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Mark Hand

2023 Candidate Profile: Juan Carlos Fierro For Arlington County Board

Juan Carlos Fierro is the Republican candidate for one of the two seats on the Arlington County Board in the November general election.

ARLINGTON, VA — Juan Carlos Fierro, a long-time international business professional, is a candidate in the Nov. 7 general election for Arlington County Board.


Fierro, who played Division I college basketball at George Mason University, is running to fill one of the two open seats on the county board. Born in Ecuador and raised by his grandparents, Fierro moved to the United States, where he graduated from Bishop Ireton High School and then GMU.


"With a career spanning the Inter-American Investment Corporation and the International Finance Corporation (part of the World Bank), Juan Carlos brings a global perspective to local issues," his campaign website says. "His understanding of Northern Virginia's role in both American and global economies can guide sound policy decisions."


The general election ballot in Arlington County will also include countywide races for Commonwealth's Attorney, Sheriff, School Board, Clerk of the Court, Treasurer and Commissioner of Revenue.


Early voting for the general election began on Friday, Sept. 22. More information on how to vote is available from the Arlington County Elections Office.


Patch asked candidates running for the two seats on the Arlington County Board to fill out a candidate questionnaire with the same questions. Here are Fierro's responses:

Name

Juan Carlos Fierro Campaign website

Family Married to Inmaculada, with three daughters (Carolina, Isabel Teresa, and Rebecca) and a Shih Tzu named Olivia. Juan Carlos understands the importance of family and the role parents play in their children's education.

Education A graduate of Bishop Ireton High School, Alexandria, and George Mason University, Fairfax. He has also showcased his athletic prowess as a Division I basketball player. His commitment to excellence extends beyond academics and into all areas of life.


Occupation With a career spanning the Inter-American Investment Corporation and the International Finance Corporation (part of the World Bank), plus providing financial advice to his clients, Juan Carlos brings a global perspective to local issues. His understanding of Northern Virginia's role in both American and global economies can guide sound policy decisions. He is presently a Financial Advisor with Thrivent Financial.

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office None, I’m not a career politician. My top priority if elected to the Arlington County Board is ....

Challenging densification policies like missing middle that increases the value of land, thereby undercutting affordable housing for everyone, especially for Hispanics and other minorities. These one-sided development policies occur because the present Board does not formulate policy, but instead allows staff to define policy. Consequentially, the Board does not adequately discuss the true impact of these proposed staff policies and passes measures with 5-0 votes, giving little concern about citizen input nor its impact on minorities. If elected, I will challenge staff policy proposals that call for more densification that does not adequately reflect the impact of proposed developments and causes land prices to increase with negative impacts on Hispanic and other minority communities.

Why do you want to serve on the Arlington County Board? My main reason for running is my concern that recent county polices, such as missing middle and other pro-density policies, cause negative impacts on Hispanic and other minority groups. These development policies increase land values, undermining affordable housing for all, and which increases taxes for landlords, which increases rent that is not affordable for many, which effectively forces Hispanics and other minorities to move out of the county.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidate? As the lone Hispanic candidate, with financial planning, I will bring another perspective to the Board. For years, consideration of staff drafted policies by the Board was done with little analysis of how development policies impact minority communities. Just as I provided financial guidance to my clients, I can enrich the discussion by focusing and encouraging discussion on the impact of proposed development policies on minority communities, such as that decisions which leads to an increase in land values that will negatively affect minority communities.


Describe other issues that define your campaign platform for the Arlington County Board. While my main concern is how development policies are undermining affordable housing for all, I’m also concerned about the spike in crime, the need for more public safety, and mental health services. One of the Board’s greatest challenges is providing proper funding resources to address crime, public safety, and the provision of mental health services in our community. The fiscal reality is that a good part of the County’s financial resources are transferred over to the Arlington Public Schools and Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WAMATA) with little accountability. The agreements with the Arlington Public Schools and WAMATA need to be reviewed to ensure that funding is appropriate to what Arlington needs without jeopardizing resources that are needed to fight crime, improve public safety, and provided for mental health services as we enter a post COVID environment. While the County Board has an obligation to adequately fund APS, one needs to recognize that APS has above average financial resources as compared to other School Districts in the state of Virginia. Arlington is currently blessed with a very high expenditure rate per student — $23,521 (FY 2023 Washington Boards of Education (WABE) Guide (apsva.us)), p.6., almost twice the average for the state of Virginia — $12,638 Per Pupil Spending by State [Updated June 2023] (worldpopulationreview.com). Concerning fiscal matters, one area that needs better scrutiny is the close out process that occurs in the fall of each year, whereby surplus funds from the previous year are reallocated to other areas. This represents over 2% of the budget. See below for the budget surpluses of the past two years:


These budget surpluses could have been used as a down payment for the next operating budget to minimize tax increase, or as a reason to reduce the tax rate. Likewise, some of the surplus could be used to fund more public safety and mental health services.

I’m also concerned about transparency and public engagement by the County. In the post COVID environment, transparency and public engagement has eroded. We need to upgrade our processes to promote more transparency, and public engagement processes that in many ways did not adequately engagement with Hispanic and other minority communities.

The best advice ever shared with me was ... I live by the motto that “You are who you are.” This has helped me understand the importance of transparency in my interactions with others.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions? I am a doer. Just as I am a good listener to my client’s needs, I will be a good listener to the concerns of Arlingtonians.


This article was written on October 12, 2023, and published on Patch

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