MEETING WITH THE MAYOR

The mayor spent an hour and 15 minutes with Pat, Jill and me. He opened by describing himself as more of an old-school conservative– fiscally conservative, small-government guy – but socially liberal. In all, it was a cordial meeting and a good conversation – Pat tells me it was far more productive than meetings with the previous mayor.

I left feeling that the mayor did a good job of “handling” us, but I never felt that we were being showboated, talked down to or dismissed as a bunch of crazy progressives. I felt like he actually listened, and he spent time explaining his views. I don’t agree with all of them and I’m still a bit wary on the official explanation for term limits, but that’s where we are.

On term limits: Ross said the rush to put this on the ballot was spurred by a “lot” of emails that came in this summer urging the council to do something about term limits and soon. He wouldn’t confirm the number of emails he and council members actually received (we’ve heard just 12 to 17, depending on who’s doing the reporting). One point – he did say that another reason for acting this quickly was to get it on the November ballot, where turnout is expected to be higher than the usual municipal elections in May.

We mentioned that the public hasn’t had much of a chance to comment and some of those who *have* commented have been treated rudely. He said he understood the optics.

We also asked him about his views on recalls for officeholders; he said he wasn’t familiar with it but would look into it.

He reiterated his belief that increasing terms from two to three years – for a total of nine – would be beneficial to the city and his plans for it. His view is that some of these plans could take up to a decade to implement, and that developers and investors have concerns about committing to said projects if they’re not sure about the political climate, e.g., who’s going to be in charge in a few short years. That’s why a total of nine years, instead of six, matters.

He also talked at length about his overall plans for Arlington, which include creating the environment that will attract HQs of BIG companies bringing thousands of jobs here; a better mix of economic development; attracting more educational institutions here, better housing, etc. Pat asked about plans for affordable housing, and he said those are in the works as well.

I did not know (but probably should have), that he has convened special advisory groups – beyond the Unity Council – to advise him on issues affecting various diverse groups in the city. He’s also very excited about his Mayor’s Council on Education, which brings together education officials from the school district, homeschoolers, colleges, private schools, etc., to better coordinate education in the Dream City.

We also brought up the hate speech letter we sent him, acknowledging that free speech rights are complicated but reiterating our belief that city leaders need to do something to show that hate speech isn’t appropriate in public settings. He said he’s been working with the city attorney on this. Not sure where that will lead.

Pat asked about gas wells and the administrative rubber stamp that the city just implemented. He said the permits are put on place by the state and cities have no options but to approve them. That’s why some of them are no longer up for public hearings.