves as the coordinator of
the Local Emergency Planning Committee that represents Arlington, Falls
Church, National Airport and the Pentagon. This group, chartered under
Superfund III, is responsible for ensuring that adequate resources are in
place in the event of a hazardous materials (HazMat) incident. A number of
groups are represented in this committee, as are at-large citizens. The
Committee holds quarterly meetings at Fire Station 9, which are open to the
public.
The county's Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan is the document that
details the organization and planning for responses to emergencies. The
most recent edition of this document was developed for Y2K. Captain Penn
remarked that "Because of September 11th, some of our basic assumptions have
been challenged" and the Plan is being reviewed and revised.
Captain Penn also explained that the regional task force for Northern
Virginia is, by agreement, led by Fairfax�s government. This group, active
during Y2K preparations, continues to meet to review regional preparation
for emergencies. As part of this effort, Arlington is responsible for
updating the regional Emergency Preparedness booklet for public use.
Members of the Civic Federation�s Public Service Committee reviewed a draft
of the booklet and gave recommendations for changes to Assistant County
manager, Mr. Dick Bridges. The revised booklet will be published in the
Washington Post this December.
County Establishes Bill Thomas Award
On November 17th, Toby Smith, Chairman of the Parks and Recreation
Commission announced that his commission was creating a new awards program
to recognize Arlington citizens for outstanding dedication and service to
Arlington County parks. The new award will be called the �Bill Thomas Park
Service Award� in honor of William "Bill" Thomas. Bill served the Arlington
County parks community for more than two decades until he was forced to
relocate to the Baltimore area last year for health reasons. As many know,
Bill was a tireless worker on behalf of Arlington�s parks and citizens. A
long time Federation Delegate, Bill served as head of the Federation�s Parks
and Recreation Committee, was a member of Friends of Arlington Parks for
more than twenty years and was appointed to the Parks and Recreation
Commission in 1995. The Parks and Recreation Commission plans to present the
awards annually at the County�s Arbor Day Celebration. A special note of
appreciation goes to Federation Delegate Judy Green who originally came up
with the Bill Thomas Award idea and worked with Donald Mozingo of the Park
and Recreation Commission to develop the new awards program.
Federation�s Top Five Legislative Priorities
At the conclusion of last month�s legislative package meeting, delegates
were surveyed to determine what are the top five priorities for the
Federation�s legislative package. They are listed below:
1. Gun Control.-- Strongly supports requiring mandatory instant background
checks on purchasers of all firearms at all gun shows and allowing up to
seventy-two hours to complete the check if the instant check is
inconclusive.
2. Crimes and Offenses -- 21-Day Rule. Urges extension of the period for
consideration of potentially exculpatory evidence in capital cases from 21
days to 3 years.
3. Transportation -- Interstate 66. Opposes changes to I 66 inside the
capital beltway unless such changes are part of a comprehensive regional
transportation plan and are made with community consensus.
4. Baseball Stadium Authority. Urges repeal of the Virginia Stadium
Authority, Virginia Code section 15.1.227-71 and opposes use of public funds
for professional sports facilities in Virginia. Supports return of
professional baseball to the Nation�s Capital.
5. Property and Conveyances -- Retention of Local Zoning Authority.
Supports legislation to prohibit Commonwealth agencies from overriding local
jurisdictional use plans and zoning decisions and ordinances
A Note From Your President
Congratulations are in order to the Legislation Committee for
some outstanding work. Led by Ms. Nancy Graham (in her fifth and final year
as Committee Chair), the Commission met repeatedly throughout the late
summer and early fall to pull together a package in time for all of our
member organizations to consider the contents and debate them meaningfully
in November. We will sorely miss having Nancy lead this group and are
actively seeking a volunteer to assume the Committee Chair. Any takers? At
the end of the meeting, delegates were surveyed to
determine what the Federation�s top five priorities were. They are
displayed in the next column.
Along with everyone else � I, too, was saddened by the loss of
long time Federation Member, Ben Winslow. Our heartfelt condolences go to
Mickey Winslow and their children. Ben will be sorely missed among all of
us.
See you, Tuesday December 4th � Jim Pebley
P.S. � Don�t forget to mark your calendar for the ceremony marking the
kick-off for the Federation�s 911 Scholarship Fund. Try to be there if you
can. In any case, please consider donating to this worthy effort. Watch
your email for details.
ACCF Officers
President Jim Pebley 703-525-0766 jim+
Vice President Dan Krasnegor 703-534-4024 dan+
Treasurer Frances Finta 703-528-2882 (no email)
Secretary Tim Wise 703-243-8345 tim+
Executive Committee
Chairman - Dan Krasnegor 703-534-4024 - dan+
Member - Robert Atkins 703-527-8859 - (voice or fax) - (no email)
Member - Mileva Hartman 703-841-9287 - mileva+
Member - Roger Meyer 703-671-3655 roger+
Member - Patrick Smaldore 703-528-3935 - patrick+
Member - Kim Smith -
kim+
ACCF Committee Chairs
Bylaws
Jean Mostrom, Chair 703-532-0452
Scott McGeary, Vice Chair 703-750-4704
Community Relations Jacqueline Mow 703-528-1112
Cultural Affairs
Environmental Affairs
Housing
Legislation
Membership
Frances Finta 703-528-2882 (no email)
Parks & Recreation
Planning & Zoning
William Gearhart 703-522-2276 bill+
Martha Moore 703-527-3782 martha+
Public Services
Revenues and Expenditures
Robert Atkins 703-527-8859 (voice or fax) no email
Schools
Special Events
Transportation
Adrienne Pilot 703-351-9464 adrienne+
Jerry Gideon 703-979-8507 jerry+
Newsletter Editorial Committee
+
News email: - civicvoice Fax: 703-486-0576 +
Web: - www.civfed.org (civfed.com works too)
Recipients of this newsletter are encouraged to forward to all and any
interested parties
Copies of the Newsletter are available for Download from the Civic
Federation website. (That is a paper version statement: this page is the Web version.) the Civic Voice is also distributed by email.
The paper version of the Civic Voice uses a freshly updated design introduced in 2001 by Cheryl Whitehead, who can be reached through email to cwhite229@erols.com. This Web version using the same text but posted within the style confines of our Web page design, is put up by Randy Swart. If you have comments or complaints about either version, please contact the editor, Jim Pebley
This page was last revised on: December 28, 2003.
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Arlington County Civic Federation
