Saturday, April 9, 2016

Opinion Arlington Question 2


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.