PRESS RELEASE: Arlington County Board Member Takis Karantonis Wins Nomination For First Full Term

With a decisive 2-to-1 victory, Takis wins a clear mandate from Arlington Democrats

ARLINGTON, Va. – County Board Member Takis Karantonis has clearly and decisively won renomination for his first full term on the Board. Takis will be the Democratic nominee on the ballot in November.

“I am honored to have the strong support of Democrats all over Arlington heading into the November general election,” said Karantonis. I am so grateful for the support of our staff, volunteers and voters across the County who made this victory possible. I would also like to thank Chanda for running a positive, issues-based campaign, and for strengthening public debate in Arlington with his candidacy. Last night, our team of dedicated supporters proved that with Arlingtonians across the county chipping in their time, their resources, and their votes, we can bring our effective, progressive, and experienced campaign back to the Democratic ticket this November. Now, the work begins again.”

“As we head into the general election, I want to renew my pledge to keep working to make Arlington better and building on the progress I’ve made over the past year. I will fight to protect Arlington against the Climate Emergency, to ensure a safe reopening for our County, to preserve and support our small business community, and most importantly, to keep listening to and engaging the people of Arlington in the democratic process and the process of local government. I am always here for you as your Board Member.”

“I’m also grateful for the support of publications and groups like NoVA Labor, Carpenters, IBEW, Pipe Trades, the Arlington Education Association, Sierra Club, Blue Virginia, and the Sun Gazette, and for the endorsements of all my colleagues on the County Board, the entire Arlington School Board, State Senators Ebbin and Favola, and Delegates Lopez, Sullivan, and Hope, Sheriff Beth Arthur, Clerk of the Court Paul Ferguson, and Treasurer Carla De La Pava, along with countless community leaders and former elected officials.”

Takis Karantonis is a sitting County Board member and the Democratic Party’s nominee for County Board this November. An immigrant who speaks and listens in eight languages, he has been an activist and community leader since he first came to Arlington in 2007. In his time in office, Takis has been working tirelessly to bring his expertise as a trained economist and urban planner, his dedication, and his passion for our community to the County Board. His next election will be held on Tuesday, November 2nd.

Happy Mother’s Day!

For many immigrants like myself, today will be another Mother’s day that we have to celebrate thousands of miles away from our mothers. More often than not, there is no broadband connection on the other end, sometimes, not even a working phone line. Yet, messages of love and deep gratitude will be crossing continents and oceans.

My mother is one of these amazing, strong women who fought and worked very hard to raise her children no matter how adverse and dispiriting life’s circumstances were for her. 

I meet mothers who remind me of my mother every day. Being elected during a pandemic opens a unique window of appreciation for the full width and depth of their daily struggles. Not a single day passes that I don’t think about ways our local government can provide better, more responsive, and more effective support, help and relief. 

Care-giving is an essential infrastructure that it needs to be recognized as such. I believe that the best way to celebrate this day is to reassure every mother that our local government sees her and has her back.

I voted to fund food and rent-assistance and eviction prevention; to provide the funding to meet the School Board’s needs, to safely reopen public facilities, like libraries; to find ways to provide additional services, from free broadband to childcare to additional mental health response capacity; I strongly supported increasing the minimum wage, providing paid sick leave and giving our public employees the right to collectively bargain for better jobs and working conditions.

I did all the above with the additional sense of urgency and purpose that derives from having listened to these mothers. I owe them gratitude and the commitment to do more and better to support them and their families in these difficult times. 

Here’s to the amazing, strong women who hold us, inspire us, and keep us from falling throughout every step of our lives.

Whether you are close by or far away - we love you, every day a bit more!

Happy Mother’s Day!

My mother helping me with my first steps.

Democratically Yours,

Takis Karantonis

Statement on the Verdict in the Derek Chauvin Trial

No verdict can ever make what happened right, nor is there any jury that can undo the trauma felt by George Floyd’s family or by the millions of Black Americans who watched those horrific 8 minutes and 46 seconds.

