The Arlington City Council race for District 4 comes at a controversial moment for the city. Facing a $25 million shortfall, the City Council recently approved a three-cent property tax rate increase. Incumbent council member Andrew Piel, who is term-limited and not seeking reelection, opposed the rate increase.
Three candidates are seeking to replace him: nonprofit executive Rojo Meixueiro, small business owner Lisa J. Ventura and Planning and Zoning Commisioner Tom Ware. They all care deeply about their city and show a strong grasp of the challenges their district is facing, particularly in housing and transportation. But we recommend Ventura, 64, who was the only candidate who showed concern about the city’s rising cost of government.
Ventura wants to bring more revenue to the city and cut costs. She pointed to the sister cities program as an example of unneeded expenses when the city faces budget constraints. One way to bring revenue, she told us, is to attract more small businesses and make sure Arlington becomes a destination city, not just a place where visitors watch a game and leave.
Housing affordability remains an issue for Arlington. Ventura supports a balanced mix of housing types to address the needs of seniors and University of Texas at Arlington students. In the Voter Guide, she suggested using targeted and temporary incentives for starter homes.
For a city with over 400,000 residents, the lack of a mass transit system continues to be a challenge. The city has a ride-share service, Arlington On-Demand, that has proven to be helpful, but the service stops at 9 p.m. and is not available on Sundays. Ventura, who drove for the ride-share service as a part-time job, was supportive of expanding the service and scaling it for special events.
Ventura wants to keep public safety as a priority and evaluate the need to increase staffing levels, using data and technology.
At a moment when Arlington’s government is passing costs to taxpayers, Ventura would bring a necessary reset to the council.