Climate Change, Affordable Housing And Sustainable Growth Lead Board Candidate's Agenda

ARLINGTON, VA — Takis Karantonis is a senior technical advisor for Microlending at the Ethiopian Community Development Council. He's also running to hold onto his seat on the Arlington County Board.

During the Nov. 2 general election, Arlington voters will decide who will fill the board seat: Karantonis, Audrey Clement, Michel Cantwell or Adam Theo. Early voting is already underway.

Patch asked each of the candidates running in the general election to fill out the following profile:

Name

Takis Karantonis

Position sought

Arlington County Board

Party Affiliation

Democratic Party

Family

Spouse: Dr. Lida Anestidou; 2 cats: Max and Koubaki

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Education

Economist; Master’s degree in urban and regional economics with an emphasis on inequality in urban development from Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany

Occupation

Senior Technical Advisor for Microlending @ the Ethiopian Community Development Council (ECDC). Economist and Planner, Environmentalist, Urbanist, Manager with 25+ years of experience across three continents (Europe, North and South America)

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

I am seeking re-election to my current position as a member of the Arlington County Board.

Why are you seeking elective office?

I believe that good government can lift everyone up and leave no one behind. I further believe that my experience with a wide variety of local issues, both through civic engagement as a private citizen and more recently as a member of the County Board, has educated me about the problems we face and the range of possible responses. My ability to LISTEN to the concerns and ideas of Arlingtonians enables me to work toward creative solutions that address the needs and wishes of all of our residents. I want to help Arlington achieve its potential to be a place of equity and inclusiveness, environmental responsibility, and prosperous local businesses – in short, for it to be a great place to live and work.

The single most pressing issue facing our county is COVID-19, and this is what I intend to do about it.

One of my priorities for County government in the coming year is continuing to combat the scourge of COVID-19 and keep Arlingtonians safe. We must continue working on the public health front and also provide relief from the economic consequences of the pandemic. I will continue to work to achieve the highest possible rate of vaccination, maintain our testing program, and obtain funding for and implement a variety of economic programs to help residents and businesses weather the COVID storm.

My second, but equally important priority is to ensure that despite the pandemic we continue to come together to build a better Arlington. I have championed a wide range of innovative initiatives that prioritize our limited resources in ways that serve Arlington's strategic needs, including programs to urgently address the climate emergency, our housing affordability crisis, sustainable growth, transportation, economic development, social and racial equity, and funding of our Public School System.

This work must be achieved while maintaining the County’s AAA bond rating and its overall fiscal resilience.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I have the education, training, and experience to deal effectively with the issues facing Arlington. In addition to my experience over the past year on the Arlington County Board, I have a degree in urban and regional economics. I have worked in municipal procurement, public sanitation contracting, airport development, and the energy sector. I have been active in a number of Arlington community projects in recent years, always advocating for long-term planning and green solutions.

For everything I say I can show the work and my contributions over many years. As the former Executive Director of the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization (and also former President of my Civic Association) I understand planning, neighborhood development and civic engagement at the most granular level. As a former Chair of EcoAction Arlington I have been at the very front of environmental activism in our community. As a former vice-President of the Alliance for Housing Solutions I understand in depth the challenge of housing affordability. I am focused on solutions that work for ALL and have a passion to shape our future.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

We must address the climate emergency if we are to survive on this planet and we need to start right here at home. I support an all-out effort by Arlington County government to address climate change through any and all means available to us. Electrifying our legacy and new construction and our transportation are first steps.

I also support building on Arlington’s existing diversity and cultural richness to develop a more just and equitable community. Addressing our housing affordability crisis and fighting against displacement is critical.

Finally, I support principled, inclusive, long-range community planning, to ensure that we have livable neighborhoods, excellent schools, affordable housing, green spaces, and reliable public transportation.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I have worked on the full range of topics that the County Board faces.

For example, I worked hard in the past year to ensure that Arlington County did everything it could to keep our residents safe from COVID-19, while helping to blunt the economic consequences of the pandemic for businesses and individuals. I advocated for and took steps to initiate vaccination outreach so that all segments of the community received access to vaccines as soon as possible.

I helped pass appropriations for rent relief and eviction prevention. I worked with businesses and the Chamber of Commerce to help businesses navigate COVID-19 hygiene compliance so these businesses could stay open, and I worked to secure financial and technical aid for them.

I have a long and successful record of promoting affordable housing and livable communities– as a community activist, planner and County Board member, I have worked to create more livable neighborhoods with green spaces and pedestrian friendly amenities while also ensuring that we have an adequate stock of affordable housing. With good planning, Arlington can preserve its high livability quotient despite experiencing strong growth.

In the past year I also devoted substantial effort to the creation of a responsive and effective Community Oversight Board. The goal of this Board is to promote fair and transparent law-enforcement practices. I was instrumental in ensuring that the new Oversight Board will have subpoena power so that it can independently investigate complaints.

Last but not least, I worked to pass a balanced budget during a pandemic and a short term Capital Investment Plan that addressed our County's most pressing needs with an emphasis on providing significant support to the most vulnerable members of our community while still serving critical infrastructure investment priorities.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Listening is much more than allowing another to talk while waiting for a chance to respond (attributed to Henri Nouwen, but conveyed to me by Kai Degner, a friend and former mayor of Harrisonburg, VA.) - A colleague further expanded on this advice by reminding me to always listen to those whose lives will be affected by government policies before making any decisions. These people understand the problems they face better than anyone else, and they often have excellent ideas about how those problems can best be solved. My work talking with residents and businesses along Columbia Pike during the redevelopment process in that neighborhood led to revisions in the original plans and a result that better serves the local community.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I strongly believe in the benefits of long-term and inclusive planning. The County must not only address immediate, emergency needs, but also look ahead and plan for future developments before they, too, become emergencies. I believe the County’s 10-year Stormwater Management investment plan is an excellent example of this approach. The County studied the increasing stormwater problems it is likely to face in the coming years as a result of climate change and then determined how best to mitigate those risks. We need to adopt the same long-term perspective in dealing with other County problems.

A description of some of my other positions on important issues appears on my website.

Arlington County Board Candidate Profiles:

Michael Cantwell For Arlington County Board

Audrey Clement For Arlington County Board