Fw: Buzzards Gap

Thu Feb 26 07:40:33 CST 2004

Forwarded to Bike Committee list at the request of Councilwoman Woodson.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Councilwoman Joyce Woodson 
To: Bruce&Linda Dwyer 
Cc: Fay and Jack Slotnick ; Fay Slotnick ; Howard Woodson 
Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2004 11:28 PM
Subject: RE: Buzzards Gap

Dear Bruce:
Excuse me, but I think your letter grossly over exaggerates the situation.  You did not fairly represented my statements nor my intent.  If you have any question about the numbers who spoke for or against the item you have only to contact the city clerk for accurate figures.  You are not privy to my emails and therefore have no idea how many wrote or called to express their opinion.   Further, I am not anti-trail nor anti-park and you know it.  I fully supported the Open Space plan and the visioning exercises that include open space as a priority.  Your effort to make me out to be an ogre is terrible and you should be ashamed or yourself.  You have publicly judged me to be the enemy -- mean spirited and dangerous. I thought we had a reasonable relationship, Bruce.  Apparently I was very wrong.  Reasonable people do not do what you just did.  

That said, before you continue to spread these vicious and malicious rumors of my fear mongering I suggest you talk to the minister about the near comatose overdose victim they pulled out of Buzzards Gap this summer.  (I guess the police conveniently forgot about that episode.)  When you finish talking to him, go over to the high school and discuss the idea with John Porter.  He will share his experiences  trying to keep the kids out of the woods where they are doing exactly what I spoke about on Saturday and Tuesday.  Then, while you are at it, talk to the school superintendent about the idea, or to Mark Wilcoff the chairman of the school board.  Ask the principal at Frances Hammond why the kids are not allowed in the woods.   

As the bad guy, I take heart that my opinion puts me in such good and respected company Bruce.  I will not let your nasty words and this nasty attempt or yours or anyone's to publicly besmirch my character nor to change my opinion of the reality of the situation.   We are opening a can of worms and no one will care until someone is hurt.  We need to stop living in denial in this city.  Our kids are using drugs and drinking at the tender age of 12.  Just ask the school system.   We needn't offer them the opportunity to do it ... that was my concern and will remain my concern.  While I am not suggesting all children are creating mischief, too many are and as adults we are charged with intervention when ever and where ever possible. I will stand in the court of public opinion all day to save our children.

One last point: I never suggested crime would be a problem; in fact I stated I did NOT believe we would have thugs lurking to mug someone or homeless people moving in.  Unfortunately, kids seeking mischief and adults out for a stroll are not on the same wave length.  Trust me, they will not frequent the trail at the same time.  This is not part of a park system nor will it have a constant stream of visitors or monitoring.  

Now, I ask that you please send my reply to your hidden email list.  Even politicians get their day in court; even bad guys get to face their accusers.  Buzzard doesn't just refer to a gap.

Regards,

Joyce Woodson
City Council Member
Alexandria, Virginia
Of. 703-838-4500
Fx. 703-684-6034
council at joycewoodson.net
www.joycewoodson.net
Office hours by appointment 

  -----Original Message-----
  From: Bruce&Linda Dwyer [mailto:ouibike at worldnet.att.net]
  Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2004 5:23 PM
  To: William D. Euille; Rob Krupicka; Redella S. Pepper; Paul Smedberg; Ludwig Gaines; Joyce Woodson; Andrew MacDonald
  Cc: Eileen Fogarty; sandra whitmore; Phil Sunderland
  Subject: Buzzards Gap

  FYI

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Bruce&Linda Dwyer 
  To: BSC 
  Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2004 12:11 PM
  Subject: Buzzards Gap

  Friends of Trails, Bicyclists and Pedestrians on the Bicycle Study Committee list serve,

  As usual, good news, bad news on the Buzzard's Gap situation.
  The good news (maybe): The Council passed the SUP with an amendment for an easement with the staff recommended  option B 15 foot path that would have two 90 degree turns in it that I believe may be restricted to pedestrian use. Any path proposal would be subject to the public hearing process.  The initial SUP motion without the path easement was offered by Pepper.  Krupicka offered the path amendment which passed 4(Krupicka, Gaines, Macdonald, Smedberg) to 3 (Pepper, Woodson, Euille) and the final SUP was passed by with the same vote.  

