Saturday, November 03, 2007
Ree Hart for Supervisor
There are now only 3 days until Election Day. Halloween has gone, and we had our share of ghosts and goblins. Among these were Dorothy Jaeckle and Ree Hart, who sound like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
But no joking here. There is a lot at stake in these Supervisor elections. How well we live the next 10-20 years may depend on the actions of the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors in their handling of developers' attempts to McMansion and Walmart the county.
There are three candidates running for Bermuda District Supervisor: Democrat Ree Hart, Republican Dorothy Jaeckle, and Independent Roy Wallace. I have seen in person two debates of these candidates, and have read their articles in Village News and Chesterfield Observer. I have also talked personally with all three of them, and have had email exchanges with them. After considering these three people, I have concluded that Ree Hart is by far the best choice among them.
First of all, Roy Wallace has not got much of a campaign going. I have seen his comments, and he has not come through with the determination and knowledge necessary for the post of Supervisor. To be a Supervisor, you have to know a lot about the County, and I mean a lot. You need to know about all the zoning cases that are going on, as well as a variety of other issues and problems including watering restrictions, killing of black vultures, and so forth. I am not sure if Roy has this knowledge. He has many good ideas; for example, he was the one who brought up water shortages as a result of growth in the county. When asked what he wants his legacy was, he hoped that he would bring about action on growth and other problems in the county. If I were to select a mythological hero that corresponds to him, I would select the trickster god Loki of Norse mythology or Coyote of Navajo legend, who threw up all the stars into the heavens in random fashion.
Then there's Dorothy Jaeckle, who accomplished a major feat for our county by knocking off Jack Wilson, the hand-picked developerite to succeed Dickie King. This means she is like the mythical Biblical hero David, who slew the giant Goliath. She is also for keeping growth in check, and that was the theme of her election campaign against Mr. Wilson. She echoes the same points that Ree Hart does, so the two candidates seem equivalent to each other. But there is a difference. Ree does not want to get too party-concerned, but Dorothy insists that she is a Republican and that means less, not more government. She has not answered my questions to her on more-government Republican actions such as passing the Defense of Marriage Amendment or trying to put "God" into government buildings or documents. In general I would go along with less government. But how are we going to keep these marauding developers in check other than to use government action? In fact, that is what she is urging in her campaign - to use government; i.e., Supervisor, action against the developers. This is a contradiction, and it leads me to conclude that sooner or later, with that less-government theme of hers, she will play the developers' tune. Further, she would like to be known as the person to turn things around in Chesterfield County.
Ree Hart has no such problems. She is a Democrat, but she emphatically does not want to get party affiliation mixed up in things. She feels that growth, water shortages, taxes, and the like are problems that are independent of party affiliation and that need to be dealt with in the county. When asked for her legacy, she said that she does not care that much for her own as for what the legacy would be for the county, making her the most selfless of the candidates. She has knowledge of a lot of things in the county. I heard about four to five instances in the debates when, when asked a question about something, she replied that she has been there or done it. That's the experience we need. This means that she is like the mythological hero Athena, the patron saint of Athens and goddess of wisdom.
Based on all this, I would recommend Ree Hart as Chesterfield County Supervisor from Bermuda District and that is the way I shall vote.
The Matoaca District has four candidates, one of whom is only 19 years old. That is good, that a precocious individual wants to get involved in our community this early, but he needs to stay in school and learn more about the world first. Tubbs, the Republican, utters rhetoric that emphases a good economy and good business. That means developers, too. We don't need any more growth. Hastings, the Democrat, is on the right track, but his answers to Village Voice questions seem weak. The choice is definitely the independent, Marleen Durfee, an advocate of smart growth. That is where my recommendation goes. I think the county will go far to solving its growth problems if we can get both Ree Hart and Marleen Durfee on the Board. They make a fantastic duo.
As far as the other three Supervisor elections are concerned, each one has a candidate that gets heavy support from developers. So I say vote for the other candidate. That means Jim Holland in Dale District, Floyd Bayne in Clover Hill District, and Dan Gecker in Midlothian District.
