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October 30, 2009
Ribbon Cuttings = Good; Economic Growth = Bad Comments (23)
You can almost hear Jane and Maud scolding Deborah Brehony like a little child: "Bad, Deborah, bad!"
Snafu Adds Another Layer to Rift Between Vienna Council, Critic
by Brian Trompeter
October 24, 2009
The Vienna Town Council on Oct. 5 voted to give Deborah Brehony a certificate of appreciation for her term on the Vienna Town/Business Liaison Committee (TBLC).
Two problems: Brehony’s term isn’t scheduled to expire until Nov. 19, not early October as town officials thought, and she was unaware the council did not plan to reappoint her to the committee.
Mayor M. Jane Seeman said the council decided not to ask Brehony to serve again because several other people have asked to join the committee and the council decided the group “needed to go in a new direction.”
Brehony “serves at the prerogative of the council and we decided it was time for a new appointment,” Seeman said. “We do that occasionally. It happens.”
One source of the rift, according to both sides, is that the committee recently had focused on economic development, rather than promoting Vienna businesses and serving as a liaison between them and town government.
“I think our committee was doing a good job thinking of ways to assist the economic growth of the town, to bring in new businesses and assist in growth of businesses that are here,” Brehony said.
The committee contacted the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority about available resources, and listened to a speaker from the county’s revitalization group, she said.
“Are those resources available to the town?” Brehony asked. “We could take advantage, but have not chosen to.”
Seeman said the Town Council does not wish to remake the TBLC, but rather examine its mission.
“They’ve been doing an excellent job of welcoming new businesses to town, arranging ribbon cuttings and following up later to see how they’re doing,” she added.
The seven-member committee, chaired by William Harrison, meets the second Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. at Vienna Town Hall. Its mission is to study and make recommendations about matters affecting town businesses, as well as companies’ relationships with other parts of the community.
The committee last year had two vacancies that went unfilled for a considerable time, which meant that all remaining members had to be present to have a quorum at meetings, Brehony said.
One committee member, Chris Brunjes, resigned on Sept. 29 because of “new and increasing demands” on his time.
TBLC Vice Chairman Mark Uhron’s term expired on July 3. The Town Council has not been able to ask Uhron about serving on the committee again, because of an illness, town officials said. The council will conduct that interview with Uhron on Oct. 26, Seeman said.
Brehony formerly served on the Vienna Architectural Review Board and lost a bid for Town Council in 2007.
That council race ended bitterly, with Brehony and others charging that an election worker had told voters they had to vote for three candidates, when the law makes no such provision. That election worker was dismissed and officials from Fairfax County, not Vienna, began choosing officers for the town’s elections.
Brehony’s campaign spending also raised eyebrows among some local political observers, who were accustomed to low-budget races.
Seeman acknowledged that Brehony’s TBLC term will end in mid-November and apologized for the “unfortunate mistake.”
“Our files were just wrong on that,” she said. “I regret an error that caused a lot of problems. She’s on until that time.”
May 26, 2009
Virginia Main Street Program Comments (23)
A regular reader sent this to HV:
Virginia Main Street
Since 1985, the Virginia Main Street (VMS) program has been helping localities revitalize the economic vitality of downtown commercial districts using the National Main Street Center’s successful Main Street Approach™. Main Street is a comprehensive, incremental approach to revitalization built around a community’s unique heritage and attributes. Using local resources and initiatives, Main Street helps communities develop their own strategies to stimulate long term economic growth and pride in the traditional community center -- downtown.
Virginia Main Street communities, like thousands of communities across the country, have used the Main Street Approach™ effectively to address the complex and changing issues facing the downtown business environment. The Main Street Approach™ provides a flexible framework that puts the traditional assets of downtown, such as unique architecture and locally-owned businesses, to work as a catalyst for economic growth and community pride.
The program was designed to address the need for revitalization and ongoing management of smaller downtowns, but aspects of the Main Street Approach™ may be applied successfully in other commercial settings. Communities beginning their downtown revitalization, and those with more experience, are creating lasting economic impact with the Main Street Approach™.
More information on the Virginia Main Street Program:
mainstreet@dhcd.virginia.gov or call (804) 371-7030.
Harrisonburg, VA has an upcoming Workshop:
Virginia Downtown Development Association and Virginia Main Street Announce Combined Training Opportunity: http://www.shenandoah.com/stories/?headlineID=17896
