There are good people on both sides of the local matters we've been debating the last several weeks. I assume that there are sincere public servants on the staffs of all the politicians involved. I even like some of the campaign people. My focus is on the politicians and the henchmen who have been with them for a long time.Here is where my problem with Linda Smyth starts........how she got into office. Linda Smyth was appointed (Perhaps it didn't hurt that her husband is a Real Estate attorney.) to the Planning Commission in 1999 by (I checked the formulation of this with my nephew) "The One Who Must Not Be Named" where she was a friend to developers. In 2003, "The One......... " went for the big Chair and selected his protege Linda Smyth as his replacement.
As I understand it, Linda Smyth was a Republican till 2003, shortly before she was anointed as "The One's ......." successor on the Board of Supervisors. Politics in Fairfax being what it is, "The One Who Must Not Be Named" had the opportunity to select the format of the election.....an election in which he was not a candidate. "The One........" chose a "Firehouse Primary." With a firehouse primary, voting takes place at a central location for a shorter amount of time than a typical election. This was two nights, two hours each night at Fairfax County Democratic Headquarters. There was NO announcement on the Fairfax Democratic Party's website that this firehouse primary was taking place. I received a mailer from Linda Smyth, but I had no indication that there was a contest. I looked at the Party website (saw no mention of the race), but I was not active in local politics at the time and I lost interest. Tell me you don't see some boss in this. About 1,500 people voted in this primary. Linda Smyth got about 500 votes. And here she is, the incumbent running for re-election.
Someone told me that my candidate, Charlie Hall, is hanging around the wrong people. To the contrary, I think that Linda Smyth is the one who's been hanging around the wrong people. Providence District has been hammered mercilessly by development. Linda Smyth has not protected the neighborhoods of this district. All her literature does is try to evade her record by talking about her support for "transit oriented development" and her opposition to "irresponsible development." There are a few developments near Idylwood and Gallows Rds. that might be called transit oriented. Most of the developments/subdivisions, however, on Idylwood Rd between Leesburg Pike and Cedar Ln. are McMansion structures. This is the record of Linda Smyth and the machine that runs Fairfax County. They want more and more development so they get more tax revenue to play with, but they do not address the infrastructure issues. The money is flowing to the campaign coffers and the profits are flowing to the developers. Otherwise, there is no balance. There is no concern for the people who live here. Cool Counties is kind of like compassionate conservative.
How can Fairfax politicians go around touting "Cool Counties" when they've been busy approving McMansions? Meantime, NO mass transit solutions. We do have some natural gas buses throughout the Washington Metro region, but we also have an underfunded Metro system.
And what happens in this campaign? Charlie Hall is called a Republican. Stuff is said about how some vague group supposedly recruited him to run. I was at a meeting where "The One Who Must Not Be Named" (contrary to what you may have thought, he does appear in public) suggested that Charlie Hall is a Republican. Charlie Hall is more of a Democrat than the politicians and political henchmen who are attacking him and producing the hit pieces appearing in your mailbox.
This is not a shock to RK readers, but it is worth mentioning that some incumbents do not want to discuss the issues. Much better to tell stories about your opponent than discuss the issues.
Some people do not like what I've been writing lately, but these people and the politicians they support are in politics for the wrong reasons. Ambition is a healthy thing, but when it is all about ambition or something else that the public cannot see or know, there is a problem.
It is time we held the Board of Supervisors accountable. Charlie Hall for Providence Supervisor.
There is also a long and interesting backstory about why there were three candidates in that election and you can check with Providence insiders to get the gory details. Candidate recruitment was done, minds changed at the last minute, promises were kept and feelings hurt. Suffice to say that bitter in-house fight continues today with this latest round. Too bad we see the kind of personal attacks here we normally expect of the Republicans.
You don't like my reference to henchmen? Look at the Smyth mailers. Do you think Linda and her husband sat at the kitchen table designing that garbage? I beg to differ. That was executed by a Boss loyalist.
What about my comments about developers? When you approve the number and scale of developments that these people have approved, when you do little if anything in response to violation of proffers, when you do nothing with mass transit for year after year, etc, What do you think? That we're just going to sit around and take this because some guy says "I'm a Democrat.?"
Well, excuse me. I live on Idylwood Rd. I see the traffic hazards. I have to deal with them every day.
As far as your Clubhouse Firehouse, I recounted what I know about it. Your recitation only confirms that you were in the clubhouse. That really addresses my concerns. 1500 people voted. How many people live here? How many trees have been cut down as a result of your Clubhouse shindig called an election? How many McMansions have been built in furtherance of "Cool Counties?"