Today’s conviction is a small measure of accountability against hatred and systemic racism, but we must see this movement through. Our deepest condolences continue to go out to George Floyd’s family and the members of the Black community who continue to endure racism and racist violence.

Today, the Arlington County Board has received the Manager’s report on the recommendations of the Police Practices Group and the ongoing search for a new Police Chief in Arlington, and I remain committed to fighting for justice for all. There is still more work to be done.

Re-Election Campaign

I am officially running in this year’s County Board election because I’m wholeheartedly committed to continue building upon the work we started together. 

It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost a year since we launched our campaign in last year’s special election for County Board. I will never forget the energy, the resources, and the work you all invested in that special election to complete our friend Erik Gutshall’s term after his premature and gut-wrenching passing. 

While COVID-19 continues to lay bare the social, cultural, racial, and economic inequalities in our community – helping all Arlingtonians through this crisis remains my top priority for as long as it takes to arrive at our new “normal.”

I am running for re-election to the Arlington County Board because I believe that Arlington is resilient, and it has the capacity to adapt to challenges in ways that will provide a great quality of life for all of its residents. My experiences as an immigrant, planner, economist, environmentalist and affordable housing activist have proved critical in my work to build an Arlington that works for all Arlingtonians. 

Through the COVID-19 shock, and beyond, it is my mission to continue:

• Supporting the School Board as they work to safely reopen schools;

• Enhancing economic development with a focus on supporting and advancing our small business economy;

• Confronting the climate crisis through courageous choices that will make Arlington a leader in environmental resilience and sustainability; 

• Tackling our housing affordability crisis to ensure that Arlingtonians have a stable and good quality home in a caring and supportive community;

• Advancing equity and racial justice through a whole government and whole community approach by truly engaging a broader and more diverse spectrum of residents in civic processes. 

I look forward to connecting with you and our neighbors in an in-depth conversation on how we will continue to lead Arlington forward, together!

Statement from Takis Karantonis Regarding Parking Needs for a New High School at the Career Center

Having seen a few comments on the list serve recently, I would like to take the opportunity to clarify my views on the parking needs of the Career Center site.

As a member of the Career Center BLPC and a long time Columbia Heights resident, I have been excited to participate in planning for what I hope will be a public facility jewel for our community. However, unless we get the parking right, we co uld easily end up with an unattractive nuisance whose operations will plague our nearby neighborhoods for decades.

Let me be clear: I do not support spill over neighborhood street parking as a solution for public facilities. Not in Arlington Heights not anywhere.

The smart solution to achieve the required parking both environmentally and fiscally responsible would be for the County to purchase the building and its existing parking garage owned by the Ethiopian Community Development Council, located at the corner of Columbia Pike and S. Highland Street. This option should be more seriously considered and pursued by both Boards and the County Manager.

The existing garage has 325 of the approximately 450 spaces the high school will need when it reaches full buildout. Analysis has shown that the cost of buying the building and garage is less expensive than all the estimates for building parking on the site. Preserving and using what we already have to its greatest extent is a long accepted sustainabilit y principle that applies here.

If our community buys this property:

• We can protect and expand open space (vs a new above ground garage);

• We can avoid significant complications and costs of underground parking of which the estimated cost is at least $3 5 40 million).

• We would have to spend some amount of money to shore up the parking structure. We could look at creative opportunities to find the additional 100 or so spaces by building an additional level on the existing structure, or surface parking arou nd the existing buildings. Any of these solutions would cost less than either of the onsite parking solution being proposed;

• Parking availability will not delay opening of the new school; AND

• The County will bring a new asset into its inventory that has frontage on the Pike, ultimately creating opportunities for more programs and services to come to our Main Street.

As a planning principle, I believe the solution is in finding the right balance of onsite parking to minimize the impact on nearby neighbors, look for solutions that take advantage of existing nearby infrastructure, aggressively manage demand, and utilize the rich transit already available to this site. We need to continue working together to find the best long-term solution that serves all the students and staff on the site, protects our neighborhood, and is fiscally and environmentally sound.

