Thursday, October 25, 2007
Supervisor Election Debates
This past week a "Forum" and a "Debate" were held for the three Bermuda District Supervisor candidates for Chesterfield County, Virginia. Unfortunately we had only two candidates for the Debate; Roy Wallace's mother became ill, so Roy could not make it.
To me a clear winner comes out of these two events: Ree Hart. I now know that to be a Supervisor in Chesterfield County, you have to have a great deal of knowledge about the county. You have to be there and have done it all over the place. Ree Hart displayed this. In many answers, Ree said that she was there at whatever incident was mentioned, and she proceeded from that. The other two candidates did not do that as much.
Here are the details. At the Forum, the three candidates (and an unopposed candidate for another office) handled a set of questions given to them by three community representatives, one for schools (Lois Stanton), one for business, and one for residence and the county in general.
On a question of why we are not getting funding for roads, Dorothy Jaeckle squawked that Chesterfield County was not getting its fair share. Roy Wallace says to use what we got and then ask for more if we need it, and Ree Hart says we got to ask for it. If you want something, you need to ask for it instead of whine. Give this one to Ree. On a question of issues outside Bermuda District, Dorothy said there is not much we can do, but Ree said that we need to do something about the lack of planning that has been going on for years. To me it seems like Dorothy wants to hem herself in while Ree wants to go out and solve these problems. Roy pointed out that the people out there with Roseland development will have the same problems as Bermuda with Branner Station. On a question about tax assessments, Dorothy said we need to distinguish wants from needs. Although Ree gave a good answer, I felt that Dorothy came up with a more cogent point.
In their closing comments, Ree said it was a choice between someone who will give the same results, or someone with vision and experience. Dorothy said that she was not a generic person (more on this below) and that she is solution-oriented and that she is the only candidate that has offered solutions. I don't think so, Dorothy. Ree gave her solution to rising proffers: stop the growth. Further, your plan to move the ninth graders to Community High and move the Community people elsewhere was ill-considered: you used a bad estimate of the capacity of the school, and you offended the management of that school, as expressed in a letter to the Village News. Roy came up with the comment of the night: "I feel like I am a thorn between two Roses." Interesting. I don't know if Dorothy's middle name is Rose, but "Ree" does stand for Rosemarie.
I think that Ree performed the best by far in this Forum, with Roy Wallace second and Dorothy Jaeckle third.
The debate was somewhat different. Here a series of ten planned questions, given to all the Supervisor candidates, were given to the candidates. One concerned controlling spending. Dorothy said that we need to avoid pricing people out of the market in Chesterfield County with taxes, while Ree said that the current procedure is "simplistic" and added that there were other government costs besides taxes that would have to be controlled as well.
The question of Fort Lee was mentioned. Fort Lee is just to the southeast of Chesterfield County, in Prince George County. The BRAC of 2005 decided that Fort Lee would double in population, by moving individual schools from elsewhere to Fort Lee to help construct an Army Logistics University. This will cause an influx of personnel and jobs into Chesterfield County, especially the Bermuda and Matoaca districts. Both candidates said this would impact Chesterfield County, but Dorothy Jaeckle felt that this would be more of a project for Prince George County, since it was right next to the fort. This sounds like a good assumption. She did not go further to say that Branner Station was misplaced - that it should be in Prince George instead.
On citizens' input to the Supervisors, Dorothy Jaeckle puts the blame on the Supervisor; that is, if the Supervisors don't satisfy citizen needs, that's the fault of the Supervisor. I like Ree's answer better: she does not want to have people be mistreated at Supervisor meetings.
On this two-person debate, I believe Ree has won it again.
In both debates, Dorothy mentioned that she was not a generic person. If you are campaigning for political office, don't tell the people what you are (or are not). That constitutes name-calling and does not tell whether you would serve properly. Richard Nixon said he was not a crook, but he was one. Bill Clinton said he never had sex with that woman, but he sure did. Muhammad Ali said he was "the greatest"; I am not sure how many people would place a boxer at the number 1 position in his list of people. She should not have told us she was not generic, because now that means that she is. It is far better to tell the people what you did; in other words, give your qualifications for the office. Also tell them what you will do but don't tell them what you are.
