ARLINGTON COUNTY, Va. - Long time veteran of the Arlington County Board of Supervisors, Barbara Favola is up against John Reeder of the Green party to keep her seat.

Vice chair Favola has been on the county board since 1997 and is hoping to win a fourth term. "I'm going to continue to emphasize children, youth and families. I've been a very strong advocate of youth activities and fully funding our public schools," said Favola.

Going against the incumbent is first-time candidate John Reeder, who wants voters to see the Green party as a way to bring change to a county government run mostly by Democrats. "I'm really rooted in the community here so I feel that I would do a better job representing the Arlington community than the county board members do presently," said Reeder.

Reeder says he wants to bring about changes, starting with the current housing situation in the county. "We're not talking about building new units. We're talking about preserving existing generally older buildings that have been here 40 - 50 years and the development pressures have been relentless just destroying old buildings," said Reeder.

He says a housing authority, independent from the county government, could be a solution. The Green party got the referendum on the ballot and voters will decide on the new measure on election day. "I think if we did an in-house by public employees who already work for the county with a board of citizens, which is what a authority is, they are paid no more than 300 dollars a year each to be citizen activists and supervise the housing programs. I think we can do a much better job, more cost effective," said Reeder.

Arlington County already has a 13 member housing commission appointed by the board and funds for affordable housing come from developers, taxes and grants. Favola agrees improvements can always be made with housing, but doesn't see eye to eye with Reeder's proposal. "All of the dollars they would have to spend would come from the county. They would have to be appropriated, so I would be redirecting dollars that are already going into affordable housing and right now, for every county dollar spent, the county is leveraging 5 non-county dollars. You're not going to get a better return than that," said Favola.

The two candidates also disagree on some major projects in the county, like the Long Bridge Park and the Columbia Pike streetcar, both estimated to cost millions of dollars. Favola says introducing a streetcar is a good investment. "Riders are much more inclined to take a streetcar than a bus. They view a street car has a higher level of transit service. A streetcar is permanent We put tracks down on the street. Investors view that as a positive," said Favola.

But the Green party candidate says the $150 million plan won't help commuters. "Columbia Pike is already the busiest bus corridor in the state of Virginia and buses will continue to roll from Fairfax, so a trolley will impede traffic. Also, we just can't afford this price tag right now," said Reeder.

He adds the Long Bridge Park is also too costly, a project that includes a recreation center and other amenities. "The tax payer shouldn't be burdened with this. It's a dubious advantage, very few people live around there and I'm concerned the county is getting over extended and wasting public money," said Reeder.

Favola is optimistic about creating more open space and recreational opportunities for residents. "It's down near Crystal city, 28 acres. We have great plans for an aquatic center, passive recreation, active recreation," said Favola.

Despite their differences, both candidates say there's a need to address the environmental issues in the county. Both Favola and Reeder hope to push for more recycling if elected.