Home Calendar Newsletters Meetings Committees Positions Officers Toolkit
New Minutes Documents History Arlington Links Feedback Search

Arlington County Civic Federation

You are viewing the archived Civic Federation site. For current information, visit www.civfed.org.


------
June, 2003 - Volume 87, No. 10 ------


June Meeting


The June meeting will feature elections for the 2003-2004 Civic Federation Officers and Executive Committee. The Nominating Committee has presented the following slate:

    President - Dan Krasnegor

    Vice President - Patrick Smaldore

    Treasurer - Frances Finta

    Secretary - Tim Wise

    Executive Committee (5 members) - Nancy Graham, Kim Johnson-Smith, Ken Marcus, Randy Swart, Barbara "Bobbie" Wallace

Additional nominations will be accepted from the floor. Pursuant to our bylaws, all Officers and Executive Committee members must be delegates or alternates to the Federation at the time of election.

Parks Committee Program

The main program at the June meeting will be presented by the Parks Committee and will feature Toby Smith, chair, and Eric Silden, member, Arlington Park and Recreation Commission.

Mr. Smith will report on the North Tract Task Force. The North Tract is located between George Washington Memorial Parkway and I-395, north of Crystal City. (A map is available on the County Web site). The 46-acre North Tract is the largest undeveloped parcel of land in Arlington County. The Task Force began meeting last fall and has considered several alternative usages, including aquatics and soccer facilities. For more information, see the County Web site.

Mr. Silden will report on the Open Space Master Plan Task Force's work over the past two years. The County's current Open Space Master Plan, drafted in 1991 and approved by the County Board in 1994, serves as the County's blueprint for siting and acquiring parkland and recreation facilities. The Master Plan's recommendations have significant impact on Arlington's budget and its neighborhoods. The Task Force began the lengthy process of rewriting the Master Plan in late fall 2001.

Following the presentations by Mr. Silden and Mr. Smith, there will be an opportunity for questions and answers. The Parks Committee will present a resolution for the Federation�s consideration.

Committee Reports to be Available

Our bylaws designate the June meeting the Federation�s annual meeting. This means that its time for Civic Federation committees to report on what they�ve been up to for the past year. Reports from the Federation�s various committees will be available in printed form and will also be posted on the Civic Federation web site.


Review of May Meeting

At the May meeting, the Civic Federation took action on three items. By a vote of 75 to 27, a resolution was passed that stated in relevant part:

BE IT RESOLVED by the Arlington County Civic Federation that the construction of a baseball stadium in Arlington is not in the best interests of the general public and

THEREFORE, the Arlington County Civic Federation maintains its opposition to the use of public funds for stadium construction in Arlington.

A bylaws change was passed that requires all Executive Committee Members to be delegates or alternates to the Federation when elected, and to maintain that status when in office.

Finally, a resolution from the Transportation Committee regarding the proposed Spout Run bridge was tabled indefinitely.

Committee News


Airport Issues Committee Steve Baur and the Airport Issues Committee continue to work with the Part 150 Noise Committee to help determine the location of new monitoring stations which will be used for noise monitoring during the study. Members of the committee will attend the first of the Part 150 Noise Study�s public meetings scheduled for June 18th and 19th, and present our views on how aircraft noise could be abated (these views are presented in an issues paper on the CivFed�s website). The June monthly meeting date has been re-scheduled for Thursday the 12th, so that we can formulate plans for presentations at the Part 150 Noise Study�s public meetings. All are invited to attend. Please contact Steve Baur (steveb+ 703-525-5580) or Steve Geiger (steveg+ 703-522-0026) for details.



Executive Committee A subgroup of the Best Practices Task Force has compiled a draft interim report which is currently being reviewed and amended by the full body. Once comments are received and finalized, the report will be delivered to the Executive Committee for action, and ultimately to the full Civic Federation.

The Task Force will continue working during the early months of the summer, so if your civic associations has terrific events, great projects, or other stellar ideas, please share them with us! Contact either Bob Atkins at bob+ or Kim Smith at kim+ to share your successes with us!

The final meeting of the 2002-2003 Executive Committee is tentatively scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the Cafeteria of the Hospice of Northern Virginia. The June meeting is generally intended as a joint meeting of the outgoing and incoming Executive Committees, so the meeting date is subject to change to accommodate both groups� schedules. Check the Web Site for final details, or contact Kim Smith at 703-527-0294 or kim+ on June 3rd. As always, all delegates and committee chairs are welcome to attend.

The Federation is looking for volunteers to man this year�s booth at the Arlington County Fair. The 27th Arlington County Fair is to be held August 21st through August 24th at the Thomas Jefferson Community Center, 3501 South Second Street. The theme for this years fair will be "The Many Faces of Arlington". Anyone interested in volunteering to staff the booth should contact Federation Vice President Patrick Smaldore at Pat@Civfed.org. For information on the Fair, go to www.arlingtoncountyfair.org.


Legislation Committee

On May 17, the Civic Federation, in conjunction with AAUW and the League of Women Voters, sponsored a community forum on "Striking the Balance between National Security and Civil L []iberties." The forum was planned by the Legislation Committee and the ACCF Executive Committee. AAUW provided refreshments and the League's Voter Services Representative made all the arrangements with the library.

