Lies, lies, and more lies. Secretary Connaughton put on quite a show this afternoon.
“Supervisor Caddigan,” Sean replies in response to her concern regarding turning 234 into a truck route, ” freight traffic will only be little things like flowers and computer chips.” So we may not have massive 18 wheelers, but just regular large trucks will be oh so much better? Hey, maybe the freight traffic will be a fleet of fiat 500’s?
Here is what we do know, the CTB, in the very beginning, have said that the reason the Bi County Parkway is needed was because Dulles was a ten billion dollar annual business and required a cargo route that had access to 95. Dulles wants to be a truly competitive cargo eastern cargo hub. Now suddenly, what, are we to believe the CTB was just jokin? We aren’t really going to use 234 as a massive transit alternative for cargo trucks, we are just gonna kinda use it!
I also was greatly amused by the map which showed a 90% increase in population EXACTLY where you have the least dense population and most stringent development zoning restrictions, in both Loudon and Prince William County. Does Sean know something we don’t know?
Here is the conundrum, a previous map he showed demonstrated the exact opposite! Employment and population growth is north and east. Sooo, Sean, which is it?
Pete Candland reminded Sean that the Supervisors in PWC were elected to represent their residents, not ensure that they fix all what ails Northern Virginia. He also pointed out to Sean that freight was THE main reason for the road for 95 freight traffic being moved through PWC to Dulles. Let me translate Sean’s answer on why we needn’t worry out little heads about that silly ole truck traffic. You see, these little ole trucks will bring little things, not big things to Dulles but, and here is the critical point, then those little things will be turned into big things in order to make money.
Soooo, how now does the newly created big thing LEAVE Dulles, not on a plane, nope, they will leave on a truck. Traveling where, back to 95 mostly likely. What goes up, must come down.
Mike May asked a great question. Why are we investing in a brand new road, in an area that does NOT have congestion, as opposed to investing in the East where they are in desperate need of road improvements? Frank Principi also wondered, why bust up the rural crescent when the Eastern part of the county is in need of infrastructure investment.
Sean replied that the State let the ball drop fifteen years ago and now is the time to get caught up to speed. Doesn’t this beg the question then? W1y are you focused on a brand new road as opposed to all the roads you haven’t fixed for the past 15 years?
I also loved hearing about the horrible traffic congestion on route 15. I call bullshit on that, sorry folks, but that is such a lie. I have traveled that route, many a morning and evening to get to Chantilly, the only traffic I hit is when I get close to South Riding. Maybe Sean also forgot that the state spent millions on roundabouts prior to Gilberts Corner in order to move traffic much faster. And guess what, it worked!
The only good reason to build this Bi County Porkway is to bust open undeveloped cheap land. This isn’t rocket science folks.
I watched the whole presentation. I didn’t see “lies, lies, and more lies.” I saw a patient, thoughtful, nuanced sharing of data and rationales as seen from a public servant who has to look at these immense infrastructure development projects from a statewide perspective, but who recognizes that every project generates controversy. The presentation seemed thorough and candid. I doubt that screaming “lies, lies, and more lies” is the most effective way to ensure that the ultimate project is one that rests on sound data and that the ultimate road, if one is built, is the right road in the right place.
The answer about air freight made a distinction between the high value, time sensitive nature of air freight traffic and the kinds of heavy-mass traffic one gets out of, say, a seaport like Norfolk. That strikes me as a rational distinction. But, perhaps more to the point, the initial part of the Bi-County presentation focussed on roughly a half-dozen factors as to why this particular project has been in the works for years. One of those factors was the changing nature of Dulles as an air-freight hub (along with the requirement the federal lessor imposes on MWAA to expand non-aviation uses generally), but it was not the only factor. Connaughton spent a lot more time explaining not just population growth patterns (although that was part of the calculus, but also population traffic flow patterns to support the Commonwealth’s conclusion that, without this particular road, the primary victim of growth to the West would be Prince William.
The first hour was spent discussing a number of projects, some of which are in the eastern county in which massive investment is being made by the Commonwealth. The number advanced by the Secretary was that PWC was getting $1billion of the statewide $14b of investment in highway projects in the coming years.
