10-1 test
One big reason people voted for the new 10-1 election system in Virginia Beach was to shrink the clout of developers.
Has the message from November’s referendum been heard? Soon, we’ll know.
City Council is being asked in the new year to review permits for houses and industries on hundreds of acres in southern Virginia Beach that for decades have been off limits.
At the Villages of West Neck, a home builder wants to add 143 homes and a nine-hole golf course. This would be on land the surrounding villages were assured would remain open space because of its preservation zoning.
At the city-owned Virginia Beach National Golf Club, several developers are vying to carve out big chunks for apartments or other projects.
In the Princess Anne Commons area, the contest is hundreds of acres of raw land. The city bought it years ago to prevent development from chasing away Oceana Naval Air Station. Its warplanes fly low over it — too close for comfort — when they approach the runway.
The contest is over what to do with it. Hundreds of citizens in an open, public process, OK’d more sports tourism, BMX and cross country races, championship fields for disc golf and pickle ball and winding, wooded hiking trails.
An 11th-hour idea, from the city’s Development Authority, wants it for new industries. Apparently, this proposal has had no public advertising nor vetting from citizens.
Three choices, but the same question: How will the council apply the message of the 10-1 referendum vote?
Dennis Hartig, Virginia Beach
City of Newport News
Too bad more people do not read the paper. If they did they could find out what Newport News Mayor Phillip Jones and his gang are doing.
For instance, did you know they have allocated $3 million to have a major music festival in Newport News? Who will benefit from this and where will it be held? Also, they are trying to get a data center off of Fort Eustis Boulevard. City officials have tried to keep it on the down low to avoid push back.
My taxes went up this year and last year. Just wait until we get this data center; see what happens to your water and electricity bills then. These men forget they work for us and we pay them their big salaries. Everything they do should be out in the open.
Government officials have no right to hide anything from us. What can we do about this? I wish I knew.
Joyce Southern, Newport News
Hypocrisy
I’m old enough to remember when former President Barack Obama was president that Donald Trump complained that Obama was playing too much golf and not giving the presidency enough attention. Really? Now Trump plays golf every weekend. Obama also didn’t spend millions of taxpayer dollars every week jetting off to Florida to play golf.
I also constantly hear Trump complain that former President Joe Biden was always sleeping in meetings. Some of the video clips showing Biden with his eyes closed are while he was in church. I can understand Trump not knowing that most people close their eyes when they pray, since he doesn’t pray. Recently, we’ve seen numerous video clips with Trump nodding off in meetings. He wasn’t in church praying.
Trump plays more golf than Obama and is filmed sleeping in meetings more than Biden.
Trump wants only Democrats to be named in the Epstein scandal as pedophiles. If the past is prologue, the chances are Trump and his Republican brethren outnumber the Democrats who visited Epstein’s island.
Maury Neville, Chesapeake
