Providence Supervisor

I have some extended comments on Raising Kaine's endorsement of Charlie Hall for Supervisor.  This is for the Providence District seat on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.

Providence is the district that takes in all the neighborhoods that couldn't fit into other districts that have communities of interest.  Dranesville takes in McLean to the north, Mason takes in most of the Falls Church and Annandale areas to the southeast, Braddock takes in the rest of Annandale and neighborhoods south of 236 and Hunter Mill takes in Reston and the town of Vienna to the north.  So what is Providence?  The 115,000 people are split up with about 20,000 in the Vienna neighborhoods north of the town that include Tysons Corner, 20,000 are in the "inside the beltway: neighborhoods of Falls Church off Rt. 50, 25,000 are in the greater Merifield area around the orange line metro, 15,000 are in the neighborhoods with Fairfax addresses just east of Fairfax City, another 20,000 are in the neighborhoods right around the Vienna Metro Station, and another 15,000 are in the Oakton neighborhoods near Rt. 123.  For anyone who knows Fairfax County- these neighborhoods have nothing in common at all.  This is a political gerrymander, created and maintained for political power alone.  Jim Scott's involvement in this gerrymandered political power play that won't allow citizens into a district that has a community of interest is one of the reasons I laugh every time he introduces a "good government" bill in Richmond.  He certainly hasn't done anything to support good government at home.

Politically speaking, this area is almost all Democratic leaning, and the three Supervisors (Jim Scott, Kate Hanley and Gerry Connolly) before Linda Smyth all took advantage of that to launch their political careers.  In the process some would say that the district was neglected, and some of nastiest, worst planned areas of Fairfax County popped up.  Next time you drive through Tysons Corner or Merifield and look around- keep in mind that Scott/Hanley/Connolly have controlled every rezoning decision there since 1971.   Anyone who has seen Merifield or driven in Tysons in rush hour can see that something in this district is terribly wrong, especially compared to all the neighboring districts. 

That having been said, it would take an upset of epic proportions for Charlie Hall to win.  An open primary here will draw out thousands of voters and the lack of a community of interest in this district will leave Hall with some precincts where he has very few issues- and where he will get routed by Smyth.  He could have overcome this, but Charlie got started late and key parts of his organization have been so paranoid of the Connolly machine that they became very insular- a move that will crush any challenger who needs to broaden their organization and appeal.  In addition, Charlie announced at a recent Democratic Committee meeting that he hadn't participated in other campaigns (like Webb last year) because he was too busy.  What an error- especially against Smyth who had a Jane Woods sign in her yard in 1999 when Leslie Byrne challenged Woods.  Linda's biggest weakness is that no one (even her close supporters) believe she is actually a Democrat, everyone knows she ran as a Democrat because she had to in this district.  However by this misstep, Charlie allowed Linda to become the "Good Democrat" in the race.  Unbelievable.

It's hard to tell how regular voters react to Linda's campaign.  Her complaining about a primary is ridiculous since she selected it.  At the debate the other night, Linda came up to me to say hello, which struck me as really strange since she hasn't spoken to me in the three years since she was elected.  It's almost as if Linda is completely oblivious to the inappropriate manner that she interacts with people. 

If I lived in Providence I would probably vote for Charlie.  However, I'm stopping a little short of endorsing Charlie outright.  Why?  I have a policy against tilting at windmills (or in this case, tilting at windbags).  Six months ago, if Charlie had asked me to support him I probably would have.  What deeply concerns me is his poorly planned and late starting campaign could be used as a referendum on the issues he is advocating, and a rout here could be used as an excuse to kill the good ideas that Charlie has.  That's a shame.

The Fairfax Democratic machine (that has brought us many elected officials that do not belong in the public trust) is a truly disgusting group.
I have to live here and I don't want to go further into it, other than to say I am really proud of Raising Kaine for standing up and doing what they believe is right here.  At this time, I'm not ready to  join them in outright endorsing Charlie but I do support all of the issues they are discussing and I hope today is remembered as the first day towards a netroots driven reform of Fairfax County politics.

