Scolded by the County Board

County Board Member Takis Karantonis responds to public comment at the May 16 Arlington County Board meeting

It's not every day you get "called out" by a County Board Member and blamed for the entire affordable housing crisis in Arlington. But that's exactly what happened on May 16 when Member Takis Karantonis said: (view video)

Market-rate affordable housing — 80% of the stock was lost — and there was nobody here from Neighbors for Neighborhoods to actually point that out and say, 'Hey, wait a minute. Something very serious is happening here.' You weren't here in 2005; you were not here in 2015 when the affordable master plan was approved. We were very well aware, as a community, as a society, of the consequences of not producing housing for ALL Arlingtonians — all the different layers of Arlingtonians. And if that inconveniences a lot of people imagine the inconvenience of a working family right now who has almost zero possibilities of finding housing in this community.

– Takis Karantonis

Our response

Note: We weren't given the opportunity to respond at the meeting. So here we are:

Member Karantonis — Where were you in 2005 and 2015? EHO has triggered a real estate gold rush, with developers outbidding young families for single-family homes. Less grandstanding, more governing. Pause EHO and fix it. We're ready to help.

– Neighbors for Neighborhoods, founded 2023