Green Candidate Announces County Board Bid
Sun Gazette: http://www.sungazette.net/articles/2006/05/25/arlington/news/nws957e.txt
by SCOTT McCAFFREY, Staff Writer
(Created: Wednesday, May 24, 2006 2:34 PM EDT)
Arlington voters could have a third option for County Board in November.
Joshua Ruebner, a member of Arlington Greens and an activist on Israeli-Palestinian relations, announced at the May 20 County Board meeting that he would run for the County Board seat now held by board chairman Chris Zimmerman.
“I’m sick and tired of what’s happening in Arlington County,” said Ruebner, who lives in a small townhouse community near the Arlington View neighborhood in South Arlington.
Ruebner said higher taxes are making it harder for a diverse cross-section of the community to survive in Arlington.
“I can’t pay my property taxes,” he said. “How am I supposed to live in Arlington? I’m being forced out . . . and that is just not right.”
Ruebner first considered challenging Zimmerman sometime last year, but told members of the Green Party of Virginia in January that he would not run. But at the May 20 meeting, he reversed course again.
Zimmerman already is being challenged by Mike McMenamin, a 14-year resident of the county who officially launched his campaign on May 20. McMenamin was the only Republican to seek his party’s nomination.
In a county that is nearly two-thirds Democratic, Zimmerman starts the 2006 campaign as the odds-on favorite. He was first elected in 1996.