Interesting discussion in the topic thread just below this one. Someone has made the point that since the Council seems to get along in public that things don’t happen or we all just go along to get along and not upset the apple cart.
I would charactarize the Council’s relationships as “Professional”. No, we don’t have knock-down dragouts in front of the TV cameras. Strictly speaking for myself, that really isn’t very productive and here’s why: Almost every item that makes it onto a Council agenda goes through at least one committee meeting. The committee meetings are typically where the disagreements are identified and hashed out. When something makes it onto a Council agenda, it should be ready for action. Things that are half-baked get passed by pretty quickly – the questions mount and it rapidly becomes clear that the item isn’t soup and it gets tabled.
Also, it would be a mistake to infer that the Council members don’t disagree on things. We do and, from time to time, it can get heated. However, in the end we all start and end our arguments with what’s best for the Citzens in mind. This might seem like baloney but it’s the truth. Everyone on the Council holds this as a very important principle.
Other Council members may feel differently about all of this.
April 29, 2009 at 8:41 am
Have you spoken to anyone on Battle street to see how business is doing?
April 29, 2009 at 9:18 am
The US Supreme Court Justices before each session do a simple ritual – they shake each others hands. Chief Justice Fuller started it way back in the 1880s to show the harmony in aim, if not in view as they heard each case.
In my view, Andy, that is how I see our Council – you all may not agree, but the aim is try to do what is good for the City, even if in the immediate some don’t see it as doing anything.
As for Battle Street, I just go by the belief that if the OTBA backed it, the business owners realized that for a time, things would be rough on business. I am interested in seeing if Manassas Next plan works out well.
April 29, 2009 at 11:14 am
WSGFW, like many projects in the past, the Battle Street Plan
certainly has some detractors, but perhaps we should wait
a year before we declare a final judgement. The nay sayers
for the Harris Pavilion (including Andy in his pre-council
columnist days), Candy Factory, Railroad Walk, Parking Garage,
Train Station Restoration, etc. more often than not change
their minds when they experience the positive impact of the
finished project.
Mr. Beverage, thank you for your kind observations.
The demeanor and the culture of the council owes much
to the tone set by those who served before us
and the council’s shared love of Manassas and respect for its
citizens. Hopefully, we will always be able to disagree
without being disagreeable. It may not make for exciting blogs,
but it does help foster stable productive government.
April 29, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Wow awfully defensive when a simple question was asked! I guess that’s the problem with blogs, emails etc, you don’t know the tone and you make an assumption…bad bad bad.
Thats WSGFN…..
May 1, 2009 at 5:11 pm
“DOWNTOWN PLAN COST QUESTIONED
The high cost of the Downtown Manassas Revitalization
Plan was one of the major concerns of several citizens
at a public hearing before the Manassas Council.
However, all who questioned the cost felt that some sort
of action was needed immediately to improve the downtown
area, thereby attracting more business and cutting down
the traffic congestion.
The plan, in part, calls for the creation of an atmosphere
of quaintness with a town center, The Battle Street Plaza.”
The Manassas Journal Messenger
(Feb. 2, 1972)
– And a brief 37 years later …
May 3, 2009 at 2:19 pm
Sure hope the current Battle Street project turns out better than whatever that “Battle Street Plaza” was 37 years ago. Having been here just over 25 years, not sure what the definition of “Plaza” was back then but in my time Battle Street has never been too attractive.
May 3, 2009 at 5:35 pm
The recently deceased Jack, Kemp, seven time A.F.L. All-Star with
Buffalo and later a U.S. Representative and VP candidate, once
said “Pro football gave me a good perspective. When I entered the
political area, I had already been booed, cut, sold and hung in
effigy”.
May 3, 2009 at 5:50 pm
David B,
Apparently the 1972 plan was sent to the Island of
Forgotten Plans, except for the major job of placing utility wires
underground in Downtown Manassas. Kudos to them for that.
But interesting how concepts to deal with parking,
traffic and a sense of lost vitality and business go back almost
a hundred years – an editorial from before WWI asked
“Why Not A Greater Manassas?”. Something we are still working
on today to answer.