Green Party candidate joins Arlington County Board race
http://www.examiner.com/a-189320~Green_Party_candidate_joins_Arlington_County_Board_race.html
David Francis, The Examiner
Jul 24, 2006 5:00 AM
Arlington County – The contest for the Arlington County Board seat up for grabs in November is now a three-man race.
Josh Reubner, a candidate with the Green Party, announced that he will challenge incumbent Democrat Chris Zimmerman. Mike McMenamin, a Republican, is also running.
Reubner said he is running to provide a choice to Arlington voters.
“In previous years Arlington voters haven’t had much of a choice for local office,” he told The Examiner. “I think it’s important for the people of Arlington to have a choice in their candidates because on the county board right now, there’s a lot of groupthink, especially when it comes to issues of development and gentrification.”
Reubner, 31 and a political novice, faces an uphill battle, as Democrats have dominated the board in local years. He has lived in Arlington since 1999 and is the secretary of the Carrington Village Homeowners Association. He works for the U.S. Campaign to end the Israeli Occupation.
Reubner is passionate about affordable housing and preserving ethnic diversity in the county. He said rising home prices and overzealous development have eliminated affordable housing and pushed minorities away from the area.
Lack of affordable housing is “really having a negative impact on both the economic and ethic makeup of our community,” he said.
Reubner also said he would work to find real estate tax relief. These taxes have gone up significantly in recent years as the prices of homes have gone up dramatically.
“Homeowners have seen their tax bill over the last six years increase by over 100 percent,” he said. “It has proven to be a huge financial burden on me to try to make these tax payments.”
“It seems that the county board is almost inventing ways to spend that money other than giving real tax relief for the people that need it,” he added.