Tejada, Arlington Kick Off Historic Year
By Jerry MarkonWashington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 10, 2008; Page VA11
As a large crowd warmly greeted J. Walter Tejada on his first day as chairman of the Arlington County Board -- "Viva Walter!" the signs said -- he had no idea that an equally enthusiastic audience was watching the proceedings live on the Internet thousands of miles away.
After the board's annual New Year's Day meeting, Tejada, now the highest ranking Latino official in Northern Virginia, learned that family members had gathered around a computer screen in Guatemala to witness the historic moment.
"I figured, it's New Year's Day, who is going to be watching? People probably haven't even gotten up from their big parties," said Tejada, who found out about his family's impromptu party in a text message from his brother. "It was just a wonderful feeling to know they were watching, a real sense of pride."
After welcoming everyone in English, and then Spanish, Tejada unveiled an activist and potentially controversial agenda to ring in the new year. At the board's organizing session, he said he would encourage restaurants to ban the use of trans fat in foods, seek to eliminate smoking in public places and require property owners to pay relocation assistance to displaced low-income tenants.
Also on Tejada's agenda: urging residents to give up cars to save money and reduce greenhouse gases, and a plan to allow homeowners to build small "accessory dwelling units" on their properties. Arlington had considered such a proposal about two decades ago, but it was dropped in the face of strong community opposition.
Tejada, 50, has been riling the status quo since he came to prominence in the 1990s as a defender of the residents of the Arna Valley apartment complex, many of them illegal immigrants who lost their homes when the complex was redeveloped. Today, with other counties in Northern Virginia cracking down on undocumented immigrants and the issue of illegal immigration swirling in the presidential campaign, Tejada makes clear that he intends to do all he can to help Latino and other immigrants adjust to life in Arlington.
"It's important that we have a constructive approach to the dilemma of immigration," Tejada said in an interview last week. "We have to ask ourselves some fundamental questions: Who are the people in the workforce who are building the construction boom we had, who are babysitting our kids and who are knocking on our hotel doors, saying, 'Housekeeping,'? "
Tejada called for a "strategy for inclusion" and for Arlingtonians to have a "diversity dialogue" on how to implement it. Specifically, he plans to expand the county's partnerships with nonprofit organizations to help more immigrants become U.S. citizens and intensify efforts to teach English as a Second Language classes.
"Contrary to what the anti-immigration forces think, everyone wants to learn English," Tejada said. "Everyone knows that the key to success in this country is to speak English, and if they had time after their second or third job, after their backbreaking work, to take a class, they would."
His support for immigrants stems from his background: He is an immigrant himself. Tejada grew up in El Salvador, shuttling back and forth between the capital, San Salvador, and a small town called San Luis Talpa that had no paved roads. The family was so poor he had to shine shoes at the central market in San Salvador.
"We were struggling, so I just grabbed a shoebox and set up my own business," he recalled. "Five cents a shine."
When he was 10, Tejada's mother came to the United States to work as a cleaning lady and in factories (his father had left home when Tejada was very young). Tejada and his brother and sister followed three years later, and the family settled in Brooklyn, N.Y. After attending a junior college in Pennsylvania, Tejada came to the Washington area in 1987.
He worked initially for the Civilian Complaint Review Board in the District, rising to become acting chief of investigations. He then became a business consultant and worked as a legislative aide to U.S. Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.) before being elected to the County Board in 2003.
Tejada, who is married to a teacher, Robin Tejada, and lives in the Dominion Hills area of Arlington, said that although he intends to represent all county residents, his ultimate focus will be on ensuring "fairness and justice for a multitude of people who feel they are under attack."
"This is not about me," he said.
Thursday, January 10, 2008; Page VA11
As a large crowd warmly greeted J. Walter Tejada on his first day as chairman of the Arlington County Board -- "Viva Walter!" the signs said -- he had no idea that an equally enthusiastic audience was watching the proceedings live on the Internet thousands of miles away.
After the board's annual New Year's Day meeting, Tejada, now the highest ranking Latino official in Northern Virginia, learned that family members had gathered around a computer screen in Guatemala to witness the historic moment.
"I figured, it's New Year's Day, who is going to be watching? People probably haven't even gotten up from their big parties," said Tejada, who found out about his family's impromptu party in a text message from his brother. "It was just a wonderful feeling to know they were watching, a real sense of pride."
After welcoming everyone in English, and then Spanish, Tejada unveiled an activist and potentially controversial agenda to ring in the new year. At the board's organizing session, he said he would encourage restaurants to ban the use of trans fat in foods, seek to eliminate smoking in public places and require property owners to pay relocation assistance to displaced low-income tenants.
Also on Tejada's agenda: urging residents to give up cars to save money and reduce greenhouse gases, and a plan to allow homeowners to build small "accessory dwelling units" on their properties. Arlington had considered such a proposal about two decades ago, but it was dropped in the face of strong community opposition.
Tejada, 50, has been riling the status quo since he came to prominence in the 1990s as a defender of the residents of the Arna Valley apartment complex, many of them illegal immigrants who lost their homes when the complex was redeveloped. Today, with other counties in Northern Virginia cracking down on undocumented immigrants and the issue of illegal immigration swirling in the presidential campaign, Tejada makes clear that he intends to do all he can to help Latino and other immigrants adjust to life in Arlington.
"It's important that we have a constructive approach to the dilemma of immigration," Tejada said in an interview last week. "We have to ask ourselves some fundamental questions: Who are the people in the workforce who are building the construction boom we had, who are babysitting our kids and who are knocking on our hotel doors, saying, 'Housekeeping,'? "
Tejada called for a "strategy for inclusion" and for Arlingtonians to have a "diversity dialogue" on how to implement it. Specifically, he plans to expand the county's partnerships with nonprofit organizations to help more immigrants become U.S. citizens and intensify efforts to teach English as a Second Language classes.
"Contrary to what the anti-immigration forces think, everyone wants to learn English," Tejada said. "Everyone knows that the key to success in this country is to speak English, and if they had time after their second or third job, after their backbreaking work, to take a class, they would."
His support for immigrants stems from his background: He is an immigrant himself. Tejada grew up in El Salvador, shuttling back and forth between the capital, San Salvador, and a small town called San Luis Talpa that had no paved roads. The family was so poor he had to shine shoes at the central market in San Salvador.
"We were struggling, so I just grabbed a shoebox and set up my own business," he recalled. "Five cents a shine."
When he was 10, Tejada's mother came to the United States to work as a cleaning lady and in factories (his father had left home when Tejada was very young). Tejada and his brother and sister followed three years later, and the family settled in Brooklyn, N.Y. After attending a junior college in Pennsylvania, Tejada came to the Washington area in 1987.
He worked initially for the Civilian Complaint Review Board in the District, rising to become acting chief of investigations. He then became a business consultant and worked as a legislative aide to U.S. Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.) before being elected to the County Board in 2003.
Tejada, who is married to a teacher, Robin Tejada, and lives in the Dominion Hills area of Arlington, said that although he intends to represent all county residents, his ultimate focus will be on ensuring "fairness and justice for a multitude of people who feel they are under attack."
"This is not about me," he said.
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