About 75 people attended to hear four speakers: Bob Weinberg, retired attorney and Constitutional scholar; Jeff Stein, editor of Congressional Quarterly's newsletter website on Homeland Security; Jim McGee, reporter of Congressional Quarterly, and Marvin Johnson, attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. Mr Weinberg reviewed sections of the Constitution, Mr. Stein spoke on threats to national security, Mr. McGee outlined the background of the USA Patriot Act, and Mr. Johnson discussed civil liberties concerns. Channel 33 taped the event. The Forum will be airing in two parts: Part 1 will be airing Sunday, June 1st, at 8:30 PM; Saturday, June 7th at 9:00PM; and Sunday June 15th at 8:30PM. Part 2 will air Sunday June 8th at 8:30PM; Saturday, June 21st, at 9:00PM; and Sunday June 22nd at 8:30PM.

Tentative meeting dates for the Legislation Committee to draft the 2004 legislation package are August 18, August 25, and September 8. We will probably meet either at St. George's Church or at the Ballston Virginia Square. For more information, contact nancy. +



Public Services Committee William Shakespeare believed brevity is the soul of wit, and any attempt at wit aside, the Public Services Committee will continue working over the summer (not necessarily meetings) to focus on the issues raised vis a vis public preparedness, our public safety departments, the idea of a drop-off chute/box at the library, the need for environmental health inspectors, the animal shelter, and various public illnesses that seem to come our way.

To join the committee, contact Anne Fisher at annecfisher@hotmail.com or Kim Smith at jadam@erols.com or call 703-527-0294. We�d love the help. Our issues are many and challenging.


Scholarship Fund

At a ceremony at the Central Library on May 28th, []the Civic Federation�s 911 scholarship fund awarded another 6 scholarships to the college bound children of Arlington�s police, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, sheriff�s deputies and emergency communications center personnel. Working through the Arlington Community Foundation this year Rebecca Ferrone, Carlyn Kelley, Christine Penn, Paul Smith, Jerrel Ware and Lenard Williams will be receiving $1,000 scholarships as they leave high school for colleges nationwide.

The Federation�s Scholarship Committee Co-Chairs Tim Reese and Jim Pebley were present to recognize these outstanding students. Committee members include Kim Smith, John Shooshan, and Judy Green. For more information, or to join the committee, contact jim+


Letters to the Editor

Letters to the editor should be sent to dan+ with "letter to the editor" in the header. Letters may also be sent through the post to Editor, Civic Voice, c/o Dan Krasnegor, 1305 N. Longfellow St., Arlington, VA 22205.


Dear Mr. Krasnegor:

I just had the pleasure of reading in today's police information sheet the Civic Federation's 911 Scholarship Awards and renewals. On behalf of your organization, please accept my sincere thanks for this wonderful benefit you are furnishing to the dependants of public safety workers.

I consider myself quite fortunate to both live and work in a community that is so supportive of their public safety employees.

Dan Murray
Information and Technology Management Section Commander
Arlington County Police Department


A message from your President

You�ll notice a few changes in this month�s newsletter. First, we�ve added a "letters to the editor" section. My hope is that we can get a sense of how we are doing through letters from Federation members and non-members alike.

We are also including a summary of what happened at the last meeting. For those delegates and alternates not able to attend, this will highlight the resolutions and motions passed, and other business conducted.

Do you like the changes? Is there something else you would like to see covered in the Civic Voice? If so, let me know!

It�s hard for me to believe that it�s already been a year since Jim passed me the gavel (and a big box of Federation paperwork) and I became your President.

I started out the year by listing four priorities: growing our organization�s membership to better reflect the community we live in; expanding the reach of the Federation by bringing more community groups to present at our meetings; increasing involvement in our committees; and improving our base by helping out member organizations become stronger.

We�ve made some progress towards these goals. The Federation has reached out to the community by having speakers from more than a dozen community organizations over the past year at the Community Forum portion of our meetings. We�ve established Best Practices and Community Outreach taskforces. The former is working hard to come forward with recommendations, and the latter has been meeting with our member organizations to increase participation.

There are more challenges ahead. The Federation�s strength comes from the involvement of its member organizations. Are there issues your community cares about and wants to work on? Does your organization need a forum to bring your message to the County Board and Arlington community? All of this can happen through the Federation, but not without individuals participating at the committee level. Look for information and opportunities starting in June on how to join up, participate, and make a difference!

I want to give a special thanks to the hard work of the Civic Federation Officers (Pat Smaldore, Tim Wise, and Frances Finta), Executive Committee Members (Nancy Graham, Randy Swart, Mike Lane, Bob Atkins and Kim Smith) and our Committee chairs and members. Without your hard work, the Federation would grind to a halt.

Dan Krasnegor




ACCF Officers

    President Dan Krasnegor 703-534-4024 dan+

    Vice President Patrick Smaldore 703-528-3935 patrick+

    Treasurer Frances Finta 703-528-2882 Fax 528-0182

    Secretary Tim Wise 703-243-8345 tim+


Executive Committee

    Chairman - Kim Smith 703-527-0294 - kim+

    Member - Robert Atkins 703-527-8859 - (voice or fax) - robert+

    Member - Nancy Graham 703-243-4650 - nancy+

    Member - Mike Lane - mike

    + Member - Randy Swart 703-521-2080 - randy+


ACCF Committee Chairs





This page was last revised on: December 27, 2003.
Home Calendar Newsletters Meetings Committees Positions Officers Toolkit
New Minutes Documents History Arlington Links Feedback Search