Posts about Sharon Bulova

Press

The worst mainstream local articles of 2009

by David Alpert   •   January 6, 2010 2:03 pm

Yesterday, I highlighted reporters from the mainstream media who did a particularly good job of educating the public on urban issues in 2009.

Most of the time, the mainstream press either provides good coverage of local issues, or fills the rest of the space with fairly bland stuff that repeats press releases or each other's articles.

But every so often there is a real doozy of an article. A reporter or editor starts with some wrongheaded, ignorant, or even prejudicial idea, then runs way too far with it and fits every quote into a preconceived slant.

Here are 10 articles that rose to the top of the trash heap:

1. To Be or Not to Be Fairfax County? by Sandhya Somashekhar and Amy Gardner, The Washington Post, July 5 (article, GGW commentary). Cliche after cliche exalts the tennis clubs of Burke while casting walkable places like Merrifield as creepy and "blighted." It's an ode to sprawl that has absolutely nothing to do with the actual issue, whether Fairfax County should incorporate as a city to better control its roads and taxes.

2. Virginians See Bridge Closings As Dose of Northern Hospitality by Eric Weiss, The Washington Post, January 9 (article). The Secret Service closing bridges to traffic for the Inauguration was like the Civil War all over again, or at least so says AAA's Lon Anderson in a colorful quote Weiss is happy to turn into an inflammatory article. Weiss doesn't bother to note that the bridges would remain open to pedestrians and cyclists or the projections that large numbers of people would walk and bike to the Mall.

3. Ride At Your Own Risk by Mark Segraves and Adam Tuss, WTOP, October 20 (article, GGW commentary). Segraves and Tuss do some good investigative reporting to get years of Metrobus customer complaint data, then fit it into a preconceived slant about how bad buses are, when in fact complaints have declined in recent years. They also stake out a corner to catch a bus rolling through a stop sign while ignoring all the trucks that do it while they're waiting.

Development

Bulova: Tysons $15 billion is false

by David Alpert   •   November 4, 2009 2:35 pm

Fairfax County Chairman Sharon Bulova has published a rebuttal to last week's Post story claiming that the proposed Tysons Corner development will demand $15 billion in extra infrastructure investment. As we reported, that figure includes plenty of infrastructure unrelated or at best peripherally related to Tysons. Bulova writes:

An article in The Washington Post on Friday, October 30, 2009, "Tysons will need $15 billion—'with a B'" gives the impression that the costs for "Transforming Tysons" will break the bank and makes the changes unwise. Neither is true and it's important to put the order of magnitude cost estimates as presented by County staff last week, in context.

Photo by wyfurasko.

Starting with the $14.8 billion figure in staff's charts for "Projects Serving Tysons 2010 - 2030 and 2030 - 2050." Of this:

• $5.5 billion is for the Dulles Metrorail Silver line capital costs ($5.2 B), funding for which is already accounted for through tolls, federal funding, and special tax districts for commercial land owners in the area. Operating costs are estimated at ($0.3 B) over 40 years.

• $5.4 billion is for the future westward extension of the I-66 Metrorail line. Also included in this figure is an estimate for another Metrorail or other high capacity transit system extension in the County (location not yet identified). This figure includes estimates for commuter parking facilities outside of Tysons, and express bus service on the Beltway HOT lanes, I-66, and other major corridors, some of which will carry passengers to Tysons.

• $1.2 billion is for the proposed grid of streets within Tysons, including the costs of land. These costs will be captured in large part as development occurs.

Which leaves:

$2.7 billion in estimated transit and roadway capital and operating costs associated with the Tysons Plan over a 40-year period of time.

Transit

Breakfast links: How we do things in America

by David Alpert   •   March 2, 2009 8:03 am

More bars on the Metro: By 2012, customers of all four existing mobile networks will be able to use their phones in Metro tunnels. The new network will also provide Wi-Fi access. (Post)

Robert Moses what if: Vanshnookenraggen created some Google maps showing what Manhattan would look like if Robert Moses has gotten his Mid-Manhattan and Lower Manhattan expressways built.

