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Patricia Sullivan
Journalist covering government, politics and other regional issues in Arlington County and Alexandria
The Arlington County Board is prepared to vote Saturday to give Amazon $ 23 million and other incentives to build a head office in Crystal City, but only after have heard more than 100 residents and advocates advocate for or against the project.
The five-member body began a hearing at 1 pm in a conference room cluttered with citizens. Many were carrying placards, some praising Amazon for promising to create jobs and others blaming him for threatening to raise real estate prices and encouraging gentrification .
The board of directors should support the plan announced on November 13 in the midst of many upheavals. The incentives proposed by the counties are part of an agreement under which Amazon would occupy a significant number of offices and create at least 25,000 well-paying jobs in Arlington. years.
Opponents hope to postpone the vote after further public hearings, where they want representatives of the online retail giant to answer questions directly from anyone in the community.
The first witness at the hearing was Christina Winn, director at Arlington Economic Development, who said that direct financial subsidies to Amazon were needed to win the project, because of the "highly competitive national site selection process".
Before the opening of the hearing, about twenty protesters gathered on the steps of the county building. A smaller number demonstrated in favor of the project.
"We are fighting for the people who live here do not get paid by the rich," said Danny Cendejas, an organizer of the coalition "For Us, Not Amazon".
Signs opposing Amazon read "Affordable housing first, not Amazon" and "Do not be the opposite of Robin Hood." Supporters wore stickers saying "Amazon is paramount to Arlington" and carried a sign stating "Crystal City Welcomes Arlington." "
Christian Dorsey (D), Chairman of the Board, reduced the time allotted per speaker to two minutes and to four minutes, by default, five minutes for representatives of organizations.
County officials did not expect a vote before 6 pm
In the last four months since Arlington won a high-profile national competition to attract the facility called HQ2, residents of Arlington have been ask questions about its impact on their neighborhoods and their community.
Noisy and decisive clash planned for the Arlington County Council meeting on Amazon.
People have viewed the county's five online Q & A sessions 14,000 times and about 400 community events have been held to discuss the provisions of the Amazon Agreement. Council members and county staff also met with many civic organizations, participated in numerous panels and appeared on television, online and in press articles to discuss the agreement.
Amazon and the real estate company JBG, the project's main contractor, have met with business groups, heads of institutions, 50 non-profit groups and others. However, these sessions did not satisfy critics' calls for a public meeting open to anyone with questions or criticisms. (The founder and CEO of Amazon, Jeffrey P. Bezos, owns the Washington Post.)
Several surveys have revealed that most Arlingtonians, Northern Virgins and Washington-area residents are in favor of Amazon's arrival. Business organizations, universities and non-profit groups have been very supportive of this agreement.
But a small group of activists tried to block the project, saying that the county and the Commonwealth should not encourage any of the most valuable companies in the world. They also required housing and job protections for existing residents.
These opponents – including left-wing organizations and immigrant groups – felt invested after Amazon canceled plans to build a head office in New York last month, which would employ also 25,000 people. The company has withdrawn after criticizing the plan from some elected leaders, unions and community activists.
In Virginia, however, such opposition did not seem to inflam the general public.
Open-records advocate challenges the Amazon-Arlington disclosure clause.
The authorities estimate that the net tax impact of the Amazon project on Arlington could yield additional revenues of $ 162 million over 12 years and $ 392.5 million over 16 years.
Incentive agreement promises cash grants to the world's largest online retailers, estimated at approximately $ 23 million, if it occupies 6.05 million square feet of office space in Crystal City and Pentagon City until 2035.
The money would come from an expected increase in hotel, motel and lodging tax paid by visitors; Amazon would receive up to 15% of this increase, depending on the acreage actively occupied by the company each year between 2020 and 2035.
Amazon's offices will be located in an already established special tax district, where a portion of the property tax revenue is earmarked for infrastructure improvements, such as parks and wider sidewalks.
The incentive agreement states that half of the new revenue generated by this district starting in 2021 will go specifically to the improvement of buildings around the Amazon over the next 10 years. This grant has an estimated value of $ 28 million, but the county says it is not a subsidy reserved for Amazon, because the improvements will benefit other companies in the immediate area. Amazon will have the opportunity to express its opinion on how the county uses money, although the board of directors makes the decision.
Amazon is looking for a picture of "good neighbor" in Arlington, but his opponents are not impressed.
The county also offered Amazon the option of using its fast fiber optic network connection, which would be the subject of a separate agreement if the company decided to use it.
It is not yet clear whether Amazon will pay the local business license tax, as this tax is levied only on certain types of business, and Amazon has not yet announced which of its business units will be based in Arlington. If the company pays license fees, some of its activities could benefit from a discount of up to 72% under an existing program designed to attract technology companies.
While Arlington was looking into the details, the Virginia General Assembly passed and Governor Ralph Northam (D) signed a set of incentives worth up to $ 750 million for Amazon.
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