Well, the first stop to answering that question should be this website: http://www.dcjs.virginia.gov/cple/cpc/ccpcp.cfm (Where you will find, at the bottom of the page, that the “City” of Christiansburg … hmmm…. is one of 14 such certified jurisdictions within the State of Virginia. The website also notes that the “City of Christiansburg’s application is in progress at this time. The webpage was last reviewed on June 14, 2010.) Read the rest of this entry »
While there were a lot of unusual things occurring at the last Christiansburg Town Council Meeting (open discussion, raising of issues, asking questions, paring the budget), there was one event during the last few minutes that captured my attention because it revolved around my personal pet peeve, FOIA (Freedom of Information Act).
During the last few minutes, an event occurred which has not been seen in Christiansburg Council Chamber in decades (if not in forever). Read the rest of this entry »
Revisiting a re-visitation of the Meals Tax increase is on the agenda on the Tuesday, June 8th, Special Meeting of the Christiansburg Town Council. Rather than go through all the gory (although sickly humorous) details of why this is necessary, read the editorial at the Roanoke Times.com: Editorial: Christiansburg’s budget shenanigans. You can always watch the video at MyVAResources.com’s Videos of Public Meetings page, Part 5 on the 6/1/10 Town Council Meeting is the key element. On another note in the same sad song: Read the rest of this entry »
What would you want to see done differently?
What are the primary issues that you see as needing to be addressed?
These could be important questions. Maybe some of those who will be running for Town Council positions will read and head. Remember we have one more May election before the move to November. That could mean one last big push to create change or, one final push to maintain the status quo for a few more years before the November elections have an impact.
What do you want to see happen in your town? I’ll be adding a few ideas of my own over the next few months. AT the same time, I’ll be looking hard at your suggestions, at the town code, the comprehensive plan, meeting minutes since 2001, audio and video recordings (which by the way are finishing loading and should be all up to date by noon today), and all the emails I’ve received from you.
I think it is a good idea to begin discussing issues now to give a better idea of what citizens identify as issues to those who may be running for election.
If you like a short read….you’re at the wrong place today. You might want to just copy and paste the text to a document file and read it as you have time. But, please do read it! If you have problems reading this here due to the length. just go to http://myvaresources.com/blogs/depotdazed/
A recent Roanoke Times article “Town Council plots out Christiansburg’s future“, pretty much says it all.
In the first line of the article you will find : “Town officials have a vision for what they want Christiansburg to look like in 2020.
First off, a true long-range view typically covers, at a minimum, a 20 year time span, NOT 11 years. Secondly, this makes if very clear that the Town officials are thoroughly convinced that they are the only ones who should make a determination of what Christiansburg should look like. Thus implying that what citizens want or think is totally unnecessary. Next, Mayor Ballengee notes he has “…always felt we needed to have a long-range plan for Christiansburg…” … duh!… that’s what a Comprehensive Plan is about. That’s what a Capital Improvements Program is about! Since we’re not making effective use of either of those two, we should try something else? Typically, this type of Vision Statement is the starting part for writing a New Comprehensive Plan. Maybe that is what the Town has in mind? Not likely. They have out of date charter, out of date codes, a comprehensive plan that is inadequate and did not include sufficient quality citizen input to be a fair representation of what citizens want….why break up the set! Maybe they are trying to change. I personally doubt it. This just looks like more of the typical ‘smoke and mirrors’ distractions of citizens to keep them as ignorant as possible of what is going on. Only time will tell. And, this is one time that I sincerely hope that my expectations are wrong and that a new era of openness and the inclusion of citizens is going to really happen. I will not hold my breath though. Ballengee’s statement “We hope our community will embrace this plan,” pretty much says it all. What plan? Where is it? Where can citizens see it? How can citizens comment on it? You want us to embrace ‘it’, without knowing what ‘it’ is, without hearing what we (all citizens) think about what you have decided is best for us? Well, that’s how it has worked previously. It is the attitude that has lead to massive developments without fair consideration being made of the impact on citizen’s lives (i.e., traffic, overcrowded schools, increased crime, etc.). Wouldn’t it be novel if the Town asked for a change instead of dictated?