Connaughton acknowledged Candland’s point that there is a lot of opposition to this project at the local level. But he did so while making some other points. He said that every highway project he oversees starts out with a lot of local opposition. No one wants a new road near them. But the factors that dictate new roads are a mix of local, regional and statewide factors and that a Commonwealth Secretary has to work with all those interests. Connaughton expressly and courteously invited Candland (and others) into the dialogue about how to meet local concerns. He stressed that what’s happening now is doing an EIS for the project, and that this is a long way from a done deal. If Candland or Elena want to have an effective input in this, they should engage in that dialogue and cut the inflammatory rhetoric. Even the EIS stage provides a lot of opportunity for diligent, publicly-motivated citizens to test and offer data on traffic patterns and assumptions in underlying studies. Pull out the sharp pencils, participate in the process and put down the “lies, lies, and more lies” rhetoric.
I agree completely. Moreover, this has to have been the most arrogant, condescending performance ever to have been given before the Prince William County Board of Supervisors. You are correct that Connaughton spewed lie after lie, and he considered the people of our County stupid and ignorant enough to believe them. Each time that demeaning hand was held up to our fellow citizens I was surprised some form of violence did not ensue. To make matters worse, Stewart chided the citizens simply for laughing at outrageous remarks rather than asking Connaugton to show more respect for his constituents.
NBM is off to a great star as a responsible citizen.
This is emblematic of a serious national problem we are getting into as a participatory democracy. There are complex public issues that require long-term planning, expenditures of vast sums, none of which are pleasing to everyone. If the citizen approach is to brand conscientious public servants as liars, and deal with the data collection and analysis phases as battles to the death over character, rather than a road, a port, an airport, we’re absolutely beyond governance. You see this in our electoral process all too often. Now it is metastasizing into public works.
“light freight” being used in the debate saying 234 won’t be impacted that much cracks me up!!!
“Light freight” is anywhere frpm 100lbs to 10,000 lbs. Another way to look at it is up to 50 tons. A typical passenger car can way up to 4,000 lbs.
So a lot of trucks carrying “little things” is still a lot of trucks and weight pounding that road.
Scout is off to a great start as a shill for wealthy special interests.
I know a few things about how PR campaigns function also. Present yourself as the well-considered, reasonable spokesperson arguing on the basis of facts, and portray everyone else as ignorant and in pursuit of narrowly focused parochial interests. Sean must have trained Scout well. Is next week’s lesson “Advanced Bushwhacking?” Visualize my raised hand in your face saying “stop” right now.
The problem, as with the VRS pilfering we discussed yesterday, is that when you look under the surface just a little bit, the so-called “facts” people like Connaughton and Scout give us turn out not to be based so much in reality as they want us to think, and their “long-term” view is revealed as nothing more than giving us a rope long enough to hang ourselves while they are laughing all the way to the bank.
Case in point is the population projections Connaughton presented yesterday regarding northern Prince William County. Elena was very eloquent in her interview with the reporter after the meeting in pointing out that the existing planning for that area would not allow such growth and would thus obviate any concerns about moving such a massive number of people north and south. One might wonder if the new study of land use planning in the Rural Crescent is somehow tied to the overall big picture of this new developer parkway.
Good long-term planning does not mean set in motion now the wheels to build a billion plus dollar road the citizens don’t need but for which the developers lust with their every breath. Good long-term planning means dealing with problems that actually exist, such as improving east-west movement of people and I-66.
Furthermore, when someone is outright lying to me and taking me for a fool, I have no hesitation to say so even if people like Scout are offended.
Scout,
You have always presented yourself and shown to be a huge Sean fan. Not me, not ever. He has always spoken out of two sides of his mouth. Ask Ruth Griggs, she would have lots to say about that subject.
As far as lies lies and more lies. The map Sean first used as his talking point clearly denotes population growth and employment continuing East. The only congestion where this new road is being built is EAST of the road. Gum Spring road is a nightmare because of greedy developers building where road infrastructure doesn’t exist and not putting up the money to alter that dynamic. Route 50 where it IS a bottleneck is no where near Prince William County so how does building a road in a rural area with no traffic help? The portion of the road that would move traffic begins on route 50.
