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George, With the City Council campaign soon to become a focus in Charlottesville, I have been exploring some of the recent council actions, and participating in some ongoing council deliberations. Of particular current interest to me are how best to elect school board members; should council be considering at all a mall crossing for automobiles; and is a parkway through McIntire Park with a major interchange at McIntire Road and US Route 250 Bypass going to be a benefit or disaster for our community. To expand my thinking on these (and other issues) in our Charlottesville
community, I reviewed City Council's Vision for 2020 (available at Council's Vision (at least the list of major vision elements) is printed on council agendas provided at city council meetings. These items are presented as follows: "Mindful of our responsibility to future generations, Charlottesville will build a distinctive, world class, small city by ? ..Promoting a climate of excellence in public and private life, ..Providing quality, responsive, efficient and innovative citizen services, ..Creating opportunities for community members and future generations to reach their full economic, social, and cultural potential, ..Reaching across jurisdictional lines for regional progress, ..Sustaining our natural resources and enhancing the quality of our natural and built environment, ..Respecting the diversity of our population while building a unified community, ..Recognizing the rights and responsibilities of its citizens, and ..Summoning the courage to embrace positive change for the common good." What I have been discovering is that very little of the discussions on many recent council activities reflects this Vision for 2020, even though City Council's Vision Principle is as stated as follows: "Our Vision Principles The Charlottesville City Council will use these principles to guide its collective decision-making and to enable it to develop a strategic work plan to help achieve its vision for the future. In implementing these visions, we will demonstrate the courage to lead and will continuously evaluate the effectiveness of our efforts." Perhaps I am a bit of an idealist, but I would appreciate seeing council spend some time explicitly applying their Vision Principles to guide council's collective decision-making and to evaluate the effectiveness of their efforts. I for one am interested in hearing from those in our community who will be seeking election in May 2006 to serve on the next council how their vision for Charlottesville relates to this 2020 Vision, and if they can demonstrate the courage to include explicitly these vision principles in their campaign platform. I hope others in our community will join me in demanding that our current and future council members not lose sight of this vision and they will consider every issue that comes before (or is initiated by) council in its relationship to their Vision for 2020. I know I will be supporting candidates in the upcoming council election who best understand and can work toward this Vision for Charlottesville. I hope you will join me. Peter T. Kleeman (electronic mail, December 9, 2005)
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