Delegate Ken Plum’s Virginia E-News – September 28, 2005

COMMENTARY

Last week Governor Mark R. Warner came to Reston to campaign on behalf of my re-election to the House of Delegates. With Virginia’s unfortunate Constitutional prohibition of a second consecutive term, Governor Warner with all his success in office and his demonstrated leadership abilities cannot succeed himself. Too bad! I have consistently supported a change in the Constitution to allow a governor to run for a second term.

In campaigning for me, Governor Warner enumerated the many successes of his administration. I suggested to the crowd of more than 150 supporters that he had really listed the accomplishments of the Warner-Plum administration. While intending to poke a little fun at the way people are clinging to the coattails of the very popular Governor Warner in this election year, I also was pointing out the reality that the governor can propose but the legislature disposes of the governor’s initiatives. Therein lies the genius of Governor Mark Warner. With a General Assembly controlled in both houses by Republicans, Democratic Governor Mark Warner was able to get his programs enacted. I was pleased to support his proposals, help keep the Democrats in line, and persuade a few Republicans to join us.

Among other accomplishments, Governor Warner took the Commonwealth from a six billion dollar deficit to a budgetary surplus in three years and restored the state’s fiscal integrity and triple-A bond rating in the process. At the same time he made critical investments in public education, public safety and infrastructure. It surely made a difference to have someone with his business acumen in the governorship during this critical time.

As Governor Warner spoke to my friends and supporters in the living room of the North Reston home where the event was held, I got a flashback to a time in a living room of a Vienna home in the early 1970’s when another Southern governor spoke about his success in modernizing his state and about his vision for the future. That governor, Jimmy Carter, went on to become President of the United States. Many of us long for a return of his kind of moral leadership.

Governor Mark Warner is already on the short list for the Democratic nomination for President in 2008. He has the success of Southern Democratic governors Carter and Clinton on his side. He enjoys phenomenal popularity in his home state. He is personally very successful. He is of impeccable integrity.

In supporting Governor Warner’s initiatives to get the Commonwealth on firm financial footing and to make the needed investments in the state’s future, I did what I thought was right for Virginia and the people of the state. How exciting to realize that what I was doing in helping my home state of Virginia, the mother of presidents, I might have been helping my country as well! 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Attend the Hunter Mill Road Area Special Study this Saturday, October 1, 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at James Madison High School, 2500 James Madison Drive, Vienna. This is a “Visioning Workshop” designed for public discussion with business, community, and advocacy organizations. (A second Visioning Workshop will be held on Monday, October 17, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., with details available in the coming weeks.) These workshops will implement a community visioning process to identify appropriate land use of nearly 300 acres that border the Dulles Toll Road and Hunter Mill Road. The workshops will provide an opportunity to share your thoughts about important community priorities in a structured environment that is designed for public discussion. A professional facilitator will conduct the meeting so that all questions and ideas can be shared. Among the issue areas that are being considered are: the value of transportation improvements in terms of improved safety and mobility on Sunset Hills Road and Hunter Mill Road; improvements that beautify the area and improve it as a gateway to Reston from the east; the opportunity to provide access to a mix of housing options (including affordable housing) needed due to continued economic growth of the area; and increasing recreational opportunities through provision of additional athletic fields and improved access to trails and bike paths. For more information, visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpz/huntermill or call 703.324.1210.

Join the MArcH for Virginians with Disabilities on October 1 in Richmond.  The Arc of Virginia and its 22 affiliated chapters will MArcH from Mayo Island in Richmond to the Bell Tower on the Capitol Grounds on October 1 to show our elected officials and communities that Virginians with disabilities desire what all Virginians want: A life like yours, a place to call home, access to health care, transportation, an education, a job, recreation, and a safe community. For more information call The Arc of Virginia at 888.604.2677 or visit www.ArcofVa.org.

