July 15, 2019 Newsletter

Home ============ August 19, 2019 ============ August 12, 2019 ============ August 5, 2019 =========== July 15, 2019 ============ VIA - by the numbers ============ Arlington City CouncilGrades ============= Jeff Williams, =====Mayor===== Helen Moise, ===District1=== Sheri Capehart, ===District2=== Marvin Sutton, ===District3=== Andrew Piel, ===District4=== Ignacio Nunez, ===District5=== Robert Shepard, ===District6=== Victoria Farrar-Myers, ===District7==== Barbara Odom-Wesley, ===District8=== Kennedale Knowledge ============

Mayor to Speak at District Town Hall Meetings

The mayor appears as the guest speaker at several State of the District Town Hall Meetings in August. Three of the five districts have been scheduled at the time of this writing. The first is District 3 on Saturday, August 3.

THERE WILL BE NO NEWSLETTERS ON JULY 22 & JULY 29. OUR STAFF WILL BE ON VACATION.

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.

July 15, 2019 – Volume 12 Number 28

GAME SCHEDULE:

Saturday, August 3: District 3 Town Hall, Arlington Airport, 5000 S. Collins Street, 10:30am. Guest Speaker: Mayor Williams.

Tuesday, August 6: City Council Meetings, 101 W. Abram Street, times TBA.

Wednesday, August 7: P&Z Meeting, Arlington City Hall, 101 W. Abram Street, 5:30pm.

Wednesday, August 7: District 5 Town Hall, E.H. Hereford University Center, 300 W. First Street, 6:00pm. Guest Speaker: Mayor Williams.

Thursday, August 8: AISD School Board Meeting, AISD Administration Building, 1203 W. Pioneer Parkway, 7:00pm.

Monday, August 12: District 2 Town Hall, South Police Center, 1030 S.W. Green Oaks Boulevard, 6:30pm. Guest Speaker: Mayor Williams.

The Arlington Spectator can now be found on Facebook.

From THE LOCKER ROOM

Arlington City Council Update

The Arlington City Council is on their summer break. The next scheduled meeting is Tuesday, August 6. At that meeting there will probably be a public hearing about 1201 E. Division where the AISD is trying to obtain approval for the first ever RMU (Regional Mixed Use) zoning. RMU zoning allows up to 100 apartments per acre.

P&Z Commission

P&Z met this past Wednesday, July 10. There were two public hearings on the agenda. Only six of the commissioners were present.

The applicant of the first public hearing had asked for the case to be heard on August 21. It was for a special use permit for a drive-thru for the southeast corner of E. Sublett Road and New York Avenue.

The second public hearing was for the Provident at Debbie Lane Apartments, 8150 S. Watson Road. It was continued from May. The applicant wished to convert general commercial to a PD, including 331 apartments.

The motion to approve the zoning request FAILED for lack of a second. Therefore, the project was NOT approved by P&Z.

The next P&Z meeting will be Wednesday, August 7.

AISD Update

The next scheduled AISD Board Meeting will be on Thursday, August 8. In August, probably August 22, they will be setting the tax rate.

Press Box

Fielder Road I-30 Bridge

A portion of the Fielder Road Bridge over I-30 will be closed for repair at least through August.

[https://www.arlingtontx.gov/news/my_arlington_t_x/news_stories/fielder_road_bridge_update].

Panther Island Debacle

The review of the Panther Island Debacle in Downtown Fort Worth is out; however, the full release to the public seems to be yet another fight. The Texas Scorecard Story:

[https://texasscorecard.com/local/officials-refuse-to-release-full-panther-island-review-to-public/].

VIA by the Numbers

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

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

When the pilot began, 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 newly expanded area, it only covers about 30% of the city, meaning most of the taxpayers have to pay for VIA, but receive no benefit from it. All those taxpayers are paying for something that competes against the private sector Lyft and Uber services.

THERE WILL BE NO NEWSLETTERS ON JULY 22 & JULY 29. OUR STAFF WILL BE ON VACATION.

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