On Tuesday, August 3, 2010, there will be Planning Commission and Town Council Meetings with a break long enough between the two for you to grab a quick bite to eat. Both agendas can be found on the town’s website at www.christiansburg.org. There are a lot of things going on! Read the rest of this entry »
Using the Auditor of Public Accounts Reports again and focusing on the time frame from fiscal years 1996 thru 2009….
This just in:
Christiansburg Town Council will meet in a special work session Monday, May 18, 2009 at 2 p.m. at Christiansburg Town Hall located at 100 East Main Street, Christiansburg, VA.
Purpose of the meeting will be to review information from Blacksburg Transit on a proposal to extend bus service within the Town of Christiansburg.
Well, it is certainly not at a time that makes it easy for people to attend but the upside is it leaves you plenty of time to call or write your Town Council members, time to write those letters to the editor of the Roanoke Times or the Messenger.
I’ll do my best to record the meeting but storage space and time is becoming cumbersome. I will probably just start putting those parts of the meetings that are most important up online rather than the whole meetings. I will make cd’s available upon request for those who want full copies though. Hope to see you at this meeting.
I have been a bit busy with some research, but I just had to stop and write because this issue has really upset me.
What he said!!! Council stalls plan to add to bus service. In this Roanoke Times article, Lerone Graham hit the proverbial nail on the head. When I left Town Council meeting Tuesday night, I was livid. I could not believe that 2 of the Town Council members and the Mayor were trying to shut down negotiations on extending bus service when they have had weeks to study this issue and have their questions answered. Now, they suddenly want more questions answered, they want more information. Well, it is pretty clear to me that either they haven’t a clue as to how grants and such work, or they are simply postponing until the deadline is close enough that they can then blame it on someone else. These additional questions have been bantered around with citizens but NOT to the people with the answers. A great example of smoke and mirrors government.
What the article does not go into is that these very council members and the mayor were very active participants in planning commission recommendations to the town council concerning the ongoing unplanned growth that is consuming the Town of Christiansburg like a cancer. Items like the Aquatic Center and even a Civic Center were discussed by the Planning Commission and included in the Comprehensive Plan. However, look for areas where traffic concerns, walkways, sidewalks, accessibility by citizens to shopping, healthcare, etc. (i.e., through a bus service), small neighborhood parks suitable for families and neighborhoods to use (many of the ones the Town claims are actually the retention pond areas of developments…isn’t that sweet of them!) and other issues which have a direct impact on daily quality of life.
A tremendous amount of energy has gone into finding ways to take money from the Tourism Development Committee so that Christiansburg can do its own promotions for tourist, yet they can’t take the time to research and investigate what it is that would make the lives of citizens better.
As one planning commissioner recently noted: bringing in businesses increases taxes and therefore is good. Duh! Bringing in businesses without proper planning, assessing the impact on neighborhoods, traffic, law enforcement, fire department, rescue services, roads needing to be built, other infrastructure being over stressed or needing to be expanded, all of those take up more tax money than that business is going to generate.
It is time for elected and appointed officials to get a clue! YOU WORK FOR US!
Kudos to Michael Barber, Brad Stipes, and Henry Showalter. All of them showed that they had taken the time to do some of the homework and they supported having the means to support the bus routes ready should a decision be made to do so. The way that Ernie Wade, Jim VanHoozier, and Mayor Ballengee want to do it means that it would be another year or more before grants could be reapplied for…given that the town didn’t have to pay for those grants, one can only wonder if that opportunity will even exist next year. Other people and agencies are not going to keep doing the town’s work for them.
Chritiansburg doesn’t do grants because they do not have the staff or the expertise. Instead they sit back and wait for someone else to come up with grants …. maybe that’s what “wait and see” is really all about….”let’s wait and see if someone else will do it for us, that way we don’t have to do anything except show up at meetings.”
We need Town Council members to start looking out for citizens, or we need citizens to start looking out for new Town Council members. Wonder which one it will be.
At myvaresources.com there is a link in the menu to the Aquatic Center. On that page you will find copies of the draft agreement as well as the one that was voted upon, and approved by Town Council during their regular meeting April 21, 2009.
I believe that citizens can be proud of what the Town Council has done in efforts to ‘work out the bugs’ in this document. It is clear that citizens come first. You really have to compare the two documents to see how extensive the modifications were. It was nice to see that a firm stance was taken as a means of generating revenue for the town by retaining all rights to concessions, making events/meets be under separate rental agreements, and VT carrying its own liability. All of these are ways in which taxpayer servcies, sources of town revenue, and expenses by the town were carefully weighed in the decision.
Take a look at these two documents and form your own opinion.