The sounds like a Republican line is getting as old as Willie Horton and the Swift Boats. Try good government with OPEN MEETINGS. Try a campaign finance act for Fairfax County.
Lets have real democracy in Fairfax County. Oh, and my final point in the original post. I hate to burden you Terry with the concept of accountability, but I demand it. My neighborhood is not expendable for the ambitions of some politician who would sell his soul. What he does with his soul is his business, except when it impacts me.
Perhaps if you paid attention to the Fairfax County Board schedule (which you can get emailed to you for free each week) you would see that we have an open and democratic local government structure in place. There are a lot of people involved in making policy, the BOARD, the paid staff, the expert witnesses, the county appointed commissions, the lawyers, etc. Plus the local homeowner groups and civic associations. Many ways for folks like you Lee to get involved and have a strong voice in the process. I'm sure Linda's staff could help you find one that fits your concerns and neighborhood. The local newspapers also do a pretty good job of following the work of the Board and serve as another resource for you.
BTW, I think most people around the county understood that when the Metro was built that the long term plan was to funnel high density develpment near those stations and feeder routes. Like people who complain about noise near the airports, what did you expect??
Ah, about the Clubhouse you reference. If you mean the local Democratic Party, then yes I am a member of that club. I'm one of those core party activists that get beat up on RK, NLS and other blogs for doing what Party members do..we go to most all the fundraisers, we write checks, we work for candidates and issues, We open our homes to strangers for meet and greets, we buy the food and the wine and the beer for those events, we supply the pizza for canvass day, we knock on doors, we stuff envelopes, we make phone calls, we go to public meetings, we testify, we write letters, we watch the opposition, we put up those hated yard signs, we go to Richmond to lobby, we write more checks, we work the precincts, we help get out the vote, we drive the vans of old people to the polls, we in effect make the party machine work to elect Democrats.
And much of it we do behind the magic curtain out of sight of the blogs and the average voter or citizen. And the candidates know this and they depend on us and in the end it is a terrific experience and a labor of love for the truly committed. That is Politics 101 by most standards. And guess what, the other side does the same thing for their guys. Whoever does it best in a given year or campaign, wins. Simple as that.
And guess what Lee, the Clubhouse is an open place..even you are welcome to join if you are willing to work with us to elect Dems. Are you up to it??
When citizens testify in opposition to a land use issue which Connolly or Smyth favor, they are either ignored or mistreated. There has been a lot of talk on RK about the Board members talking among themselves, laughing or in other ways ignoring citizens while they are testifying. I have observed this to be true all too often. It should never happen.
During a public hearing this past winter, Connolly browbeat and bullied a PTA president for asking for proffer money from a rezoning in Providence District to go to her school. During this arrogant outburst by Connolly, Linda Smyth sat idly by and allowed one of her constituents to be abused. She didn't lift a finger to defend this lady or chastise Connolly's behavior.
At another public hearing, a resident was grilled by Smyth who asked questions irrelevant to the issue, such as whether it was true the gentleman lived with his sister. It was a blatant attempt to demean and belittle one of her constituents whose opinion she didn't like.
This Board has exerted a concerted effort to intimidate citizens who go against the Supervisors' wishes. If you agree with them you're fine and they'll act like they're your best buddies. But if you don't, be ready for being at best ignored, and at worst abused.
I'm not going to escalate this any further. For now, I just want to clarify (for the purpose of this post) that the Clubhouse reference was to the Firehouse. I have not even gotten into FCDC yet. That is a more complicated topic since there are a lot of committed Democrats in FCDC. My problem, actually, is not with FCDC. FCDC did not vote for a Firehouse Primary.......in my district.
Her elephant post card last Friday was so funny. It was the height of hypocracy. That was the determining moment for me. I did not think Smyth was capable of dishing up such nonsense. The creative interpretation of the Post article clinched it. Did anyone go back and read it? The postcard contains an artistic interpretation to say the least.
I will vote. And I will vote for Hall. I am going to set my alarm clock to have my smiling face at the polls when it opens.
Terry's facts about the Firehouse that elected Linda Smyth in 2003 correspond with the report in the Washington Post.
Still, I did not know about the Firehouse that elected Linda Smyth. My recollection is that there was no announcement about it on the FCDC website. This was confirmed to me by someone close to Linda Smyth. Hence my reference to a clubhouse. It was a comment about what took place on that day in 2003.
Terry, I think I've got at least as much claim as you do in the area of helping Dems get elected.