Arlington Market

It occurred to me late last night that I ought to explicitly invite members of the Arlington County Government to have their say on this site, or at least offer their version of events.

Believe me, if Mary Hynes or Hunter Moore want to post a comment or an open letter to constituents (in Ms. Hynes case) or the public they’ve been hired to serve (in Hunter’s case), I’d gladly publish it.

For that matter, if County Manager Ron Carlee or anyone from his office wishes to comment, I’m all ears.

Speaking of the County Manager’s office … I made a request, in person, for a face-to-face meeting with Ron with a receptionist in his office on Tuesday, and as yet haven’t heard from anyone. I sincerely hope that Mr. Carlee hasn’t fully been made aware of this situation (I suspect there are some county employees adept at running blocking on issues like this).

Based on what he has written in the past on the ethical responsibility of those in local government, it would be depressing to think he’s acquainted with all the details and has still allowed the County Board to essentially push around the vendors of these market, who are for all intents and purposes a disenfranchised group of citizens more deserving of the County’s protection than their apparent disdain.

Once again, if you work for the County in an elected, appointed, or salaried position, we’d love to hear from you. For that matter, if you’re one of the “in the trenches” employees and have any insight in this, I’d be happy to publish your comments anonymously (provided I can responsibly assure you are an Arlington County employee).

Today’s market may be the last before the end of the Sunday market–the weather looks a little threatening tomorrow, and with such short notice we won’t have time to spread the word to any vendors who don’t wish to brave the rain. I still cannot believe we were given less than two weeks notice. Some of us have been supporting this market every weekend for six years.

As always, comments and questions welcome. If you’re at the market today, ask around about Sundays–not everyone knows yet. Feel free to direct them to this site.

General Update

I’ve spoken with other vendors and friends of the markets over the past couple of days about the bombshell Arlington County and The Clarendon Alliance dropped on us in that meeting with Mary Hynes in the Arlington County building at 2100 Clarendon. Everyone has expressed varying degrees of dismay, but what little shock that has been expressed quickly changed to the same general sentiment: it’s clear they weren’t supporting it anyway, and the Arlington County Board has a track record of ignoring the markets and the vendors, even those of us who live in Arlington County (and elect these people in the first place—or vote them out).

I think the thing that people find most outrageous is the under-handed way Mary Hynes,  Hunter Moore (from Arlington County’s office of Economic Development) and Susan Anderson gave us the news. They invited a handful of vendors to a meeting that was supposed to “address concerns” and delineate marketing and promotional plans the Clarendon Alliance had made to support the market (essentially the same unimplemented plans we have heard sporadically since October of 2008).

We received an agenda from Mary Hynes less than twenty-four hours before the hour-long meeting was to start—which effectively turned the meeting more into a presentation, with the invited vendors as more of a captive audience. It was the first clue that we were being railroaded.

During the meeting, a few of us dared to deviate from the program and address issues relating to the Sunday market. Board Member Hynes keeps saying “Let’s focus on Saturday for now.” Fifty-five minutes pass—during which time Mary repeatedly reminds us that she has a two o’ clock appointment.

With less than five minutes left and with Mary already leaning toward the door, she hands it over to the Clarendon Alliance’s Susan Anderson, who informs us that “the board” of the Alliance (including prominent Arlingtonians like Whitlow’s on Wilson owner Greg Cahill) has decided to “end” the Sunday market “effective July 1st” because it’s no longer profitable.

The Clarendon Alliance is a “business league” organization, formed and funded in large part by tax payer dollars, to promote and support businesses in Arlington. You would think such an organization would redouble its efforts to promote and support a market they were granted the county permit to control. I don’t see too many ways of interpreting this other than: they’re in it for the money.

Shock and outrage, predictably, and then The Honorable Mary Hynes, Board Member of Arlington County and Community Liason of the Clarendon Alliance had to leave for her 2 PM. She did tell us, on the way out, that the County was open to some “flexibility” regarding the permit fees. I guess that means the half-dozen vendors who rely on the Sunday market for our livelihoods have to come up with half? of the approximately two thousand dollars needed for new permits, etc.

