Columbia Pike Streetcar Drives Debate Between Vihstadt, Howze

The candidates for the Arlington County Board squared off Monday night in Arlington, with the proposed Columbia Pike streetcar project highlighted as a main issue, as it was in the special election. The debate was hosted by George Mason University’s School of Policy, Government, and International Affairs (SPGIA) and State and Local Government Leadership Center.

Board member and candidate John Vihstadt, a Republican running as an Independent, won a special election in April some say partly due to his stance on putting the brakes on the costly streetcar project. Alan Howze, a Democrat, is comparing the streetcar with the metro:

“Once again, we face a set of generational choices,” said Howze, 39. “In 1968, our community debated whether to invest in Metro. The John Vihstadts of that time proposed buses up and down Wilson Boulevard. Decades ago, opponents said the same thing about the Silver Line. If we had listened to them, we would have lost out on billions of dollars of economic growth, hundreds of thousands new jobs, and hundreds of millions of new funding for our schools.”

Vihstadt became a county board member in April when he won the special election against Howze and two other candidates, with 57 percent of the vote; Howze took 41 percent of the vote. Vihstadt has been vocal about what he sees as wasted spending on the Columbia Pike streetcar proposal, Long Bridge Aquatics Center and more.

“Arlington is at a crossroads, Vihstadt said Monday night. “Yes, we must invest in our communities for the long haul. But our resources are not unlimited. There are costs and hard trade-offs.Extravagant projects out of step with the times are not the measures of community success.”

“Strong schools, public safety, sound infrastructure, a secure social safety net and neighborhood quality of life are— especially when they reflect the vision of our neighborhoods, and are delivered in a cost-efficient and transparent manner.”

The election is Nov. 4.