Evening star., 1958-07-06

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years-will be decided on a
referendum at the July Is
Democratic primary.
County liberals are urging
the defeat of the referendum,
not because its approval would
mean biennial elections, but
because the County Board
campaign would be held at the
same time as the national
races.
Fear Regular Parties
This setup would, the liberals
fear, pave the way for Demo-
cratic and Republican candi-
dates to try for board seats on
the strength of their national
party tickets. particularly in
presidential election years.
During recent years, the
County Board elections have
been dominated by local non-
partisan groups. With the re-
cent disbandment of the con-
servative organization, Arling-
ton Independent 5 Movement,
the liberals have the field to
themselves with their Arling-
topians for a Better County
group.
Yesterday. the County Board
split on the election issue. A
resolution urging defeat of the
referendum was backed by the
boards three liberal members
and opposed by the two con-
servativeS.
The resolution, introduced by
David L. Krupsaw. said that
continued progress toward
more responsive government
requires defeat of this scheme"
If organization is the de-
Gliding factor, the referendum
will go down by a substantial
margin. Opponents have not
come close to matching the
effort by the liberal element.
Support for approval Of the
referendum has come from the
Arlington Republican organiza-
tion, which has not won a.
County Board seat since 1852.
A COP. candidate entered the
race last year but later with
drew. The Republican Executive
Committee chairman, David L.
Gordon. frequently has urged a
return of the two-party board
elections.
No action on the issue has
been taken by the Democratic
organization.
In addition to the liberal
coalition organization. ABC,
other groups which are on
record for defeat of the refer
endum include the Civic Fed
Grafton and the Citizens Com
mittee for School Improvement,
The school question is part of
the referendum issue because
School Board members are ap-
pointed by the County Board.
New Committee Appears
A major move in the cam
paign to defeat the referendum
was the recent formation of a
five member Committee to
Keep Annual Elections. This
group, headed by Harold Stone,
the husband of Arlington Dele
gate Kathryn Stone, is prepar-
ing to mail out about 1000 fly
ers listing arguments against
the proposed election change.
Proponents of the even
numbered year setup say that:
/. Arlington should not be
subjected each year to the Bit
ternesS which is generated by
the board races.
2. The elections should be |
held on even-numbered years |
because the national campaigns
draw larger voter turnoutS.
Arguments for a mo" vote
on the Stone committee flyers
parallel those in yesterdays
County Board resolution. The
mailouts say that:
This is a scheme to restore
national party domination of
our County and School Boards. |
Electing a full majority Of the |
County Board every Presiden-
tial election (which would oc-
cur under referendum ap-
prevail invites the national
parties to run candidates.
County Board elections should |
be on a non-partisan basis.
Members should run and be
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