Despite a marathon sideshow of misinformation being paraded before the Manassas City Council, in the end, common sense ruled the day. To make a very long story short, after enough discussion to sink a battle ship, Councilman Mark Wolfe offered up a motion that protected the process of good governance. It was seconded by Councilman Harrover and supported by Councilmen Way and Randolph. Clinics that offer abortion services will not have to jump through special hoops nor will those types of clinics be pushed ahead of others.
From insidenova.com:
Despite more than three hours of emotional testimony from about 85 speakers, two-thirds advocating against abortion, the Manassas City Council decided Monday against requiring special approval for new medical facilities – a zoning change some said could, in effect, limit access to abortion services.
Instead, the council voted 4-2 to proceed with a comprehensive review of the city’s zoning ordinance, which has not been substantially updated since the 1940s.
The decision will put to rest, for now, the question of whether Manassas would follow Fairfax city’s controversial decision to single out medical facilities with zoning rules that require a “special use permit” regardless of where they locate within the city.
Special use permits require a public hearing and separate approval by city or county officials, a process that can open applicants to public opposition. Abortion-rights advocates consider the process politically motivated and a means of “zoning out” women’s health clinics.
Good for the City for resisting the temptation to use their zoning laws to enforce social issues. Abortion is a legal medical procedure and any attempt to deny access to facilities now or in the future reeks of social engineering. A loud minority should not be allowed to over-rule the status quo. This City is not Elmore City, for heavens sake. Why is it all the self righteous come pouring out to manipulate the government into doing their bidding and trying to control everyone else? I thought that conservatives wanted less government interference! Not these people. They want the City Council to control everything anyone does.
I don’t usually watch the business of the City. I live in the county and its all I can do to keep tabs on my own set of rascals. (I say that affectionately) Because of the exposure and national attention to this meeting, I decided to make an exception. I have never heard so much misinformation and distortions in my entire life. I get the concept of thinking abortion is wrong. What I don’t get is thinking that somehow lying and deliberately spreading lies is somehow justified. Shame on those people who deliberately spouted lies. shame on those who are so ill-informed that they don’t know any better. Shame on those who prey on women at a time of crisis. Shame on those who shove rather than share their religion.
This is probably not the last time this issue will surface Manassas, however, I think the Mayor will handle it differently in the future. The circus we saw last night will not happen again.
How would he handle it differently? You can’t prevent 100 people from showing up…
The only thing I would do differently is not encourage those who weren’t on the list to come up and speak. The more “extras” that came up to the podium, the less rational the discussion became. Some speech wasn’t even connected the closer to the end things go.
Mayor Parrish is the consummate southern gentleman though. I know that is just his way. I would adopt him if I could.
Agree with AndyH…people will show up if it is a political topic. And with those advocates pushing the politics, well, yes there is a twist on information to support their point. Nature of the game.
That said, as for the spectre of a clinic moving in, I say to folks “do your homework”. The State aligned their application process for many types of Medical Facilities to the Certificate of Public Need (COPN) Process. This requires application to the Regional Planning District, and then from there to the State. And within that alignment, the State did the good thing of placing specific classifications and put in the references Local Government can use to align their Code. Fairfax process also occured while the State was doing all this. Personally, I think they should have waited as the paperwork of the COPN is one SOB to deal with 🙂
Monday night’s original agenda called for a vote on Mr. Aveni’s resolution before Citizens Time. Mayor Parrish changed the vote to after CT to allow everyone to have their say. However, when this issue comes up again(it will come up again) does the mayor wish to invite the same media circus back to town for a repeat of the same thing that was decided Monday night. As mayor, he sets the agenda. What could he do? He could schedule the vote before CT. He could schedule a vote for the Council meeting after the budget is adopted. He could schedule the vote for after the elections. I guess someone could propose a motion to not consider it at all. In short, Hal has been very nice and accommodating to everyone, he doesn’t necessarily have to be in the future.
Ivan:
The Mayor polled the council on when that item should be heard. Most agreed it should be after citizens time. Ultimately he agreed.
Here’s what I think: The people deserve to be heard. Is it hard to sit through 3 hours of that? Sure, but that’s our job. I think it would be wrong to cut them out. Voting before CT is not going to stop them from speaking in any event.