And as far as freight travel, please don’t talk to me like I am idiot or simply uninterested in even handed discussions. It simply defies logic to posit your premise of needing to support cargo at Dulles by offering a direct route to freight traffic from 95 in Dumfries and NOT acknowledge that will increase truck traffic.
The facts and excuse keep changing, and has through out this process. G-d help me, but that Bob Marshall and I are on the same side is a rare celestial event!
I don’t know why, but I’m still consumed with his(Sir Sean) audacity with the “STOP”. Gives whole new meaning to “talk to the hand” motion.
Those are the very people that helped launch his political career.
At least we didn’t have to watch him reflexively bridge his fingers or tap his pencil like in the “Good ol’ days”. Sean hasn’t changed one bit, he is every bit as arrogant and dismissive now as he was then.
Spare me the tongue lashing Scout, I know the relationship between the two of you and this is old ground we probably don’t need to recover as neither of is going to change their opinion of Sir Sean.
@Laf
I wish I were more computer savvy, I would somehow cut out the “stop” bit by Sean and add some background music, you know, that way they remix from news shows!
Talk to the hand reference bring about a whole new visual of Sean and “stop” 😉
Now that would be fun!
Mom,
Yep, nothing has changed. Still treats citizens like we are too stupid too figure out the blatant reversal of his points. My neck is suffering from whiplash, chasing his opposing facts so quickly.
I’m with mom. Only I’ll add, I think he’s more arrogant than ever, after that display yesterday.
Moon, how about a picture of a hand with STOP as a comic strip quote from Sean’s mouth.
“G-d help me, but that Bob Marshall and I are on the same side is a rare celestial event!”~Moon
Ditto to what Moon said!!
About a month ago the WaPo ran an article questioning whether the Bi-county Parkway could revive Dulles Airport. From the article:
Last year, Reagan had a record year with 19.7 million passengers passing through its gates, nearly a 5 percent increase over 2011 levels. At Dulles, the number of passengers moving through the airport decreased almost 3 percent from the previous year to 22.6 million. The amount of freight moving through the airport has also dropped. In the six-year period between 2007 and 2012 the amount of cargo moving through Dulles dropped by 90,652 metric tons — a decrease of 25.2 percent.
“If Dulles wanted to compete with areas like [Memphis and Louisville], they’re going to have a [tough] time,” said Steve Alterman, president of the Cargo Airline Association. “If they want to get more freight, they’ll have to create it, not steal from somewhere else.”
Alterman said a road like the Bi-County Parkway could help.
“If building such a road leads to other business development around the road, that could make a difference,” he said. “The development of Dulles as a cargo airport really depends on the ability to attract businesses that ship things.”
It appears that an increase in freight and the ability to move it is not a problem at present and it appears that MWAA hopes the parkway will be a boon for future development of the Dulles area.
With thousand of acres of undeveloped land and a Metrorail connection that the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority aims to open in 2018, authority officials hope to build new facilities — perhaps offices and another hotel — on airport property to generate additional revenue. On the land around the airport’s runways, MWAA officials say new buildings to house cargo, including units that could store flowers, pharmaceuticals and other perishables, could boost the airport’s bottom line. They point to a soon-to-be built United Airlines maintenance hangar as an example of the airport’s potential to bring in more jobs and tax revenue.
We who live in PWC won’t benefit from this growth as much as Loudoun County will.
The whole article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/would-the-bi-county-parkway-be-a-boost-for-dulles-international-airport/2013/07/13/a1269a30-cfaf-11e2-8845-d970ccb04497_story.html
Err, Elena. Not Moon.
@Scout Well “screaming lies, lies” is surely a good way to express outrage at the lack of “sound data” included in yesterday’s presentation on the proposed Bi-County Porkway. Last week Rte 234 was going to be 6 lanes, yesterday it was back to 4. And make that 4 lanes that won’t see much truck traffic.
It’s also hard to believe a major new highway connecting I-95 to I-66 and the freight terminal at Dulles won’t generate much truck traffic. Especially when Dulles is projecting to triple their daily truck volume. Especially when previous justifications for the Bi-County Porkway claimed just the opposite; last week the highway was needed to improve access to Dulles for trucks.
