In the opening statements, Charlie Hall employed the classic challenger's formulation - the election is "all about change," that we're "going in the wrong direction," and that the incumbent (Linda Smyth) "has a difficult record to defend." Specifically, Hall charged that Smyth said she would "protect our neighborhoods," but instead she approved 6,000 new houses without new roads and other infrastructure. Hall pointed to the numerous 10-0 "pro-development votes" on the county board, and asserted that "many have not felt heard." Finally, Hall emphasized that "the best local government is a 'we" process not an 'I' process," and that he would be a "proactive leader" in bringing people together.
In contrast, Linda Smyth spoke as an incumbent, pointing to how "we have accomplished a lot." Smyth said she understood neighborhood concerns and brought a "neighborhood perspective" to the Board of Supervisors. She said that a lot had been done, but there "much more work to do."
The first question was straightforward: "What do you see as the primary role of Providence District Supervisor?"
Charlie said it was to be "out in the neighborhoods," not to play an "absentee role" or to look at things as a "done deal." Instead, the Supervisor should take a "proactive role," ask people what they think.
Linda said that she has worked with individual neighborhoods on such things as parks and "traffic calming" measures. She added that Metro West didn't happen overnight, that it "wasn't rushed at all" but that the process went on for 5 years. She asserted that the Board had "listened to citizens," including having set up a citizens' task force with "plenty of citizen participation." She charged that Charlie had not come into the process until "halfway through."
The next question was on the candidates' Democratic "credentials." Charlie said that his first vote for President was for George McGovern, and that he's voted "pretty consistently" for Democrats since then (including only voting in Democratic primaries). Working as a newspaper reporter for years, he said that he had to limit his political invovlement and stay neutral. He said he joined FCDC in January 2005. Hall added that "gridlock is not a partisan issue."
Linda said that she joined the FCDC in 2003. She pointed to her support from Democratic elected officials as saying something about her Democratic credentials. She argued with Charlie about when he worked at the Washington Post.
Another question was on development issues. Charlie said that the important thing was really going out to the community to create a shared vision of a community that works. He charged that in Fairfax, development had been "outsourced to developers," that many in the Metro West area had not been invited into the process, and that there had not been adequate outreach.
Linda said something (my notes are a bit fuzzy at this point) about how Arlington had planned its whole corridor, while Fairfax was trying to do things after a lot of development had already occurred.
On test scores, Charlie said he had "great respect" for the school board's work, especially given the county's "incredibly diverse" population. Charlie talked about money and accountability, noting that the average tax bill had risen sharply (I believe he said 89%) since 2001 (have to check this date once the recording is available). He asked whether money was being as well spent as possible. He called for beefing up the county's auditing staff.
Linda said that she expects accountability. She also pointed to the county's diverse student population, including special needs students. She said that the school board takes their mission "very seriously." She said something to the effect (again, need that video!) that "we cannot manage everything."
On closed doore executive sessions, Charlie pointed to this as an area "where Linda and I clearly disagree." Charlie bluntly asserted that there's only one place the public business should be carried out, and that's in public! He said that as Supervisor, he will "refuse to support closed door meetings" or the "abuse" of this practice.
Linda commented that closed sessions were necessary when outside attorneys (e.g., from the airport authority) were providing legal advice. She charged that Charlie, as someone who works for the ABA, "might understand that."
On the environment, Charli said that the "Cool County" program is good, that the challenge was "funding the programs to make sure they become reality." He also questioned what was happening in the private sector, and added that "gridlock is rough on the environment." He charged that there was a poor environmental record in Providence with regard to the environment, that trees had been destroyed, etc.
Linda said that she had pushed for an integrated package, including transit-oriented development, bikes, trails, sidewalks, carpooling, telework, LEED building standards, etc.
On transportation, Charlie said he uses public transportation (Metrorail) 5 days a week. He noted that Metro was "desperately overcrowded" but there was no plan to fix that situation. Linda said she was working to improve public transport, and pointed to "Tom Davis' bill" for $1.5 billion in funding for Metro.
