Arlington County Civic Federation

1
Arlington County Civic Federation

• WWW.CIVFED.ORG

2
Mission Statement

• The mission of the Arlington county civic
  federation is to empower citizens to improve
  their communities by mobilizing and coordinating
  the resources of government, business,
  nonprofits, the faith community, neighborhood
  leaders, and the citizens themselves.

3
Goals and Objectives

• Supporting Our Members
• Standing Committee Structure
• The Civic Voice of Arlington County

4
Todays Situation
5
How Did We Get Here?

• Thus it was in 1916 that six local civic
  associations in our County joined together to
  obtain better roads and improved schools. From
  this modest beginning emerged the Arlington
  County Civic Federation of today whose membership
  embraces practically every Arlington organization
  whose primary purpose is the civic improvement of
  our County. The actions of the Federation have
  been recognized repeatedly not only by local
  officials, but also by State and congressional
  leaders.

6
What Have We Done?

• Practically all the major improvements that
  Arlington residents enjoy today resulted from
  actions initiated or strongly supported by the
  Federation. Among them may be cited the County
  Manager form of government, county-wide sewer and
  water systems, the systematic naming and
  numbering of our streets, the Central Post
  Office, master zoning ordinance, better schools,
  traffic management and a host of other measures
  that have made Arlington a model community. Most
  of the Federation's proposals have eventually
  been realized either through Federal or State
  law, local ordinance, or public policy.

7
Mission Areas

• Open and welcoming to all groups within Arlington
  County
• Promote the general welfare of Arlington County
  in a non-partisan, non-sectarian, non-sectional,
  and non-political manner.
• Reflects the wide array of interests and talents
  found in Arlington County
• Improving the quality of life in Arlington County
• Advocating improvements to the infrastructure of
  Arlington County
• Airing and discussing issues of concern to its
  member organizations.
• Sounding board for all citizens on matters of
  civic interest
• Represent the "grass roots" opinions of the
  ordinary citizens, regardless of political or
  partisan affiliation, on civic matters
• The Civic Voice of Arlington County

8
Civic Association Activities

• Traffic Calming
• Neighborhood Conservation
• Planning for local parks
• Planning for local schools
• Local commercial site planning and use
• Home remodeling invite local firms to talk
• Landscaping planning find a landscape architect
• Gardening a closely related topic
• Visit from local police and fire representatives
• An issues presentation by your Civic Federation!

9
Linkages from Civic Federation (CF) to Civic
Association (CA)

• Forum for bringing community concerns to the
  broader community (CF)
• Mechanism for providing educational forums for
  the broader community (CF - Budget, Bond Issues,
  Planning and Zoning, Delegates College, Parking
  Forum, Emergency Preparedness Forum)
• Inclusion of the various elements of Arlington at
  the "public" table (CF - especially outreach)
• Bringing the leadership to the members, and then
  to the broader community with an opportunity to
  raise issues and questions (CF - Candidates'
  Night, School Board, County Board, County
  Manager, State Delegation, Federal, Public Safety
  Officials, etc.)
• Mechanism for wide-spread community
  concerns/issues/suggestions to elected leadership
  (CF)
• Mechanism for helping local citizen groups
  organize, particularly at the Neighborhood level
  (CF)
• Mechanism for bringing issues to the greater
  community (CA to CF)
• Mechanism for bringing neighbors closer together
  in times of fun and need (CA)
• Mechanism for resolving internal concerns (CA)

10
ACCF Points of Contact

• ACCF President Patrick Smaldore Pat_at_Civfed.Org,
  703-528-3935
• ACCF Vice President Jackie Snelling -
  Jackie_at_Civfed.Org, 703-243-0905
• ACCF Executive Committee Chairman - Larry Mayer,
  Larrymayer_at_civfed.org, 703-525-89215-8921