Arlington Market

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