What America are you from? An American tourist blocked the exits to a "car park" in Telford, UK. She'd lost her ticket, triggering a mandatory £6 charge, and refused to pay, insisting that nobody pays for parking where she comes from. (Shropshire Star via How We Drive)

LEEDing the way: LEED's 2009 revisions fix two major criticisms of the green building rating system. Retaining an old building gets more points than tearing one down, throwing away all the materials, and building a brand-new energy-efficient building in its place. Also, projects near transit and in dense urban areas will get a lot more points for location than under the old code. (Preservation Nation via Will Stephens)

Free Metro for life? 2,800 former Metro employees and board members have special farecards giving them unlimited rides, for life. Metro wouldn't say how much these cost the system, but the Examiner's Kytja Weir estimates it's at least $377,460 a year. Transit advocate Ben Ross defended the practice as "a legitimate part of compensation and retirement for employees." (Examiner via Unsuck DC Metro)

Honoring Gerry Connolly: The Coalition for Smarter Growth honored Congressman Gerry Connolly of Fairfax last week for his work promoting transit-oriented development, affordable housing, conservation and energy efficiency while Chairman of the Fairfax Board of Supervisors. Will Sharon Bulova continue his legacy? (Article XI)

Roads

Fairfax residents: ask your reps to stand by their vote against I-66

by David Alpert   •   February 23, 2009 11:47 am

The Fairfax Board of Supervisors is meeting this afternoon. This is a good opportunity for them to reconsider Chairman Sharon Bulova's hasty proclamation over the weekend that she would order Fairfax reps Catherine Hudgins and Linda Smyth to support a destructive and expensive I-66 widening.

The Board of Supervisors shouldn't make policy based on articles in the Washington Post. If you live in Fairfax County, please contact Bulova and your representative and ask them to stick by their earlier decision. Tell them that the Washington Post doesn't speak for you, and that if Virginia's leaders don't hang together to make VDOT keep its promises to Arlington, then the next community they ignore might be Fairfax.

Besides, the TPB vote just requires VDOT to look at other alternatives as they promised. Many observers say that if they were really serious, VDOT could finish that in just one year, not the three that VDOT claims it will take. Maybe that analysis will conclude that the lanes are the right choice. But VDOT should look at all options instead of simply assuming that new lanes are the only solution to every problem.

Politics

Sharon Bulova for Fairfax Chair

by David Alpert   •   February 2, 2009 2:56 pm

Tomorrow, Fairfax County voters will elect a "Chairman" for the Board of Supervisors, replacing Gerry Connolly who ascended to Congress. Current Supervisors Democrat Sharon Bulova and Republican Pat Herrity, along with Republican Independent Chris DeCarlo and others are vying for the seat. Anti-HOT lane group MAMMA asked the candidates for statements on transportation and other issues; Bulova's response clearly makes the case for readers to elect her as Chair.

Bulova's campaign said:

If elected she will... work to reduce traffic and make sure rail to Dulles gets built. Sharon chaired Mark Warner's commission on rail enhancement for the 21st century, proposed and implemented the creation of VRE, served as the Chair of the VRE's Operations Board four times, and has pushed through the creation of many transportation improvements in the county.

Herrity, on the other hand, wants to build more roads. His transportation page is much better than Bulova's sparse site. Unfortunately, while he does nod in the direction of mass transit, most of his transportation agenda involves adding more private auto capacity. He wants to build HOT lanes, the Techway, and Fairfax County Parkway, widen I-66, and more.

DeCarlo has only one message: lower taxes. Farifax's tax burden is already lower than DC's or Montgomery's, and the county desperately needs transit and other improvements to rescue it from gridlock that is crippling its growth. A balanced approach that recognizes the futility of endlessly adding highway lane miles is the right choice, and Fairfax voters should elect Sharon Bulova their next Chair.

Update: I mistakenly thought DeCarlo was the Republican nominee because I only received two candidate statements. I should have double checked. I've added a discussion of Pat Herrity, whose positions on transportation don't change my recommendation at all.