  Discussion went on for a long time maybe 30-45 minutes on top of the hour spent on this at the Saturday Public Hearing. A lot of time spent with no clear consensus on the merits of this path or interconnecting neighborhood paths in general.
  Woodson and Pepper dominated the discussion with statement that this path will provide an opportunity for misadventure by young teens and for other crime.  The police testified steadfastly that in general based on city crime statistics, trails and parks in the city are not hot spots for crime.  Woodson and Pepper persisted in promoting the crime angle despite the police testimony and statements by Krupicka and Parks Director Whitmore that nationally, neighborhoods with parks and trails are safer because people frequent them, which is a deterrent to crime.  Krupicka also cited the evidence that interconnecting parks and trails promote community spirit, safe routes to school, etc.  Macdonald and Smedberg said that they were not convinced that a path will work in this location but would vote for the easement to see if a more fully developed proposal with full public input can emerge. I don't believe Gaines made any comments.

  On the bad news side:
  -Trails and parks have been characterized by one planning commission member and  two City council members as potential havens for crime and mischief.  I consider this as fear mongering that will do the open space and trails plan serious damage.

  -New trails that need to go close to private property will be faced with the same arguments.  Alexandria is a highly developed city and interconnecting neighborhoods will naturally require some retrofitting of trails.

  -The process of getting any neighborhood trail approved will be long and arduous.  For Buzzard Gap, Council guidance is for public hearings before Park and Rec. Commission, Planning Commission, City Council, all with coordination with Environmental Policy Commission and Police. This will be a significant burden on existing staff that has little or no formal training in multi-use path planning and design.

  -We only have one clear City Council member Rob Krupicka as a champion for interconnectivity of trails. 

  -Woodson said that the vast majority of speakers spoke against the easement and the decision needs to be based on what the public is saying.  I did not keep count, but at least 7 spoke in favor of the trail and 2 more spoke in favor of keeping the area open so people could have access.  I think that this was a significant voice.  She not only is mischaracterizing the nature of the public hearing input but also did not pay credence to the survey results that 63% of Alexandrians think trails are the most important recreation need in the city.

  More  good news (really):  Macdonald formally requested the City Manager to look into making the temporary Mt Vernon Trail alignment permanent.  Bruce made a presentation to the Waterfront Committee and Jerry discussed this at the Wilson Bridge Neighborhood Task Force meeting and Macdonald said that letters of support would be coming from both groups.  Later in the meeting in reference to affordable housing, the City Manager said that the Hunting Towers area was going to be the subject of a small area plan starting this spring and concluding by 12/31/2004.  Not sure, but the trail may also come under this study.  He seemed to indicated that VDOT would (or should) not go ahead with a sale without this information.  This is all a little fuzzy to me.

  Thanks to those of you who wrote letters and/or testified at the public hearing: Bill Dickinson, Bill Hendrickson, Dave Levy, Ann Hunt, Larry Grossman, Don Mela, Scott Newsham, Kenyon Larson, and anybody else I may have overlooked.  I am afraid there is an uphill battle for trails and bicycles in Alexandria.  I had hoped that survey results and benchmarking to the successes in other communities would carry more weight with our city staff and elected officials.  But, it seems that the constituency to serve is still perceived as those that speak out in letters and at public hearings.  Over the last 12 years, the Bike committee has done the vast majority of the technical work of planning for trail locations.  It would appear that the focus must now turn to getting a vocal constituency.  

  Bruce Dwyer

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