Scathing Criticism? We Agree

Criticism also comes from residents who actually have left the town on occasion. we've seen places like Reston Town Center and Clarendon and Bethesda and Fairfax City, and Leesburg, and other places that have worked with good developers to become vibrant and interesting commercial districts that provide what people want and make a lot of money doing so. no, Vienna can't be just like those places, but it can certainly take bits & pieces from those to improve itself. instead it remains stuck in 1959. I think some of the stores are still trying to push dusty merchandise from back then!

Maud Robinson does NOT care about Vienna or the people here. She only cares if she has power. For her to put her head in the sand and do nothing and proclaim all is fine - is an asinine attitude. Look, she is either a liar or stupid. Don't like that bluntness? Get over it. People are tired of watching Vienna dig itself a hole then get buried by its own incompetence. Maud Robinson has one game: scare the over 80 set that a "developer" might make money in Vienna (the fact that low rise redevelopment might benefit people is always ignored). Can Robinson win again with the same tactics as always? Who knows. But she better know that until she is gone we will be coming at her politics like a ton of bricks. Tighten your chin strap Mother Maud. While many may be afraid to criticize you because you are "senior", we don't have that fear.

I spend thousands a year on shopping outside of Vienna, but I'd much rather be able to shop in Vienna.

I'd love for us to have a women's clothing store, a shoe store, a real book store/coffee shop. We used to have those things here -- and now we don't. Does anyone else remember all the great stores we used to have on Church St. before it was made "historic?"

I would not comment on Maud's remarks before actually seeing the Washington Post article. Do you think that she really said there is nothing wrong with Maple Ave.?
Developers want to build on property they own. Does she mean that only persons invited by the town (read Maud) are expected to develop Maple Ave. Sounds crooked to me. Watch out Safeway their coveting your property.

Last time I checked, no one anointed Maud King or Queen for that matter. Why does she think she is the only person who knows what's best for Vienna?

The very reason we have such a mess of things now in Vienna, is that Maud is too pompous to think there are actually intelligent people in Vienna who would like a see a few nice things happen in Vienna without having all her scare mongers try to get people to think all we want is sky-scrapers, 7-floor parking garages, 6 floor condominiums, Wal-Mart, and a bank on every corner. Wait-a-minute, we do have banks on every corner, what went wrong?

And that's another thing, have you ever noticed she is completely incapable of laughing at herself, her brain is operating more on a reptilian level rather than a rational cerebral level. For those of you who don't know, the reptilian brain is the midbrain, and controls and deals with issues only related to survival, no thinking, and no higher level emotions, just anger and fright.

Oh, and BTW, no HIPPA violation here, Maud's personality speaks for itself.

FYI, the Vienna Connection published my letter about Maude today. Unfortunately, they edited it so that my final point sounds pretty stupid. I don't know if that was due to space limitations, or because I was less than complimentary toward Maude.

Can you post your letter here verbatim Anne?

Editor:
Your April 4 edition included an article about the incumbents running for Vienna Town Council. Maude Robinson got the majority of the quotes. Let's look at some of what she said:

1) "the most pressing need for Vienna includes the need for increased sidewalk construction in town...." How many years has it been since the town commissioned a survey of residents to learn where voters would like to see new sidewalks? And how many new sidewalks have actually been constructed? Perhaps the candidate would like to point to her successes in this area? I don't believe a single new sidewalk has been built under her reign.

2) Mrs. Robinson is a champion for limiting redevelopment in downtown Vienna. Here the candidate has been so successful in making Vienna an undesirable place for developers that the past two decades of national growth and prosperity have yielded so little new development in downtown Vienna that the strip has become run-down, its stores outdated. It fails to provide for the needs of local residents, so most residents must shop elsewhere to meet most of their needs--a recipe for a dying commercial district.

3) Robinson's goal is to maintain the low building profile of the town, except for possibly the addition of a parking garage. So what she is saying is that the town's landmark, its signature building, the structure that would be visible above all else, would be a parking garage. Is this good urban design? Is it appropriate for maintaining "small town character" or any kind of community character? These questions don't even begin to address the wisdom of constructing a (presumably public) parking garage on a sprawling, nearly two-mile long commercial strip.

Maude Robinson has been a fixture in the town for as long as many of the outdated commercial properties. It's time for her to go.
Anne Smith
Vienna