Thursday, October 11, 2007
Undecided in Bermuda
This is an update on the Bermuda Supervisor Election to be held this November. The candidates are Ree Hart, Democrat; Dorothy Jaeckle, Republican, and Roy Wallace, Independent. I reported earlier that I thought that Ree Hart responded best to Village News' first question, on what the biggest problems with the schools are. Dorothy Jaeckle was second, and Roy Wallace third. Now this week's issue has come out and to me they performed in the exact opposite order. So now I am undecided.
The question was "Other than growth in general, what do you consider the most challenging issue in Chesterfield"? Ree Hart responded to the question properly, not mentioning growth in her answer. She said that the tax system was the second biggest problem. House values have skyrocketed, due in my opinion to the Fed's lowering rates to 1%. So that meant that assessments and taxes have gone up, too. She says that tax rates should be cut whenever house values rise; otherwise, the government is raising taxes with no reason. Her answer was clear and analytical, worthy of a Supervisor.
Dorothy Jaeckle said that tax rates were indeed a problem, but so was overcrowding in the schools and on the roads. Since these are implied by the growth problem, this shows that she did not answer the question properly. But now one asks, was it a proper question to ask to begin with? Asking what the biggest problem was, other than growth, invites answers like is Elvis still alive, or can Paris Hilton drive now that she's had a DUI conviction? That's because, to a certain extent, there is one and only one problem in Chesterfield County: growth. All other problems are trivial by comparison. That includes taxes, which can be handled by indexing housing values. Dorothy should have told us that up front in her answer, that she did not think it was a proper question. In her answer, she hit the point twice. She says we need to plan for our future needs. Further, she says we need to "curb[] the funding of wants". That may be a good part of the problem. We all want more land. We want to drive wherever and whenever we choose. And we want these things now. Dorothy is saying that we must look to see if we have all the resources for all these things we want. So I feel her answer was better than Ree's.
But I felt that Roy Wallace gave the best of any of these answers. He pointed out a problem that both of the other candidates have missed, namely water. Do you think these water restrictions, soon to become mandatory, is due entirely to the weather? How come we didn't have them in 1980, the year of a really bad drought? The answer is developers, growth, and more and more houses demanding more and more water for showers and lawns. Roy points this out and says that we need to take a look at the county's water supply and check to see if it will meet the needs of a new development before that development is approved. He also has some nice quotes: "Without water, there is no life as we know it.", and "Water is a non-renewable resource." Water is renewable, but only up to a certain level of usage. After that point. Roy Wallace is correct: it becomes non-renewable, and if these developments continue, there will come a day when the James River, Lake Chesdin, and Swift Creek reservoir will run dry, and we will no longer be able to turn on the faucet and get water.
So now I am undecided among these candidates, although I still give a slight edge to Ree Hart. I will note that of all the eight or so candidates running for a Supervisor position in Chesterfield County, that Marleen Durfee (Matoaca district) appears to be the best of any of them. Her idea for a problem that Chesterfield faces: a lack of leadership.
I sent all three of the Bermuda candidates a blog that Jim Kunstler wrote this week, at http://www.kunstler.com/mags_diary22.html , called the "Grass Roots Syndrome". Among other things, he says, "Municipal leaders (and the public they serve) have no idea what kind of problems the nation faces with oil." None of them have replied. To me so far, the three candidates show an awareness of the problems the developers cause, but have not mentioned peak oil at all, or how it will affect our future. Please ignore Mr. Kunstler's title for his blog. His point is well taken, especially "Grass Roots Syndrome". I consider it must reading for anyone that is at all interested in the future life of people in Chesterfield County, and that goes especially for those wanting to run for Supervisor.
The question was "Other than growth in general, what do you consider the most challenging issue in Chesterfield"? Ree Hart responded to the question properly, not mentioning growth in her answer. She said that the tax system was the second biggest problem. House values have skyrocketed, due in my opinion to the Fed's lowering rates to 1%. So that meant that assessments and taxes have gone up, too. She says that tax rates should be cut whenever house values rise; otherwise, the government is raising taxes with no reason. Her answer was clear and analytical, worthy of a Supervisor.
Dorothy Jaeckle said that tax rates were indeed a problem, but so was overcrowding in the schools and on the roads. Since these are implied by the growth problem, this shows that she did not answer the question properly. But now one asks, was it a proper question to ask to begin with? Asking what the biggest problem was, other than growth, invites answers like is Elvis still alive, or can Paris Hilton drive now that she's had a DUI conviction? That's because, to a certain extent, there is one and only one problem in Chesterfield County: growth. All other problems are trivial by comparison. That includes taxes, which can be handled by indexing housing values. Dorothy should have told us that up front in her answer, that she did not think it was a proper question. In her answer, she hit the point twice. She says we need to plan for our future needs. Further, she says we need to "curb[] the funding of wants". That may be a good part of the problem. We all want more land. We want to drive wherever and whenever we choose. And we want these things now. Dorothy is saying that we must look to see if we have all the resources for all these things we want. So I feel her answer was better than Ree's.
But I felt that Roy Wallace gave the best of any of these answers. He pointed out a problem that both of the other candidates have missed, namely water. Do you think these water restrictions, soon to become mandatory, is due entirely to the weather? How come we didn't have them in 1980, the year of a really bad drought? The answer is developers, growth, and more and more houses demanding more and more water for showers and lawns. Roy points this out and says that we need to take a look at the county's water supply and check to see if it will meet the needs of a new development before that development is approved. He also has some nice quotes: "Without water, there is no life as we know it.", and "Water is a non-renewable resource." Water is renewable, but only up to a certain level of usage. After that point. Roy Wallace is correct: it becomes non-renewable, and if these developments continue, there will come a day when the James River, Lake Chesdin, and Swift Creek reservoir will run dry, and we will no longer be able to turn on the faucet and get water.
So now I am undecided among these candidates, although I still give a slight edge to Ree Hart. I will note that of all the eight or so candidates running for a Supervisor position in Chesterfield County, that Marleen Durfee (Matoaca district) appears to be the best of any of them. Her idea for a problem that Chesterfield faces: a lack of leadership.
I sent all three of the Bermuda candidates a blog that Jim Kunstler wrote this week, at http://www.kunstler.com/mags_diary22.html , called the "Grass Roots Syndrome". Among other things, he says, "Municipal leaders (and the public they serve) have no idea what kind of problems the nation faces with oil." None of them have replied. To me so far, the three candidates show an awareness of the problems the developers cause, but have not mentioned peak oil at all, or how it will affect our future. Please ignore Mr. Kunstler's title for his blog. His point is well taken, especially "Grass Roots Syndrome". I consider it must reading for anyone that is at all interested in the future life of people in Chesterfield County, and that goes especially for those wanting to run for Supervisor.
