Wally's World - Latest comments

In response to: Virginia 2nd Congressional District 2010 - Forum

Wally [Member] — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:52:53 +0000

Thanks for comments Bryan,
What about the Pelosi permission remark? Is that factual? Did not the final amendments issued at the eleventh hour not have provisions for Tricare, and subsequently Nye Voted it down? What about the franking flyer. Where in the in questions asked by the moderator was that germane, needless to say that no materials were permitted on the dias?

Wally

In response to: Virginia 2nd Congressional District 2010 - Forum

Bryan Stuart [Visitor] — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 16:48:13 +0000

Wally,

I was at the debate, and my impression is there were a ton of Rigell supporters there..... because he has a ton of supporters in the community.

I also didn't get the same impression, I felt Rigell/Golden/Nye all engaged in a very civil debate. Did Rigell call Nye out on some of his votes, like supporting the stimulus? Yes, but I never got the impression he was ever over the line.

In response to: Virginia Beach Light Rail - Light Rail Now Myths

Mike Barrett [Visitor] — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 21:35:14 +0000

Wally, you miss the whole point. Light rail only makes sense in one corridor; that is, the I-264 corridor which is already over capacity, is at its ultimate width without condemnation of homes and businesses, and around which are oriented most of the major employers at the Beach and Norfolk.

Once again, no one is advocating the replacement of busses, only that bus connections be coordinated with the light rail spine.

It is unbecoming of you, a candidate for office, to make up myths, and then claim to debunk them. Why not simply start with the facts in the first place?

In fact, it is very surprising to me that you would advocate for expansion of I-264 which will involve displacement of homes and businesses if I-264 is to be widened. We can't afford it, and we should not cause that anguish for our citizens.

Light rail is the low cost, no disruption alternative.

In response to: Virginia 2nd Congressional District 2010 - Forum

Mike Barrett [Visitor] — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 18:18:45 +0000

Wally, thanks for that perspective. Clearly, the proponents of Rigell have posted other more exuberant claims on other forums.

Clearly, he is following the McWaters playbook with signs all over the place and the Cantor playbook with attacks on the Speaker of the House.

But what really does Rigell offer? Anyone who claims he has been a leader in this community has to do so with no reference to reality. He does have very rich friends, I guess that is his best attribute.

I'm sure they expect nothing in return.

In response to: Virginia Beach Light Rail - Light Rail Now Myths

Ben Krause [Visitor] — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 23:24:37 +0000

You are entirely correct. One can easily expand/contract the bus system and run it where ever the need is. HRT has failed in trying to make the maximum use of buses, especially for Virginia Beach, even when we are the largest contributor. Buses can be equipped with devices to change the red lights as needed. Buses provide more employment than light rail. The roads are already in place for buses. Why ANYONE would want HRT in charge of light rail when they cannot efficiently and effectively run a bus system is beyond belief - if they are being honest. Unfortunately, developers are out to line their own pockets and thus are for light rail.

Editors note: You must be reading my mind. The next myth I will publish is "Light rail creates jobs!" - Wally

In response to: Virginia Beach Light Rail - Light Rail Now?

Reid Greenmun [Visitor] — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 20:37:07 +0000

I noticed that Mr. Barrett doesn't actually offer any facts to refute the facts that others provide.

Is this a example of what we can expect from the business lobby's "Light Rail Now" PR campaign?

Probably.

Lucky for us that live in Virginia Beach, the majority of residents are too wise to fail to understand the utter lack of a compelling business case for spending at least $530M for 10.6 miles of low capacity light rail to connect Newtown Road to the oceanfront.

Even more good luck is that facing massive budget shortfalls Beach taxpayers will understand that adding at least another $8M a year to our local city budget to pay for the massive taxpayer subsidies to cover the operating costs of this tiny 10 mile light rail train wreck Beach voters will reject this "redistribute-the-wealth" plan that Mr. Ryto is salavating over.

What an alliance Henry & Mike make; the partnership of Freeloaders and wealthy developers looking to fleece taxpayers for their own gain.