Now, let’s get to the meat of the matter. The “Town” (those 7 elected and who knows how many appointed/paid employees who are privy to the deep dark secrets of Christiansburg) has a plan that specifically addresses (but not limited to) these issues (from the above Roanoke Times article):
Looks, like your guess is as good as mine on the other 15 target issues.
The rest of this article will review some of the history that the Town Council and Town Manager have when it comes to these areas.
Now, it is time for me to play a bit:)
Concering #1: Pursuing green initiatives.
What evidence is there to indicate the Town has done anything other than pay lip service in this area. There are a few references to greenspace where developments were discussed but where has the Town Codes done anything but the bare minimum, to meet State Codes?
Sure, a lot of developments have opted for trails rather than sidewalks in subdivisions. And, yes some of those trails do exist, but they don’t GO anywhere. They are a disconnected, dysfunctional mass of bits and pieces that do not do the ‘interconnectedness’ that they were supposed to accomplish. Maybe the Town has been carefully laying out this patchwork quilt project for years without telling anyone what they were doing, but right now, it just looks like a mass of scraps.
In the June 5, 2007 Town Council meeting minutes this reference can be found: “Town Manager Terpenny drew Council’s attention to a flier placed at each of their seats regarding green infrastructure in the New River Valley. The “Green Infrastructure Initiative” was created by the New River Valley Planning District Commission to educate communities in the New River Valley on how to maintain a network of green infrastructure for healthy and sustainable community growth. An information meeting for Christiansburg is scheduled for June 21 at the Montgomery County Government Center and is open to anyone interested in learning more about this topic. (If you want to know more about this Initiative there is a website with information. Perhaps a good place for our public officials to start would be the page that explains what Green Infrastructure is. It will certainly point out that this has NOT been a top priority of the Town of Christiansburg! There are also meeting agendas and minutes available to the public at the site.)
The June 19, 2007 Town Council Meeting had a representative from the NRVPDC come and give a presentation. This presentation included documents related to funding opportunity request.)
At that same June 19, 2007 meeting, the Town Council gave unanimous suupport to a Resolution for Green Infrastructure Grant where the NRVPDC would seek a U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration Grant to develop a Green Infrastructure Plan.
October 2, 2007, Elizabeth Obenshain, representing the New River Land Trust explained how the town of Christiansburg could participate in that groups efforts to preserve land.
March 4, 2008 the ‘Go Green Virginia Initiative‘ was discussed. “Town Council was introduced to the Go Green Virginia initiative started by Governor Kaine and sponsored by the Virginia Municipal League. The initiative is a nationwide effort to conserve energy. Localities must register with VML to participate, and participants will be recognized for success in various areas included in the program. Three information workshops have been scheduled around the State, and the workshop closest to our area will be held in Abingdon on April 22, 2008. Councilman Wade commented that he attended a seminar on the Go Green Virginia initiative at the 2007 VML conference and he learned that localities are not only saving money by participating, but it is also resulting in better treatment of the environment. mayor Ballengee asked Council to spend some time reviewing the information they have received on the initiative and to be prepared to vote on the matter at the next Council meeting. At the March 18, 2008 meeting Council unanimously voted to participate in the Go Green Virginia Initiative sponsored by the Virginia Municipal League. Unfortunately, this late entry into the process meant that Christiansburg was not found in the 2008 Winners list or in the list of VML Certified Green Governments. I wonder if the Town will manage to make the Sept. 30, 2009 deadline for participating in the Challenge for 2009.
On Sept. 2, 2008 Town Council Minutes: “Go Green Virginia Initiative. Mayor Ballengee presented each Councilmember with a copy of the energy Efficiency Plan prepared for review. After reviewing, modifications will be made as necessary. A copy of the Energy Efficiency Plan is attached and made a part of these minutes.” Unfortunately, a copy of that document was not provided to me or on the website. (You need to remember that the Minutes provided at the Town’s website are only the notes of the meetings, the multitude of additional documents that Town Council are provided with are seldom seen by the public eye…this is one such example.)
Concerning #2: Walking trails and multiuse paths
Notice that these are walking trails and multiuse paths, not sidewalks. These have been discussed for years and have not been able to get accomplished. Why? Do to not getting the grants needed to do it, and Town Council’s unwillingness to part with money for something as mundane as trails and paths when they could get an Aquatic Center instead. Other ‘finds’ searching for the word ‘trail’ led to places where the first 5 letters of the word ‘trailer’ were identified.
