Dear George --

Although I no longer work in Charlottesville, I must echo Paul Gaston's praise of Meredith Richards. I came to respect Meredith's many leadership qualities while working at the [Piedmont Housing] Alliance. Recently Orange County was asked to support an effort to expand passenger rail to our area. I was pleased to see that both Meredith Richard and Butch Davies were key supporters of this project I have found Meredith to be a thoughtful community leader who is willing to listen to the diverse opinions of her constituents. I hope that she will be nominated.

Linda Martin (electronic mail, February 17, 2000).