LRN - does it really stand for "Let's Relieve Norfolk"; after all, isn't expanding Norfolk's 7.4 mile train wreck into Virginia Beach simply a plan to bail out Paul Friam and the rest of Norfolk's taxpayers who are now stuck with millions in new budget-busting annual costs to subsidize their tiny "Tide"?

In response to: Virginia Beach Light Rail - Light Rail Now?

Ben Krause [Visitor] — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 10:11:14 +0000

This blog is useless except to keep people busy.
Henry has never seen a government program he does not slobber over.
Keyboard Commando Mike never confronts facts with facts and will personally benefit from light rail. He has never even been to a VBTA meeting and has no idea what it is about but yet he is the blog expert re VBTA. Hey, who defeated the 2002 referendum, who engineered the last light rail referencum, etc.?
Minds will not be changed in this blog.
If only Henry and Keyboard Commando had enough courage to debate the issue. No such luck! Whimps the both.

In response to: Virginia Beach Light Rail - Light Rail Now Myths

alsaf [Visitor] — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 17:30:17 +0000

Henry, you seem to be very committed at making sweeping allegations as if your take on events represents a mindset that one size fits all. Rather than submit substantive info you rely on inflated innuendo's and you should know better. Do you actually believe that you share the same needs as all the tax burdened residents in this City? If my lifestyle revolved around having one source of transportation I might have a different mindset than if I did not have the use of a vehicle to get around with. Fact is VBTA is made up of people with diverse opinions, careers, families and lifestyles. No one controls my thoughts about issues and the debate on issues is wide open for any & all to generate his or her point of view. VBTA is simply a grassroots organization with a mandate to exert oversight on City policies & run away budgets that are often controlled by special interest.

All residents have different needs. Young families with children have different needs than empty nesters. Families with older children in college and of course those who are retired or single face different obstacles and of course all have diverse needs. The one common thread that links most households in this City is that many have made major investments in a home. The stability of our investment in our homes and neighborhoods is a top priority with most taxpayers including most members of VBTA. Many of the 170,000 households in this City pay property tax and fees that has soared in the past decade and a substantial portion of these expenditures are dominated by our homes and vehicles. This represents lots of tax dollars. In fact a significant portion of each households average tax burden is absorbed within each households budget and ever dwindling disposable income and savings.

Our neighborhoods, homes and families come first Henry. It just so happens that residents also serve as the primary economic engine in this City and also happen to serve as the primary taxpayer in this City. Collectively households support a not unreasonable notion, that a substantial portion of our tax dollars should be returned to each neighborhood in order to maintain, restore, and enhance our homes and our values. That revitalization must occur before LTR or any capital project that is not in the public interest which obviously includes school building, safety initiatives such as filling ditches or a sewage treatment plant etc.

A major portion of the multi billion debt ceiling is attributable to the residential tax base. About 85 cents of every $1.00 is off the backs of residential real estate assets and as such residents expect to receive a healthy proportion of those dollars (ROI) particularly to restore our aging neighborhoods. The ROl to our 985+ neighborhoods has been close to dismal. Many streets are in shambles and are in desperate need of repairs such as curb to curb repaving. To give you a contrast of the disproportionate distribution of tax dollars, the assessed value of the resort area hotel represents just 1% of our real estate tax base for the past 15 years. The ROI to the resort area far exceeds the proportional return that our neighborhoods desperately require. Unlike residents, the resort area also receives a major subsidy of Citywide tax, most of which is supported by residents. The resort receives a monumental 75% of all citywide room tax, 36.4% of all citywide food tax, and 100% of all citywide amusement tax. Each time a family goes to the movies, the taxes paid on the admissions ticket is returned to the resort area. Why? According to City documents the subsidies for all three of the aforementioned citywide subsidies to the resort area was $43 million alone in 1999 and that inestimable taxpayer subsidy goes on each year. There is no reason why residents should not receive most of the dollars absorbed by debt or distribution is there? They do not.

The real issue is not the value of the projects but the means on how you get to fund the projects. Will distribution occur through greed or will our hard earned tax dollars be distributed equitably to correctly satisfy the public need of our stockholders.