757 Hampton Roads: A Greater Region. A Greater Life. » elections

Election Thoughts

757HR — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 17:09:40 +0000

I think that there should be a law requiring all incumbents to use only accomplishments acquired in the previous term on election-related materials. Additionally, they should only be allowed to use accomplishments that they actually pushed for. In recent weeks, I have noticed that most of the incumbents (not just in Norfolk) seem to use accomplishments that were completed long before the start of the current term. Better yet, some listed few, if any accomplishments, or listed accomplishments that had not yet been actually accomplished. It is tactics like this that deceive voters. It is also tactics like these that make voters vote for new people. Personally, I hope that nobody votes for an incumbent that has been in office for longer than two terms. Take Ms. Hester for example. Not to pick on her, but she has been in office for nearly 14 years. Despite this long running term, she is running on the idea that council has “lost its purpose.” While I definitely do not disagree, I feel the need to point out that when anyone is a member of an organization for 14 years, they become part of that organization. Council has not run off track in the last month or even year. Council has been off track for years. As a whole, Council has spent the past umpteen years pandering to developers while ignoring the needs of the residents of this city. Granted, the new development has not all been bad. Large projects such as Broad Creek and East Beach have been fairly successful. Unfortunately, the in-fill housing practices have not exactly been in the best interest of out neighborhoods. The houses that have been built are usually hideous when compared to the surrounding neighborhoods. My neighborhood is made up mostly of bungalows or other small houses. Most have porches. Few have attached garages. That said, when you build a new house that is noticeably larger than the surrounding houses with no porch and a large, ugly garage taking up half of the front of the house, visitors cringe. Technically, the surrounding property values have gone up due to this new construction. Personally, it makes the surrounding houses worthless to me.

Council’s typical reaction to opposition to an agenda item is to either listen and then vote for it anyway or defer it to a later date in hopes that the opposition can not make that meeting. If opposition continues, it seems to be getting more and more frequent that they have to take out petitions and costly lawsuits to have their voices heard. The City of Norfolk should not be spending money to defend itself against its residents. We need to create comprehensive plans with input from the residents of the city. Then the city needs to actually stick to the plans. These past failings can be attributed to our city leadership. We need new leaders. The current leadership has served its time. If they want to run again after a term of someone else, more power to them. All organizations need a change after awhile.

Norfolk Leaders: Take a Hint

757HR — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:51:05 +0000

In past years, Norfolk residents have never really seemed like they cared too much about who was running the city. Most elections went uncontested. Incumbents, almost without exception, were able to keep their comfortable seats. Four years ago, when Norfolk was finally able to popularly elect their mayor for the first time in nearly 100 years, the election was almost one-sided. In fact, had Dan Montague not stepped up to run against Fraim, it would have been. What happened, councilmen? Fraim now has three opponents. ‘Word on the street’ is that his seat is not the only challenged seat. Burfoot and Wright both have challengers for sure. There is a fourth that has possible opposition, although I cannot remember if it was Williams or Riddick. Also, regardless of Hester’s victory or failure in the mayoral race, she has to relinquish her council seat. This may be a new beginning for Norfolk. The remaining council members might want to take note and remember who they work for.

Do they know something we don't?

757HR — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:56:57 +0000

How is it that the news stations were able to call the results of the elections before 7PM? They close at 7. How do they know the results before they are reported? Are they basing their results solely on prior polls?

I think that a law should be passed that would make it illegal to report the results of an election before 95% of the precincts have reported. I get tired of hearing the election results getting called before the polls have even closed. This is especially true for Presidential elections. In the 2008 Election, the results were pretty much finalized by the media before all the states had their votes in.

Get out and VOTE!

757HR — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:30:12 +0000

****200th POST****200th POST****200th POST****

Today is the day! Election Day! I hope that you have made you choice thoughtfully and that you go to the polls and vote. Today is the chance you have to make your voice heard. Tell our officials what you think by voting for the candidate that shares your views the most.

Creigh Deeds Rally

757HR — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:00:02 +0000

Creigh Deeds Rally 2009 - Norfolk, VA

Before I continue, let me enlighten you if you did not previously know my sentiments. It is always difficult for me to choose a candidate due to my pickiness and tendency towards a candidate that is, in my opinion, the most good for the most situations. In addition, I tend to vote for the person that is not the incumbent, unless (in the rare instance) the incumbent has actually made improvements to our problems. Politically, I tend to vote more Republican than Democrat, however I will never vote for somebody solely on what party they belong to. My preferred party is actually Libertarian because I feel that the less government the better.Regardless of what I believe however, I also feel that it is every individual’s own duty to decide who they should vote for based on their own personal preferences.

That said, I attended the Creigh Deeds Rally at the Ted Constant Convocation Center in Norfolk yesterday. I was not planning on attending, but my grandfather called me up with an extra ticket and asked me to go. So I did. At first, I felt kind of dirty and uncomfortable actually, being in a room with a large crowd of Democrats. I quietly failed to mention to those around me that I had not voted for Obama, nor did I think that he has been as spectacular of a President as they did. Regardless, as I snapped a total of 1,160 photographs, I listened to each Democratic candidate endorse themselves and each other. In attendance and speaking, we had Steve Shannon (Attorney General Candidate), Jody Wagner (Lieutenant Governor Candidate), City of Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones, current Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, Creigh Deeds (of course), and President Obama. I actually got the most influence from Mr. Deeds’s speech. He was not a particularly good public speaker, but he was intelligent. He spoke of how his experiences growing up have shaped his view of politics today. Compared to McDonnell, he seems to be more “Virginian,” having lived in Virginia for most of his life. McDonnell, on the other hand has lived virtually everywhere else. Deeds knows what he wants to do and what should be done, his only problem is explaining it during his campaign stops.

I am voting for Deeds on Election Day. I feel that it is the correct decision for myself and I hope that it would be for you, but that is for you and only you to decide.

As I mentioned earlier, President Obama was there and regardless of who you are or how you feel about him, it still is a great feeling to shake hands with the President of the United States of America.

Finally, everybody always found pictures of Bush that made him appear less than intelligent. I always found them hillarious and so, had to post this one of President Obama:

"Oooooo, a teleprompter..."

I just had to.