I’ll post later on how, by allowing the Clarendon Alliance to retain control of Saturdays (which are really only marginally successful because of the adjacent Farmer’s Market), The Arlington County Board is adding injury to insult, but I did want to get this out there to answer the questions people had about how they decided to inform us of their decision: at literally the last minute and with no time left for discussion.

General Update

I should start with the disclaimer that the following opinions are my own. If you’re unhappy with something I say here, hold it against me—and no one else.

When I originally purchased this domain name, I planned to use it to promote the year-round open-air markets held in Arlington, Virginia.

Unfortunately, Arlington County’s board members and the taxpayer-funded nonprofit organization The Clarendon Alliance have continued to neglect the markets despite frequent complaints to and requests for intercession from various members of the county government.

While issuing press releases extolling the virtues of Arlington’s “urban village” and “progressive community planning,” they have all but ignored the needs and concerns of the vendors and community affected by the markets’ success or failure. The markets occur fifty-two weeks a year, literally steps from the Arlington County government building, and in the four years that I’ve been a vendor there I have seen only one county board member stop by—Jay Fisette, an incumbent in this year’s election—and then only once.

Press releases are cheap and easy. Extolling the virtues of your  “diverse and inclusive world-class urban community” (a direct quote from the Arlington County website) requires little effort. Ensuring your community is, in fact, diverse and inclusive is another matter entirely.

In a county that claims its “people unite to form a caring, learning, participating, sustainable community in which each person is important” (another direct quote), being told your efforts to keep that community vibrant and nuanced aren’t valued is a kick in the teeth. Some people, it turns out, appear to be more important than others.

I can no longer use this site to promote the markets in good faith—the markets that remain, I should say, as in a meeting today with Arlington County board member Mary Hynes and the Clarendon Alliance’s executive director Susan Anderson, I and other vendors  were told the Sunday market was being canceled effective July 1st, as it was no longer profitable for the Clarendon Alliance to operate. It didn’t matter that it is profitable for the vendors who have toughed it out in the face of increasing indifference from the county … and isn’t the Clarendon Alliance supposed to be a nonprofit?

Even though I’ve come to expect this level of doublespeak from the Clarendon Alliance’s Executive Director Susan Anderson, I was shocked. How could a non-profit organization tasked with supporting and promoting area businesses cancel a market that faithful vendors, customers, and members of the community continue to support, while citing a lack of profitability as the reason?

It would seem like an admission of defeat. The Clarendon Alliance is responsible for promoting the market—at least on paper. If the market isn’t profitable, aren’t they to blame?

The market site is situated between restaurants, hotels and theaters, with a Metro station and free parking within a hundred yards. How could it not be profitable?

The Arlington County government and the Clarendon Alliance allowed a goose that should have been laying golden eggs to starve to death. That site and that community should be a center-piece, a destination for people both in and outside of the community, something to rival street markets like London’s Portobello Road or Le Marché aux Puces de Clingancourt in Paris.

The Sunday market used to support in excess of seventy vendors with goods from all over the world and have hundreds of visitors a day. Now, on a good day, we might have just over a dozen vendors.

I, and many other vendors, have complained to the Clarendon Alliance, the County Board, directly to board members Jay Fisette and Mary Hynes—the latter the board-appointed liaison between the Clarendon Alliance and the community—and to the County Manager Ron Carlee. Despite many meetings and promises to foster change and culpability, the Clarendon Alliance has been an absentee landlord—collecting rent and doing little else.

I won’t be abandoning the neighborhood or the markets—we have friends there, both among the vendors and the community. I won’t be abandoning this website, either. I’ll  use it as a clearinghouse of information for anyone associated with the markets or the neighborhood.

If you’re a vendor or customer, a friend or a resident of the neighborhood, a member of the press or the larger community, please contact me via this website with any questions or comments. I also encourage you to contact the Arlington County board to let them know how you feel, whether you’re a resident of Arlington or a visitor (tourism is one of Arlington’s major industries, and Arlington County would be well advised to listen to its paying guests). Contact information will be available here for local and state offices in the days and weeks ahead.

K. Kane

General Update