There used to be a good government textbook that said "there is no Democratic or Republican way to pave a street". That axiom was supposed to demonstrate the inappropriateness of partisan city elections. The statement may be true, but cities are more than streets, and citizens' party affiliations are often rough guides to their political attitudes about living wage, government openness, and the environment. I favor partisan elections and I vote Democrat.

But I will, like the Sablinskys will, cast one vote for John Pfaltz. I don't know how else they're voting, but Maurice Cox and Kevin Lynch will get my votes too. The Meadowcreek Parkway proposal is not just a 1/4 mile of concrete, nor even just VDOT vandalism in a park; it is emblematic, both in process and in substance, of the attitude towards the residents of Charlottesville by the regional commercial sector, too many residents of both the smart-growth and pro-growth disposition in the county, and a few politicans praised as "courageous" or "independent" for holding on to the still dominant but policy-bankrupted , pro-commercial growth at any price stance. If I wanted to vote for a parkway, I'd vote for Kevin Cox, he's not really "independent" either, but at I don't expect much different from him.

Rich Collins (electronic mail, April 17, 2000).