Meet The Candidate: Libby Garvey For Arlington County Board

ARLINGTON, VA — In addition to voting for the president and vice president, one member of the U.S. Senate, member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the 8th congressional district, the Arlington County Board and School Board, two amendments to the Constitution of Virginia, and five bond questions for Arlington County.

Incumbent Libby Garvey, 69, has served eight years on the Arlington County Board and is the current Board chair. She is running for reelection.

As part of its coverage of the 2020 election, Patch has asked each of the candidates in Arlington to fill out a questionnaire to describe why they think they're the best person to fill the job they're running for.

Candidate

Libby Garvey

Age (as of Election Day)

69

Town/City of Residence

Arlington

Office Sought

County Board

Party Affiliation

Democrat

Family

2 adult children, 5 grandchildren

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Education

BA Mount Holyoke College

Occupation

County Board Member 8 years

Campaign website

www.libbygarvey.com

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

Currently I am Chair of the Arlington County Board. This is my second time as Chair. I served on the Arlington County School Board for 15 years and served as Chair 5 times.

The single most pressing issue facing Arlington is the pandemic, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Helping our community get through the pandemic is the current most pressing issue. I will continue to work as I have this year so the County provides support for: our schools (financial, internet, food for student families); our small businesses (grants, counseling, flexible ordinances where possible); residents (continuing vital County services and strengthening our safety net); community health (increasing testing capability; contact tracing; support for those needing it to quarantine).

Do you support Black Lives Matter and what are your thoughts on the demonstrations held since the death of George Floyd and the shooting of Jacob Blake?

I support the Black Lives Matter movement and efforts to finally address the systemic racism that has plagued our nation from the beginning. The murders of George Floyd and Jacob Blake have helped many people finally see the truth and depth of this disease. I helped organize and lead the June 6 march for Black Lives. I was pleased people were careful about distancing and mask wearing during that march, and it was peaceful. I have been part of many peaceful demonstrations against war and for racial justice and gender equity since 1970.

What are your thoughts on the campaign to "defund" the police?

I believe the campaign is a way many people are supporting a very important concept: the idea that addressing the causes of crime or misbehavior is far more effective than policing for creating a peaceful and just society. I believe law enforcement will always be needed, but I have long supported training for police so they can divert people in mental health crisis from the criminal justice system and into proper mental and behavioral health treatment. I support paying police well so they can be a part of our community and so we attract and retain the best officers who care about our entire community. However, as I think everyone would agree, good schools and strong safety nets are far better ways to spend public dollars than to spend them on the enforcement needed if social services and schools are poor or completely lacking.

What are your thoughts on the state and national response to the coronavirus pandemic? Do you favor such measures as limiting operation of non-essential businesses or restricting indoor/outdoor dining? And do you favor a nationwide mask mandate?

By and large the national response to the coronavirus has been shameful and criminally negligent. The administration in the White House has made the pandemic worse with misinformation, attempts to destroy the effectiveness of the CDC, and a refusal to take action to make sure we have sufficient PPE, testing and contact tracing. At times the federal government has made it harder for us to get these things. As a country, we are essentially in no better position than we were back in April. On the state level, the support has been much better, but the bar is low. I would still like to see more support from the Commonwealth for increased testing. I support limiting business operations when it makes sense in the context of the disease and what our neighbors are doing. This is what we have done. We have worked hard to find ways for restaurants to stay open safely, although we have had to constantly monitor what is happening with those establishments and their clientele for safe distancing. It is crucial that we not be too different from our neighbors because the virus does not observe County boundaries. We could totally close down everything in Arlington, but if people can still go out in Alexandria, Fairfax and DC, it would make little difference to the spread of Covid, but it would destroy our businesses here. Which gets to your last question. I believe a nationwide mask mandate is probably about the only real tool we have to top the spread of Covid until we have a vaccine AND have vaccinated most of the population. So, yes, I would support such a mandate.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I have much more experience and believe I have a much more practical approach to solving problems.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform

My focus areas are equity, innovation, and resilience.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

In my 15 years on the School Board I focused on equity and helped close the achievement gap by over 50%. I focused on wise spending and helped renovate or build new almost every school building in Arlington on time and on budget, including the first LEED certified school building in Virginia. In my 8 years on the County Board, I continued to focus on equity, increasing support for affordable housing and programs for our elderly residents, improving parks throughout the County, as well as adopting an equity resolution and hiring our first chief equity officer. I continued to focus on wise spending halting unwise projects like the streetcar and the too expensive aquatics center which was redesigned and is being built now within budget. I helped bring in project management techniques that ensure against cost overruns. I helped bring Amazon HQ2 here with conditions that are very favorable for Arlington.

If you win this position, what accomplishment would make your term in office as a success?

My term will be a success if our Arlington economy is strong and our small businesses are doing well at the end of my term and after Covid; if many people at all income levels can afford to live in Arlington; if our stormwater system is far along in becoming able to handle most of the large rain events that climate change brings; if people of all backgrounds agree that Arlington County government is equitable in how we provide our services; and if our schools are strong and innovative in providing education to the wide diversity of students we have.

Why should voters trust you?

While every voter will not agree with every decision I have made in my 24 years in elected office, I think it is clear that I always do what I believe is right for the people of Arlington County. This has created political difficulties for me at times when I have disagreed with all of my Board colleagues and the local party on an issue (which led once to my leaving the local Democratic Party for a year), but I have always put the people of Arlington first and I always will.

What are your views on fiscal policy, government spending and the use of taxpayer dollars in the office you are seeking?

Please see my accomplishments. Wise spending has been a focus for me throughout my career serving Arlington County. In all spending decisions I ask three questions: what benefit? for whom? at what cost? With our equity focus there are a few more: who benefits? who is burdened? who is missing? how do we know?

Is there any reason you would not serve your full term of office, other than those of health or family?

Not that I can think of.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Do the right thing. Always.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

If voters have any questions for me, I invite them to ask me by email. And I ask for their vote on or before November 3.

This article originally appeared on the Arlington Patch