Not Logical. Not At All
One reader, prefacing her remarks that all incumbents should be tossed out in 07, writes tonight:
I'm more than a little disappointed and disturbed that you would seemingly endorse yet another developer to sweep into office, populate the various councils, and approve and enforce rules and regulations to their advantage, and to the benefit of their friends and family. Hello?! Have you forgotten Steve Bukont and the mess Maud and Steve and all their cronies have made out of Vienna? You may look down your nose at those in Vienna who are living in older homes, but we are still members of this community; we pay our taxes and we deserve to have our wants and needs attended to. We're tired of these builders and their huge homes on tiny lots causing flooding and long-term damage to our homes. We're tired of the zoning work-arounds, traffic blockages, and the decimation of wooded areas. We're tired of builders hiring illegal aliens to build these homes in the middle of the night. We're tired of the increased crime, drug, and gang activity that has come with these illegal aliens - crime that builders like Bukont and Brehony are ultimately responsible for because they provide jobs to illegal aliens. Deborah Brehony is motivated to run by pure greed; she wants to make more money. Quite simply, Deborah Brehony doesn't have the morals or ethics we need from members of the Vienna Town Council.
Perhaps there are some useful points buried in your email, but they are indeed buried. Some feedback:
1. Bukont has built homes that have benefited Vienna as a whole. That is hard to argue against. His activities while sitting on a Board and his improper close association with Council are well known. This site has been at the forefront of drilling him for that. However, to essentially blame Bukont and Brehony for gang activity is nutty. The Council is responsible for that. Frankly, every new house built in Vienna eliminates a 1950s house populated with '15' member families.
2. We can't name one builder to sit on Council in the last 30 years. Where do we start drawing the line on professions allowed to run for Council? The problems in Vienna are not caused by the professions of people, but rather the individual ethics of people. If you have an ethical argument against Brehony, make it. Right now you are fear mongering. This site has gone after Brehony when she has done certain things, but we can't understand going after anyone before they actually commit the political crime so to speak.
3. No one is looking down on anyone who owns an older home. But everyone in Vienna knows that if they are in an older home the value of that home is the land. Everyone who owns property in Vienna has done well whether they have a new home already or not.
4. If Brehony gets elected to Town Council how does this greed path unfold? Please map out how she makes all this money. She already has a successful business that doesn't seem to be in need of "extra" governmental help. How could she be worse than Cole?
We are not endorsing anyone at this time, but this site will strive to stay logical. If more candidates are running this spring we can't wait to hear about them and discuss them. We do agree with you that incumbents should be tossed!
Comments
Stop talking about the builders. They build the homes for people like me who live in Vienna and want something other than the original 1958 rambler that sits on the property. Am I somehow less of a person for not living in the same house as you?! I am a tax payer and, proportionally, I pay a WHOLE lot more to get the EXACT same services as my next door neighbors.
And, let's all say it again, the house can be no more than 25% (including driveway) of the land. This whole argument of "huge house, small lot" is not relevant. We don't live in Arlington where lot coverage was 60-70%.
Posted by: new home owner | January 21, 2007 07:23 PM
If builders like Staats, Stack, Brehony, Bukont, etc. did not build all those houses in 22180 in last 10 years - where would Vienna be?
That statement doesn't excuse any impropriety or wrongdoing. It's clear Bukont is on a special favor list, but new blood, whether Brehony or others, is a smart step. Once again, do we all just wait till Maud passes over to the other side?
Posted by: Historic Vienna | January 21, 2007 07:37 PM
I hate getting my hands dirty - this is all working out perfectly.
Posted by: Mother Maud | January 22, 2007 08:58 AM
I like the idea of removing to whole lot of them this go-around, but not for the reason of what someone has to do with a living. I just think that the whole bunch of them are too entrenched with the status quo and refuse to do anything that's right for Vienna. All we get is lip service, and I don't think anyone that sits on council is immune to this. And what's worse is that "THEY" decide what's right or wrong for Vienna:
When will we get equity in our water source and prices. We keep hearing that something is wrong, but we only hear it around voting time, and then it's dropped.
When will we get all our meeting's videotaped and aired on cable or sat-tv? Same story there, we only hear it around voting time.
When will we get to the bottom of the corrupted members who vote for things like the $5 Million dollar Town Green, when that money could have been better spent on our Police Force, because let's face it, we are not being faced with less crime these days, and not to mention the plethora of Bank Heists.
This website alone is enough to prove that way too much time and money is being spent on the stupid antics of a few homeowners who think we REALLY need a farce of a Historic District to give Vienna a certain mystique. Why Can't we stand on our own two feet and realize this town is great with or without all the petty and arguably costly problems this District has caused, not to say all the neighbors who have been made to hate each other because of the abusive way it has been deployed.
We should be spending our time, money, and efforts on things like side walks, a movie theater to walk to, or a youth center that's offers more than just a baby sitting hold-out, and lastly a more modern and inviting Library that offers more than a closet space for all our citizens. The present library is abysmal, dirty, and way too out-of-place for a Town as Great as Vienna! And we have Maud to blame for most of these, so she must go.
These are REAL issues, folks, vote the whole lot of them OUT.
OUT.
It's refreshing to see real people running for real reasons.
Posted by: Right for Vienna | January 22, 2007 09:09 AM
Mother Maud has designed this Town well. There are set up civic associations to pit one group against the other-with well placed leaders. And there is above the prime example of pitting older homes against newer ones. I understand the concerns regarding Deborah Brehony. The Town has a history of "if it looks fishy" it usually is. I am hopeful though that with the sunlight hitting some of these people that they change or leave! I have not seen any indication that the Brehony's have followed the "back room dealings", but that is what elections are for-for US to decide! Get out the vote!
Posted by: frustrated citizen too | January 22, 2007 10:10 AM
Brehony's husband said "Staats follows him around" The fact is, Staats is a Vienna native, and his parents still live here! Builder or not, don't disrespect those that have lived here, for a vey long time! It won't help your campagin. Vienna is a hometown where everyone knows your business. I vote for the educated hometown boy, Womack, with long standing roots in Vienna.
Posted by: townears | January 25, 2007 07:16 PM
Native-schmative. Who cares at this point?! That seems like a very close minded way to judge a candidate.
Aren't the long-time Vienna residents the ones who have turned this town into a joke?! How long have Maud, George, Jane, et al collectively lived in this town?!
Sometimes, people from the outside are the ones to best judge what your town really is as opposed to what you think it is! Maud sees glorious strip malls where you can do in/out shopping whereas newer residents laugh at our vast/underused/unsightly parking lots.
Posted by: vienna mommy | January 26, 2007 01:32 PM