Comments

[Alice Marshall]

Am I to understand that neither Tom Davis nor Jack Herrity has any responsiblity for Fairfax land use decisions?

[Not Larry Sabato]

Alice, as you know for years and years the Supervisors defer to the district supervisor where any rezoning is. That's why you can literally feel the difference when you cross from Braddock into Providence.

[Alice Marshall]

You can feel the difference between Bristow and Columbia as you cross Rt 236????

Redistricting is done for the benefit of the majority party.

[Hokie Fan]

Ben,

Just curious about your comment that "Linda's biggest weakness is that no one (even her close supporters) believe she is actually a Democrat, everyone knows she ran as a Democrat because she had to in this district."

I am not arguing with you, but why did Gerry handpick her for the seat when there are so many other good D's around? How did she get so for in politics? I am not a long-time resident of the area, but I was shocked when she noted that she joined the FCDC in only 2003.

[Not Larry Sabato]

Alice, Columbia is Mason.

Hokie, It was a complex situation. For one, Gerry had very little time- Hanley decided she was not running for Chairman very late in the process. Gerry's first choice (and my first choice) was Pat Morrison. He decided not to run. Then, when Linda got in, I committed to Becky Cate. Pat met Linda and changed his mind and filed really late. Gerry at that point was committed to Linda, which I can respect that he stuck with his promise to her once she got in. I stuck with Becky. The end result was Smyth 37%, Cate 34%, Morrison 29%.

[Ghost of Fred Silverthorne]

NLS:

A little history on Providence. The magisterial district was initially based on the town of Fairfax (historically known as Providence). That was the community of interest and members of the Town, like the late Judge Jim Keith, served as the Providence Supervisor. When the City went independent in 1964, it created a "hole in the donut" for the rest of the district. Since that time, there has been no geographic center and thus no base community which could offset a partisan endorsement. We'll see what happens on June 12 ...

[charlie hall]

Hi, Ben.

Thanks for your comments, and please understand that my disagreement with some of your key points is offered with respect.

I think the one race that analysts blow time after is the one that occurs in a year of change. It's the one time in politics when money can't buy you love.

The first race that stood out in my mind as a teenager was 1968, when Eugene McCarthy challenged Lyndon Johnson. No one could have predicted that within five months, this unknown senator from Wisconsin would force a sitting president into retirement. As recently as last year, few predicted at the beginning that Jim Webb would unseat George Allen (late start, poor fund-raising, organizational disadvantages), but of course he did.

Likewise, analysts have failed to see some of the great crashes of a well-funded juggernaut who didn't connect with the electorate. Walking neighborhoods with Post reporter Bill Turque the other day, and getting enthusiastic receptions in home after home, I wondered how those same folks would have responded to a door knock from Linda Smyth. I was reminded of David Broder's famous 1972 prediction that Ed Muskie was going nowhere. He'd knocked on doors, talked with voters and realized "it just wasn't there."

Regarding my activities of the last couple of years, what you described in your post was the great disconnect between some in the organized Fairfax County party leadership and people based in the community.

What I described in a session with the Providence District Democratic Committee was an honest truth that many neighborhoods were under siege in the last few years, and many public policies needed challenging and change.

I was involved in a number of groundbreaking efforts to define transit-station development in Fairfax, and to create more athletic field capacity without destroying wooded areas. The same people who wondered about my whereabouts in political circles were generally absent from these activities that will directly affect people's lives in the coming years.

You obviously have no enthusiasm for the "Fairfax Democratic Machine." And guess what, knock on enough doors like David Broder (or me), and you'll see you're not alone. There's been a real fall in faith in this leadership even in the last few years.

It's obvious from Linda Smyth's fliers that she is frantically trying to reinvent herself in her fourth year in office as someone who has fought "irresponsible development." Why? Because her polls show that this platform, which I've fought for three years and to which she's experiencing an election-year conversion, is the mainstream view in Providence now.

Maybe, as you say, my comment in a room of about 15 Democratic leaders was a mistake. I generally don't think honesty is. I think the bigger mistake, though, is what Linda Smyth did: approving more than 6,000 new condo units in Providence-nearly half of all new development in Fairfax--without adequate public infrastructure, and without any reason to believe this is what her voters wanted.