Andy:
Point taken. My focus on this issue is that it may come back time and time again to the point where it interfears with the work of the City government. Obviously people deserve to be heard, however, many are on this subject at each council meeting. At some point, we need to put this behind us and move on but some are not willing to do so. Thank you for your response.
It’s funny how many ways people would like to see opposing views silenced. The “work” of the City government is serving the people of the City of Manassas. Sometimes that means hearing them out. I’m glad Andy isn’t in agreement that certain citizens should just shut up so he can do his job. That’s usually not an attitude that wins re-election.
Emma, some of these people (both sides) appear week after week. Same topic. Why do people keep badgering the council over things that they have no control over?
My concern was that only people who bothered to sign up should be allowed to speak. Most of those who appeared at the end as add ons basically babbled and didn’t even make sense. Sorry if that sounds cruel but why can’t they simply follow simple rules? One of those people had also already spoken.
It was like dealing with a drunk….”And another thing…..”
As a resident of Manassas, I believe it is imperative that council have the opportunity to hear the concerns of Manassas citizens and property owners. I understand some political reasons for allowing council to listen to the concerns of non residents, but it doesn’t make waiting for my turn any shorter. Perhaps selfishly, I think non residents should have a later slot, or only be allowed to submit their concerns in writing. Of course, we could also just start calling it ‘anyone’s time’ to speak.
Polite southern gentleman or not, does the mayor want all future council candidates/members to possess this qualification: Must be able and willing to endure hours of abortion arguments every two weeks? Will not abortion discussions without end just ensure that we attract only extremists on both sides of the issue to both address council and seek election to it? That is not a healthy formula, and it will leave us poorer in many respects. One trick ponies don’t govern, they grandstand and create gridlock.
One day, ‘our’ clinic will close, for lack of economic viability or some other reason. When that day comes, will the two sides still be on speaking terms? Together, lets put our shoulders to the wheel resolving the practical concerns of our city, and stop pushing in opposite directions on an issue that local government in VA has no legal business mixing in.
Peace
Ed, I am going to agree with you about non residents. I don’t have a problem with them speaking but I think they should have to wait until non-resident time which should be AFTER residents’ time. That’s just a common courtesy.
I am not sure I would ever, in a million years, have anything in common with some of the people I heard speaking the other night. I just don’t want to regulate what other people do to that degree. People of that belief system generally have a lot of other things they wouldn’t agree with me about. Maybe if it was over a traffic light there might be common ground. Otherwise, I am going to say no, two sides probably won’t be on speaking terms.
Having said that, I have fiends who I would describe as pro-life. They are entitled to their beliefs and I am entitled to mine. It’s the regulations and the politics that get me going, not people’s personal beliefs. For that matter, most people really don’t know what MY personal beliefs are. My political beliefs are very different than my personal beliefs.
It is interesting, for Citizens Time, if you sign up to speak to the BOCS and are not a County Resident, the form says you will be called after all the residents. In both the Cities, it is a “first come, first served” based on when you signed up, or the “last calls” by the Mayor.
Ed makes a great point about the clinic – it may close, or it may move elsewhere. There is a trend to integrate these facilities on hospital campuses as part of the whole OB/GYN facility setup. And as more Health Systems move to having internal Hospitalists Groups, the trend to integrate services will probaby continue.
@Moon-howler Not everyone has the smarts or the wherewithal to sign up. I think a large percentage of the Moonhowlings community is well-educated and articulate, but there are people in the general community who can’t express themselves well at all. They should still have a voice even if it makes the rest of us cringe.
As far as nonresidents, I completely agree that their turn should come much later in the proceedings, and only after residents have spoken. And only after my street has finally been paved for the first time since my house was built in 1989.
Emma, thanks for the reminder. I was certainly in a business enough years that I shouldn’t need to be reminded..yet I did.
While it makes us cringe, they are as entitled to their voice as we are to ours.
That is how I felt about all those people who spoke at the 12 hour marathon bocs meeting back in October of 2007. They weren’t all the most articulate but they sure had just as much right to express themselves or speak through their children as the next guy.