The justifications for this road are many and contradictory, but some questions are still waiting for an answer. How does the state justify spending $1 billion+ on a project that does not solve existing traffic problems? What rationale is behind a proposal that incentivizes development in outlying areas, also know as sprawl? How could $1 billion+ in transportation funds be better used to incentivize development in east PWC, where redevelopment opportunities abound, and help offset existing traffic problems?
I agree with others who felt the Secretary showed his ego at yesterday’s presentation. For someone presenting a series of surprise “facts,” one would think a respectful approach would have been more appropriate.
You can see how important it is to the governor to ram this through before he leaves when he makes the Secretary of Transportation come to the BOCS. What a slap for Connaughton…
Scout, I don’t mean to pile on, but I have to ask if you’ve followed this issue over time or are just relying on Connaughton’s presentation. Over the past twenty years, every justification for spending two billion dollars for this road falls apart under scrutiny. First, it was to be a by-pass to relieve traffic on the beltway, but Maryland won’t allow it to pass over the Potomac. According to the Airport Authority, Dulles actually has no plans to become a freight hub anytime soon, the road wouldn’t appreciably affect east-west traffic where the volume is, and so forth. There is a single developer who has pushed this road for over twenty years, and I expect he has good connections to the governor, hence the importance of this road now.
It seems to me that any fiscal conservative would be howling at spending taxpayers money to subsidize private business in this manner. Corporate welfare is still welfare.
Sound data? Where? The supposed “data” Scout references changes on a whim. THAT is why citizens are irritated Scout, it isn’t because we simply don’t “understand long term planning.”
We get it, better than you think.
Connaughton also discussed state taxpayer give-aways for the latest developer that is trying to make money on Cherry Hill (Potomac Shores). I’m always amazed at the lack of concern on the part of many fiscal conservatives for corporate welfare like this.
Ok, let’s acknowledge that a lot of people oppose this road project. I have no position on it at this point. I may never have a position on it. I may eventually think it’s a bad idea. I don’t live there. If it were going to be as near me as it is near you, I’d have my doubts and concerns also and would engage in the public process of trying to make sure the right road is built in the right place if a road is built. I lived in Arlington when 66 was being planned and opposed it. I would not oppose it today, nearly 40 years later, but circumstances alter cases and hindsight is a cheap commodity. Now it appears to me that the region would be in seriously worse straits economically and environmentally if that road did not exist.
My point is this: I saw a guy who has worked most of his adult life in dedicated public service, either in the military or the government at the state, local and federal level, laying out the thinking from the Commonwealth’s position. You need to have that input. This was the first time he had put that thought process out in a public meeting. He did it where he did it because, at least in part, he is your neighbor and understands that there are concerns. He is, as Jim Bacon says, definitely a “Type A”. He can be impatient and assertive. He has a big ego. Fair enough. He has accomplished a lot both in private employment and in public service. That it sometimes ruffles feathers and feelings goes with the territory. He abhors rudeness and thinks people ought to behave like grown-ups. That’s his opinion, others may differ.
But the verb “lie” used to have a particular and important meaning – something along the lines of intentionally uttering statements known to be false for the purpose of deceiving those to whom they are addressed. That’s not what’s going on here. What’s happening is that you have a complex, expensive, long time horizon public works project about which there are differing views. The closer you get to it geographically, the more negative the views. He acknowledged that. It’s logical. This project has become great political fodder for local pols. Right out of the Stewart playbook. Find something that can really rile folks up and fan the flames.
“Lie” now has come to mean that the “liar” has a different point of view. That trashes the value of a perfectly good and important word, and throws garbage all over democratic processes. But to describe what happened yesterday as “spewing lies” or “lies, lies and more lies” or variations on that theme means that the issue is that Sean Connaughton, a person who is highly regarded personally among those who have known him over the years (yes, I’m one of them – sorry), as a person who values and displays personal integrity, who sincerely believes he owes his neighbors public service, and who has been in military and civilian situations where personal integrity and accuracy are important, has suddenly become a pathological personality of poor moral character. Once we go there (and my second comment above explains that I see this kind of thing happening generally – also in electoral politics, and I think it a danger to democracy), the Bi County Parkway debate is something very different than a summoning of data and analysis to determine whether this is a good idea and a good recipient of public funds. Those of you who think that it’s wise to fight this out on the plane of should we hate liars (and the label will be used as loosely as possible) will be in good company, but you are easily played and easily manipulated by those who see political advantage in these kinds of issues. You consign yourself to a world of cartoon simplicity when dealing with extraordinarily complicated issues. Those of you who acknowledge that there are a lot of data and concerns that need to be in the mix to make sound decisions have an opportunity to ensure you reach the best possible result in the planning process.
