I would like to briefly address Mr. Snook’s concerns-

Living wage- I am well aware that the city does not have the ability to pass a living wage ordinance. I have engaged this issue on a state and local level for quite some time and I am pretty familiar with most of the ins and outs. This is why you do not see “pass a living wage ordinance” in my campaign material.

What I am interested in doing is making sure that all people can find work in Charlottesville that pays a living wage. One way to ensure this is directly through the city, which does pay a living wage. With the new section 3 coordinator and the ex-offender jobs program we have a good start to making sure that all city contracts use a local workforce that pays a living wage as well. I would very much like to see a jobs center opened in Charlottesville in the coming year. I know for certain that there are current sitting councilors who would support this idea.

Please read a more detailed approach to employment at: http://votebrandoncollins.wordpress.com/2011/05/27/guaranteed-employment-in-charlottesville/

I know that reaching full on guaranteed jobs by statute would be difficult, but the different steps involved are not. Further, if we can change the balance of jobs to employers then wages will start to increase.

Further, I have taken great steps to ensure that my platform planks are reasonable and possible given the restrictions of the Dillon Rule.

I hope you will reconsider giving your support to my candidacy. At this point any voter interested in having a progressive majority on council will want to have at least one independent elected.

Just for further clarification, I never referred to the pledge as a loyalty oath; those are your words, but I’ve certainly heard others use them before when disparaging the pledge.

Having said that, I do interpret point D (“Does not intend to support any candidate who is opposed to a Democratic nominee in the next ensuing election.”) as meaning that we will not vote for non-Democratic party nominees in the general election. If that is not the expectation, I would love to hear what is.

Of the values that you listed, I would say that all the Democratic candidates I supported had those in common too.

You’re a lawyer, I am not, so I cannot possibly argue with you the legal merits of a living wage ordinance. I can say that I wish the city would use its partnership with the UVA to do everything it could to encourage the University to offer a living wage. UVA is the single largest employer in town, and offering a living wage to all of its employees benefits everyone in the community.

And along similar lines, I think that there is much more that the city can do to work with the county in advocating and making possible better sustainable uses of our shared resources. This may not be the way you intended it, but it sounds like you are abdicating that responsibility to the county, something I strongly reject.

Of our three Democratic nominees, I wholly support only one. I intend to look long at hard at all the council candidates, and vote for those whom I think represent the best values for our city, party status notwithstanding. The point of my post is to encourage all Charlottesville citizens to do the same. That, I hope, is something upon which we can all agree.

You are obviously entitled to support whoever you want — that is not the point of my comment. The point is that you misunderstand what you signed to participate. What you signed was a statement of your present intent. As required by the State Party Plan, you were required to sign the following declaration:

All participants in the Caucus must sign a Declaration Form, attesting that the participant:

A. Is a Democrat;
B. Is a registered voter in the City of Charlottesville;
C. Believes in the principles of the Democratic Party; and
D. Does not intend to support any candidate who is opposed to a Democratic nominee in the next ensuing election.

It is not, and never has been, a loyalty oath. The Democratic Party is the party of the big tent, and we have many people who consider themselves Democrats who don’t all agree on everything. The people that I voted for on Saturday don’t all agree on everything, and the people who won don’t all agree on everything. But what the three winners had in common were:

1. Intelligence;
2. Lots of experience with local government;
3. A strong belief in the merits of good planning; and
4. A commitment to civility in governance.

Those are some pretty important values.

I don’t disagree with most of what Brandon Collins has to say, though I note that there is precious little of his “platform”, particularly as expressed by Brenda, that is within the control of City Council. Council has no power to “create jobs that pay a living wage,” for example. If we passed a living wage ordinance, it would be declared unconstitutional in a heartbeat.

And when it comes right down to it, “smart growth” is almost entirely in the control of Albemarle County, not the City of Charlottesville. The City’s use of resources is less than the County’s, and that trend will continue. So no matter how much the City wants to conserve, and no matter how “smart” and “sustainable” we want to be, the County’s water use will ultimately drive the water decision.

My point is that the virtues of Satyendra, Kathy and Dede, both as individuals and as a ticket, are virtues that we will value and rely on in coming years.

I love this photo. I’m the director of an MFA program in creative writing at the University of Central Oklahoma and we’re looking for a cool photo of a wind farm for an advertisement and brochure. Any chance we might have your permission to use this one? Please let me know if it’s a possibility.

Thanks!
Connie Squires

I thought the actual in arena security was a joke and certainly the worst out of the many places i’ve seen the band. Much like you, we were told by police they could do nothing about the situation, and the usher for our section could not have been a day under 70 years old and didn’t seem particularly interested in checking tickets or enforcing seat assignments.

As someone who has formed emotional attachments with this band and their music i would apologize for your bad experience and encourage you to give them another chance; the band are incredibly talented and put on quite a show. as a realist though i would say that at least half the DMB concerts i’ve seen have been similar to the experience you described earlier. sad but true.