Federation Meets on Second Tuesday to Pass Legislation Package
November General Meeting
7:30 pm, Tuesday, November 14th
Arlington Hospital Conference Center
1701 N. George Mason Drive
-- November General Meeting Program --
Our November meeting will be held on the Second Tuesday of the month to avoid the Election Day. Our agenda for the meeting is shown below:
Reports and Special Recognition
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Consideration of the Legislation Package
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Separate Consideration of Addenda Items
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Consideration of Member's Issues
The principal task for this meeting will be to adopt our Legislative Package for 2000-2001. Inside this issue of The Civic Voice, you'll find the basic format and rules we will use for this meeting as well as the draft package (see the insert). Please take the time to read them before arriving.
Most importantly, remember that if you have items to propose for including in the Legislation Package, you must submit them not later than 3 days before the meeting to be included in the agenda. Send proposed items to the Legislation Committee Chair, Nancy Graham or the ACCF President.
New Committee Needs a Chairman and Members
At the October meeting, the membership approved a Charter of Incorporation to establish our "charitable non-profit status." There were two primary benefits for this. First - after approval by the IRS, dues and donations to the Civic Federation will become tax deductible. We hope the incentive of tax deductions will encourage members, local organizations, institutions, etc. to donate to a new Civic Federation Grants Fund and help keep our operating fund at a reasonable level. That will enable us to realize the second benefit - allowing us to selectively provide grants to member organizations struggling to get on their feet and possibly establish a scholarship fund. The bottom line is that we will need to establish a Finance and Grants Committee and name a chairman, soon!
In Memory of an Arlington Civic Activist
~~ JOHN F. NICHOLAS, JR. ~~
On October 25th, we, the Civic Federation lost a long time member, civic activist and good friend, when John Nicholas passed away. John had long been active in Arlington County and especially in the Civic Federation. He was a member of several PTAs and served as a President of the Wakefield High School PTA. John also served on the Arlington County Finance Committee, was a longtime member of the Boulevard Manor Civic Association and served as its President.
For those of you whose civic memories go back far enough, you will remember the controversy over a proposed Cross County Expressway. That was to be built roughly parallel to Four Mile Run through the County from the Falls Church line to Jefferson Davis Highway. John Nicholas led the fight against the building of that expressway and as a result, it wasn't built. We also remember that John led the fight to preserve Upton Hill Park as park land and because of John, Upton Hill Park exists today.
John was a delegate to the Federation from the Boulevard Manor Civic Association for more than 25 years. He served on the Federation's Banquet Committee, was a member of the Federation Executive Committee and was elected as the Federation's Treasurer.
John Nicholas was a model of civic activism and will be sorely missed and long remembered.
How The Legislation Package Is To Be Handled Special Rules
After approving the agenda for the evening, delegates need to agree on how to handle the legislation package, the addenda and motions from individual members. The planned procedures are described below.
The Main Package
The main part of the Legislation package consists of those measures that the Federation's Legislation Committee has voted unanimously to include (or retained from past years) in the package. If the special rules are adopted for the meeting, we will take a single vote to accept or reject this package as a whole. If the "vote to accept" fails, we will consider each motion separately. The draft main package is available at the WWW.civfed.org web site.
Addenda Items
During their deliberations, there were items that the Legislation Committee failed to achieve unanamous agreement on. Those measures that were supported by a majority of the committee members will be presented as topics to be voted on separately by the whole membership. If approved, they will be incorporated into the overall package.
Items Proposed by Delegates
While we have encouraged everyone to attend the Legislation Committee's meetings, it's only fair to let issues proposed by delegates be considered by the whole membership. However, to prevent "sneak attacks" on the Legislation Package, the Executive Committee has agreed (as it did last year) to require submission of issues by individual members not later than 3 days before the meeting. Proponents of items must forward such proposals in writing to either the Legislation Committee Chair or the Civic Federation President. They will also need to place 75 copies of their proposal on the table in the lobby of the Hospital's Hazel Conference Center by 7:15 p.m. on November 14th.
Prioritizing Our Issues
This year, the Executive Committee has recommended that the Federation select a few proposals from the legislative package to define priority issues for action by the State Legislature, the County Board, or the United States Congress. These would be the issues for which we would like to hold our elected representatives and officials accountable. As a departure point, the Legislation Committee has recommended five items which represent the committee members' view of our highest legislative priorities.
During this meeting, each delegate will have an opportunity to select his or her 5 top priority items from the adopted package. The votes will be tallied, and the Federation's top 5 priorities will be presented as a separate document to our officials and representatives.
Notes From Your ACCF President...
First, let me thank everyone who stayed through to the late ending of the last meeting. I know that we had a lot "on the menu" at that meeting, yet we managed to get it all accomplished. As mentioned before, the Incorporation Charter will get us moving towards achieving charitable not-for-profit status. Moreover, the approval of the new Standing Rule will permit the Executive Committee to be more responsive to emerging issues that need action before the next Membership meeting. More notes...
- The Schools Committee met last month and has proposed some very thoughtful topics for the School Board Members to discuss at our December meeting.
- Judy Green and Jay Wind have the Parks Committee up and running - and are looking at county park maintenance issues and other issue areas.
- The Transportation Committee met to discuss areas to focus on this year. During that meeting, the topic of the Federation's position on a snow removal ordinance requiring homeowners (and business owners) to clear sidewalks was discussed. Because of the near-term arrival of winter, we may see this issue arise at a membership meeting as early as this November.
That's all the news for this month!
See you at the November Meeting!
Jim Pebley
ACCF Officers
President Jim Pebley 703-525-0766 jim+
Vice President Dan Krasnegor 703-534-4024 dan+
Treasurer Frances Finta 703-528-2882 (no email)
Secretary Tim Wise 703-243-8345 tim+
Executive Committee
Chairman - Patrick Smaldore 703-528-3935 - patrick+
Member - Robert Atkins 703-527-8859 - (voice or fax) - (no email)
Member - Darnell Carpenter 703-243-5188 - darnell+
Member - Mileva Hartman 703-841-9287 - mileva+
Member - Dan Krasnegor 703-534-4024 - dan+
Member - Susan Quinn 703-931-1755 - susan+
Committee Chairs
Newsletter Editorial Committee
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News email: - civicvoice Fax: 703-486-0576
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Web: - www.civfed.org (.com works too)
Recipients of this newsletter are encouraged to forward to all and any
interested parties
Copies of the Newsletter are available for Download from the Civic
Federation website. (This page!)
Arlington County Civic Federation
