Campaign for Arlington County Board, 2006

Welcome to the website of Josh Ruebner, Green Party Candidate for the County Board of Arlington, VA. Josh’s candidacy is endorsed by:

* Peace Action, the nation’s largest grassroots peace group.

* DC Statehood Green Party

The Green Party is a national political party committed to 10 Key Values, which include grassroots democracy, social justice, ecological wisdom, non-violence, decentralization, community-based economics, feminism, diversity, responsibility, and future focus.

For more information on how to get involved with the Green Party, see:

Arlington Courthouse Greens: http://www.arlingtongreens.org/
Green Party of Virginia: http://www.vagreens.org/
Green Party of the United States: http://www.gp.org/

About Josh

Josh Ruebner is a 9-year resident of Arlington County and is currently the Secretary of the Homeowners’ Association of Carrington Village, a townhouse community located near the intersection of Columbia Pike and Washington Blvd.

Josh is a long-time activist for peace and justice.  He works as the Grassroots Advocacy Coordinator for the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, a coalition of more than 200 organizations working to change US policy toward Israel/Palestine to support human rights and international law.  He has also served in leadership positions with United for Peace and Justice, helping to organize some of the largest protests against the US war on and occupation of Iraq.  Josh is also a board member of the National Peace Foundation and an activist with Jewish Voice for Peace.

Prior to becoming a political activist, Josh worked as an Analyst in Middle East Affairs at Congressional Research Service, a non-partisan federal government agency which provides Members of Congress with policy analysis.

Josh has a graduate degree in International Affairs from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and an undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Michigan.

Issues

Affordable Housing & Gentrification

Over the last five years, we’ve lost more than half of our affordable housing stock in Arlington as developers have bulldozed apartments and single-family homes to build luxury condos and McMansions. Over the last six years, homeowners have seen their real estate tax increase by more than 100%.

The loss of affordable housing & increased tax rates are driving working class people from Arlington, making it a less diverse community. As a member of the County Board, I will work to impose a moratorium on the loss of affordable housing and greater real estate tax rebates for working class Arlingtonians.  I will also work for more creative solutions to Arlington’s affordable housing crisis, including encouraging tenants to form co-ops and establishing a public housing authority such as Alexandria and Fairfax have.

Transportation

Creating new roads is not the answer to Northern Virginia’s transportation problems.  As a member of the County Board, I will vigorously oppose the widening of I-66 even as the federal government continues to pour money into “studying” the issue.  Widening I-66 will reroute a bicycle path, put more cars on our streets, and further degrade air quality.  Instead of creating more roads, we need to look at options to extend and upgrade Metro and other mass transportation options.

The County Board has taken steps to build a $120 million trolley on Columbia Pike despite failing to secure a source of revenue to fund this boondoggle.  The trolley would create dangers for bikers and pedestrians and slow down car and bus traffic. Many people currently ride the buses that service Columbia Pike, despite County Board member Jay Fisette’s out-of-touch assertion that “I know a lot of people that won’t get on a bus…It may be irrational, but it is a fact.” The proposed trolley is not a serious plan to deal with transportation on Columbia Pike, but part of the planned gentrification of the area being supported by the County in partnership with the “Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization”, which is funded by developers and the County to remake Columbia Pike into an upper-income community.

Environment & Smoking Ban

Localities around the country are not waiting for the science-denying Bush Administration to take action on global warming before it is too late.  Major US cities such as Chicago and Portland have already taken steps to voluntarily implement Kyoto Protocol emissions-reduction standards in their communities.  As a member of the County Board, I will work to pass a resolution in favor of Arlington voluntarily complying with the Kyoto Protocol to improve our environment.

As a member of the County Board, I will also work to pass a resolution banning smoking in public places in Arlington, as localities such as the District of Columbia and Takoma Park have already done.

Living Wage

In 2003, the Arlington County Board passed a commendable ordinance that requires contractors doing substantial business with the county to pay their employees a living wage.  The adoption of this ordinance represents a good first step toward Arlington being a community where employers pay their employees living wages.  However, even many employees of the county–police officers, librarians, and teachers–still cannot afford to live in Arlington and many service-sector employees are paid degrading, poverty-inducing minimum wages.  As a member of the County Board, I will work toward passing a comprehensive living wage ordinance which would make it possible for all people who work in Arlington to live here as well.

Civil Liberties & Civil Rights

Civil liberties and civil rights are under assault in the Commonwealth of Virginia and throughout the United States.  I oppose the proposed Virginia constitutional amendment to make illegal any type of domestic partnership other than heterosexual marriage.  The proposed amendment also makes it possible for the Commonwealth to strip domestic partners of health care benefits, visitation rights at hospitals, and other rights enjoyed by married couples.  This discriminatory proposed amendment is a retrenchment of civil rights.

As a member of the County Board, I will also work to pass resolutions signifying the intent of the county not to comply with unconstitutional federal measures to spy on citizens through accessing their phone, business, and library records and state measures that discriminate against undocumented workers in the provision of social services.

