George-

I am happy to take you up on your invitation for comment on the recent email you sent out to area Democrats [and others on your email list]. I would like to respond to the tone of the email and those written by militant opponents of the Meadowcreek Parkway.

The question “Do you believe the interests of the GOP, Charlottesville business owners and city councilors who have sought other public office intrinsically differ from other members of the Charlottesville community and do you expect to vote on that basis in the upcoming Charlottesville City Council election?” is a weighted question. By lumping the GOP and aforementioned city “councilors” (read: my Mom, Meredith Richards) together, you have already created a bias in the minds of the Democrats you are asking. In other words, merely posing the question that way associates Meredith Richards with the GOP. That is a technique called “push polling” and it is right out of the Karl Rove handbook. It is plain to see what you are fishing for with that one.

Later in the email you say, “Mary MacNeil suggested that Mr. Kilgore doesn’t seem to let what might be legal bother him too much in pursuit of his political agenda, a trait that he shares with our own Ms. Richards, adding that there are only the political ambitions of three councilors, with Ms. Richards at their head, eager to feather her political cap by giving away our park and ingratiating herself with county voters.” Aside from the completely unsupported assertion that “Ms. Richards” has done something illegal, this is another old trick that any feminist should recognize- if you want to publicly tarnish a woman, call her ambitious. To some, ambition is a sin in a woman, a virtue in a man. You’d be surprised how many women subscribe to this way of thinking. Maybe that’s why we have so many men in Congress deciding what women can and can’t do with their bodies.

I think the real story lies in the tone that is being set up in anticipation of the upcoming City Council election. With any allegations of wrongdoing it is important to ask who is doing the accusing and what are their political motives. The obvious answer in this case is that those who are trying to tarnish Meredith Richards are people who are against the Meadowcreek Parkway!

Evidence that Parkway opponents are willing to impugn the integrity of anyone who defends the Parkway or Meredith is abundant in your summaries of contributors to this discussion on your website. In his essay, Frank Stoner defends the Parkway, so STAMP representative Downing Smith writes an essay that you summarize, “Frank Stoner cannot be trusted”. City Attorney Craig Brown said that granting the easement requires only a simple majority, so Parkway opponent Kevin Lynch suggests that he finagled the law to fit some preconceived agenda (a pretty serious accusation for someone in Mr. Brown’s position). Timothy Hulbert speaks on behalf of the Parkway and Meredith, and is characterized by Mary MacNeil, president of STAMP, as “a sad and angry businessman”. See a pattern here? It is a general willingness to engage in the politics of personal destruction in pursuit of an agenda. Evidently the only person who has suitable objectivity for them is a Constitutional lawyer who lives in the affected area and who has spoken at City Council meetings against the Parkway as far back as June 1999! Parkway opponents were willing to try and divide the Democratic Party over their narrowly- defined agenda in 2000 (much like Ralph Nader did) and they are going to try and do it again in 2004. I’m sure Republicans are looking forward to their efforts. The last time we had a divided Democratic base, we managed to elect Rob Schilling.

So don’t be fooled by the hysterical hype of a few of the anti- Parkway people. If anyone wants to get the real picture of Meredith Richards, tireless advocate for Democratic principles, go to http://www.meredithrichards.org and surf around a bit. I apologize if the website is a little out of date- most of it is from when she ran for Congress against Republican incumbent Virgil Goode. We are trying to get some current material together but it’s a little hard to focus on that when Mom’s out there every day trying to raise money and garner support for Howard Dean. I’ll get it posted when I can.

Thanks, George, for this opportunity to speak to fellow Democrats about this issue.

–Russell U. Richards, son of Meredith Richards (electronic mail, December 22, 2003)

Editor's Note: For reference, see Meadowcreek Parkway: Fighting for the Hearts and Minds of the Charlottesville Democratic Party and for the Community At Large, paying close attention to the original linked documents from which the questions are derived.

As stated in the preface, the purpose of the invitation for comment was to ask readers to consider communities of interest surrounding the discussion of Meadowcreek Parkway - as reflected in pieces recently placed on my web site.