In 2005, there was a Montgomery County Greenways and Pathways Committee that the Town had representation on. Where have there been any reports back to the Town Council concerning any ideas/issues raised by this group. Is the group even still meeting? All of the references to this committee found on the internet are dated in 2005 and 2006. At least Montgomery County has some information on Greenways, Open Space & Trail Design on their website. maybe the Town can get some ideas from there or the links on that site.
Sept. 16, 2008, Councilman Vanhoozier proposed a pathway along Cambria Street from Sleepy Hollow Road to the Recreation Center. A feasibility study was suggested and Mayor Ballengee directed this matter to the Town Managaer.
The Town Council Meeting Minutes are full of references to the Huckleberry Trail. Most of these were ideas and plans for which there was no intention on the part of the Town to fund. The Town is more than willing to let public donations and groups accomplish the task. They have shown a willingness to let individuals and groups write grants, but the Town has shown no initiative on its own to make these connections to a viable trail system a reality.
Concerning #3: Public Information??????? Community Relations??????
Oh, they so do not want to go there with ME!!!! Simply go through all the Town Council Minutes online at myvaresources.com and see how many times the very word “public” is used for anything other than as “Public Hearing” or “public utilities”.
Public information and community relations do not appear anywhere in the Town Council Meeting Minutes, so this obviously has not be a priority before now. There are a couple of references to the 18 months the Planning Commission worked diligently to develop the comprehensive plan with the public’s input. Well, we already know what that actually meant.
In the Sept. 6, 2005 Minutes it was noted that “Councilwoman Carter commented that recently much attention has been drawn to evacuation plans. She noted that Christiansburg has an evacuation plan, but that the public may not be aware that a plan is in place. Manager Terpenny replied that while Christiansburg does have an emergency operations plan, it is only direction for public officials on how to handle catastrophes and not a specif plan on how to evacuate citizens.”
Concerning #4: Revising the Zoning Ordinance
Over the years, there have been a very few revisions of the overall Zoning Ordinance. In fact, there are significant questions as to whether or not even the State minimum is being met. How effective is any revision of the Zoning Ordinance going to be if they do not do a revision of the Comprehensive Plan? Simply updated the Zoning Ordinance to be up-to-date with minimum State standards may not be what citizens want. Anyone can cut and paste the existing codes from other jurisdictions that are up-to-date and form a Zoning Ordinance. It takes a decent, citizen-based Comprehensive Plan to form the framework around which that Zoning Ordinance is built. If that is lacking, you will simply get ‘cherry picked’ pieces that town officials want in the Ordinance with no inclusion of the overall community!
Concerning #5: Promoting the new Aquatic Center
What’s been done so far?
April 6, 2004 Town Council Minutes: Resolution for the Department of Conservation and Recreation Grant to Fund a Trail Project to the Future Aquatic Center Site was unanimously approved by Town Council.
April 6, 2004 Ad-Hoc Committee for the Future Aquatic Center created.
May 4, 2004 Adoption of a Resolution for Commonwealth Transportation Board Recreational Access Fund for Future Aquatic Center – This request is for an access road grant to construct a roadway from Nnorth Franklin Street to the new aquatic center site. Unanimously approved.
October 19, 2004 “Regarding the Aquatic Center, Town Manager Terpenny requested that the Finance Committee allow fundraising projects to raise additional funds for a fifty-meter competition size pool. Radford University and Virginia Tech are interested in utilizing the pool if it is a fifty-meter pool. This could mean substantial revenue for the Town. The difference in the twenty-five meter pool and fifty-meter pool is approximately 2.5 million dollars. Mayor Linkous commented that plans are to move forward with the construction of a fifty-meter pool while contributions are being sought.
May 1, 2007 Town Council Meeting Minutes: “Town manager Terpenny said he was recently contacted by USA Swimming regarding possible contracted use of the facility. USA Swimming is willing to work around Virginia Tech’s scheduling. Projected opening of the facility is Fall 2008.”
