Congrats to Mr. Parrish on his recent marriage to a great lady and to Mr. Smith on his appointment to the General District Court! I’m glad for both Gentlemen and their families.
Yes, this does mean that there will be a vacancy on Council and we will have to do an appointment within 45 days of Mr. Smith’s resignation. I don’t know when Mr. Smith will step down, I expect it will be in the near future but will ultimately be dictated by his Court appointment. More details will be available soon on the application process. Number 1 question I get is “I’m interested, what should I do?” It’s a simple answer: lobby. Call all the Council members and lobby for your appointment.
As always, you want to talk smack about others, write ’em a letter or call ’em.
April 23, 2009 at 7:35 pm
j
April 24, 2009 at 12:06 pm
You need a woman on the council to help “interrupt” all of that MALE TESTOSTERONE!!!!!
April 24, 2009 at 2:49 pm
“The old Virginia editor – opinionative, excitable, partisan,
prone to exaggeration, abusive and reckless of expression
was often liable for the defense of his opinions at ten paces”
PISTOLS & POINTED PENS
by Virginius Dabney
(Reminds me of some local blogs – except the ten paces part.)
WSGFN, I don’t think the issue is too much “testosterone”,
but perhaps too little. In a city of close to 38,000 people,
whe had THREE people question some of our choices on the
2007-2008 FY budget at a recent publc hearing. THREE.
More people would show to watch paint dry.
BVBL posted “The Manassas City Council has enjoyed a collegial
and productive working relatiionship between the various
ideological factions…” And he isn’t happy about it.
Foks want turbulence, name calling, chair throwing –
maybe we can get Jerry Springer to coach us – wasn’t
he Mayor of Cinn. before he went on TV?
Get the crowds out “and hit” numbers up on local blogs.
Put on a show.
Grrrrr!
(There – satisfied? Now I’m going to take a nap.)
April 24, 2009 at 4:05 pm
BVBL was correct…maybe frat brothers…maybe that’s what I should have said. There just needs to be a little more MIX of things instead of everyone thinking the same way and agreeing on everything.
I read the other day, Men are waffles and Women are spaghetti. Meaning, men think in little boxes and the boxes never overlap. With women, it all over laps and ties together some how. We need some “out of the box” thinkers.
Nap on this beautiful day?!?!?! Did writing the post take THAT much out of you?
April 24, 2009 at 5:27 pm
Indeed, it has been a beautiful day in many ways.
The day started with the 25th Anniversary City of Manassas
Arbor Day sponsored by the Beautification Committee at the
Jeanie Dean Memorial. It is always a special pleasure to see so
many of our young school children and meet the 2009 Arbor Day
Poster Contest winners. The weather was perfect, three
fine trees were planted, and our community was honored again
as a Tree City USA. Plus a few moments to chat with old friends.
The Mayor, as always, did a wonderful MC job.
A great day in a great community.
April 25, 2009 at 3:03 pm
History shares with us that Ronald Reagan, Winston Churchill,
Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison all enjoyed naps.
(And, yes, I’m certainly not in their league- but it illustrates
short naps after lunch aren’t always a bad thing.)
April 25, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Steve, I would have to agree with you that most across this fair City do not step foward, when the chance is provided, to speak out against something in the budget. As I stated at the Council meeting, the only thing that bothered me was not having summary sheets after the work sessions to know what changes were made – but as I also said, I have been a Comptroller in my prior military life, and taking snippets of information and an educated guess, I can at least see the direction things were going.
There are things about the budget that I had to come to terms with simply because the choice is either sustain operations, or raid the small reserve or raise the taxes. For instance, I said in a previous post here, I am all for the new fire station and vehicle….but in talking with Chief Wood, I learned part of the issue is have to get the Strategic Plan in place first.
Also, I can come to terms with things since I serve by appointment of the Council to two area Boards. Through them, I learned the priority of how the budgets will be built in the City and the County. But most will not step forward preferring to gripe on the sidewalk instead.
As to mixing it up on the Council – I remember fondly Councilwoman Judy Hays and yes, there is part of me that says this opportunity for appointment should be a woman. Just to have a balance representative of our City with so many professional women in it.
