Dear Fellow Democrats:

Give us your ideas. Please. Don't leave us with platitudes.

When you tell us you are for higher teacher salaries and better benefits you only repeat a Democratic Party plank. We are ALL for that. With the country in recession we NEED to hear how you propose to fund it.

Don't tell us you are for reducing the gap between black and white education performance. Everyone is for that, even Republicans, even professional educators, especially professional educators. If they knew how, it would be happening. Tell us how YOU propose to do it.

Don't tell us you are for preserving Charlottesville's heritage while building for the future. Who isn't. Be specific. What do YOU think is a building worth preserving versus a building that can make way for a modern replacement?

Where do you stand on selling city parking lots to private developers, if we have any parking lots left to sell? Where do you stand on "traffic calming" to improve neighborhood ambience at the cost of adding congestion? Do you want to start construction on the Meadowcreek Parkway now or will you support more delays? If you favor an alternative, what is it?

Don't tell us you are for "alternative transportation." Tell us what you mean. Rain or shine, day and night, winter and summer, young or old, able or infirm, alone or with children in tow nearly all your constituents need to bring home 4 or 5 grocery bags. What's your alternative to the family car and adequate roads?

Is there anyone, anywhere, who doesn't want to see ALL our citizens share in the joys of the city? Have we not as a political party been dedicated to this for decades? Don't tell us you agree with the goal. Of course you do. Tell us your plan to accomplish this. Give us some reason to think you have thought this through, understand the problems, and have ideas. Then share the ideas with us.

Between now and the day we choose two of you to run for city council we are trying to learn which of you has good ideas. We are trying to learn who we might trust to have the experience and insight to save us from bad decisions.

You are all honest, dedicated, sincere, and capable, every one of you. That we know. You are all committed to the belief that things should and can be better. We know that also, and agree with you. What we don't know is which of you might accomplish that.

On Feb. 23 four candidates are going to lose. If there's a good reason you should not be among them, you must tell us.

The only way you can is to put the platitudes aside and get to specifics. Please don't insult us with slogans. We are not the electorate. We are a small group of people volunteering to anoint two of you. Most of us are thoughtful Democrats willing to listen, willing to think, and eager to. Please respect us enough to want to make you one of two.