On several occasions it has been pointed out that the Mayor has established a committee to elicit donations from businesses and/or individuals for money for the Aquatic Center. At the most recent town Council meeting, the Mayor admitted that these efforts have not been very successful. So much for the idea of promoting the Aquatic Center. The Town has not been successful at eliciting support from local businesses and citizens. Thankfully, the builder went beyond State borders and was able to find some financing for some of the most expensive embellishments on the Aquatic Center.
The Town has a long history of NOT promoting itself. It has depended upon other groups and governments to do that sort of thing for them, then sat back and complained about the results.
This seems to be a pretty major undertaking on the part of Town officials. They have decided what Christiansburg needs and wants, and they will be deciding how to accomplish those goals. Hopefully, they will also take the time to figure out HOW TO PAY FOR THEM!!!!
The Roanoke Times article speaks of hiring for a new Town position, Public Relations. Well, what about the Planning Staff that was in the budget? Is that position now being dumped although you acknowledged another Planner was necessary due to the work load? And, what about the money in the budget for Recodifying the Code. Neither the position nor the rfp for either of these has been advertised. Are you figuring that people will just forget that you have acknowledged there are problems that need to be dealt with simply because you put the money in the budget?
I got news for ya’ll: TALK IS CHEAP! All the empty rhetoric in the world will not convince voters. Let’s see some action. Quit talking and start doing! Oh, and by the way, doing it in front of the public rather than hiding behind emails, phone calls, and secret meetings would be a pretty nice way to start showing that you are really willing to change.
After all in that same Roanoke Times article:
“The vision for the town’s future states that in 2020, the goal is for Christiansburg to be known as a retail, commerce and tourist destination, a town of WELL-INFORMED AND ENGAGED CITIZENS, a recreational, cultural and entertainment Mecca, a green community, a clean, healthy and safe place to live, a model for effective land use, a sound financial entity and an interconnected community.
The long-range plan also touts the town’s downtown; the new Montgomery County courthouse; the national retailers, restaurants and hotels in the community; the aquatics center; the mix of residential, commercial and recreational land uses; and walking trails, multiuse paths and mass transit.”
Hey! But it’s all okay. Per the article, the Town Manager and his key staff are going over each of the vision items to determine how to accomplish them. Who the heck needs citizens involved? We have our government taking care of us….just like they have for decades now….and people are so…so…very happy with the results of that!
Who would you trust to handle that money for you? Essentially, that is what you are doing when you decide who to vote for on election day!
Elected officials, whether federal, state, county, city, or town, have all that tax money of yours. That money pays for a lot of daily use items like roads, sewers, water lines, etc. However, those elected officials make a lot of decisions that affect your future. Growth causes increased demands on services which result in the need for services to be not only maintained but expanded (or it should be done). How well that money is used is a measure of how well someone is handling your investment. If someone bought stock for you, using your money, and it ended up resulting in no profits and the loss of your initial investment as well, just how happy would you be?
I would be pretty darned angry!
The proper use of your tax money should result in better services, enhanced quality of life, increased property values, a safer environment, and a lot of other things I could list.
Just thought I would mention this idea in time for people to take a look at things like thousands of your dollars spent on software that was never used. (Do you hear the sound of the flushing in the background? that was your tax money being wasted.) Something to think about! How much money do you think you invest in taxes over a 30-40 year time period? Even at a local level with property taxes, sales taxes, meals taxes, cigarette taxes, etc…etc…etc. I’ll bet it adds up to a nice chunk of change! Who do you trust to manage that money?
Have you ever taken time to read the Declaration of Independence? After all, that is the single document, whose signing we celebrate on the 4th of July. I have a feeling that the writing and signing of this document was a very solemn event, without bands or fireworks. Have we turned it into a celebration that has lost some of the significance found within the statements contained in the document itself.
I am sure that there are those who remember from their high school days some of the key phrases like:
“When in the Course of human events…” or “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
However, there are probably far fewer who remember some of the other important phrases held within that document. Specifically, those facts which are listed to give support to the claim that the King of Great Britain established a form of Tyranny over these States.
Now, take some of those facts and try looking at them from the perspective of the local, state, or federal government being in the place of the ‘King’ and I think you may find some similarities.(I’ll paraphrase a few of these here.)