Laughing about the whole thing about collogial/frat brother/Jerrry Springer (yeah, he had Cincinnati). And there should be out-of-box thinkers…I served with Jon Way on a local Commission and have heard him express his opinions that gave a totally different aspect on the issue at hand, and often with a slight edge in his voice for emphasis. And Jon, I would say of most of the Council, probably has the most “no” votes (or so it seems) on some issues (like yes, let’s dump BPL – that techology has more than one reason to dump it). He is representative of all of you who ask pointed questions, even if critical in nature. That does not show at the Council meetings though…
I see the atmosphere of the Council to be more on a professional level – all of you do your homework before you walk in the room, have already asked other questions to people if needed, and let’s get the business done!
Of course, coming loaded for bear would be more fun to watch, but watching a group coming prepared to not drag on Council sessions or listen to themselves speak or sit there and make political gestures via their statements (like a certain other local government bunch likes to do) tells me I can at least trust the right decisions are being made after research – albiet there is human fraility – but at least action is being taken.
Oh yeah – and none of you have ever, ever, ever pulled an “11th Hour” stunt to kill a program. Opportunities are always provided to the public or interested parties to show WHY killing a program is a wrong move.
Still, I do have a wish one of our local professional women step forward – and in the style of Judy Hays – represent this demographic of the City.
April 26, 2009 at 6:34 am
Everybody loves Raymond! I agree with all you said but I would like to take the upcoming appointment one step further. Not only is council all male lets not forget they are also all white. The demographic make up in our city is much different then in years past. If I am correct then we have 16 elected positions in the city. 14 white, 2 black and no hispanics. The School Board (who I assume is the “certain other local government bunch” that likes to “listen to themselves speak or sit there and make political gestures via their statements”. Man that gets painful to watch sometimes, and I think they DON’T do their homework) is a much better representation of our community, but still no hispanics.
April 26, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Congratulations to Steve Smith and to Mayor Parrish!
I agree with having more diversity on the council to reflect how the City is now. Also a wider representation of the city’s different neighborhoods would be great, too. Someone under age 35, even better.
Raymond, if I knew more about fire service, I might have spoken up. My gut reaction is, if a fire official tells you to put people and equipment in a certain location for better safety, then you should do it and work out the more permanent solution later. But I don’t have all the facts.
Andy, good to see you and Sarah and the good turnout at the Flory Small Business Center’s seminar at Manassas Park High School on Saturday. I’m grateful to the City of Manassas for their support of the center — what a resource. Economic development brings in the businesses, and the Flory Center helps them grow. It’s a win-win.
April 27, 2009 at 7:22 am
The last time I checked, the City held elections and everyone in the City who is eligible by law has the right to vote in the elections. The last time I checked, anyone who wanted to could run for elected office, as long as they met the legal requirements.
So, it seems in a City that as some has noted, is more “diversified”(whatever that means), has spoken a number of times, and have decided that a group of, gasp, white men should be our leaders.
Is there is a consparicy to only have white men on the Council?
Are the liberal views of a black person different from the liberal views of a white person? Or from a hispanic person?
Are the conservative views of a black person different from the conservative views of a white person? Or from a hispanic person?
How would a women who is liberal vote differently from a man who is liberal? How would a women who is conservative vote from differently from a man who is conservative?
Instead of being so concerned with the racial/sexual make up of the Council, the concern needs to be on the leadership of the Council, and how they are running the City.
April 27, 2009 at 5:28 pm
COM,
Ok then, don’t wory about how they are running the city then. Just vote then shut up until the next election. Keep your yap shut about liberals and folks who only “claim” to be republicans. I would love not to hear from you until next spring when we have an election. You can come out of the closet and run for office as a real republican. (whatever that is)
April 27, 2009 at 8:05 pm
City boy,
I said, we only need to be concerned with how the Council is running the City, not the racial or sexual make up of the City. Of course it does matter what party they belong to.
Sorry, but I will continue to voice my opinion, I guess you are one of those liberals who wants to limit freedom of speech to only libs.
April 27, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Mr. Harrover,
You have a great blog with lots of informed people. But you have one big problem, COM. Ban this negative jerk. All he does is whine and complain. He also bad mouths you to the idiots on bvbl.
April 28, 2009 at 6:46 am
City Boy,
Is your name Obama??? I just love libs and their assult on free speech.
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