Opinion Arlington has asked this last question of the candidates; A constituent has e-mailed
you a point of view, backed by facts, on an agenda item you have or will vote
in the opposite way. He asks for a response. How do you respond to the e-mail? The following is
my answer.
Constituents constantly come to me with their
opinion on issues contained in our agenda.
Some of the reasoning is tilted some is honest. This question is best exhibited by the narrowing
of Lamar and I think that it is the difference in the choice of candidates in
this race.
I received emails from constituents against
the narrowing and I asked the developer to hold a town hall meeting concerning
this issue because of the number of citizens concerned about this specific
item. Now realize that the $250 million
that the developer is contributing to this neighborhood is sizable. But to get my support he must show that the
citizens must be supportive of his plan, or he doesn’t get my support. His town hall was well attended, over 200
people. After his presentation 75% of
the people stated that they were in support of the plan. This is a fact that is undisputable. Some people stated that only Viridian people
were the majority. This is not
true. Many residents were from Park Way
Central were in attendance. I know this
because I know the people that were there.
Some Viridian residents were but nowhere near the majority. But Viridian people vote in the North
also. Some people that were brought by
my opponent don’t even live in District 1, but they voted also. The next evening at Council the Mayor asked
for a show of hands that were in support.
The count was 60 for and 3 against.
I was at both meetings and the overwhelming majority was in favor of the
plan. The Council voted unanimously in
favor of this issue. They listened to
the people, and so did I.
The difference is although this plan was very
controversial, the majority supported the plan and I voted accordingly. My opponent would ignore the will of the
people and vote as she wished. I will
not! When the RLC’s were voted against I
abided by the will of the people and voted at Council to remove them although I
thought it was wrong. Facts prove that I
was right. Over the last 6 months
accidents at the 19 intersections have increased by 25%. More people are running red lights and more
of our citizens are going to the hospital.
I personally believe that Obama was a bad choice by the people also, but
I have abided by the will of the electorate.
That is the difference between the two candidates for the District 1
seat. You will make the choice, but don’t
do it because of RLC’s, that is a thing of the past. Consider the facts about who listens and how
they will vote.