The voters I talk to just don't believe Linda Smyth's description of her record on traffic and development. They know something is wrong, and many view her recent "experience" on the board as a negative, not a positive.

Hold your powder. Don't make a prediction in a year when people are angry and convinced their government is serving them poorly. I'd hate this to be the election that diminishes your outstanding 99.8% accuracy rating.

Best regards,

Charlie

[DemHokie]

Linda is a good democrat and effective in helping people in Providence. She comes to the aid of schools in Providence, promotes environmentally friendly programs, and has for years made promoted development that has earned Fairfax high ratings.

I have always found Linda helpful and responsive when asked for help. Linda is not limited to one issue or one small group in her district.

I support Linda because she represents us all. I do not want a Providence Supervisor focused solely on limiting development and blind to other issues and views.

[anonymous is me]

as per usual, linda smyth is someone who rocked the leslie byrne fairfax county machine, therefore NLS isn't a fan. Not sure who's machine is worse, gerry's or leslie's. Its gonna be fun to watch them duke it out in a year.

[Bob Brink]

>>The first race that stood out in my mind as a teenager was 1968, when Eugene McCarthy challenged Lyndon Johnson. No one could have predicted that within five months, this unknown senator from Wisconsin would force a sitting president into retirement.

Minnesota. The Wisconsin McCarthy was Joe.

[Anonymous Is A Woman]

Ah AIM, do I detect that I'm being mocked :)

Seriously, I have to give kudos to Charlie Hall's respectful and well-reasoned comments on here. I already respected him and my estimation went up immensly after reading his reply to Ben.

"I have to live here and I don't want to go further into it"

Electronic ankle monitors suck, huh?

"I have to live here and I don't want to go further into it"

Electronic ankle monitors suck, huh?

[Doug in Mount Vernon]

With all due respect to Mr. Hall and those concerned about development, I think that most of your obejctions to transit-oriented development are foolish and wrong. It's NIMBY at its most bull-headed.

Development will continue to come in the DC region. We can either redevelop in existing areas with existing infrastructure and ability to leverage more use out of that existing infrastructure (like at the Metro stations in Vienna and Dunn Loring which are both have underutilized potential), or suffer repeating the same failed patterns that are not sustainable and make life harder and more aggravating for the ever-increasing numbers of people living and working in this region.

To an outside observer, it looks as though you'd prefer to have the land consuming irreversible sprawling development from the Chesapeake to the Blue Ridge and anyone who wants to live in the DC area and afford a place of their own would need to sit in 2-3 hours of traffic a day.

That's not constructive. The MetroWest and other area projects will be added value to the increasing number of people who want to live in the DC area and work in the expanding number of jobs here---jobs that will continue to expand by the thousands provided we reorient our growth and development away from the failed patterns that got us into the mess we're now deeply in. Linda Smyth has been a champion of redevelopment that will bring vitality, less congestion than traditional non-transit-oriented development, and more affordable housing options for those who need to live here too.

Good luck to both of you, and may the best ideas win. I hope that will be Linda Smyth.

[charlie hall]

Dear Doug,

I appreciate your comment because it gives me a chance to set the record straight on a big piece of misinformation that has been widely spread in recent years.

I have never opposed transit-oriented development, nor has a group I helped found called FairGrowth. If you look at our extensive writings on the subject, we have always supported the concept. I think you'll also find, if you look at www.charliehall2007.org, you won't find anything that is anti-development, and certainly nothing that promotes the sprawl-development strategy you outlined above.

At MetroWest, we urged less density to allow, among other things, more ground-level greenspace. At MetroWest, at least 10 acres of trees will be cut needlessly to allow maximum density, and much of the open space is up on fifth-floor balconies. Even Manhattan has parks, and it's vital to the ground-level living environment. Fairfax's new high-rise projects generally have minimal greenery on the ground level.

We also had grave concerns about the county's lack of any meaningful enforcement on traffic strategies. It's nice that the developer promises to cut morning rush hour traffic by 50 percent, but it's never been done in a suburb like this, and the county still has no staff to enforce such programs.

