Thursday, April 11, 2013
Volunteers with Tap in Arlington are hosting their first event Monday.
Arlington County Board Vice Chairman Jay Fisette is taking his personal crusade against single-use plastic water bottles to the next level. About 15 volunteers have banded together under the name Tap in Arlington. They meet monthly at Fisette's Ashton Heights home and have the ambitious goal of getting 10,000 Arlington residents to pledge, "I choose to drink tap water instead of purchasing single-use plastic water bottles." "To get there, you need to educate people and you need to engage people. And that's what the group is trying to do," Fisette told Patch. "We are hoping that many people will learn about and appreciate the really serious environmental consequences of the proliferation of these water bottles and choose not to purchase …
38.884673
-77.100326
3351 Fairfax Dr, Arlington, VA
Founders Hall
/articles/fisette-kicks-off-campaign-against-bottled-water
/locations/9216730
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Arlington County released this video of a life-sized board game designed to teach people ways to reduce energy.
The Arlington Initiative to Rethink Energy, or AIRE, created a life-sized board game that this month challenged more than 300 participants to change their routines to help reduce energy use. More than 90 volunteers worked the Energy Journey, as it was called, earlier this month at Washington-Lee High School. The AIRE initiative, championed by Arlington County Board Vice Chairman Jay Fisette, was created in 2007 in an effort to reduce the local government's greenhouse emissions by 10 percent by 2012. The county is on target to hit its goal, despite a 16 percent increase in building square footage and a 33 percent increase in its wastewater treatment capacity. Arlington County released the above video.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Sitting Arlington County Board vice chairman wants to focus more on financial and environmental sustainability.
Arlington County Board Vice Chairman Jay Fisette will announce tonight his intention to run for a fifth term. "There's more to do," Fisette told Patch in a phone interview Tuesday. "This is a dynamic community. We face, as we always do, various challenges and opportunities — some of those from outside, in Washington and Richmond, and some economic sluggishness, and growing school enrollment… I want to continue to do my part to address those challenges." Fisette, a Democrat, said his top priority would be balancing short-term budget adjustments with long-term community needs. Arlington County is looking at a potential $50 million budget shortfall next fiscal year. Elected officials have given their initial blessing to using a mix of tax …
38.88006
-77.113
4301 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
/articles/tonight-fisette-to-announce-reelection-bid
/locations/8760736
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
New chairman announces series of town halls, town walks and other initiatives.
Walter Tejada became the new Arlington County Board chairman on Tuesday and unveiled an agenda that includes an increased focus on affordable housing and encouraging healthy lifestyles. Tejada was unanimously elected to the leadership post, which rotates annually, at the board's traditional New Year's Day organizational meeting. "The heart of Arlington is our community, our inclusion, diversity, mutual respect and sustainability," Tejada said in his remarks. "…So the question for us is how can we make it even better for all of Arlington?" The "moving forward together" agenda — or "juntos hacia adelante" as Tejada, an El Salvador native often referred to it — breaks down into four key focal areas: While all of these ideals have guided …
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Board will elect new chairman, vice chairman.
Arlington County Board members will host their traditional New Year’s Day organizational meeting this morning. It takes place at 11 a.m. in the County Board Room on the third floor of 2100 Clarendon Blvd. Board members will elect a new chairman and vice chairman, positions that rotate annually. In December, outgoing Chairwoman Mary Hynes announced that Walter Tejada will serve as the 2013 chairman and Jay Fisette will serve as vice chairman. Click here to view today's agenda, which includes adoption of procedures for this year's budget and tax rate public hearings. If you aren’t able to make it in person, the meeting will air live on Arlington TV (Comcast 25 and 74 or Verizon 39 and 40). You can also click here to see options for live …
Monday, November 19, 2012
Board divided on best way to fund affordable housing commitment.
The Arlington County Board this weekend authorized a mixture to spending cuts and tax increases to close a projected budget gap of up to $50 million for the local government and school system next year. It's the beginning of a long budget process, one that showed elected officials might already be divided on how to best realize the county's commitment to preserving affordable housing. Board members approved their budget guidance to County Manager Barbara Donnellan on Saturday with a 3-2 vote. Vice Chairman Walter Tejada and board member Chris Zimmerman voted against the direction after failing to push through stronger commitments to preserving affordable housing. Chairwoman Mary Hynes said she wouldn't rule out additional investments in …
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Funding for projects contingent on voter approval next month.
The Arlington County Board on Tuesday unanimously approved $2.7 million for several projects under the Neighborhood Conservation Program. The money — much of which will only be available if voters approve issuing bonds on Nov. 6 — will fund four new projects and provide additional funding for five ongoing projects. If the ballot measure fails, the projects will not be funded. They include: More than $747,000 will pay for four streetlight projects and improvements to the Virginia Highlands Sprayground. At board Chairwoman Mary Hynes' request, county staff delivered a lengthy presentation about the types of streetlights Arlington is using — LED lights that are replacing old high-pressure sodium lights. The new lights are more energy …
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Gov. Bob McDonnell charged panel with reviewing the system losses that followed the late-June derecho.
Arlington County Board Member Jay Fisette has been named to a statewide panel charged with reviewing 911 service in Virginia following the widespread system failures caused by the derecho that slammed this area in late June. Gov. Bob McDonnell's Secure Commonwealth Panel's 911 sub-panel consists of 15 state and local government and private sector leaders from across Virginia, according to an Arlington County news release. The group met for the first time last week in Richmond. “Every citizen of the Commonwealth has a right to expect that when you have an emergency, you can rely on 9-1-1,” Fisette said in a statement. “Unfortunately, we in Arlington — and in other Virginia jurisdictions — had a very different experience during the recent el…
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Theme of local control runs through legislative agenda.
Forcing online travel companies to pay all state and local taxes and fighting a proposed state constitutional amendment to broaden eminent domain laws are among the top items on Arlington County’s legislative agenda. The county’s seven-member legislative delegation received the agenda Tuesday morning with varying degrees of optimism. Some were flatly pessimistic given their duty of dealing with an estimated $1 billion-or-so budget shortfall and further cuts to state agencies. The 20-20 state Senate power split that resulted from this year’s elections is also a consideration. The parity gives Republican Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling the tiebreaking vote, and Democrats already are preparing to go to court over the extent of Bolling’s power – …
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Tuesday night fundraiser draws long list of Democratic elected officials and activists
Democratic state Senate candidate Barbara Favola accused her opponent of running a “stealth campaign” and avoiding questions on tough issues at a fundraiser Tuesday night in the Ashton Heights community. Favola didn’t mention McLean Republican Caren Merrick by name, but she did criticize mail pieces circulating in the district on Merrick’s behalf for not identifying the candidate as a Republican except in the fine print. “She is a very conservative Republican. She is not a moderate Republican. She is a Tea Party Republican,” Favola said. Favola, an Arlington County Board member, accused Merrick of refusing to give a direct answer on raising taxes, either to invest in education or transportation. She also said Merrick would not directly …
Michael Josef Basl
11:53 am on Thursday, January 3, 2013
http://www.michaeljosefbasl.blogspot.com/ more ›