Biographic information on John Reeder

In his first election in 2008 for Arlington County Board, John received 21,000 votes (about 21 percent of the total votes cast). Despite being outspent nearly 10 to 1, his campaign resonated with Arlington voters tired of one-party rule, over development, and the ruling party’s neglect of Arlington environment and social safety net.

In 2008, John retired as an economist (international trade analyst) with the U.S. International Trade Commission where he also served for much of that time as an unpaid volunteer officer of the ITC staff union (Local 2211 of the American Federation of Government Employees).  He holds a BA degree from George Washington University and a MS degree in economics from the Ohio State University. He served 3 ½ years in the Peace Corps in Brazil.

His community experience includes many years of service on the Social Justice Committee of Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church in south Arlington. He was a co-founder of Tenants of Arlington County, a tenant advocacy group from 1979-92; and prior to that, a co-founder of the Arlington Food Cooperative Uncommon Market that existed from 1975 to 2000. In 1977-78, he was a co-founder and officer of the Colonial Village Tenants Association that successfully secured the historic preservation of the Colonial Village Apartments in the Arlington Courthouse neighborhood. In 2003, he was an active member of the Arlington Living Wage Coalition that successfully got a living wage passed for public employees and contracted employees in Arlington.

His Arlington county government service included two years as a tenant representative on the Arlington Tenant-Landlord Commission, and two years as a parent representative on Advisory School Committee on Physical Education and Health to the Arlington School Board. He coached Arlington youth soccer coach with his daughters for about ten years with the Tanzman’s and the NW Lions Clubs. His three daughters all attended and graduated from excellent Arlington public schools.

Why He Runs for County Board Office

After many decades of living and raising a family in Arlington, Reeder decided to run for the Arlington County Board (city council) as a Green Party candidate. He indicates that he runs now for the city council because he strongly value the community of Arlington—its great schools, libraries, excellent fire and public safety, community centers, faith communities, recreation centers, and diversity of people of all incomes and backgrounds. Unfortunately, Arlington community life has been compromised over the past decade and will decline even more if our local city government (our city council) does not dramatically change policies.

Arlington’s top-down government is increasingly indifferent to the needs of Arlington residents, and is run by a political machine that ignores the environment, preservation of existing neighborhoods, and the well being of low and moderate income residents. The five machine Democrats on the city council (county board) vote unanimously nearly every time on every important item. The diverse needs of Arlington’s population go unfilled as Democratic Party policies dominate.

In the past decade, the Arlington county board spent tens of millions of dollars on vanity projects that benefit developers, but have only marginal, if any, benefits for Arlington residents. The same county board refused in 2006 to come up with a few million dollars so that mentally and physically impaired residents can become independent outside their families and remain in Arlington in group homes. It turned a blind eye to preserving historic, 1930s era, garden apartment complexes where 70-and 80-year old grandmothers and working class folks lived for 60 years.

The same county board that has bragged about its environmental record, but has virtually no recycling in Arlington parks, commercial buildings, and for the two-thirds of residents who live in multi-family units, and just looks the other way as the tree canopy disappears to the bulldozer and chainsaw, and McMansions pave over Arlington’s picturesque old neighborhoods.