This discussion will go on long after Connaughton is Secretary of Transportation. Don’t fall for the cheap stunt of making it about him as a person. Work through the EIS and public input process. Make your factual arguments known to your representatives at various levels. Leave the venom in its vials on the pols, shelves. If no one uses it, and people understand how destructive it is, it will lose its potency generally, and that would be a good thing for all of us. It may look dandy in this context, depending on which side of the issue you’re on, but it really doesn’t do anyone any good.
Scout,
The idea that CTB was selling this road as a means to support, and I quote, “the 10 billion dollar economic engine of Dulles” and now suddenly it’s all about those poor commuters on 234 is B.S.
VDOT has proposed widening 234 to include a limited access road for traffic to Dulles and now Sean is trying to sell us snake oil that nothing is going to change on 234? No increased truck traffic, no increased traffic at all?! If that is true, than the entire house of cards falls apart Scout, and THAT is why I call it lies.
If the very premise for the bi county parkway, first and foremost by CTB’s own statement, “is to improve cargo to Dulles by having direct access to 95”, than traffic MUST increase in order to support that critical premise…..period!
If traffic doesn’t increase then why build the road because there is no new cargo going to Dulles!
There is no “cartoon simplicity” Scout. The reality is that the lies abound and people are sick of it. Does Sean know that the Rural Crescent is doomed? Does he know the Rural Preservation Study is simply a farce to rezone all the land along the Loudon border in order to make sense of building a road in the middle of nowhere? Is this why he puts up a map with no objective factual references but yet claims 91% of growth is happening west? I can make maps too, and say whatever I want, but that doesn’t make it reality.
Sean was audacious in his presentation and did himself no favors yesterday. His exasperated sighs and yawns were beyond the pale.
If you want to be Sean’s best advocate, be my guest, by in the immortal words of Josie Whales mercenary:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4e8iAofnrw
Scout, I hope Sean has you on retainer or that you have at least opened a pencil file to collect a favor later as you are appearing all over the blogosphere today defending the Dark Lord.
You take this blog to task over the word “lie” yet you posted the following on Bacon’s Rebellion:
I’m not sure that it’s particularly important to the larger discussion, but Connaughton’s comment on “volume” yesterday was not in the context of the number of vehicle trips that it required to serve air-freight cargo, but on the nature of the air-freight cargo itself. He was saying that airfreight cargo physical characteristics (he used two specific examples – flowers and computer chips) were much different than maritime, rail or truck characteristics. They tend to be small and lightweight (low volume). The relevance to the part of the public meeting where the phrase came up was that he was making the point that we are not talking about tractor-trailers draying 40 foot containers, like we would be around Hampton Roads. It may be that this kind of light industrial traffic is every bit as annoying to people near the road as would be large over-the-road semi traffic, but the distinction is valid.
Given that the comment was in response to Supervisor Caddigan’s question about the volume of anticipated truck traffic on the North-South Corridor and not what the volume of the trucks would be using the corridor, I would suggest that your response to Bacon’s post was, well, a mischaracterization.
As to Sean being “a person who values and displays personal integrity” and “abhors rudeness” although that may be the case in your professional and private interactions there are several posting on this blog (including myself) who have a long history of interactions with Sean the “public servant” and will assert that the exact opposite is the persona of Sean the “public servant”. He has raised the use of rude passive aggressive behavior to an art form. That being said, I do agree with you on one thing, Sean does have a big ego (I would suggest enormous is a better description).
http://thederecho.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-ability-to-destroy-planet-yawn-is.html
@Scout Sean made this discussion a cheap stunt from the start by using bully tactics in an attempt to intimidate the National Park Service (successful), politicians (successful with some) and citizens (not successful). From what I’m hearing inside and outside local government, the general view is that Sean overplayed his hand.
