I kept waiting for someone to bring up a couple of issues about this, but they never did during the Joint Public Hearing held on January 6, 2010. The discussion was concerning the application of fees for those people who wish to pay their town bills using a credit card. Read the rest of this entry »
November 3, 2009 is election day in Virginia. Voters will be casting votes for:
That date is not so very far away. Now is the time to either start or continue looking at the choices available to you.
The League of Women Voters of Montgomery County will be hosting several Candidate Forums and you can find information on when those forums will occur at the LWV of Montgomery County, VA’s website at http:lwvmcva.org. The Leage of Women Voters of Virginia will co-host with the AARP of Virginia a statewide televised Gubernatorial Debate also and that information is on the site as well.
You will also find other useful links such as the VOTER INFORMATION link which gives you links to such information as:
Every one of the web pages on that website has a link to VOTE411.org where you can find a ton of information along these lines and MORE!
Be sure to check bookmark the lwvmcva.org website because there will be ongoing updates to the candidate forums page including information such as (for forums sponsored by the LWV of Montgomery County, VA):
Each time you vote you are investing in your future and the future of your children and grandchildren because the decisions made by elected officials today will have long term repercussions. Each time you vote, whether in National, State, or Local elections there WILL be an impact on you. I think it is worth it to take some time to learn about the candidates and cast my vote for the best person for the job! How about you? Do you have a little bit of time to invest in your future?
http://myvaresources.com/Town%20of%20Cburg/NEWAudioVideo.htm
This is a 3 part video of the 6/1/09 Planning Commission Meeting.
These are the people that the Christiansburg Town Council relies upon for information when it comes to landuse planning decisions. It won’t take long to figure out that New Urbanism is not something that is acknowledged.
Stormwater and flooding issues were brought to the discussion by a couple of the commissioners with one making it clear that the developer, not the town would be responsible for making sure that stormwater was taken care of financially. Fortunately, the clarification of this also puts the onus of responsibility on the Town for making sure that the system designed is adequate. This, in turn means that those certified individuals within the Town will follow up with all the necessary inspections and documenting those as required by law. I have no concerns that this particular individual will do the right thing. He has a history of doing things properly. But, isn’t it comforting to know that the Town will have the legal oversight necessary to protect citizens? It is absolutely amazing how much responsibility the Town has in enforcing things are done properly.
The never-ending saga of Sage Lane was discussed and the Planning Commission determined it was the right use of the land. The final decision will be up to Town Council Tuesday at 7:30 pm at Town Hall.
There is an extra bonus in Part 3 where one Commissioner noted that the citizen’s website where public documents are posted, isn’t worth going to because it is so negative about Town Council and Planning Commission. You know, I never would have thought that the Town Code, Town Charter, Town Council Agendas, Town Council Minutes, Planning Commission Agenda, Planning Commission Minutes (years of those are still missing….ironically at about the time decisions were being made about the Aquatic Center), Comprehensive Plan, Parks and Recreations Plans, Budgets, and other such information would be seen as casting a negative light on Planning Commission or Town Council. That darned FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) just keeps getting in some people’s way. Oh well! Ya just can’t please everybody.
Get yourself some popcorn and a soda, kick back and enjoy the show.
I want to share another site with you that provides some good information on Christiansburg. City-Data.com has been able to provide some information that has been difficult to obtain from the town, such as # of employees. Granted, the information is not all the most current (number of town employees is from March of 2002). Here are some samples of what you can find:
Near the top is a chart showing home sale from 2004 through 2008 by quarter. The step decline in home sales during this period is clear.
Just below that is this section
For population 25 years and over in Christiansburg
It appears that a lot of people live in Christiansburg but do not work here. All the more reason for the Town to take a close look at transit options.
The next section shows how much higher Christiansburg is than the state average for the number of building permits per 10,000 in population. It also shows how much lower these buildings are in cost compared to the state data.
The concept of a standard curve is totally blown away when you look at the next chart set where household income and home values are addressed.
The next section shows the most common types of industries (two separate charts for males and females). A quick glance causes me to think that without construction and education jobs this area would collapse quickly. Since both of those are affected by the current economy, once can anticipate that the money needed to run government is going to have to come from somewhere. (Also, retail sales, meals, and lodging are all likely to be hurt hard and all those user fees the town has been relying on are dying up.)
One thing I’ll point out is that the chart for crimes has two lines for each entry. The second line is simply a calculation of what the actual crime rate (number in first line) is projected to be in a population of 100,000 people (which Christiansburg is a long way from). That provides you with an estimated number to be able to compare to larger population areas. A look at the actual numbers for the years provided made me go to the citizen’s website to look at current numbers for this year…scary. Let’s hope the current trends don’t continue. By clicking on one line of the crime data, say ‘thefts’, the chart directly below will show how Christiansburg compares to U.S. averages. It is also noted that the number of police officers here is lower than the U.S. average.
3/4 of the way down this page is the list of town employees. It is noted that in 2002:
No need for me to tell you what I see. I’m hoping that you will take a look and tell me what YOU see. Each of us will have different approaches to understanding this information and what it means to the town as a whole. I look forward to your comments.
By Carol Lindstrom On February 9 at 3:07 PM
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