Editor’s Note: This is the first of several weekly opinion columns that ARLnow.com will be publishing in 2013. The columns, from local thought leaders across the political spectrum, are intended to introduce fresh ideas and spark community conversations about issues of local and state interest.
Happy New Year, and welcome to Peter’s Take. My name is Peter Rousselot. Thanks to Scott Brodbeck and his team at ARLnow, I will be writing a weekly column with my take on Arlington and Virginia politics, government or civic affairs.
A bit of background: my family and I moved from Reston to Arlington in 1997. Our youngest daughter graduated from W-L High School. I have served as a Co-Chair of the Advisory Council on Instruction to the Arlington Public Schools; as Chair of the Fiscal Affairs Advisory Commission to the Arlington County Board, and as Chair of the Arlington County Democratic Committee. I am currently a member of the Central Committee of the Democratic Party of Virginia.
As 2013 unfolds, you’ll find that my take on the subjects I’ll be writing about will depart sometimes from the “party line.” I often find that the emperor or empress has no clothes, while others claim to see a majestically-robed monarch.
And that brings me to some New Year’s resolutions for Arlington and its elected leaders:
- Celebrate and utilize the wealth of diverse talent we have in our community
- Cherish new ideas and new thinking
- Practice strong and vigorous public dissent expressed with civility
- Always be open to re-examine and to change based on new circumstances
In the coming weeks and months, I will try hard to follow these New Year’s resolutions myself, and be guided by them when I write about local or state affairs.