It is difficult to fully predict the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on school operations, budgets and CIPs for the next couple of years, and on this particular project. I believe we may be hearing more about this tonight at the Career Center public meeting being held by APS, and I encourage everyone to attend to hear an update on this important project and provide feedback.

Regardless of the outcome or impacts to this project, I believe in good, long-range planning and the delivery of thoughtful, accessible and well-designed civic structures as a key economic driver for the Pike. I remain steadfast in this, as I am in my optimism for the future of the Columbia Pike community. I appreciate the opportunity to clear up any misconceptions about my positions and invite you to reach out to me if you want to have further discussion.

Statement on Improving Police Practices and Enhancing Public Safety

Over the past weeks, we have seen the nation come together in the fight for equity and racial justice. To establish community trust and address centuries of structural racial inequities, we must work diligently to ensure that law enforcement is accountable and that our legal system works for everyone - no matter their race, gender, religion, disability, sexual orientation, socioeconomic or immigration status.

I pledge to advocate for data-based reform policies that strengthen our community and public safety for ALL Arlingtonians. Our collective goal must be public safety that enables our community to thrive and have opportunity.

To that end, I support:

Police Department Leadership Search

• Conducting a nationwide search for the next Chief of Police ahead of Police Chief Farr’s upcoming retirement.

• Establish a robust series of listening sessions throughout the community prior to the initiation of the search, to allow Arlingtonians the opportunity to provide input on the qualities and characteristics they desire in our new Police Chief.

Oversight and Accountability

• Establishing a Civilian Police Review Board that creates a structural level of accountability and trust between the community and the Arlington County Police Department.

• Prioritizing the funding and use of body-worn cameras as well as the management system and personnel needed to collect, store, process and make the data available.

• Conducting a review of policies to ensure that disciplinary and training practices support the desired policing practices.

• Calling for mandatory intervention of other officers when they see excessive use of force.

• Ensuring whistleblower protection for officers who report other officers for inappropriate use of force.

Funding and Training

• Reexamining our budget priorities in order to ensure that the Arlington County Police Department’s budget reflects our progressive values and commitment to inclusive public safety with a focus on community policing. Specifically, prioritizing training against racial and cultural biases and methodically collecting data that allows us to identify and address disparities.

• Deprioritizing funding for, or the acceptance of, military equipment.

• Conducting an in-depth review of how the department responds to mental healthrelated emergency calls. We must prioritize sending properly trained responders, preferably in plain clothes, who would be accompanied by mental-health specialists (psychologists or psychiatrists). All police officers must have Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training and receive refresher training on a regular basis.

• Ensuring that law enforcement training and internal policies, particularly concerning the use of force, are consistent with Arlington values.

Arlington County Police Department and Arlington Public Schools

• Ensuring that the Arlington County Police Department and the Arlington Public Schools adhere to the joint Memorandum of Understanding.

• Reviewing and monitoring the Memorandum of Understanding annually by Police, Arlington Public Schools, and community stakeholders to ensure compliance and recommend improvements.

• Collecting data regarding police involvement and discipline in schools to ensure we are striving to eliminate disproportionality, reducing both the direct and indirect school-to0prison pipeline.

• Utilizing restorative justice practices in the schools, in police interactions, and in the judicial system for our children and young citizens.

Statement on the Murder of George Floyd

ARLINGTON –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.

Arlington’s General Assembly Members Endorse Takis Karantonis In July 7 County Board Special Election

ARLINGTON—State Senators Janet Howell (32), Adam Ebbin (30) and Barbara Favola (31) were joined by Delegates Patrick Hope (47), Alfonso Lopez (49), Rip Sullivan (48) and Mark Levine (45) in a resounding endorsement of Democrat Takis Karantonis in the July 7 County Board Special Election.

