March 2, 2021 at 10:45am
(Updated at 11 a.m.) Virginia localities are set to start receiving the new Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccine next week, thus helping to boost supply in the Commonwealth.
But one group that had been poised to start being vaccinated soon has been bumped further down the priority list: Arlington County employees.
The entire county workforce is being considered to be within the “Continuity of Government” category, and thus is still part of the Virginia “1b” priority group and ahead of the general public. But county employees have now been bumped down below those with pre-existing medical conditions.
“Since my last note to you on this, the Governor has made changes to the prioritization which has moved certain categories of 1B essential workers, including those in Continuity of Government, further down the list for vaccines,” County Manager Mark Schwartz wrote in a recent memo (below) to county workers. “Individuals 16 to 64 years old with unde
February 5, 2021 at 7:30am
No APS Return Dates Yet “Alexandria City Public Schools this week joined a flood of Northern Virginia school systems in setting firm timelines for reopening classrooms, vowing to welcome all students back for in-person learning by mid-March. But in Arlington, school officials aren’t committing to return dates just yet.” [Washington Post]
Summer School Appears Likely “Gov. Ralph Northam on Friday will announce a plan to extend the school year into summer to allow students to catch up. The announcement will come during an 11 a.m. news conference, Northam said during a Thursday morning interview with Washington Post Live. No details have yet been released. ‘We’re working with our teachers, our school boards, our superintendents. It has to be a top priority,’ he said.” [InsideNova]
Kim Phillip, a civic and political activist with roots in the Arlington County Democratic Committee and 8th District Democratic Committee, on Jan. 1 becomes the newest member of the Arlington Electoral Board.
Phillip was appointed by Circuit Court Chief Judge William Newman Jr. to succeed Charlene Bickford, who has served two lengthy stints totaling 24 years and currently chairs the three-member body.
Phillip will join Democrat Matt Weinstein and Republican Scott McGeary on the panel. Her term, like all those of local Electoral Board members in Virginia, runs for three years.
Under state law, political parties submit a slate of prospective appointees to the Circuit Court, whose members either make the appointment collectively or delegate the decision to the chief judge. Phillip was among the nominees submitted by Arlington County Democratic Committee chairman Jill Caiazzo.
But there are some hiccups.
âThereâs a lot of pieces involved,â said county elections chief Gretchen Reinemeyer, who aims to convene a summit of involved parties â county staff, Virginia Department of Elections, equipment vendors â early in the new year to âhash out all the details.â
At the request of Del. Patrick Hope (D-Arlington), the General Assembly earlier this year voted to allow Arlington to serve as an instant-runoff guinea pig before other localities have the option to implement it a year from now.
The instant-runoff process already is in use when the Arlington County Democratic Committee selects its nominees for local office through a caucus, though not in state-run primaries. When filling out ballots, voters are allowed (but not required) to rank candidates in order of preference; should no candidate receive 50 percent of the vote on the first ballot, the lowest scoring candidate is eliminated, and his/her votes are reallocated based
Pending final approval by the rank-and-file, the Arlington County Civic Federationâs new ad-hoc committee on Arlington governance will have its membership in place before the start of the new year.
The body has been tasked with bringing forward recommendations for consideration on how to improve â or at least modernize â a governance structure that dates to the early 1930s.
Civic Federation delegates voted 42-10 in October to empanel the body, which is being asked to have deliberations wrapped up and recommendations in place within a year.
The slate proposed by Civic Federation Allan Gajadhar, and slated to be voted on by delegates at the federationâs Dec. 15 meeting, includes Nancy Tate, John Vihstadt, Michael Beer, Dave Schutz, Chanda Choun, Sangita Sigdyal, Sharon Valenciais, Keith Fred, Beth Grossman, Kris Brown, Kevin Appel, Whytni Kernodle, Tannia Talento, Duke Banks and Chris Wimbush. About two-thirds of the nominees are current Civic Federation delegate