December 24, 2018 Newsletter

Home ============ January 14, 2019 ============ January 7, 2019 =========== December 24, 2018 ============ December 17, 2018 ============ VIA - by the numbers ============ CityCouncil Grades ============ Jeff Williams, =====Mayor===== Helen Moise, ===District1=== Sheri Capehart, ===District2=== Roxanne Thalman, ===District3=== Kathryn Wilemon, ===District4=== Lana Wolff, ===District5=== Robert Shepard, ===District6=== Victoria Farrar-Myers, ===District7==== Michael Glaspie, ===District8=== Kennedale Knowledge ============

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

We here at the Arlington Spectator want to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

THERE ARE NO PLANS FOR A NEWSLETTER NEXT WEEK.

Arlington is a city where citizens are relegated to being spectators rather than players. The SPECTATOR helps citizens know what is happening on the field. Only the few on the in-house team are allowed to play ball in Arlington. The SPECTATOR helps citizens understand the game.

December 24, 2018 – Volume 11 Number 50

GAME SCHEDULE:

Monday, December 24, Interlochen Lights continues nightly thru 12/25, 7:00pm-11:00pm.

Tuesday, December 25, Christmas.

Tuesday, January 1, New Year’s Day.

Tuesday, January 8, City Council Meetings, Arlington City Hall, 101 W Abram St, times TBD.

From THE LOCKER ROOM

Arlington City Council Update

he next scheduled City Council meeting is Tuesday, January 8.

AISD Update

The next scheduled AISD Board meeting is Thursday, January 17.

Press Box

NO NEWSLETTER next week

There are no plans for a newsletter next week. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. See you in January.

Interlochen Lights

The Interlochen lights event runs from Friday, December 14 through Christmas, Monday, December 25, 7:00-11:00pm.

City Still Claiming VIA is Wonderful

On December 11, the VIA pilot program started its second year. The City Council approved the second year of the pilot program [for $2.1 million] on December 4.

https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/arlington/article222789835.html

http://arlspectator.mysite.com/rich_text_22.html

The article mentions 85,000 riders. The failed max had approximately 65,000 riders in 2016, on a five-day schedule [VIA operates on a six-day schedule, Monday – Saturday].

When the pilot started, the staff report stated it expected to reach I-20 within four to six months of the pilot’s initiation. That did not happen until September 20, more than nine months after the pilot began. The project has been a disaster and a major waste of taxpayers' dollars.

Even with its new expanded area, it only covers about 30% of the city, meaning the majority of the taxpayers have to pay for VIA, but receive no benefit from it. All of those taxpayers are paying for something that competes against the private sector Lyft and Uber services.

Yet for some unexplained reason, Wasteful [Council Member Kathryn] Wilemon and [Mayor Jeff] Williams are all for throwing away the taxpayers' money.

30mph on Cooper Extended to Pioneer Pkwy

The city council approved the extending the 30mph speed limit on Cooper all the way to Pioneer Pkwy. The first reading was December 4.The second reading was December 11. The signs are already in place.

National League of Cities

http://www.arlington-tx.gov/news/2018/12/21/five-council-members-appointed-2019-nlc-policy-committees/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MyArlingtonTx+%28My+Arlington+TX%29

The city was proud to announce that five of the council members were appointed to National League of Cities' (NLC) policy committees. Yet another good reason to not walk, but run away from that comes out of NLC.

HELPFUL CONTACTS

The Spectator . ...ArlSpectator@yahoo.com

www.ArlSpectator.mysite.com

The Arlington Voice (online newspaper covering Arlington) www.arlingtonvoice.com

Opinion Arlington (comment on issues of Arlington) www.opinionarlington.com

City of Arlington website www.arlingtontx.gov

e-mails of mayor and council

.............................. first.last@arlingtontx.gov

mayor = jeff.williams

district 1 (north) = helen.moise

district 2 (sw) = sheri.capehart

district 3 (se) = roxanne.thalman