For myself, congratulations to Mr. Wade and Mr. VanHoozier for a job well done in the negotiations (now you know who to hold accountable if you don’t like it or something goes wrong:). And, kudos to town council for getting the ball rolling by finalizing the agreement. Now, the real work begins….promoting the facility. IF it is ever finished:)
Well, it’s on my website for one thing. The Tourism Development Council has already done all of that work (see the executive summary, presentation, and full report) and has been using it to work on promoting our area.
The Town of Christiansburg wants to take a good portion of that money back and start from scratch in creating their own tourism program. Well, look at the reality of what such an undertaking requires and what the Town has done thus far (see the tourism study by me report):
My personal opinion would be that rather than start from scratch on another unplanned project (Aquatic Center comes to mind) that the Town leave things alone for now and takes some time to study the situation and begin doing some of the small things that they ARE capable of doing right now. This will allow them time to work out issues, discover problems, and find solutions BEFORE they jump off that diving board (yes, I mean make sure there is water in the pool before you jump). We do not need ‘knee-jerk’ reactions without proper planning and coordinating to serve as another sink-hole for public funds.
A program for promotion of tourism does not develop overnight. It will take several years and a lot of work before the Town would show it is having an effect. Multiple free sources for promoting events or themed areas are already available and the Town has not made use of them. The Town has had a website for more than 10 years that did not help promote tourism. Why on earth would they expect people to believe they are ready to do so now?
The TDC has been working on this, knowing that it would take time to get the ball rolling and yet they already present sufficient facts in their reports to indicate to me that they are making progress.
So, let’s cut off money going to something that is working (albeit slowly – because it takes time to build a reputation). The Town needs to be making competent use of the resources it already has before it starts demanding more. What is there on the NEW and better website to promote tourism? Why hasn’t the town working on getting signage established to help people find things in Christiansburg? Maybe that is what some of that big chunk of money in reserves should be used for. You have to invest in order to obtain a return. When you have a failure to invest the time and energy into a garden you already have to be able to harvest from it, why in the world would you try to get someone else to donate their time and money to till a bigger garden for you.
Hitting businesses with more and more taxes, then turning around, hat in hand, begging for more money just isn’t going to work in today’s economy. It’s time to deal with reality and take active steps rather than flapping lips to make things happen.
On Tuesday, March 24th, 2009 the Finance Committe for the Town of Christiansburg held its first meeting on the new budget. The Town Manager and Assistant Manager had prepared a document (I assume based upon the request of department heads) containing a list of proposed budgetary expenses categorized by department and providing a general description of each expense. (This is precisely the type of information I had expected to find on the “Pay the Bills” sheets presented to the Town Council each month.
VIDEO OF FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING
It was noted that Mr. Terpenny (Town Manager) and Mr. Helms (Assn’t Town Manger) had worked to compile a list of only the most necessary of items and that had been trimmed down even further, as noted by several items being lined out. You can see this document on my website. KEEP IN MIND THIS IS A WORKING DOCUMENT, THIS IS NOT THE FINAL OR PROPOSED BUDGET!!!
Each and every item was discussed with Council Members Ann Carter and Michael Barber asking questions. The Mayor was also at the table and gave some input. Mr. Helms brought with him a large packet of files and referred to them in answering the questions that warranted more details. Questions focused on the necessity of expenses and I find the answers provided to be complete and phrased in terms that were easy to understand.
Although only a first meeting, the materials that I saw did not contain much fat. A position for an IT Technician is well warranted if you look through the Pay the Bills Summary report and find the companies that have been providing IT support to the town. It is likely that having a person in that position will likely save the Town money in the first year!
The position for another Planner is necessary as Mr. Terpenny (Town Manager) reported he would be turning over all duties as Zoning, Subdivision , and Sign Ordinance Administrators are being turned over to the current Director of Planning, Randy Wingfield. It was noted by Mr. Helms that the Town of Christiansburg’s Planning Department has from 1/5 to 1/2 the number of staff that similar sized jurisdictions have. (Perhaps this will mean that Staff Analysis Reports are on the horizon? That would be a tremendous asset to the Planning Commission and the Town Council for future land use decisions.)
I could go on at some length concerning my observations and opinions about this meeting. Perhaps the best thing would be if you look and form your own opinions. I think you will be impressed with some of the tough issues that were addressed and how elected and appointed officials dealt with them.
Having been one of the few citizens to attend the one meeting on the budget last year, I must say I think this meeting was great! There was a concentrated effort to make sure that needs were met and systems were adequately maintained to allow for future growth, while striving diligently to make sure that taxes did not need to be increased.
