Congratulations to Ann for a well-run, hard fought race. Now the real work begins. 🙂
Thank you for your service to our community.
The past four years have brought significant changes to Crozet – and these changes were demonstrated in today’s vote. Thanks also to those who voted – just over 49%! A huge turnout for an off-year election.
Seeing the ramifications and analysis to come will be very interesting.
Technorati Tags: albemarle, crozet
Here’s a new set of roadside signs I’d like to see…
Woke up this morning
Feeling cooked as a haddock
The county’s elected
Ann Huckle Mallek
I find it ironic that Ann was probably elected by a number of people who benefited from the recent growth in the area, who are suddenly interested in halting the growth…
The irony is not lost, no doubt.
I said before the race that I didn’t think David recognized the changes in this district. But – Ann swept all the districts, and not just Crozet; if she had won Crozet and not the rest I would be a bit more curious.
Perhaps most interesting is how she barely won Earlysville.
It’s also a shame that we have party affiliations at the local level.
The fact that Ann won in each of the white hall districts is a clear mandate for a change in direction that Mr. wyant was taking us.
Thankfully, in Ann, we have someone who understands the fact the Crozet master plan did not state, imply or mean taking Crozet to a population of 1/2 the size of Charlottesville.
Looking at the results of the Scottsville race, I’m glad I decided to drop out of the race. I would hate to think where Crozet would be with another 4 years of Wyant votes.
Like most voters in White Hall, I felt burnt by Wyant. Ann hasn’t’ reached the kitchen yet, so predicting what dish will result from her cooking is premature. I think most voters will wait and see. Until then, Mallek will rhyme with “winner”, not haddock.
Wyant presented himself as fiscally frugal. I agree with keeping a lid of excessive spending. But, how can you represent yourself as fiscally frugal if you seem to constantly choose the most costly option? If it costs 1 million dollars to put a flow control on Beaver Creek Reservoir vs. 80 million dollars for a plan to gear up Crozet for more commuters, then why not consider the less expensive option first? Why choose to build a new library, when a less expensive option exists that most residents support? Wyant’s campaign literature portrayed him as a gifted concrete and asphalt wizard, as well as a champion of low taxes. Sure, increased development and rezonings need infrastructure spending. But voters are rightly skeptical that the two are synonymous with either fiscal prudence or conservation.
Ann will face some similar pressures that Wyant faced after his election, leave election talk behind and become a dancer with intense development in Crozet. Republicans are not the only local party that has been playing a role in efforts to send more commuters to Crozet. Democrats on the BOS enthusiastically voted for rezoning efforts in Crozet as well. When Anne reaches the county office building, those supervisors, as well as the planning department, will have her ear.
Currently, Crozet faces a downtown rezoning that could take intense land use guidelines for downtown that are already contained in the Master Plan, and increase those guidelines so that 5-6 story condominiums are possible (and it shares some similarities to earlier efforts) This an interesting first test.
My hope is that Ann will talk publicly about the broader environmental cost of what has occurred in Western Albemarle. For instance, a local environmental group says that they believe the land use map of the Master Plan, if applied property by property, should bring 30K residents to Crozet. I agree. But local environmental leaders seemed to lapse into dead silence after crunching the numbers. Is a stream of thousands of cars going to and from Charlottesville to Crozet a sound environmental solution or not? If so, why?
The county and current BOS has lost credibility through their dealings with Western Albemarle. The sores will only continue to fester, hampering their efforts elsewhere. We need to approach the topic of Western Albemarle by reconsidering yesterday’s inflexible formulas. My hope is that Anne (and perhaps a new PC from Crozet) will facilitate that discussion of the broader costs — air and water — of sending more commuters into Western Albemarle.
Crozet residents haven’t always agreed on the long-term effects of Master Plans and infrastructure efforts, but whatever their position on those issues, there does seem to be an overwhelming majority that do not want more commuters shipped out to Crozet.
Mandate describes this election very well. If Anne’s victory is not a sign that the boggling of the population numbers in the Master Plan is on the minds of voters, then what is it? Though I am unsure of what will come out of the kitchen, voters could easily see the forgotten promises of the last 4 years were as distasteful as leftover tuna casserole. They voted accordingly.
I saw Ann out personally retrieving her campaign signs…..and that’s a good sign….that she is already working on the stewardship she preaches.