Save Old Glory, Crow’s Nest too?
When our Aquia District supervisor Paul Milde goes one-on-one in a conversation, he can be very articulate and personable. But when the young man talks to a crowd, he seems to come unglued.
I certainly know how that feels. I also got stage fright in my earlier years as a government spokesman, so I can sympathize with Paul’s plight. The good news is he’ll most likely outgrow it. I did--that is, until I got a lot older.
Years ago while giving a really effective speech despite nervousness to a group of fellow bureaucrats—after working hard on its preparation—I came to a seminal point I wished to make and impress the heck out of them. All of a sudden a loud beep erupted from the small tape recorder I had placed on the podium to capture my words. It kept clanging to warn it had stopped. I jumped like I’d been shot, and my audience roared with laughter. I tried to join in the frivolity, but then completely lost my train of thought. I shortly sat back down, utterly frazzled.
Nowadays, my problem increasingly is that I often get stuck in trying to remember the right word to say, even in casual conversations. I suspect, alas, that it has to do with the creeping dementia that most older folks seem to experience eventually.
None of this is meant to detract from young Paul’s development as an effective county supervisor. Indeed, the last time we met by chance the other day, for conversation in Stafford Market Place’s Starbucks, he did a good deed, in addition to fondly petting my sidekick Lollipop. the award-winning Yorkie. She undoubtedly remembered him from our mutually enjoyable days at Gargoyles before it closed in Aquia Towne Center. But I digress.
I did have a personal axe to grind with him, namely getting something removed for good: That faded and tattered old American flag flying so disgracefully and for so long above our equally bedraggled Aquia Towne Center. Voila! Paul got on his cell phone, had a short conversation, and within two or three days a beautiful new Old Glory was flying in place of the old..
But now I have a larger, public point to make with Paul. You may recall this paper published a longish column of his this fall. In it, he argued that the county should approve the big new development proposed off of U.S 1.near the dump.
The main reason, if memory serves, is that the developer would cough up lots of cash proffers to get the go-ahead. And with approval, that substantial gift to the county could be used to help buy up the big tract called Crow’s Nest (you know, the pristine, environmentally sacrosanct treasure that would be just beastly to ever disturb) that nestles very near where Paul lives.
Well, that may be what he and many others would like to have done with the bounty. But I suspect some folks would rather see it added to the budgets of the schools, the fire and rescue squads and other county priorities instead of wasting it on such a non-economic, overpriced historical treasure, however spiritually uplifting. We've got plenty of them, in case you have noticed.
It may have been especially difficult during budget time next spring to swing such an esoteric deal. For Milde and his fellow supervisors will undoubtedly be burning the midnight oil anyway, in trying to keep outlays level with those of the past year, given the fact that property values are still heading way south hereabouts. Reassessment time will surely be testy, to say the least.
Thus, to put it bluntly, would you rather save Crow’s Nest or avoid a huge hike in our real estate tax rates? By now, you may well be reacting to this two-bit budgetary analysis of mine, especially since the deal on that big new development has recently collapsed anyhow. Considering the ongoing downturn in the housing market, what else would you have expected?
So there goes those proffered goodies. But ironically, come to think of it, a buyout of Crow’s Nest itself might be more affordable than before. Who would want to build vacant homes there?
By now, you may suspect that my take on the situation hasn’t been honest-to-Pete objective. However, as columnist Virginia Postrel wrote recently, “….[G]ood journalism in fact requires trained judgment: about what's important, what's interesting, what's worth telling. Good journalism includes story telling and analysis, even in straight news stories and all the more in features or analytical pieces. Mistaking fairness or accuracy for ‘objectivity’ only confuses journalists, their audiences, and their critics.”
So there.
I certainly know how that feels. I also got stage fright in my earlier years as a government spokesman, so I can sympathize with Paul’s plight. The good news is he’ll most likely outgrow it. I did--that is, until I got a lot older.
Years ago while giving a really effective speech despite nervousness to a group of fellow bureaucrats—after working hard on its preparation—I came to a seminal point I wished to make and impress the heck out of them. All of a sudden a loud beep erupted from the small tape recorder I had placed on the podium to capture my words. It kept clanging to warn it had stopped. I jumped like I’d been shot, and my audience roared with laughter. I tried to join in the frivolity, but then completely lost my train of thought. I shortly sat back down, utterly frazzled.
Nowadays, my problem increasingly is that I often get stuck in trying to remember the right word to say, even in casual conversations. I suspect, alas, that it has to do with the creeping dementia that most older folks seem to experience eventually.
None of this is meant to detract from young Paul’s development as an effective county supervisor. Indeed, the last time we met by chance the other day, for conversation in Stafford Market Place’s Starbucks, he did a good deed, in addition to fondly petting my sidekick Lollipop. the award-winning Yorkie. She undoubtedly remembered him from our mutually enjoyable days at Gargoyles before it closed in Aquia Towne Center. But I digress.
I did have a personal axe to grind with him, namely getting something removed for good: That faded and tattered old American flag flying so disgracefully and for so long above our equally bedraggled Aquia Towne Center. Voila! Paul got on his cell phone, had a short conversation, and within two or three days a beautiful new Old Glory was flying in place of the old..
But now I have a larger, public point to make with Paul. You may recall this paper published a longish column of his this fall. In it, he argued that the county should approve the big new development proposed off of U.S 1.near the dump.
The main reason, if memory serves, is that the developer would cough up lots of cash proffers to get the go-ahead. And with approval, that substantial gift to the county could be used to help buy up the big tract called Crow’s Nest (you know, the pristine, environmentally sacrosanct treasure that would be just beastly to ever disturb) that nestles very near where Paul lives.
Well, that may be what he and many others would like to have done with the bounty. But I suspect some folks would rather see it added to the budgets of the schools, the fire and rescue squads and other county priorities instead of wasting it on such a non-economic, overpriced historical treasure, however spiritually uplifting. We've got plenty of them, in case you have noticed.
It may have been especially difficult during budget time next spring to swing such an esoteric deal. For Milde and his fellow supervisors will undoubtedly be burning the midnight oil anyway, in trying to keep outlays level with those of the past year, given the fact that property values are still heading way south hereabouts. Reassessment time will surely be testy, to say the least.
Thus, to put it bluntly, would you rather save Crow’s Nest or avoid a huge hike in our real estate tax rates? By now, you may well be reacting to this two-bit budgetary analysis of mine, especially since the deal on that big new development has recently collapsed anyhow. Considering the ongoing downturn in the housing market, what else would you have expected?
So there goes those proffered goodies. But ironically, come to think of it, a buyout of Crow’s Nest itself might be more affordable than before. Who would want to build vacant homes there?
By now, you may suspect that my take on the situation hasn’t been honest-to-Pete objective. However, as columnist Virginia Postrel wrote recently, “….[G]ood journalism in fact requires trained judgment: about what's important, what's interesting, what's worth telling. Good journalism includes story telling and analysis, even in straight news stories and all the more in features or analytical pieces. Mistaking fairness or accuracy for ‘objectivity’ only confuses journalists, their audiences, and their critics.”
So there.
posted by Ben Blankenship at
9:28 AM
