Business Focus Of Arlington Chamber's Candidate Forum: Correction

Correction (June 15, 9:45 p.m.): In earlier version of this story misattributed James DeVita's quote about rank choice voting to Julius "J.D." Spain Sr. The quotes of both candidates have been corrected.

ARLINGTON, VA — Six candidates running to fill the vacant at-large seat on the Arlington County Board participated Thursday night in a candidate forum at the VHC Health - Hazel Conference Center.

The forum included the five candidates running in the June 18 Democratic Party Primary: James DeVita, Julie Farnam, Tenley Peterson, Natalie Roy, and Julius "J.D." Spain Sr. Also taking part in the forum was Audrey Clement, who is running as an independent, which means she's already on the ballot for the Nov. 5 general election.

Arlington Chamber of Commerce hosted Thursday's forum, which was sponsored by the Arlington Land Use Group. As such, the questions had a business focus, touching on topics ranging from improving the county's permitting office to the missing middle and Chamber President and CEO Kate Bates acted as the moderator.

Related: Arlington County Dual Primary 2024: Early Voting To Begin Friday

The following are some of the answers the candidates gave during Thursday night's forum.

Vision For Arlington 2050 ...

"We need to figure out what we're going to be. Do we want to be an urban city that's as dense as possible? We're already one of the densest counties in the country. It looks like New York City or Brooklyn, Brooklyn. Or, do you want to preserve our current diversity, which is a mix of low-, mid- and high-density neighborhoods? Do we continue on a path of comprehensive, transit-oriented smart growth? I thought it was a great idea. I participated in the first meeting and I went to the first meeting at Amazon. I have absolutely no idea what is happening with the effort. It is now June. I think that it is something that we desperately need is a strategic plan. I think it was a great idea to do, I just need it to actually happen." — Natalie Roy

Simplifying The County's Permitting Process ...

"We need to make sure that all the different permits are coordinated. These include occupancy, they need food and signage permits. All of those take different times. You might open without a sign because the permitting office didn't get their act together enough to have a sign when it opens. I've talked to small businesses who also hold small businesses in D.C. and they talk about how much better the process is in D.C. We need to work with our small businesses, get the feedback and then make the changes to streamline it. Make it coordinated, and don't make it so difficult that small businesses need to expend money to get a consultant to help usher them through the process. It shouldn't be that difficult. — Julie Farnam

Ranked Choice Voting ...

"It's a problem for several reasons. Number one, I don't know who's not getting represented in the current system. I don't understand why the old system wasn't going to work out. Two, it makes voting complicated. I think voting should be geared to the average individual. I don't think you should have to take a course to learn how to vote. And three, it punishes people to take a tough stand on a controversial issue. It pushes centerist politics and we don't always need centrist politics. Sometimes you have to make a change." — James DeVita

Government Accountability ...

"I don't want to believe that here we are in Arlington, one of the most educated counties in the nation and in this digital transformation age that we cannot do this the right way. We just need to tweak the system. We need to put the right people in place to do the work. and we monitor this — everyone. I think county board members, people who represent the public, have a duty to monitor and look at this report every month and call to task anyone who's not doing their job. That's what it all boils down to. It should not take six months for a permit to go through if it should only take three months. You've got to have that level of accountability in government. — Julius "J.D." Spain Sr.

Promoting Housing Development ...

"Housing accessibility and affordability are very important to me. I want to see more housing in Arlington, so that we have workers that can work for your businesses here in Arlington. I want to be seen more three-, four-bedroom units in high rises, so that your employees that start out as young professionals without families and then they want to start families have more options of where to live. ... I am very supportive of our historic successes in smart growth and transit-oriented development. As a commissioner, I've been supporting more high rises, apartments and condos on our public transit. Will you continue to do that?" — Tenley Peterson

So far, no Republican has come forward as a candidate in the county board race. However, there is a Republican primary for U.S. Senate to determine a candidate who will challenge Sen. Tim Kaine (D) in November. The Republican primary for U.S. Senate includes candidates Hung Cao, Eddie Garcia, Jonathan Emord, Chuck Smith and Scott Parkinson.