Happy Independence Day! I spent the morning campaigning at an awesome event in my neighborhood: the 42nd Annual Douglas Park 4th of July Parade and Potluck. I'd never been to this event before, but I will certainly be making it a tradition. It was so fun to walk the parade route alongside neighbors' creative homemade floats and patriotically decorated bicycles, then enjoy good music and food in Douglas Park.
I had some great conversations with folks I met about what they care about in our community. We talked about issues as big as the budget and as small (but important!) as increasing the visibility of crosswalks on busy roads. I heard from people who feel strongly that we need to be more responsible with our budget and ensure our decisions around what we finance are more tied to practical outcomes than ideological signaling (an example: buying electric school buses if our bus system isn't getting used as much as it could be). Neighbors shared their perspectives with me on our public transportation system's effectiveness and the importance of balancing the needs of car and bike commuters on our streets. I had conversations with people who are for as well as against Missing Middle / Expanded Housing Options and took away insights from both sides.
I ran into two currently serving County Board members: Libby Garvey (the current chair, who is retiring at the end of this year and leaving the open seat for this fall's election) and Maureen Coffey (who was elected in this past 2023 cycle). I enjoyed sharing some quick words with them and thanking them for their service to Arlington County. Being in local government is often a thankless job and, while I may not see eye-to-eye with either of them on every single issue, we almost certainly agree on more matters than we disagree on. I also ran into and chatted with former County Board member Katie Cristol.
I was also inspired to talk with leaders from nonprofits in the community: Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) and Educational Theater Company (ETC). Shout out to Stan and Keith who are doing awesome work for the benefit of their neighbors in Arlington and NoVA.
Lastly, an even bigger shout out to Steven Jordan Tomaszewski, the President of the Douglas Park Civic Association, and to everyone else involved in organizing today's event. It was great to meet Steven and I plan on having further conversations with him soon.
This evening my husband Ross and I will enjoy our annual tradition (three years in the making) of biking along the Four Mile Run and then Mount Vernon trails to get to the bank of the Potomac where we will lay out a blanket and enjoy and awesome view of the Capitol's fire works show right across the river. We're grateful to have such top-notch bike trails to use so we can easily get great seats to this 4th of July spectacle.
Thanks for following along with my campaign and, once again, happy Independence Day!
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