How's that for an inflammatory title?
A little background:
As far as I know, the Arlington County (Virginia) Police Department (ACPD) has been doing its job all year, without a pause or hitch, doing the best it can to ensure public safety, Covid or no Covid.
They have not used the Great Covid Panic as justification for not interacting with assorted elements of the public to do their job.
Kudos to them for their steadfastness and loyalty to the public interest and the greater good.
Police officers have professional organizations, the Arlington Police Beneficiary Association and the Arlington Coalition of Police, but AFAIK those have not argued for a police stand-down until covid is eradicated.
(Cf. "Line-of-duty police deaths surge in 2020 as coronavirus, calls to 'defund' pose challenge to officers' safety"
https://www.foxnews.com/us/police-deaths-on-duty-surge-in-2020 )
Now let us consider the retail establishments and restaurants in Arlington.
Most of them are doing their best to stay in business, serving the public, and keeping their employees employed.
Their income is no doubt reduced, but they are carrying on.
Let us also consider that private schools in Arlington have continued their operations.
Why the hell can't ACPS do the same?
Why aren't the two boards, the Arlington County Board and the Arlington County School Board, asking this question?
Now let us consider what is evidently the most spoiled, most pampered, most entitled group in Arlington, its public school system (ACPS).
Can ACPS do what the ACPD and Arlington's retail establishments and restaurants are doing?
Well, I certainly think they could, but they literally refuse to do so.
The ACPS disgraces itself by this action.
It seems a shame that the editors of Arlnow.com (disclosure: they have banned me from their comments section, and removed most of my past comments) don't have the balls to point out this discrepancy explicitly (including the comparisons I made above), ask the ACPS and AEA for comment, and run an article on the result.
ACPS has announced that it cannot reopen its schools until certain "metrics" are met.
Well, how can the ACPD, retail establishments, and private schools, perform their usual functions, without those metrics being met, but ACPS cannot?
(Note: I accept the validity of the AEA request for effective ventilation in the classrooms.)
A question the usual Arlington County power structure avoids, as they do so many other questions.
<hr>
2021-01-15
Regarding:
"Arlington County public health director Reuben Varghese
told the County Board yesterday afternoon [1/12] that, while the county is looking to vaccinate 1,200 people a week, it has yet to hit that number.
The reason, he said, is that the county is still establishing infrastructure to do it. It’s a tough task since considerable space is needed due to social distancing, he said, but the health department is trying to rectify that.
...
More large spaces are being discussed ...
“Obviously, I’d love the Pentagon parking lot, but that’s probably not going to happen,” says Varghese."
https://www.arlnow.com/2021/01/13/as-vaccinations-continue-county-officials-are-trying-to-find-ways-to-move-quicker/
How about the auditorium at the Arlington Central Library?
Or the quite large open area at the north end of the second floor of that building, in the past occupied by tables?
And if you want a parking lot, that has two, one rather large.
And a large underground parking garage, often used for book sales.
Which, with the library closed, is not being used for parking.
Also, do not Arlington County Public Schools, which now do not have students in attendance (see above in this post), have large open areas that could be used?
Like, say, gymnasiums??!!
The county has plenty of public buildings, schools, libraries, community centers, that are not being used for their intended purpose because of the Great Covid Panic.
Also, there are churches with parking lots and interior space that is not being used during the week. I rather imagine many of them would be happy to make their spaces available to the county for vaccinations, either gratis or for a moderate rent.
I'm just tossing those ideas out off the top of my head after reading the above-cited article.
But Arlington County had months to prepare for this situation.
Social distancing has been prescribed since March 2020, and the coming of vaccines has been forecast equally long.
That Arlington's Director of Public Health suddenly discovers that he has an infrastructure problem, there is something really wrong about that.
2021-04-10 update:
https://www.businessinsider.com/teachers-unions-gaslighting-parents-reopening-schools-randi-weingarten-2021-4
2022-04-04 Major update:
https://www.arlnow.com/2022/04/04/arlington-teachers-union-under-interim-leadership-following-internal-turmoil/
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