I wonder if these are some of the guidelines that we should be evaluating our government officials on when it comes time to vote? For those seeking reelection, how have they handled the discussion of issues and/or voting on ordinances that affect the public good. (Remember that a zoning ordinance, subdivision ordinance, stormwater ordinance, and ALL other ordinances are the laws that your local officials are enacting.
When you look at ‘refusing to allow Governors to pass Laws’ comment, think about where elected officials go to get information on what they are allowed, by law to do. Do they take the word of someone telling them that the ‘minimum standards’ are what is required by law (which is true), or do they have the foresight to ask, are we allowed to do more than the minimum? Do our citizens deserve more than the minimum?
I think the “required to meet in areas far from their stored Public Records” shows a clear correlation with public meetings and public documents, but in this case concerns the degree of openness that the government is willing to provide people (and what the people are willing to accept). Are the elected officials making sure that the public has the information needed to understand their government and what is happening when decisions are being made?
The last two, I group together and see a relationship with the creation of citizen committees and their ‘failure to thrive’ due to neglect. When was the last time you heard an elected officials request that a citizen committee be formed. When was the last time you heard of such a committee presenting a report to the government agency? Any such reports should be public knowledge. In fact, it should be done at public meetings whenever possible. Citizens have a right to know what information the government is being given that may affect decision-making.
Fortunately, we are in a position where we do not need to breakaway from government in order to change the way government works. We have the ultimate power in the form of voting. It is unfortunate that so few people exercise that right and responsibility. However, I believe that is in the process of changing. More and more younger people are becoming involved and active. They seem to be taking their right to vote quite seriously. We may well see a major shift in the voting population based upon age groups.
There are a lot of people out there who say that these younger voters will lose interest, they will stop coming out to vote. If you are someone running for office, be careful of this stance. Information is much more accessible than ever before. It takes only a few minutes for someone to go to a site like Project Vote Smart and check out the voting records of your current elected officials. Of course, you can find other information there such as biographical information, positions on issues, ratings by interest groups, public statements, and perhaps most importantly, campaign finances.
For a quick preview of what to expect on the November 3, 2009 ballot, check out https://www.voterinfo.sbe.virginia.gov/PublicSite/Public/FT2/PublicElectionDetails.aspx?Ret=1
Yes….the referendum for changing the voting date in Christiansburg from May to November is on the ballot. Now, it is in the hands of the citizens of the Town of Christiansburg.
This is a very short (only 4 questions) survey that asks these questions:
The goal of the survey is to see how well the officials deal with the public. This is a crucial piece of the “open government” pie and tends to give some idea as to how important “open government” is to these officials. Please take a few minutes and fill out this survey.
To participate, click here!
If you have not seen elected officials in action, or are not a citizen, you are free to participate anyway. Simply go to the recorded videos of Town Council meetings at MyVAResources.com, watch a few and form an opinion. IMPRESSIONS are what this is all about. What are the perceptions that people have based upon their observations and interactions with Town officials.
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Yes, I am busy with other projects and have little time to write so I am using this for filler. I hope it will also give me information to use in future blog articles. Other than trying to repair all of the damage to the Depot due to the recent ‘urban flooding’ [no creek water involved], I am trying to put the finishing touches to the report for the National League of Women Voters on the Citizen Initiative for Transparency Grant we were awarded a few months ago.
This is a fairly detailed report of activities over the course of the last couple of years concerning FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] in Christiansburg, VA. The Montgomery County League of Women Voters was 1 of 11 such groups in the nation to be awarded the grants. Although still being modified a bit, the web site that was designed as part of that study is available for use. You may find it has some useful information, and, yep, there is a survey tool there as well as resources for using FOIA. The site is the Citizen Initiative for Transparency and contains information concering the Virginia FOIA and some interesting additional resources. To check it out, go to Citizen Initiative for Transparency. Everyone is invited to participate in the extended study. You will be hearing a great deal more about this study in the near future!
And, some exciting new studies are just around the corner. For information on how to join the League of Women Voters of Montgomery County and work with others in projects such as this, check out the Montgomery County League of Women Voters website.
Staying with my typical style, you can learn more about the League of Women Voters at Wikipedia 
The League of Women Voters was founded by women, but opened its doors to men in 1973. Since that time, both men and women have worked together in many League endeavors. If the engagement, education, and empowerment of citizens is important to you, this is a good group with which to be involved.
