For All Of Arlington:
Walter Tejada wants to break out of the ethnic politician pigeonhole.
By David Schultz
October 9, 2007
http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=88371&paper=60&c...
Walter Tejada is very proud to be a Latino.
But when he first ran for County Board in 2003, his campaign slogan was "For All Of Arlington," emphasizing that he would work not just for the county’s ethnic minorities but for everyone. He won that campaign and became the first Latino elected official from Arlington.
Now Tejada, who emigrated to this country from El Salvador, is running for reelection and he still has the same inclusive governing style.
"He sees the world as an Arlingtonian and [as] a Virginian," Alfonso Lopez, who was the finance director of Tejada’s first campaign, said.
Miles Grant, who worked with Tejada on establishing the County's Community Role Models program, said that being an immigrant himself has greatly informed Tejada's worldview.
"Walter is not so much concerned about the Latino population," he said, "his concern is that he's been a part of an immigrant population and he wants to make sure that nobody gets left out."
"[Being a Latino is] a part of him," Lopez said, "but not all of him. He cares about making government work for all of Arlington."
OF COURSE, Latino issues will always be near and dear to Tejada’s heart.
Before ever joining the local Democratic Party and getting involved in politics, Tejada was active in the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, a national organization that deals with the issues of the Latino community.
After moving to the country in the mid-1980s Tejada said he noticed that "People were just being taken advantage of. People were working two and three jobs and earning low wages and getting charged exorbitant fees."
A turning point for him came when, one evening after a long day at work, he went to Bluemont Park to play soccer, one of his favorite pastimes. After getting involved in a pick-up game, several park rangers came over and told the group of players and spectators, mostly all Latinos, that they didn’t have a permit and that they had to leave.
"I got a little upset about that," Tejada recalled. He immediately ran home and drafted a petition taking issue with the eviction from the park. After receiving almost 100 signatures, Tejada took the petition to a County Board meeting.
"I gave them my petition and said ‘We just wanted to play, we’re not causing any trouble," he recalled telling the Board members. After the meeting, former Board Member Jim Hunter (D) took a liking to Tejada and encouraged him to get more involved in local civic affairs.
While initially reluctant, Tejada was eventually appointed to the County’s Sports Commission and has been involved in the county government ever since.
SPORTS AND FITNESS are still a priority for Tejada and has worked this issue into his platform through the FitArlington program.
Spearheaded by Tejada and School Board Member Ed Fendley, FitArlington is a series of events that, according to Tejada, are designed to "promote a culture of fitness" in the county. This isn’t just a public health issue, Tejada said, it’s also an economic issue.
"Big businesses and big tenants are looking at the obesity rates in areas where they might relocate," Tejada said. "When people see a high obesity rate they see a high cost of health care. This is really a big deal for companies."
Tejada said he would also like the County Board to make a "major investment" in Arlington’s roads, pipes and other basic pieces of infrastructure.
It is clear that, if reelected, Tejada’s focus in his upcoming term would be on countywide issues that affect the long-term future of Arlington. But no matter what happens in the next four years, Tejada said that his only expectation is that the county has a "healthy discussion" of the issues it faces.
"I’ll always be an activist," he said. "I enjoy working with people and getting things done."
Walter Tejada
Party: Democrat
Age: 40
Birthplace: San Salvador, El Salvador
Family: Wife (Robin Liten-Tejada)
Occupation: None
Phone Contact: 703-241-1772
Email: campaign@waltertejada.net
Arlington Connection: How did you first get involved in politics?
Walter Tejada: I have kind of a different track, I guess. It was an accumulation of a lot of activism. When I came to the D.C. area in 1987, this area had a lot of Latino population. I started to notice that a lot of people were being taken advantage of mainly because they didn’t speak the language and they didn’t know what their rights were. I became involved in 1992 when we moved to Arlington… Through those efforts we got to know people and got connected with their resources. It was not just Latino but also other folks who are sympathetic to other issues.
AC: What is the number one issue facing Arlington right now?
WT: There are several number ones…Affordable housing will certainly be a major challenge for years to come. When I came to the Board four years ago, there were still people who wouldn’t acknowledge that there is a major crisis. But I called it a catastrophe… We [also] have [the Base Realignment and Closure Commission or BRAC]. That’s a major challenge for us because… we are the jurisdiction in the entire U.S. that has been hit the hardest because of BRAC… We’re looking at several thousand jobs that we are losing.
AC: If reelected, what would be your first priority in your upcoming term on the Board?
WT: Infrastructure would be the first priority. It goes together with affordable housing… We need to be good stewards of our infrastructure. We need to invest. We need to continue to do even more and I am determined to do that.
AC: What is one area in which you wish the County Board had done something differently?
WT: I am looking to keep people informed about what’s going on. One of the things we’ve found… was that a lot of people did not know that which already exists that the county has done. There are things that I think we need as a government that we need to do to include people and to let them know.