On infill housing, Charlie said he was concerned about "McMansions," adding that people wanted a "little bit of breathing space." Linda said there was a need to look at the height of houses, to revise that process.
On affordable housing, Charlie said there is "clearly a crisis" for public service workers with regard to affordable housing. We should ask more of developers, but right now we're fighting a losing battle. Linda said that the goal of 1,000 affordable units had been surpassed, and that we're now at 1,400 units. There needs to be a high-rise task force, as there is currently no ordinance for high rises.
On crime and safety issues, Charlie said that Providence is not a high-crime area, but that there were "creeping areas of concern" - response time, staffing, gangs. Linda said that "we've added 160 police" and that "we've seen results." She also pointed to after-school programs and a 50% reduction in high school students reporting having seen gang activity.
On the Tysons Tunnel, Charlie said that interconnectivity was the biggest problem ("try to walk from Tysons 1 to Tysons II). Elevated would be a disaster, and the tunnel should be open to competitive bidding. Linda said that "everyone believes the tunnel is the best option," and said she asked for an independent study on the issue.
On the biggest problem facing Fairfax County, Charlie said it was "traffic." And, he noted, although supervisors can't do everything, we don't excpect them to "make things worse." We've got to get away from the "bulid first, plan later mentality." Linda said that "we're not always the masters of our own destiny," as with the Ft. Belvoir BRAC decision. We have to work with the state, and Gov. Kaine's package is a good start. According to Linda, we need more but we are starting that process. We have to have high density development.
In his closing statement, Charlie talked about growth and traffic issues as "huge." He said that there was "no confidence" the county has a big picture, workable plan, just one questionable decision after another. He was struck by Linda blaming other people for various problems, and asserted that "this board likes to point fingers" (e.g., it's Jim Gilmore's fault that we have public-private partnerships). We have to work within reality. We embrace the future, we do not fear it. Charlie offers a new style of leadership, as opposed to the "passive, even invisble" leadership of Linda Smyth.
Linda's closing statement talked about how engaged she had been; hundreds of meetings with special interest groups, associations, etc. "I've been out there in the community." She asserted again that Metro West DID have a comprehensive analysis. She pointed to the most thorough analysis fo school facilities that had ever been done. On Tysons, she said that this is our big chance, it's a huge project with countywide implications.
P.S. I will post the video as soon as it's available...
I must say the "finger-pointing" by Linda was fairly dramatic, however. It is summarized over on ReformFairfax, here:
http://www.reformfai...
Any word on when the tape will be broadcast and go on-line?
As Charlie pointed out, numerous neighborhoods were not even informed of the process, much less invited to join. Interested parties like the Town of Vienna and Providence District Council, when they found out about it, were not permitted to participate. Even members of the workgroup did not initially understand that it was a proposal; some thought it had already been approved long before it came up for a vote because the county staffers that ended up actually running the group (not residents) kept pushing it like it was a done deal.
At the Planning Commission's (much later) Transit-Oriented Development committee, many of us heard about other jurisdictions' weeks or month-longs long processes of open meetings to discuss what all stakeholders feel should be an area's vision. In contrast, the MetroWest workgroup had one plan to look at, and if you weren't on that handpicked group, you could not participate.
For Linda to defend this anti-Smart Growth approach shows just how badly we need Charlie Hall.
I thought Charlie was particularly dead-on in his comments about Tysons Corner and the elevated train. Yes, we must put growth somewhere, and that somewhere should be around high quality, high capacity transit.
But, as Charlie noted, the elevated train is the wrong proposal. It has very limited capacity, particularly compared with the amount it would cost and the level of development linked to it. It would adversely affect the skyline and the ability to do good urban design for generations.
Charlie also was right to question the secret meetings of the current Board to discuss rail. Why are they having secret meetings? They claim that legal issues were being discussed yet, according to all accounts, the discussion was really about policy and financing. Even an independent expert suggested that the meetings may have violated open meeting laws.
The real reason the meetings were secret, in my opinion, is that the elevated train is in real trouble. It is losing public support rapidly and the federal government may decide not to fund it.