From Virginia State Codes:
§ 15.2-2239. Local planning commissions to prepare and submit annually capital improvement programs to governing body or official charged with preparation of budget.
A local planning commission may, and at the direction of the governing body shall, prepare and revise annually a capital improvement program based on the comprehensive plan of the locality for a period not to exceed the ensuing five years. The commission shall submit the program annually to the governing body, or to the chief administrative officer or other official charged with preparation of the budget for the locality, at such time as it or he shall direct. The capital improvement program shall include the commission’s recommendations, and estimates of cost of the facilities, including any road improvement and any transportation improvement the locality chooses to include in its capital improvement plan and as provided for in the comprehensive plan, and the means of financing them, to be undertaken in the ensuing fiscal year and in a period not to exceed the next four years, as the basis of the capital budget for the locality. In the preparation of its capital budget recommendations, the commission shall consult with the chief administrative officer or other executive head of the government of the locality, the heads of departments and interested citizens and organizations and shall hold such public hearings as it deems necessary.
Localities may use value engineering for any capital project. For purposes of this section, “value engineering” has the same meaning as that in § 2.2-1133.
(Code 1950, § 15-966; 1962, c. 407, § 15.1-464; 1975, c. 641; 1976, c. 650; 1996, c. 553; 1997, c. 587; 2006, c. 565.)
Once again, if you head back to the minutes and documents of the past, this is something that has been only partially done (at best) or all but ignored (at worst). Many of the items included in the Town’s alleged Capital Improvement Plan are not even Capital Improvements! Capital Improvements do not include money to non-profit agencies and the Planning Commission has no business offering decisions/suggestions to the Town Council on that. Heck! It’s not a land use issue.
This is one of the reasons why we desperately need to get Planning Commissioners to complete the certification program. They have little knowledge of what their role is and boundaries are crossed on a routine and regular basis.
Since this is where most of of Town Council members come from, it creates an even worse issue when the people they are reporting to have the same lack of training as the people doing the reporting. This lack of knowledge serves to encourage BAD decisions. This tool, if it were provided as it is intended, would help the Town Council make fact-based decisions that are in the benefit of the public while maintaining a high level of accountability to the taxpayers for use of tax funds.
Although the Town Manager has informed me that the Town does a Capital Improvement Plan instead of a Capital Improvement Program, there is no separate distinction with the State Codes. Why even Wikipedia shows the terms are interchangeable. In fact, Wikipedia does a superb job of clarifying the purpose and components that comprise a Capital Improvement Program/Plan. You really should take a few minutes to read this. Then you’ll know more than the Planning Commission and Town Council members about the topic:)
After having raised this issue several times over the last year, I had hoped to see some positive movement on this front. Alas, I am again disappointed. Maybe next year….may the next NEW TOWN COUNCIL!
Come watch the festivities on Monday afternoon, maybe…just maybe, they will prove me wrong. (I keep hoping.)
New River News A Tale of Two Burgs New River Journal Blog Washington Post: The Answer Sheet (Education) Roanoke Times Round Table Blog
http://www.myvaresources.com/blogs/depotdazed new features. WOW!
The primary reason why I started hosting depotdazed on a private site along with this one is that the private site allows me to add a lot of nice features that cannot be available here. I just added a few new ones:)
You will now find RSS feeds offered by the RichmondSunlight which is a site that tracks legislative activity. At http://www.myvaresources.com/blogs/depotdazed, you can now find 4 new features:
One of the first things I noted was as comment: Kathleen SB1065. Following the links on that brought me to where I found that the bill was to prevent Associations from restricting people from saving energy by utilizing wind driven drying devices …..CLOTHESLINES. Del. Nutter voted against the bill, Del. Shuler voted for it.
Home all those Associations feel safe knowing that they will not have to tolerate some neighbor hanging bloomers in their backyards! Oh…my…gawd….this was just too much. I can see I am going to be spending a lot of time looking at what elected officials are doing here.
Posted by admin on November 10, 2009 in VOTE, Your Tax Money
Tags: citizen, comments, delegate, nutter, Senator, shuler, Smith, Virginia, voting