Senator Adam Ebbin said “I have worked with Takis for many years; most closely when he was Executive Director of the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization. We share a passion for improving this key corridor in Arlington and I believe his planning knowledge and skills will enhance community planning conversations throughout Arlington.”

“Takis was a trusted voice on housing policy when I was on the County Board,” said State Senator Barbara Favola. “He understands that, for Arlington to continue to thrive, we need housing affordable at a variety of price points that relate to the jobs we have in the county. I look forward to working with him on these issues in Arlington and in the Commonwealth.”

Senator Janet Howell, long-time participant in the General Assembly’s budgeting process, noted “Takis’s experience with small businesses, economic development, and micro-lending are aligned with what will be our greatest needs as the Commonwealth and Arlington move from crisis to resiliency”.

Patrick Hope, the dean of Arlington’s Delegates, said “Takis Karantonis has often been a voice for voiceless Arlingtonians who need access to health care and a strong safety net in Arlington. The fact that he speaks 8 languages means he can talk directly to people to understand their needs and concerns. That skill will enhance the work the we all do on behalf of those who have less.”

“Takis and I share a passion for environmental policy.” said Delegate Alfonso Lopez.“ I’m excited about the prospect of having a new County Board partner who has worked at the grassroots level with Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment (now EcoArlington) and who also knows his way around the key, forward-looking policy areas of energy efficiency, conservation, clean water, and renewable energy.”

Delegate Rip Sullivan stated that “Ensuring that Arlington is prepared for the 'new normal' will be a massive undertaking over the next 18 months. Takis’s relationships in the labor community and his understanding of the needs of businesses of all sizes will prove invaluable to the County. I look forward to working with him and the rest of the County Board as we evaluate new ways to support workers and businesses alike.”

“Takis and I share a passion for ensuring broad participation in civic processes” said Delegate Mark Levine. “He has a reputation for working to ensure that all voices are heard. That skill will be very important as we come out of the pandemic and have to adapt our practices and policies.”

More information about Takis can be found at www.TakisforArlington.com. Arlington voters can request an absentee ballot for the July 7 election before June 30 or vote in person at their regular polling place on July 7 from 6 am-7pm.

For more information contact: Izzie Taveras, Campaign Manager, izzie@takisforarlington.com.

Arlington’s Constitutional Officers Endorse Takis Karantonis for the July 7 County Board Special Election

ARLINGTON—Clerk of the Court Paul Ferguson, Sheriff Beth Arthur, Commissioner of the Revenue Ingrid Morroy, Treasurer Carla de la Pava, and Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti announced their support for Takis Karantonis in the Special Election on July 7. These Constitutional Officers have key windows into the work of the County Board and collaborate with the Board on many issues that contribute to Arlington’s safety and vibrancy.

“Takis has shown an interest in Arlington's Court system and is committed to supporting technology initiatives providing more online services to the public." said Clerk of the Court Paul Ferguson. “I really look forward to collaborating with him on a number of issues.”

“Takis has been a bridge over the years to communities who often are overlooked in our civic life” said Sheriff Beth Arthur. “That skill will be very helpful as we continue to provide the most progressive jail environment possible in these challenging times.”

“Serving Arlington residents—our customers—in a fair and even-handed manner requires clear communication and active listening. Takis’s skills will be a welcome addition in this work” said Commissioner of the Revenue Ingrid Morroy.

“In these trying times, fiscal management is critically important for local governments,” noted Treasurer Carla de la Pava. “I know that Takis, as a former non-profit manager and advisor to entrepreneurs, understands the County's need for fiscal prudence and careful planning.”

Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti noted “For our community to continue to thrive we will need the calmest voice and coolest head in the room, the person who, no matter the circumstance, knows how to look for solutions, find common ground, and make peace. That person is Takis Karantonis."

More information about Takis can be found at www.TakisforArlington.com. Arlington voters can request an absentee ballot for the July 7 election before June 30 or vote in person at their regular polling place on July 7 from 6 am-7pm.

For more information contact: Izzie Taveras, Campaign Manager, izzie@takisforarlington.com.