<sh>Number One City for Walking
<bt>Arlington is the number one place in America for walking, according to the American Podiatric Medical Association's list of the "Top 10 Best U.S. Walking Cities."
This year's competition surveyed 200 U.S. cities based on three walking-conducive categories: healthy lifestyles, modes of transportation to and from work and involvement in fitness and sport activities. Last December, Arlington was named the safest place for pedestrians in Northern Virginia by the Surface Transportation Policy Project. In selecting Arlington, the APMA noted that 23 percent of workers in the County use public transportation to get around.
Over the last five years, Arlington has invested more than $17 million on 67 pedestrian safety-related capital improvements, such as neighborhood traffic-calming measures, intersection improvements and sidewalks. Currently, more than $17.5 million in projects are in the pipeline, and about $16.2 million are budgeted over the next six years. These figures do not include other transportation improvements, all of which are designed with pedestrians in mind.
<sh>Emergency Management Program Cited for Innovation
<bt>Arlington's emergency management program has been named one of the nation's top 50 "most creative, forward thinking, results-driven government programs" by Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. The County was named one of 50 semifinalists for the Innovations in American Government Awards. The semifinalists are now eligible to win one of six $100,000 grants. The awards, now in their 18th year, are a program of the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, administered in partnership with the Council for Excellence in Government.
The programs were chosen from a pool of more than 1,000 applicants for their novelty and uniqueness, effectiveness in addressing important problems, significance and the potential for replication by other government entities.
<sh>Citizens to Comment on Schools' 6-Year Plan
<bt>Three community forums have been planned to gather citizens’ input into Arlington Public Schools' draft 2005-2011 Strategic Plan. The forums will be held Tuesday, March 29, Wednesday, March 30, and Thursday, March 31, at the Arlington Career Center, 816 S. Walter Reed Drive. All three meetings will be held from 7-8:30 p.m.
Citizens unable to make the meetings can review the draft plan and send in comments online by visiting www.arlington.k12.va.us/schoolboard/strategicplan/. Under the Strategic Plan Steering Committee section, readers can click on the highlighted words “view the draft of the strategic plan” to see the full plan document. To send in comments, readers should enter their comments in the dialog box in the Providing Feedback section of the page and click the send button.
During March, the Strategic Plan Steering Committee also has invited various community groups to discuss the draft plan at their meetings and provide comments directly to a Steering Committee member who would visit the meetings.
In April, the Steering Committee will revise the draft plan based on the feedback collected and will send a revised plan back to the School Board. The Board is expected to adopt the new strategic plan by mid-June.
<sh>School Board Seeks Citizens to Serve
<bt>The Arlington School Board is seeking volunteers to serve on advisory groups to assist in the review and development of Arlington Public Schools' capital programs and the school system's budget. The School Board will accept applications for vacancies on the Advisory Council on School Facilities and Capital Programs through May 24 and the Budget Advisory Council through April 12.
The Advisory Council on School Facilities and Capital Programs appointments are for two-year terms, with monthly meetings generally scheduled for the second Monday of each month at 7:30 p.m. The Council assists the School Board in the continuous, systematic review of school facilities and the capital improvement program.
Budget Advisory Council appointments are for two-year terms. The Council does not have a set meeting schedule. However, the group may meet as often as once a week during the busiest portion of the budget development cycle (November-February) and less often throughout the remainder of the year. Meetings are held at 7:30 p.m.
<sh>Advance Sign-Up for Arlington Budget
<bt>For the first time, Arlington residents can sign up online in advance to speak at Arlington's Budget and Tax Rate Public Hearings, or they can sign up in person on the night of each meeting.
The Budget Public Hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, March 29, and the Tax Rate Public Hearing for Thursday, March 31, in the County Board Room on the third floor of 2100 Clarendon Blvd. Both begin at 7 p.m.
The advance online sign-up process began March 14. To sign up, visit the County homepage at www.arlingtonva.us and click on "Local Government," then click on "County Board Meetings." To sign up by phone, call the County Board Office at 703-228-3130. Residents may also call the Information and Referral desk at 703-228-3000. For the hearing impaired and language translation, individuals may call 703-228-4611 and 703-228-3000, respectively. Services must be requested three days before the meeting.
On March 26, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., County Board staff will be available at Columbia Pike Library, 816 S. Walter Reed Drive, to help sign up residents who wish to speak at the hearings.
The deadline for advance online sign-ups is Monday, March 28 at 5 p.m. for the Budget Public Hearing, and Wednesday, March 30 at 5 p.m. for the Tax Rates Public Hearing. These also are the final respective dates to cancel reservations to speak. Individuals may also register to speak the evening of the hearings beginning at 6 p.m. Visit the Information Desk outside the County Board Room. Speakers are called in the order in which registrations were received. On-site sign-up ends at 8 p.m. each evening.
Individuals and organizations may sign up to speak for two minutes or five minutes. All two-minute speakers are called first, followed by five-minute speakers, in the order their reservations were received.
Once you've signed up online, a confirmation number will be provided. Speakers should bring their confirmation number to the meeting and check in at the Information Desk outside the County Board Room beginning at 6 p.m., or before they are called to speak. Speakers may call the County Board Office at 703-228-3130 the day of the hearing to learn their assigned speaker number. Confirmation numbers are also used to cancel online up to 5 p.m. the day before each hearing, or by calling 703-228-3130.
In lieu of oral testimony, online comments may be submitted at the same registration site at www.arlingtonva.us.
County Board Clerk Toni Copeland is interested in feedback on this new process, before or after the Public Hearings are held, and requests the public's comments at tcopeland@arlingtonva.us.
<sh>Trumpet Vine Presents "Hidden: A Gender"
<bt>The Trumpet Vine Theatre Company at Theater on the Run will give preview performances of its upcoming play, "Hidden: A Gender," on Thursday, March 31 and Friday, April 1 at 8 p.m. The play, written by playwright, author and performance artist Kate Bornstein, offers a satirical examination of gender formation as it follows the lives of two real-life characters of questionable gender: Herculine Barbin, made famous by the writing of Michel Foucault, and Herman Amberstone, a representation of the playwright.
The show officially opens Saturday, April 2 and will run Wednesday through Saturday, April 6-9, 13-16, 20-23 and 27-30 at 8 p.m., with two Sunday matinees/ice cream socials on April 10 and 17 at 2:30 p.m. Tickets cost $20 ($18 for seniors and students) and may be reserved by phone at 703-912-1649, by e-mail at trumpetvinetc@yahoo.com or online at www.trumpetvinetheatrecompany.org. The theater is located at 3700 S. Four Mile Run Drive.