Next week, Chester Village News will devote the entire issue to the election. Then I will say which candidate I feel is the best.
To me a clear winner comes out of these two events: Ree Hart. I now know that to be a Supervisor in Chesterfield County, you have to have a great deal of knowledge about the county. You have to be there and have done it all over the place. Ree Hart displayed this. In many answers, Ree said that she was there at whatever incident was mentioned, and she proceeded from that. The other two candidates did not do that as much.
Here are the details. At the Forum, the three candidates (and an unopposed candidate for another office) handled a set of questions given to them by three community representatives, one for schools (Lois Stanton), one for business, and one for residence and the county in general.
On a question of why we are not getting funding for roads, Dorothy Jaeckle squawked that Chesterfield County was not getting its fair share. Roy Wallace says to use what we got and then ask for more if we need it, and Ree Hart says we got to ask for it. If you want something, you need to ask for it instead of whine. Give this one to Ree. On a question of issues outside Bermuda District, Dorothy said there is not much we can do, but Ree said that we need to do something about the lack of planning that has been going on for years. To me it seems like Dorothy wants to hem herself in while Ree wants to go out and solve these problems. Roy pointed out that the people out there with Roseland development will have the same problems as Bermuda with Branner Station. On a question about tax assessments, Dorothy said we need to distinguish wants from needs. Although Ree gave a good answer, I felt that Dorothy came up with a more cogent point.
In their closing comments, Ree said it was a choice between someone who will give the same results, or someone with vision and experience. Dorothy said that she was not a generic person (more on this below) and that she is solution-oriented and that she is the only candidate that has offered solutions. I don't think so, Dorothy. Ree gave her solution to rising proffers: stop the growth. Further, your plan to move the ninth graders to Community High and move the Community people elsewhere was ill-considered: you used a bad estimate of the capacity of the school, and you offended the management of that school, as expressed in a letter to the Village News. Roy came up with the comment of the night: "I feel like I am a thorn between two Roses." Interesting. I don't know if Dorothy's middle name is Rose, but "Ree" does stand for Rosemarie.
I think that Ree performed the best by far in this Forum, with Roy Wallace second and Dorothy Jaeckle third.
The debate was somewhat different. Here a series of ten planned questions, given to all the Supervisor candidates, were given to the candidates. One concerned controlling spending. Dorothy said that we need to avoid pricing people out of the market in Chesterfield County with taxes, while Ree said that the current procedure is "simplistic" and added that there were other government costs besides taxes that would have to be controlled as well.
The question of Fort Lee was mentioned. Fort Lee is just to the southeast of Chesterfield County, in Prince George County. The BRAC of 2005 decided that Fort Lee would double in population, by moving individual schools from elsewhere to Fort Lee to help construct an Army Logistics University. This will cause an influx of personnel and jobs into Chesterfield County, especially the Bermuda and Matoaca districts. Both candidates said this would impact Chesterfield County, but Dorothy Jaeckle felt that this would be more of a project for Prince George County, since it was right next to the fort. This sounds like a good assumption. She did not go further to say that Branner Station was misplaced - that it should be in Prince George instead.
On citizens' input to the Supervisors, Dorothy Jaeckle puts the blame on the Supervisor; that is, if the Supervisors don't satisfy citizen needs, that's the fault of the Supervisor. I like Ree's answer better: she does not want to have people be mistreated at Supervisor meetings.
On this two-person debate, I believe Ree has won it again.
In both debates, Dorothy mentioned that she was not a generic person. If you are campaigning for political office, don't tell the people what you are (or are not). That constitutes name-calling and does not tell whether you would serve properly. Richard Nixon said he was not a crook, but he was one. Bill Clinton said he never had sex with that woman, but he sure did. Muhammad Ali said he was "the greatest"; I am not sure how many people would place a boxer at the number 1 position in his list of people. She should not have told us she was not generic, because now that means that she is. It is far better to tell the people what you did; in other words, give your qualifications for the office. Also tell them what you will do but don't tell them what you are.
Next week, Chester Village News will devote the entire issue to the election. Then I will say which candidate I feel is the best.