I agree the verb “lie” has a specific meaning – uttering statements known to be false for the purpose of deceiving those to whom they are addressed. Some of the “facts” promoted in Sean’s presentation were not only obviously inconsistent with previous written document associated with this road proposal, they were not even very believable and, thus, do fit that definition of “lie.”
Given the presence of obvious disinformation included in Sean’s presentation, he seems to think the average citizen is not very bright. Sean got a lot of practice with this approach when he was Chair of the BOCS, and even then he was actively engaged in protecting the right of way for this road corridor.
I thought his game would have improved, all these years later, but apparently it has not. I was expecting a more polished presentation that focused on skewing the interpretation of previously published facts, not coming up with new ones without identifying documented, credible sources.
Adding fuel to the fire, Sean’s delivery of the presentation conveyed his self-importance and lack of respect for people. His loud and rude “Stop it” directed at citizens who rumbled dissatisfaction with some of his “facts” speaks volumes.
Instead we were supposed to focus on Sean’s view that he’s a mover and shaker who knows what’s best for us all, if only we low-IQ voters would just trust him. Well there are some consistently true things in life and, without doubt, one of them is that when a man says don’t worry just trust me, it’s time to look for the nearest exit.
For those of us on this blog who have a history with this road, and with Sean Connaughton, this is more of the same behavior we’re familiar with. One can completely ignore all the contrary information regarding the road that has led to people using the term “liar” in reference to Sean if they choose, but it’s very easy to check this out- there have been other meetings, with other claims and conclusions put forward to justify this road over the years and one should research that info before concluding that Sean was presenting valid information just based on his word. If you look closely at Sean’s presentation, you’ll find that even much of the information he presented actually contradicted his conclusions.
I understand the point made about lying, but there’s a fine line between lying and simply misrepresenting the situation, and I think a case could be made that Sean at least stepped dangerously close to that line.
Some of us long-time Prince William County residents will recall 1999 when Sean ran for Chair of the Board of Supervisors. At one event, he stood in front of the McCoart Building and declared he would never accept the support of developers. Many of us backed him primarily on that basis. However, the evidence proves his very strained relationship with the truth:
http://www.vpap.org/candidates/profile/home/40854?start_year=1999&end_year=2006&lookup_type=year&filing_period=all
Ronald Reagan said in one of the debates with President Carter that you can either look up your facts, or you can make them up. Sean Connaughton’s divorce from actual facts was again on display this Tuesday.
Scout thinks he can spin as merely differences of opinion when Sean is making up his “facts.” We’re not buying it. We’ve learned our lessons from Mr. “Bushwhack” many times over since 1999.
Quite the fan club here. I’ll rest with two points:
1. In my life, I won’t let anyone defame an honorable man or woman without controverting the defamation. I’ve done that here, But I’ll now leave you folks to screech away. I hope you can find time to put your backs to the real issues at some point. I’ve been through a lot with this guy in a lot of different contexts, seen him do a lot of good publicly and privately, and know his character. He was a popular PWC Chairman, he resisted the low political road and got a lot done for the County. He got a lot done for the U.S. Merchant Marine. He got a lot done for the Navy. He got a lot done for the Constitution in his private law practice. He got a lot done for vessel safety and environmental protection in both the Coast Guard and in private law practice. He has done a lot for VDOT and the Commonwealth, being Secretary of Transportation has to be a thankless job in the best of circumstances. When he came in they were the worst of circumstances. If Bi-county is about his character, he’s playing from a stronger hand than most of us ever will have.
2. These kinds of projects are tough. Just like I-66 through Arlington was tough. I have a lot of empathy for those close to it who are opposed. But it’s a long, complex process. You can play this straight without succumbing to slinging mud. You can have a lot of influence without getting sucked into rabble rousing and mob-baiting by ambitious local pols. I hope some of you will put your energy into that.