However, I’m not an expert in finance by any means. In fact, I only have that one previous meeting with which to compare anything. The Town Charter and Code specify that department heads report to Town Manager and the Town Manager then presents a budget to the Town Council. So, a lot of the detailed work, the sorting and sifting out of ‘earmarks’ and ‘pork barrel projects’ was done by the Town Manager and Assn’t. Town Manager before the Committee ever saw the draft budget paper. I am sure there are people out there who think that some of the stuff that was cut out during that process should still be in there, but that’s the way things work. Request for items have to be prioritized. That process is all the more important in the current economic climate when it will be MUCH harder to project revenues with less revenue coming in from sales, lodging, and meals.
I feel that I learned a lot today. I hope you get a chance to watch the video and give me your opinions.
Economic times are hard. There is no arguing that. Historically, it is during those times that citizens have pulled together to help each other make ends meet. Often, this was done simply by sharing ideas for saving money. They usually occurred when two neighbors stood at a picket fence and swapped news, views, and recipes.
If you’re taking the time to read this blog, then add a few extra minutes to help me create a ‘picket fence’ kind of atmosphere for a bit. Stop and think: Do you have a favorite money saving recipe? Do you have a tip to offer to help people save money at the store, on gas, utilities, clothing or anything else. (Switching to roll your own cigarettes doesn’t count….nor does how to brew your own beer. I gotta draw the line somewhere:)
Also, if you know of any of our local businesses that are doing special things to help people out, let others here about them.
Are there people in neighborhoods who have started up ‘community gardens’ where people share costs, work, and Benefits?
Use this blog as your picket fence and share your ideas with ‘neighbors’. Personally, I’m looking for a good tomato soup recipe (but I don’t need it quite yet..haven’t got the plants in the ground yet). Don’t underestimate the value of your ideas. People from a lot of different income brackets, age groups, cultures, etc. read these blogs. You don’t have to use your name but feel free to do so. Let this be a community effort…who knows maybe it will turn into a full blown blog or website of its own:)
By Carol Lindstrom On March 22 at 4:33 PM
MansfieldNewsJournal.com has a March 13,2009 article entitled: Economy, domestic violence linked.
CollegeNews.com has a March 24, 2009 article entitled: Businesses struggling with deteriorating economy, increased violence.
Kdka.com has posted a March 31, 2009 article entitled: Job Losses, Bad Economy Lead Many To Violence.
Recent violence in our own area, and as seen on cable news, certainly seems to support assertions that as the economy goes down, violence goes up. I’m sure that many of you who’ve been around long enough to see dips in the economy before, will remember noting other such patterns through our history.
We’re all under a lot of stress. It doesn’t matter if you own the business or shop there. It doesn’t matter if your young or old, male or female, black, white, brown, yellow, red, etc., the current economic stress holds the potential for creating feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, desperation, or generating loss of self-esteem and/or self-worth.
There is another side to this issue that is seldom addressed: The cost of violence. We can all usually grasp the concept of sympathy for the victim and perhaps even the perpetrator in these situations. However, the short and long term costs in medical care, legal expenses, intervention by law enforcement and social services seldom comes to mind. (Check out an online paper: The Economic Dimensions of Interpersonal Violence for an overview of the financial impact of violence.
Any act of violence is like dropping a pebble in a pond. It will generate waves that stretch far beyond the impact point. It drains financial and human resources thus creating further economic problems.
This may seem to create a vicious circle, and if each of us does nothing, it will.
So the important question becomes what can we do? Other than the relatively obvious things like being patient with law enforcement officers and rescue personnel (after all, they are getting hit with all of EVERYBODY’s extra stress).
Try not to take your frustration out on others. If you are frustrated, take a walk, go work out, dig a hole and fill it back up (just make sure you do it on your own property:) Include other people (family, friends, or neighbors in those activities as they might benefit from a little stress reduction as well).
Few people realize just how much affect they can have on someone else by how they speak to them. Don’t take your frustration out on the clerk in the store, the waitress/waiter in the restaurant, a family member, a friend, or a neighbor.
Sometimes a simple act of kindness can make positive changes you will not even be aware of. An offer to help a neighbor carry trash cans to the curb can be just the thing to help someone remember that they are important, that someone cares. It may take a bit more effort to be nice to people when you’re under stress yourself, but it doesn’t cost anything and you will both gain from the act. Just as it takes only one act to push someone over the edge, it only takes one act to pull someone back from that same edge.
Keep your eyes open for anyone behaving in an unusual manner. If you have serious concerns that someone’s behavior may be a precursor to violence (and suicide is an act of violence), don’t turn a blind-eye. Contact local law enforcement. It is better to be safe than to be sorry.
Lastly, encourage local officials to make sure that law enforcement, rescue services, and support of those support agencies continues to be a top priority. A little bit of intervention in early stages could prevent violence from becoming a reality.
By Carol Lindstrom On April 5 at 10:14 PM
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