Audrey Clement is one of five candidates on the Nov. 4 ballot running for the at-large seat on the Arlington County Board.
ARLINGTON, VA — Missing middle upzoning is the most pressing issue facing Arlington voters, according to Audrey Clement.
“If elected, I will urge the Board to scrap the Missing Middle ordinance adopted in 2023 as a revenue generating cash cow that will not redress the effects of exclusionary zoning and will not provide starter homes for moderate income residents,” she said.
Clement is one of five candidates running in the Nov. 4 general election for the at-large seat on the Arlington County Board. She faces incumbent Takis Karantonis (D), Carlos De Castro Pretelt (I), Jeramy Lee Olmack (I) and Bob Cambridge (R). Early voting for the Nov. 4 election begins on Sept 19.
As part of its coverage of the 2025 election, Patch has asked each of the candidates in the Arlington County Board race to fill out a questionnaire to describe why they think they’re the best person to fill the job for which they’re running. The following are Clement’s responses.
Your Name
Audrey Clement
Position Sought
County Board
Have you been endorsed by a political party. If so, which one?
No
Age
Decline to State
Family: Names, ages and any pertinent details you wish to share
N/A
Does anyone in your family work in politics or government? This includes any relatives who work in the government you’re a candidate in.
No
Education
Ph.D. Political Science, Temple University
Occupation
Software Developer 20+ years
Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Political Office
Arlington Transportation Commission 2018-21
Why are you seeking elective office?
To improve County government
The single most pressing issue facing voters is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.
Missing Middle Upzoning. If elected, I will urge the Board to scrap the Missing Middle ordinance adopted in 2023 as a revenue generating cash cow that will not redress the effects of exclusionary zoning and will not provide starter homes for moderate income residents.
Missing Middle will inflate land values and real estate taxes; drive out existing minority residents, and accelerate gentrification of Arlington neighborhoods, particularly South Arlington.
To promote affordable housing I will:
Rezone neighborhood by neighborhood based on simple to understand floor area ratio (FAR) rules as recommended by the Laboratory for Architecture,
Promote office to residential building conversions (O2R),
Invest in community land trusts, and
Restore the partial tax credit for renovation of multi-family dwellings, which County Board repealed in 2021.
What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?
Takis Karantonis supports Missing Middle upzoning, as does Jeramy Olmack, which I oppose. I also oppose the decision of the County Board in May, 2025 to revoke its own trust policy on cooperation with ICE for illegals with criminal records or suspected or arrested for criminal or gang related activity.
If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)?
I object to the fact that Arlington County Board has spent upwards of $2 million to defend Missing Middle upzoning in court, a policy that will not produce affordable housing for moderate income households but will have major impacts in the form of increased gridlock, runoff, tree canopy loss and school overcrowding.
Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.
I am concerned about tree canopy loss. According to a recent report by the Green Infrastructure Center, Arlington tree canopy coverage is only 33 percent. (p. 12), down from a 2017 County estimate of 41 percent. Unless Missing Middle is scrapped, that percentage is going to drop even more.
I am also concerned about stormwater management. The County’s initiative to purchase and tear down structures on improved lots to stave off flooding is prohibitively expensive. It would be totally unnecessary but for the fact that it has promoted zoning policies that all but assure the destruction of its mature tree canopy, which is the first line of defense against flooding.
For example, In 2021 Arlington Public Schools (APS) clearcut a grove of hardwoods behind Cardinal Elementary School in Westover to make way for the construction of a stormwater retention vault following a flash flood in July 2019.
Underscoring the perverseness of this decision, in 2023 the County purchased for demolition a $1.5 million house at 5840 18th Street N. across the street from Cardinal Elementary School to provide overland flood relief at the site. The County evidently never considered that preservation of the hardwoods behind the school could have achieved the same objective at no cost to the taxpayers.
What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?
Past member of Transportation Commission. Current Member of Arlington County Civic Federation and Arlington Neighborhoods Advisory Commission
The best advice ever shared with me was:
Hold your friends close and your enemies closer.