By the way, it is probably only a matter of a very short time before one or the other of the gubernatorial candidates makes a campaign pledge that, if elected, he will kill this project (or at least try to buy you off cheap with some mealy-mouthed commitment to some clean slate commission. I’m surprised it hasn’t happened already. I think both guys are opportunistic enough that they would readily nix future state-wide, regional or local economic benefits (assuming that there are some) for your votes in a close race.
Interesting in that “rabble-rousing and mob-baiting” were the exact tactics used by Chairman Sean in the debate regarding Brentswood and particularly its proposed contribution to the I-66/Rt.29/Linton Hall improvements. Like Sean, you can’t have your cake and eat it too.
As to playing things straight, what universe do you live in, nothing in PWC or the GA is played straight, its all about leverage and politics. Taking advantage of “ambitious local pols” is the best way to get the project defunded in the next legislative session and a campaign pledge from a gubernatorial candidate makes it that much easier. Those are the tactics of lobbyists are they not, very effective and something you’re very familiar with. Sometimes pols use us and sometimes we use them. The only difference in this scenario is that the “public” opposition is better organized than the “private” support group and for once doesn’t lack for funding.
Scout,
Sounds like you not only know Sean, but have acquired some of this characteristics 😉
“Screech” away? Nice, very nice. Classic, classic response to try to belittle the facts because the truth can’t prove your point. I don’t see anyone screeching here, I see people sharing factual information that you can’t refute and nor could Sean.
“Honorable”? It’s honorable to push a road through that has no purpose but to “honor” developer pockets.
“Opportunistic”? Really. “Buy us off”? Yep, we are just a bunch of rubes here in PWC. Easy to “Bushwack”. Just ask Sean, he said it after all. So if we actually, by some miracle, get this zombie road defeated, we are morally compromised? I love it, that is classic. There are only a small number of people that actually face personal loss, those by Pageland. The rest of us just actually happen to care about the long to quality of life in PWC for all its residents. Taking time out to deal with this road again, over and over, is incredibly straining on our lives. Let me quote my awesome mother-in-law, a message she left on my face book page.
She has been there for me through, Greater South Market, Immigration, Silver Lake, and now the Bi County Parkway.
I remember well the last conversation I had with Sean. He asked me “What do people think of me” and I replied, “You really want me to tell you, I will be honest.” He replied yes, so I told him. I said “Sean, citizens don’t trust you, they feel like you speak out of both sides of your mouth.”
Yep, that was the last time we ever spoke. Don’t like honesty, don’t ask me what I think.
Don’t like being raked over the coals, don’t lie to me.
Crickets
Scout: “He was a popular PWC Chairman, he resisted the low political road and got a lot done for the County”
He was only “popular” when he was first in office trying to contain growth. Then he has bigger aspirations and realized large campaign donations are easier to come by when you switch sides which he promptly did. After that he was very UN-popular and would have been challenged by primary or convention in the next election so he found a convenient exit plan.
Gosh that sounds familiar. I can think of someone else who was immensely popular running on a slow growth platform who switched sides for campaign donations and has become more and more UN popular.
What is it with egos and politics!
Channel 4 just said that McAuliffe is undecided about the Bi-county parkway. Cuccinelli supports it.
Looks like some folks are going to be in a real quandary at election time. 😈
McAuliffe probably doesn’t know where it is yet.
Not sure I do either since its actual construction is so far off.
But of course, that doesn’t keep me from having an opinion.
VDOT doesn’t even know the details. The area near me has been portrayed as 4 lane, 6 lanes, 4 with toll, 4 with no toll.
No wonder Terry McAuliffe says he is waiting for facts. There are none really.
Love (for Connaughton) may be blind, but it shouldn’t be dumb. If a lie can be defined as intentionally uttering statements known to be false for the purpose of deceiving, our man Connaughton is either a liar or just incredibly bad at his job. In response to M. Nohe’s obviously pre-arranged question, Sean emphatically stated that there are no plans to widen Rt. 234 in the mid-county area. This would be news to the VDOT representatives who have already conducted public meetings this year to lay out plans to 6-lane 234 in this area and add limited-access thru lanes.
As I said, Sean is either a liar or incredibly out of touch with the rest of Virginia’s government. Incompetence or deception- either way not a pretty picture…