For 21 years Ms. Ann Carter has given of herself to the Town of Christiansburg. Had she chosen to run again this past May, she would have easily brought that total up to 25. Ms. Carter will be missed for many reasons, not the least of which is she has long been the single representative of the female population of the Town of Christiansburg to Town Council and the Planning Commission.
Ms. Carter left a message for the citizens and elected officials which contains a bit of a review of the past combined with a fairly in depth view of the future. The wisdom of her words is based upon her 21 years of service, the 66 years of service that she shared with her father and her husband, and of being a long term resident who has seen the Town of Christiansburg grow and change over time.
Do not, however, expect Ms. Carter to go quietly into that ‘good night’. I know that she will continue to be involved in other ways as a valuable resource and leader for our community. Her leadership, honesty, and integrity will still be found in other venues. You might just find that her voice is even stronger from the public sector than it was from the elected realm simply because of the lack of constraints. Time will tell.
Here is Ms. Carter’s statement presented at the August 17, 2010 Town of Christiansburg, Virginia Town Council Meeting.
Perhaps her words will inspire others to become active. There will be appointments to the Planning Commission in the near future and, based upon last night’s meeting, those will be advertised and applications will be accepted. Unfortunately, those meetings are currently held at either 3 or 4 pm on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of each month (if needed). This prohibits most of our working population from being able to participate. Perhaps if those who are interested but unable to work within the time constraints wrote Town Council the time of the meetings could be changed to one such that more citizens would be able to participate than just those who are retired or happen to have jobs where they can take time off during the day.
FOIA Fan
August 19, 2010 at 7:02 am
I respect Ms. Carter and most of her efforts; she is a nice person.
No matter her good thoughts about the latest Town ‘tragedy’, her record is one of often voting for passage of measures that have and will continue to plague Christiansburg. She is part of the ‘gang’ that has led to the virtual demise of Christiansburg livability and special treatment of some Town employees (merit-pay that they are trying to make retroactive). I wish I had only positive things to list.
Lorrie Albert
August 18, 2010 at 6:33 pm
Kudos to Ann Carter. What an uplifting farewell address. She will be missed. I hope the newcomers will heed her advice, especially about listening to the citizens.