Arlington’s Civic New Year’s Tradition Goes By The Wayside

John Matthews
WMAL.com

ARLINGTON — (WMAL) At least for this coming year, the tradition of starting the New Year with a meeting of the Arlington County Board is no more.

For the past 60 years, the lawmakers had gathered for an organizational meeting on New Year’s Day as a way of signaling to residents that they were ready to to go work, and also to get some publicity on what is traditionally a slow news day.

However, on a 3 – 2 vote, the Board decided Wednesday to toss the tradition and hold the meeting on Tuesday, January 3rd, the first business day of the year. Chairman Libby Garvey led the effort to drop the tradition, saying that spending time with friends and family on holidays is more important than gathering for county business.

“No one dying ever said they wished they had spent more time in a board meeting than with their family,and I really think that this is inconsiderate of our staff” said Garvey.

Board member Jay Fisette is more sentimental about the New Year’s tradition. “It distinguished us, and in fact, in an odd but real way, made us a little different and special,” he said, “and created a way for us to reinforce our vision in a very public way.”

Fisette also argued that hosting the meeting on the holiday makes the Board more accessible to the public, because residents don’t have to miss work to be there.

All five of the board members weighed in on changing the date, including one of the newest members, Christian Dorsey, who was not really moved by the fuss.

“This to me is a first world problem, and I don’t really think that it merits extensive discussion, except to that that I have nothing against tradition.”