Please be aware that as a newspaper reporter covering Arlington County, I had many opportunities to learn about the history and function of the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor. When done right, with extensive community involvement, adequate infrastructure and a full mix of uses, it can create a wonderfully vital environment. Done wrong, as a developer-driven process that ignores community needs in the name of maximum density and profit, it can do real damage to our community.

My hope, as supervisor, is to help Fairfax incorporate the best of the Arlington model, where transit-oriented development was so successfully pioneered. Many of us from FairGrowth encouraged the county to establish a countywide policy defining transit-oriented development, because it had none at the time of MetroWest, and we worked many hours to develop that policy in a committee masterfully led by Planning Commissioner Walter Alcorn.

When the Board of Supervisors approved this policy earlier this year, it included many citizen contributions, including language on community involvement that I jointly wrote with a land-use attorney.

Arlington proved that there is no contradiction between community-based planning and well-crafted urban development.

I'm very proud of the citizen contributions in moving Fairfax toward a better model of doing transit-oriented development.

One of my great disappointments was that a thoughtful, positive dialogue was often detoured by inaccurate labels like "Nimby." Another is that the current Board of Supervisors was so grudging, and at times hostile, in acknowledging any validity to concerns that many citizens treat as self-evident.

As supervisor, I hope to make it easier on citizens to be positive and active contributors to our county's future.

My goal is balanced development, with working roads, schoools and parks. I hope this answer clarifies the concerns that citizens have raised in recent years.

Best regards,

Charlie

[charlie hall]

It's hard to read this and not feel that the blogosphere is a wonderful development for local democracy.

I want to respond to two other comments above.

To DemHokie, who thinks I'm a one-issue candidate, I'd encourage you to visit my web site, www.charliehall2007.org, or to review last week's debate with Linda Smyth, which is available via raisingkaine.com. I did say at the debate that traffic is the biggest issue in Fairfax, and development is closely related to that. But the debate covered a wide range of topics, including schools, the environment, public safety and the budget.

Fairfax is going through many changes right now, and development is just one of them.

As supervisor, one of my core commitments is to promoting full community dialogue on a wide range of key issues, to better tap into the wisdom and values of our Fairfax citizenry, which is one of the best educated in America.

Finally, to Bob Brink, I apologize for relocating Eugene McCarthy to the other McCarthy's state. Sadly, my memories as a 13-year-old watching that campaign closely are not as recent as they used to be. Good catch.

Best regards to all,

Charlie

[Doug in Mount Vernon]

Thanks for the thoughtful response Charlie.

Sounds like Providence has two good candidates.

I just don't see that much evidence that there has been any effort to cut any community or concern out of the process. I think from the sound of it though the new language you've drafted sounds great. I know you've stated otherwise, but I still have trouble seeing how some of the objections I've read from anti-MetroWest people cannot be classified as anything other than classic NIMBY. I'm sure you have valid issues and concerns, but I still believe strongly that projects like MetroWest and more mass transit-served nodes like are the key to improving life for most people in the DC region.

Whatever happens, best of luck to you and I hope you can get some of your more avid supporters to stop smearing a good person because that alone turns off a good number of people to a candidate immediately--one who they may otherwise entertain as an option.

[An Oakton Resident]

Doug in Mount Vernon: with all due respect, if you lived in Providence District and attempted to communicate your concerns to Linda Smyth you would see plenty of efforts to cut the community out of the decision process. Linda does not answer emails or letters to her office addressing community concerns. She holds meetings on land use proposals in which each affected community association is allowed to send only one or two representatives (who are either approved by Linda or actually selected by Linda) and other residents are told that they cannot attend "because her office is too small." NLS has called this one wrong. There is anger and resentment in every neighborhood in Providence District where land use decisions have been made in past four years, regardless of where you stand on TOD.

[Deborah Reyher]

Just wondering if you think we have gotten to the point of that "upset of epic proportions for Charlie Hall to win."

Linda has been her own worse enemy in this campaign, and her own telephone polls apparently show Charlie ahead.

So, ready to comment/opine/endorse?

Regardless, thanks for your coverage!