Mike McMenamin – Hire a Better Photographer
When I came back inside after getting my newspaper this morning, I found a political advertisement lodged in my door handle. Upon unrolling it, I first noticed the name Mike McMenamin, who is running for the county board. The second thing I noticed was that in the picture of him and his family, he is the only one not looking at the camera:
He also seems a bit disinterested. I don’t think Mike is all there.
I don’t know if he saw a squirrel, was making mental notes about turnip farming or maybe just didn’t know where to look, but you’d think that someone running for office could get a decent photographer to do the job right. I don’t know much about this guy other than the rash of good things he has said about himself in his literature, but personally I would rather elect someone who can follow a photographer’s simple directions to look at the camera.
It almost looks like his head was photoshopped onto the body. That picture gives me the creeps. Just say no to Mike!
where’s his other hand?
Maybe that’s why his wife is smiling…
And he’s got a death grip on his son’s shoulder while the other son looks like he might need to pee
Anyone’s better than the slob he’s running against – that Christoper Zimmerman guy. Sheesh.
A little much going after his kids and wife, isn’t it? I’m actually kind of tired of the county and it’s overdevelopment. There’s some green party guy running, too, I think.
So Carl, you’re obviously only interested in style, not substance. Take a minute to learn about the candidate before a senseless assault on a picture. Grow up. If you have so many good ideas, why do you hide behind you blog? Get out and run for office.
Zimmerman is running this County into financial ruin. Hope you enjoy the ride, Carl.
Oh, lighten up Geoff. He’s commenting on the pic and the effect it’s poor quality has on the image of the candidate. Not the candidate itself.
All very interesting and amusing. The facts are these, though:
Arlington’s got a County Board right now that is driving the middle class out. We’ve got high real estate taxes, a significant increase in the car tax for most Arlington drivers that, incidently, will likely keep older and thus dirtier cars on the road longer, and projects that voters authorized in bond referenda YEARS ago that have not yet been completed or even started.
Slashed neighborhood conservation budgets, cuts in traffic calming and street paving dollars. A record-high billion dollar budget for just 200,000 residents. Doesn’t sound right, does it? The current Board, especially under Chris Zimmerman’s watch, has failed miserably to keep its promises.
Arlington can do better.
Arlington County is still the best county to live in in all of Northern VA. If anything, I think the current Board has maintained a well run county – developing services for the dynamics of a population that has converged into this small county, ie. residential tax rebate programs, encouraging public transportation use, upgrading school facilities, supporting economic development, promoting green building design and recycling.
The only sore point about this Board is the very fast real estate development, esp. in the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor, squeezing out the neighborhood businesses and bringing national retailers because the cost of commercial real estate has increased from all the new developments.
Transportation? You ever try getting on to the Orange Line between East Falls Church and Rosslyn or the Blue/Yellow Lines between Crystal City and Rosslyn in the morning? I’ve seen elderly and people in wheelchairs let trainS go by because there’s no room in any of the cars. I think Zimmerman’s on the WMATA board, too. Problematic.
School facilities – schools in south Arlington are suffering major HVAC issues, so nothing’s been donw there.
Green buildings – green buildings are great if they work properly, no question. One of the too many arts centers in Arlington had severe mold problems and was delayed substantially because of its “greening.” Same with the fire station down near Crystal City. Making it “green” is costing millions extra and years in delays. Let’s have green buildings, but their construction should not interfere with the real purpose of the structures.
“Older and thus dirtier cars” is a ridiculous claim given that we have emissions inspection & compliance requirements in this area.
Don –
Way, way too simplistic. A 2006 hybrid, for example, is cleaner than a 1990 normal combustion vehicle that would still pass the VA state emissions tests. Newer cars have lower emissions and better fuel efficiency capability than older cars that would still meet the current requirements.
You’re doing apples to oranges to suit your argument. Simply comparing newer cars to older cars as a gestalt doesn’t work. Hybrids represented 1.2% of the cars sold in 2005, meaning that if your assertion is right and the car tax has any notable impact on people’s buying decisions then 1 out of 100 people who don’t buy a car they might have otherwise will choose that hybrid.
Those other 98.8%? They’re following the CAFE standards for emissions… that were set in 1975. So those of us driving cars from 1991 aren’t doing any worse than you and your 2005 model year car, on average.
Your assertion doesn’t hold water.
The hybrid argument is one example, Don. Never said that everyone was rushing to buy a hybrid necessarily. Despite the fact that MOST CAFE standards have not changed in decades (and, by the way, the standards for SUVs, light trucks, minivans, etc.) changed this year (from 21.6 to 24 miles per gallon). Will apply to model years 2008-2011.
Starting with model year 2003, pollution, under the Tier 2 Vehicle and Gasoline Sulfur Program, will be cut 77% to 95% (depending on the vehicle). That means annual emissions reductions of 2.2 million tons of nitrogen oxide and 306,000 tons of volatile organic compounds by 2020.
A car built today is cleaner than a car built in 1975. Mandated by law, demanded by customers.
Perhaps Bill, you should move out of Arlington and into Fairfax. You will see a big difference between the two counties. The points you bring up aren’t strong enough to support your argument that the current Board isn’t up to par, barring that no organization can be 100% perfect.
I am not sure how the “one of the too many arts centers in Arlington” with the severe mold problem and thus delaying its construction has anything to do with how the Board is following through with getting developers to make their buildings green for the long term. The fact that there is a governing body making an effort to produce a better environment for the future is the kind of Board you want – one with a vision into the future. However, that being said, if you argued that overdevelopment that is occurring currently is affecting communities adversely, then I would agree.
The kind of transportation problem you mention is not something that the Arlington County Board can affect directly and if you checked the WMATA website, it is true that Chris Zimmerman is on the WMATA board as Vice Chairman, and is one of 6 voting members, of which he is one of 4 people who represent Virginia. If you wish to address this problem, you will need to address all of the other members to solve your problem.
As far as school facilities, this is handled by the Arlington School Public Schools’ Board, a completely separate entity from the County. You should bring your concerns to the Board.
To reiterate Don’s comment, your assertion doesn’t hold water in this case as well.
Dem_Petra and Geoff:
No, I am not saying that McMenamin is a turd and I am not saying Zimmerman isn’t a turd. And I am not bringing anyone’s family into the discussion except by reference to the photo the candidate obviously chose.
All I was doing was commenting on the photo. Nothing political. I think what McMenamin stands for is great.
I agree with Bill that there is not a lot of middle class here. I see lots of wealth and lots of lower class folks. Being new to the area, I don’t know the exact dynamics yet of what is going on, but I am excited to learn more.
Everyone else – from a photograph to a discussion of hybrid vehicles and emissions. Very well done!
His wife is hot!
She’s hot in a bad Carol brady haircut kinda way.