Ms. Smyth was quick to point the finger at the Commonwealth and the Airports Authority. But, the fact is that the current Board has been pushing this project for years, and they deserve a significant amount of the blame for the current state of affairs.
Charlie Hall would make an excellent Supervisor and would bring some balance and rationality to Fairfax County.
What happen to rapid transit to/from Dulles to Downtown? Everyone is focused on Tyson's! We need a high speed transit system. One stop in Reston, one in Tyson's, one in Falls Church and one downtown. Otherwise, it will take over an hour, on a good day, from Dulles to downtown, way too long, nobody will use it. Make it a monorail so you can run it anywhere, even above the existing Metro tracks.
Connect it with the existing slow and unreliable Metro and bus system. Tyson's can set up their own transit district with an elevated monorail looping around the area. Need an example, look at Las Vegas. Metro rail through Tyson's will simply be a waste of money.
As for development, how much money do the candidates take from developers? Show me the money and I will show you the voting record...
2)Governor Kaine's WTOP Transcript
tysonstunnel.org/tt_news_press_transcript.htm
3)Transportation should not be partisan thing ... Republicans just do it better.
http://tysonstunnel....
4)Letter to the Commonwealth's Transportation Secretary http://tysonstunnel....
yes, there is much room for out of the box thinking on this one but since not even a hole has been dug on this matter ... we might just be able to avoid a 100 year mistake. The underground in places like Hungary and England are over 100 years old and doing just fine hauling people around.
It's not over till it is under!
I was very favorably impressed by Charlie Hall. He maintained his dignity despite the strange circumstances of the debate, and expressed thoughtful, well reasoned positions on virtually every issue. Hall never got to rebut Smyth because he was forced to go first each time, but I would have liked to have heard him do so on several issues.
Linda Smyth came across as more polished and articulate. She seemed to have well-planned citations of statistics and accomplishments for most of the areas of discussion for which she was responsible. I was surprised at how many of the issues she did not believe were within her Supervisor's power to influence.
Surprisingly, Smyth publicly waved the club of the "machine" that supports her. It came across as a rather clumsy way to try to intimidate Hall.
Anyone care to speculate?
2) Someone who admires Gerry Connolly but never asks him for advise on whether one should run as a Democrat.
3) Someone who blogs on a hard core dem blog yet keeps Frank Wolf's picture up on a campaign website that asks for Democrats to vote.
4) Someone who says that they like Jeannemarie Devolities-Davis on a radio blog but blames the transportation problem on Fairfax County.
Just for future references, the non-partisan bill that JMDD claims that she put through the GA this year to help with transportation in Fairfax, transfered money from construction funds to maintainance so that we can have some mowing going on. Oh, by the way, this is a five year plan, just in time for JMDD to swoop in right before her next re-election to save NOVA from transportation agony - applause! But that ain't happening. Chap is going to win the 34th. Volunteer for Chap at ViVa Vienna.
Based on these criteria, Linda Smyth is not a real Democrat, regardless of what letter she chooses to put next to her name.
Germaine has baked over 75,000 cookies for our service men and women. It is too bad that you don't see this as a way to honor the "cookie lady." We did that night. We brought sugar, flour, money donations, toys, coffee, etc so Germaine could fill her love baskets to our troops. I hope that you better understand the picture and will join with us in celebrating the great work that the "cookie lady" is doing.
BTW, neither Connolly nor Davis are the godfathers of either political party in VA...altho they both seem to want to behead all those who don't fall lockstep behind them.
Also, every time I view the BOS public hearings, no one is holding a gun to the supervisors' heads to approve all the rezonings (at the highest end of the density range) in the county without demanding the transportation and infrastructure improvements first. This is not the General Assembly's fault...it is the Board of Supervisors of Fairfax County. Don't change the plan if you can't provide the services. Don't approve the rezonings if you don't phase the development with transportation, park, schools and environmental improvements.
Our current Board is too ready to pass the buck and spout nonsense to Fairfax citizens as to why they "have" to listen to their developer buddies. We need a supervisor in Providence who will listen and respect citizen input and public process.