Friday, October 9, 2015

Arlington Sun Gazette Shouldn't Endorse Anyone


Hey Yupette,

I see that Scott McCaffrey aka the Sun Gazette has been endorsing the same old same old for local office.

The Sun Gazette shouldn't be endorsing anyone. Sun Gazette's management allowed Scott McCaffrey to serve on the Chamber of Commerce's Executive Committee for years while problems turned into crises. Where were the Chamber, Sun Gazette, and Scott McCaffrey five years ago regarding the unacceptably high and growing commercial office vacancy rate? Endorsing the same old same old County Board members for re-election who said nothing and did nothing.

It's the same this time around. While we're at it, the Washington Post is in the same moribund state when it comes to endorsing local candidates. A recurrent rumor is that summer interns research all local candidates for public office and make recommendations to the Post's Editorial Board.

Aside from Scott McCaffrey's conflicts of interest, I have no confidence in a news organization that repeatedly crashes my laptop while I attempt to read on-line Inside Nova articles which I pay Inside Nova to read. Oh, since I don't live in North Arlington a print edition of the Sun Gazette isn't delivered to my home every week free of charge. Duh. Thanks for your blog. I'm voting for Mike and Audrey on November 3rd.

Julie

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Christian Dorsey Has Little Sympathy for Abingdon Neighborhood Flood Victims


Hello Yupette,

I am a close-by neighbor of Abingdon Elementary School and there is no way I will vote for Christian Dorsey for County Board or anything else. Like many other Abingdon parents Christian Dorsey lives miles away from Abingdon School and could care less about our neighborhood. All he apparently cares about is more pavement for parking and bigger SUV turn-arounds on the Abingdon campus.

Christian Dorsey was appointed the Abingdon Building Level Planning Commitee (BLPC) and attended 3 meetings. My neighbors had to demand to have one representative for our condo associations appointed to the BLPC. Mr. Dorsey supported the Abingdon PTA parents who drive their kids to school and then drive to work, usually running the Stop signs in the neighborhood.

Mr. Dorsey has little sympathy for those of us who live on the steep slopes between the school and Four Mile Run. We have suffered from flood damage from Abingdon School stormwater and were very concerned that the hurricane that missed us this past weekend would likely have caused flash flooding into our homes. APS has done little about the flash floods we already experience.

We have had to spend thousands of dollars hiring an Arlington land use, planning, and zoning attorney to get Arlington Public Schools and the County Board to listen to our concerns. We are now having to hire a civil engineer as well. All we are to Christian Dorsey are 'neighborhood nuisances' who want to slow down people who speed through our neighborhood running Stop signs and didn't want the money that was supposed to be spent on renewable energy on campus spent instead for big impervious parking lots and SUV turn arounds.

Please do not vote for Christian Dorsey on November 3rd.

C.B. 22206