The Equity Office presents “Kids in Music,” a classical piano benefit concert, on Saturday, October 8, 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the Reston Town Center Pavilion. Donations will be collected for the American Red Cross for hurricane relief. Kids in Music is a nonprofit organization that presents concerts free of charge around the Washington Metropolitan area. The young pianists, ages 6-15, have presented concerts and solo recitals at shopping malls, retirement centers, schools, and many other venues. The pianists will be playing a Kennedy Center caliber repertoire. These young artists complete on regional and national levels, so the quality of music will be exceptional. The performers refer to themselves as “Warriors” and therefore the concert name, “Warriors to the Rescue.” Piano Craft has joined Kids in Music by providing a magnificent concert grand for the October 8 concert. Bright Moves, a traveling billboard, is donating promotion. Ben and Jerry’s, coming soon to Reston Town Center, will be on site selling ice cream and donating the proceeds to the cause. Clyde’s of Reston and Paolo’s Ristorante will also be participating. For additional information visit 222.restontowncenter.com.

The 54^th Virginia Transportation Conference will be held October 26-28 at the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center, Roanoke, Virginia. The Virginia Department of Transportation, Virginia Department of Rail & Public Transportation, Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, Virginia Port Authority, Virginia Department of Aviation, and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute will host the conference. This year’s them is “Virginia Transportation at the Crossroads – Investing in Mobility and Accessibility.” The multi-modal theme will offer opportunities to explore a number of solutions to the difficult transportation issues we face in Virginia. Visit www.vatransconf.org for details about speakers, sessions, and registration information.

The Women’s Entrepreneurs’ Expo is the signature event of the Women’s Business Center of Northern Virginia. This year’s Expo will be held October 20-21 at George Mason University’s Johnson Center and will feature a terrific line-up of informative and educational workshops and a trade fair. Syndicated columnist and author Michelle Singletary (“The Color of Money”) will be the keynote luncheon speaker on October 21. Visit www.wbcnova.org for information about registration and exhibitor/ sponsorship opportunities

Virginia’s first trees and utilities conference, “Look Up Virginia,” will be held on Wednesday, October 26, at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gadens in Richmond. The conference is seeking to reduce tree/utility conflict by educating, influencing and encouraging people to recognize the conflict, remove problematic tree and utility situations and plant appropriately. Citizens interested in more attractive communities are encouraged to attend. General registration by October 7 is $25 and includes lunch and take-home materials. Seating is limited. For more information, call 434.220.9024. 

The League of Women Voters of the Fairfax Area and the Fairfax County Public Libraries will present “Building a Safer World: Can America and the UN Work Together on World Water Resources” on Sunday, October 30. The program will be held at the Pohick Regional Library at 2:00 p.m. Guest speaker will be Dr. Gerald Galloway discussing water resources, terrorism, conservation and other topics about the world’s supply, including how we can meet both national and international challenges. In announcing the program, League President Sherry W. Zachry explained that it is not only developing countries that have significant difficulties in providing safe water for their citizens. “The U.S. faces its own water resources issues, including water quality and availability and rehabilitating an aging infrastructure. This has certainly become evident as we try to cope with the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.”

The Comprehensive Virtual Center on Alzheimer’s Disease is a center without walls that will establish a much-needed organizational structure for coordinating purposeful activities and initiatives on Alzheimer’s and other dementing illnesses within the Commonwealth. Whenever possible, the objective is to form partnerships among groups or organizations within the Commonwealth, to take advantage of their respective talents and resources, and to advance the public health goals of Virginia. Visit www.alzpossible.org to find out more about what is being discovered to accelerate the process of finding effective interventions and new methods of care aimed at reducing disability and extending independent living for people with Alzheimer’s Disease.

CALENDAR

Wednesday, September 28 at 10:30 p.m. – tune in to Delegate Ken Plum’s “Virginia Report” on Comcast Channel 28 – Jessica Luehrs, student and Girl Scout – “Scouting and the Environment.”

September 22 through October 2 – Virginia State Fair at the Richmond Raceway Complex. Visit www.statefair.com for details.

Tuesday, October 4 at 7:30 p.m. and Wednesday, October 5 at 10:30 p.m. – tune in to Delegate Ken Plum’s “Virginia Report” on Comcast Channel 28 – Frank Blechman,NoVA Representative of the Virginia Organizing Project – “Strategies for Social Justice.”

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Authorized and paid for by Kenneth R. Plum.

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