Hello Yupette,
Latest news about the County Board's agenda to control everyone, in every way, all the time was the strategic planning meeting that the County Board its Department Heads and Division Chiefs held at Ft. Myer on June 25th and 26th. Purpose of the day and a half facilitated meeting was to devise ways of tightening the County Board's control over County residents, County staff, advisory commission members, and civic associations while preserving the charade of 'local democracy'.
On June 25th, County Board and County Staff frankly discussed the oncoming budget train wreck, and the $40 billion in expected cuts by federal agencies and federal contractors in our region, loss of good paying jobs to other jurisdictions, and the need for the meeting's participants to be united in order to preserve the status quo, aka 'Arlington Way'.
On June 26th, County Board and County Staff discussed ways of preventing the County Board from losing control through so-called 'end runs' when the County Board makes decisions that are unpopular with residents or groups of residents. The goal is to present an appearance of democracy while consolidating power. The method used to attain this goal is to train County Staff and recruit compliant advisory commission members and civic association 'community leaders' who will work to both market and facilitate the County Board's agenda with communities and advocacy groups. Members of the local media will be offered inducements like exclusive interviews with County Board members to increasingly censor negative news and information about work items on the County Board's agenda.
So, bottom line, if you are concerned about the County Bord throwing millions more into the Artisphere, don't, in the future, expect anyone on County Staff, advisory commissions, citizens associations, advocacy groups or the media to share your concerns.
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