Leading Arlington Forward Together!

Thank You, Arlington!

I am humbled and honored to serve as your Arlington County Board member. As an immigrant and a first-time candidate, I did not expect to receive the overwhelming amount of support from Arlingtonians throughout every zip code in our county. Our victory is meaningful for two specific reasons - it is the recognition of my many years of civic engagement in Arlington and it serves as a testament to Arlington voters' expectation of true progressive policies and effective leadership.

I am proud that our campaign elevated and advanced civic discourse in a positive and constructive way. I am especially proud that we highlighted the equity conversation in Arlington, and I look forward to continuing to elevate the voices of marginalized communities.

I would like to thank my fellow candidates in this race, Susan Cunningham and Bob Cambridge. Running for office is not an easy task, and even more emotionally taxing in the middle of a pandemic. I look forward to your continued engagement in our political process.

A special thank you to my wife, Lida. Without her unwavering support, this campaign and my candidacy would not have been possible.

I thank the incredible young Democrats that powered this campaign. They mounted an incredible effort not only with their technical skills, youth, and energy but with their passion for the many substantive issues that were central to our platform. Their voices are incredibly powerful and were crucial to the momentum we gained.

I would like to thank the hundreds of volunteers and donors throughout Arlington that put in the work to keep the trains running. Your phone calls, your texts, your emails, your post cards, your outreach, your donations, in-kind contributions, and your support made all of this possible. You are the true heroes of democracy. I am blessed to have you in my corner and to work alongside of you all in advocacy and in activism.

I thank our communities of color for their insights and support of our campaign, especially the Black Community who have faced and are continuing to face unspeakable amounts of pain and hardship in the public eye even here in Arlington. I will work as hard as possible to do more to make sure that their voices are more prominent in the decision making process.

Lastly, I would like to thank our diverse immigrant community for having supported this campaign. I thank them for having shared not their worries, but their hopes and dreams for our wonderful County. I look forward to continuing to elevate their voices while on the dais as your next Arlington County Board Member.

This is not the finish line, this is the starting line as we continue to move Arlington forward together. There is work to be done and I am so proud to be chosen to do it.

 

Statement on the

Murder of George Floyd

 

The taking of George Floyd’s life exposes an ugly truth in our country, that the lives of Black Americans are not valued or protected in the same way as those of White Americans. Floyd’s recent murder at the hands of a Minneapolis Police Officer has brought the sad reality of systemic racism in law enforcement to national attention once again.

The roots of this racism are historical, systemic, and cultural, and they exist in every town, city, and zip code across America, including Arlington. And while Arlington has so far been spared the severity of the nationalized egregious incidents, it is not immune to the systemic racism and injustice that have plagued Black Americans for generations.

Equity demands that we look these terrible incidents squarely in the face and change the broken system that is causing them. For us to make Arlington a just and equitable place for all of its residents, we must all pledge action together to tackle inequities in housing, education, health, and life outcomes in our county. Our work is ongoing, and it will not stop after the July 7th election. May this moment be a call to action for us and our fellow citizens in Arlington.

Moving forward, I commit to:

  1. Working with community groups to actively, persistently tell the full story of Arlington — the story that includes small valiant Black communities that were excluded by legal segregation from prosperity and had to fight for equal treatment once integration became the law of the land.

  2. Bringing an equity lens to County Board work - identifying metrics that will help us chart progress; examining every decision to uncover who is helped, who is hurt, who benefits and who is left behind.

  3. Holding regular neighborhood town halls in multiple languages so that more Arlingtonians can tell their stories directly to -at least one- of their elected leaders.

  4. Actively advocating for a strong local safety net that helps our less prosperous neighbors and all locally-owned businesses

  5. Ensuring that law enforcement always adheres to our values of equality and equity, accountability and justice.

Addressing COVID-19

 The Covid-19 crisis has revealed many vulnerabilities in our local society and our economy. It has also revealed that our democratic values can and will guide us through and out of this crisis. This is an agenda for how we as Arlingtonians will emerge, together, out of the Covid-19 shock as a stronger and more resilient community.

  • Strengthen the partnership between the County and key non-profit organizations that have risen to the challenge of the Covid-19 response by instituting a permanent coordinated council with a long term development plan that will collaboratively expand. This would allow crucial services to be provided through public-private-partnerships and would relieve the Department of Human Services (DHS) from growing demand.

  • Institute a permanent revolving micro-loan program, which will also leverage private investment to boost small business creation and sustainability in the long term.

  • Take full advantage of the remote working experience during this pandemic in order to upgrade and enhance true e-government delivery, serving businesses and citizens in a better, time and cost effective manner.

  • Learn the lessons of this crisis and address the inequalities that have led to the disproportionate impact on our minority communities and communities of color.