Sunday, November 01, 2009
Roanoke County incumbents need to be replaced
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Roanoke County incumbents need to be replaced
As a citizen and as chairman of the Roanoke County Democratic Committee, I disagree with your editorial stating our Hollins and Vinton candidates for board of supervisors do not make a persuasive case for replacing incumbents ("Keep a strong board in Roanoke County," Oct. 21).
Charlene Waybright and Patrick Patterson are running against incumbents who apparently believe it is OK to ignore citizens' opinions. For example, the incumbents decided they wanted to build a pretentious recreation center and spent money surveying citizens on recreation issues in an attempt to make the center appear popular. The survey backfired.
Results showed citizens overwhelmingly supported more greenways, which incidentally cost less to build and maintain. Salem and Roanoke still lead Roanoke County on greenways. Meanwhile, we have one of the highest effective county real estate tax rates in Virginia.
Waybright opposes an incumbent with the worst attendance record on the board. Patterson opposes an incumbent who voted to spend an enormous sum of county money on nearly vacant Keagy Village, but neglects downtown Vinton, with its vacant shops. Both challengers bring an emphasis on recruiting new employers through regional cooperation and strong support for schools. We need Waybright and Patterson.
Elswick will be a prudent supervisor
I have known Ed Elswick for more than 25 years. We have worked together on several projects. I have found him to be very intelligent, capable, honest and dependable, and he pursues projects only after thorough research and planning.
If the voters of Roanoke County want a representative who will place their interests first and restore fiscal responsibility to Roanoke County government, they should elect Elswick to the board of supervisors on Tuesday.
Use your vote to send a message to D.C.
By fluke of election scheduling, the voters of Virginia will have a near-unique opportunity on Nov. 3 to speak meaningfully to our politicians in Washington and to the rest of the country and world.
If we approve of the way the Democratic Party is handling our affairs in Washington and the efforts our president and Congress are making to change our country, vote a straight Democratic ticket to show our approval. If, on the other hand, we do not approve of the way financial, health, defense, social and other matters are being handled, vote a straight Republican ticket to show our rejection of the Democrats' policies and legislation.
As a serious independent voter, this is a difficult move for me, but I intend to follow the above method to register my preferences.
Smart voters don't buy GOP misinformation
I'm thoroughly appalled by the campaign ads for governor and lieutenant governor. Are we ever going to get past the partisan agendas and explore the real issues facing the commonwealth?
Bob McDonnell's commercial about how cap-and-trade policies will kill Virginia jobs at MeadWestvaco is ridiculous. We're never going to improve if we keep living in the past. I'm sorry that people may lose their jobs, but we have to adapt to the future needs of society to remain competitive. It is really that simple.
A commercial for Bill Bolling depicts Jody Wagner as the source of Virginia's financial troubles and job losses. Is Bolling aware that the entire country is having financial problems? Maybe that was discussed at one of those meetings he didn't attend.
As an educated Roanoke resident in my mid-20s, I've always considered myself to be an independent voter. McDonnell and Bolling are distributing misleading information in hopes that Virginians believe it. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but Virginians are smarter than that. I'm giving my vote to Creigh Deeds and Jody Wagner, candidates who believe their constituents have a brain.
Backward Virginia will get by on its own
Re: Debi Kelly Van Cleave's letter, "McDonnell won't bring in people" (Oct. 23):
She is right. We are backward here in Virginia. She should tell her daughter to stay where she is and not move to Virginia because we are so backward. In fact, she should tell all those outside Virginia to stay away from this backward place. I know it will be difficult for us to get by without their advice and opinions, but somehow we will muddle through on our own.
And as far as Mayor Michael Bloomberg, I am happy that he has solved all of the problems in New York City and can now help us backward Virginians with our problems. What a man.
And, I guess, those of us who support Bob McDonnell will be backward until such time as we are enlightened by the liberal drivel of The Roanoke Times and others of the same ilk.
Team of Democrats will keep us on track
The team of Creigh Deeds, Jody Wagner and Steve Shannon is particularly well positioned to continue the policies of Govs. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine. After the disaster of Gov. Jim Gilmore, they have made Virginia "the best-managed state," "the best state to do business" and "the best state to raise families."
Deeds is plain-spoken with an abundance of common sense behind him. He has had years of experience in state government and clearly understands the central issues facing Virginia today. He is a centrist, able to foster compromise between both parties to get results.
Wagner's experience as state treasurer and secretary of finance will serve us well as we navigate these difficult budgetary times.
Shannon has prosecutorial experience as well as legislative experience, both of which will be a tremendous asset in the office of attorney general.
Together they make a formidable team that will keep Virginia on a sound track for the next four years.
Elect Turner, and oust an obstructionist
Morgan Griffith is known statewide as a partisan obstructionist in the House of Delegates. He does what the extreme fringe of his party wants first and puts us voters from his district a distant second.
For example, when then- Gov. Mark Warner needed Griffith's help in balancing our state budget and maintaining Virginia's triple-A bond rating, a loss of which would have cost us immensely, Griffith refused to help. Griffith even turned on his fellow Republicans who did break ranks to help Warner and their constituents.
Griffith is apparently sensitive to criticism that he puts the extreme fringe of his party first. He mentions a token number of examples of working together with Democrats and says the only reason people think he is a partisan obstructionist is because they read it in The Roanoke Times.
I invite you to do your own research. You'll find many sources for this same opinion because it's so deeply rooted in fact. When a moderate like Warner finds somebody hard to work with, it's time for us voters to do our job. Let's vote for Carter Turner on Nov. 3 and send him to Richmond as our delegate in January.