But no joking here. There is a lot at stake in these Supervisor elections. How well we live the next 10-20 years may depend on the actions of the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors in their handling of developers' attempts to McMansion and Walmart the county.
There are three candidates running for Bermuda District Supervisor: Democrat Ree Hart, Republican Dorothy Jaeckle, and Independent Roy Wallace. I have seen in person two debates of these candidates, and have read their articles in Village News and Chesterfield Observer. I have also talked personally with all three of them, and have had email exchanges with them. After considering these three people, I have concluded that Ree Hart is by far the best choice among them.
First of all, Roy Wallace has not got much of a campaign going. I have seen his comments, and he has not come through with the determination and knowledge necessary for the post of Supervisor. To be a Supervisor, you have to know a lot about the County, and I mean a lot. You need to know about all the zoning cases that are going on, as well as a variety of other issues and problems including watering restrictions, killing of black vultures, and so forth. I am not sure if Roy has this knowledge. He has many good ideas; for example, he was the one who brought up water shortages as a result of growth in the county. When asked what he wants his legacy was, he hoped that he would bring about action on growth and other problems in the county. If I were to select a mythological hero that corresponds to him, I would select the trickster god Loki of Norse mythology or Coyote of Navajo legend, who threw up all the stars into the heavens in random fashion.
Then there's Dorothy Jaeckle, who accomplished a major feat for our county by knocking off Jack Wilson, the hand-picked developerite to succeed Dickie King. This means she is like the mythical Biblical hero David, who slew the giant Goliath. She is also for keeping growth in check, and that was the theme of her election campaign against Mr. Wilson. She echoes the same points that Ree Hart does, so the two candidates seem equivalent to each other. But there is a difference. Ree does not want to get too party-concerned, but Dorothy insists that she is a Republican and that means less, not more government. She has not answered my questions to her on more-government Republican actions such as passing the Defense of Marriage Amendment or trying to put "God" into government buildings or documents. In general I would go along with less government. But how are we going to keep these marauding developers in check other than to use government action? In fact, that is what she is urging in her campaign - to use government; i.e., Supervisor, action against the developers. This is a contradiction, and it leads me to conclude that sooner or later, with that less-government theme of hers, she will play the developers' tune. Further, she would like to be known as the person to turn things around in Chesterfield County.
Ree Hart has no such problems. She is a Democrat, but she emphatically does not want to get party affiliation mixed up in things. She feels that growth, water shortages, taxes, and the like are problems that are independent of party affiliation and that need to be dealt with in the county. When asked for her legacy, she said that she does not care that much for her own as for what the legacy would be for the county, making her the most selfless of the candidates. She has knowledge of a lot of things in the county. I heard about four to five instances in the debates when, when asked a question about something, she replied that she has been there or done it. That's the experience we need. This means that she is like the mythological hero Athena, the patron saint of Athens and goddess of wisdom.
Based on all this, I would recommend Ree Hart as Chesterfield County Supervisor from Bermuda District and that is the way I shall vote.
The Matoaca District has four candidates, one of whom is only 19 years old. That is good, that a precocious individual wants to get involved in our community this early, but he needs to stay in school and learn more about the world first. Tubbs, the Republican, utters rhetoric that emphases a good economy and good business. That means developers, too. We don't need any more growth. Hastings, the Democrat, is on the right track, but his answers to Village Voice questions seem weak. The choice is definitely the independent, Marleen Durfee, an advocate of smart growth. That is where my recommendation goes. I think the county will go far to solving its growth problems if we can get both Ree Hart and Marleen Durfee on the Board. They make a fantastic duo.
As far as the other three Supervisor elections are concerned, each one has a candidate that gets heavy support from developers. So I say vote for the other candidate. That means Jim Holland in Dale District, Floyd Bayne in Clover Hill District, and Dan Gecker in Midlothian District.