Universal Health Care

Health care is a human right, yet studies estimate that 11% of Arlington residents have no health care insurance.  As a member of the County Board, I will work toward adopting a single-payer universal health care program for Arlington residents, similar to what is being proposed in places such as California.

Local Democracy

The Green Party supports grassroots democracy and believes that “every human being deserves a say in the decisions that affect their lives and not be subject to the will of another.”  The “Dillon Rule”, whereby local jurisdictions in Virginia are not empowered to take decisions without the specific authorization of the state legislature, is fundamentally anti-democratic.  The “Dillon Rule” prevents Arlington from taking effective action on a host of issues, from enacting real affordable housing guidelines to enacting a smoking ban, which would be beneficial to our community.  As a member of the County Board, I will work with local officials statewide to pressure Richmond to weaken the anti-democratic “Dillon Rule” and give local jurisdictions the powers they need to resolve problems in their communities.

Corporate Contributions

Corporate contributions are having a corrupting effect on all levels of government in the United States. Both Democratic and Republican elected officials are taking more and more money from corporations and representing their profit motives rather than the concerns of the people they are elected to serve.  Unlike the Democratic and Republican parties, the Green Party does not accept corporate contributions.  I pledge to take no corporate money in my campaign and urge my opponents to take a similar stand and reject the corrupting influence of corporate money in our electoral system.

Iraq

The US occupation of Iraq is having a devastating impact on our community, our country, and most of all, innocent Iraqi civilians. The war has cost Virginia $8.3 billion, money that could have been spent instead to build more than 72,000 affordable housing units. As the host of the Pentagon, Arlington has a right and responsibility to speak out on issues of national security. As a member of the County Board, I will work to pass a resolution to support the troops by bringing them home now and to make it more difficult for military recruiters to operate in Arlington’s schools.

Human Rights Contracting

As a member of the County Board, I will work to pass a human rights contracting requirement to ensure that corporations which profit from human rights violations don’t receive business from our county.  Corporations such as Caterpillar, which profits from Israel’s destruction of Palestinian homes, should be banned from doing business with the County.  As a County Board member, I will also look into stripping the business licenses of corporations headquartered in Arlington that violate human rights, such as CACI, based in Ballston, which allegedly provided some of the mercenary torturers of Abu Ghraib infamy.

Campaign Events

Tuesday, September 5, 7:00 PM, Arlington County Civic Federation Candidate’s Night

Join Josh and supporters for the first in a series of candidate debates at the Hazel Conference Center, Virginia Hospital Center, 1701 N. George Mason Drive.

Thursday, September 7, 7:30 PM, Barcroft School and Civic League Candidate’s Forum

Join Josh and supporters for a candidate forum at the Barcroft Community House, 800 S. Buchanan St.

Wednesday, September 20, 7:00 PM, Ashton Heights Civic Association Candidate’s Night

Join Josh and supporters for a candidate debate at the Clarendon United Methodist Church, 606 N. Irving Street.

Monday, September 25, 7:00 PM, Arlington Association of University Women Candidate Forum

Join Josh and supporters for a candidate debate at the Arlington Central Library, 1015 N. Quincy Street.

Tuesday, September 26, 12:00 PM, Organized Women Voters of Arlington Candidate Forum

Join Josh and supporters for lunch and a candidate forum at Alpine Restaurant, 4770 Lee Highway.

Monday, October 9, Time TBA, Lyon Village Civic Association Candidate’s Night

Join Josh and supporters for a candidate debate. Location TBA.

Wednesday, October 11, 7:00 PM, Aurora Highlands & Arlington Ridge Civic Associations Candidate’s Night

Join Josh and supporters for lunch and a candidate forum at the Aurora Hills Civic Center, 735 S. 18th St.

Monday, October 16, 6:00 PM, Arlington Citizens for the Arts Candidate Forum

Join Josh and supporters for a candidate forum at Gunston Middle School, 2700 S. Lang Street.

Tuesday, October 17, 7:00 PM, Radnor/Ft. Myer Heights Civic Association Candidate’s Night

Join Josh and supporters for a candidate forum at the Belvedere Condo, 1600 N. Oak Street.

Thursday, October 19, 7:30 PM, Arlington Gay and Lesbian Alliance Candidate Forum

Join Josh and supporters for a candidate forum at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, 4301 Wilson Blvd.

Wednesday, October 25, 7:30 PM, Cherrydale Citizens Association Candidate’s Debate

Join Josh and supporters for a candidate debate at the Cherrydale Fire House, 3900 Lee Highway.

Thursday, October 26, 7:45 PM, Leeway Overlee Civic Association Candidate’s Night

Join Josh and supporters for a candidate debate at the Reed School.

Thursday, November 2, 7:30 PM, Rock Springs Civic Association Candidate Night

Join Josh and supporters for a candidate forum at Williamsburg Middle School, 3600 Harrison Street.

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