Opinion 

Some of the many tasks performed by civic associations like LOCCA (Lake Ridge Occoquan Coles Civic Association) or MIDCO (Mid County Civic Association of Prince William) include courtesy review of plans, SUPs (Special Use Permit) and rezoning. These civic associations are volunteer groups, usually (but not always) with officers elected by a general membership.

Most of the civic associations have experts in their groups, with specialties like land use and transportation expertise. Many of these groups are also community stewards, protecting the environment and resources on behalf of their communities.

Some associations have been around a long time, like Dale City Civic Association. Some of our areas overlap as in OLR, (Occoquan Lake Ridge Civic Association.) Some of our districts abut and some of our challenges are the same, yet many of those challenges are unique. WPCCA was established in 2008 to address the Woodbridge and Potomac Communities and NAA was formed to address issues in, but not limited to, the Neabsco district.

There is a CDCA (Coles District Civic Association) that has no physical meetings and there is FOCAL (Federation of Civic Associations for Land use) that is composed of members of several of the above listed groups.

One of the unique conditions we review is proffers. Proffers are cash or non-cash contributions from builders and developers. There is oversight administration of proffers as a part of the Prince William County Planning Office that clearly defines what proffers are, what they are used for, and what benefits they provide.

One of the most interesting documents of all time (if you’re interested in land use) is this one, titled,
Monetary Contributions Report. If you really want to read the 33 pages, though, I recommend you download and save the document, then rotate the “view” feature on your PDF viewer to save your neck from permanent tilt!

One would think the proffer process is very cut and dried, since its acceptance in Prince William County in 1976, but often it is left to the civic associations to “negotiate” proffers, fine tuning what is possible with what is necessary to get the best for our communities.

Trying to explain this proffer process to readers in about 500 words is not going to be possible. I’m likely to bore you. (In fact, I think I found myself nodding off in the midst of this!) So, I recommend you start with an easy example of a courtesy review of an SUP and the ensuing proffer.

Visit our Neabsco Action Alliance web page to view the presentation by Frank Stearns on behalf of AT&T to erect a communications facility (a cell tower) in Keytone Park. By viewing the brief slideshow, you can see what is involved in the SUP. We (NAA and LOCCA) are reviewing the construction of the facility and have been advised by Supervisor Jenkins the proffers are two streetlights for Keytone Rd.

Let me know what you think in the comments or send me an email. You are also welcome to join NAA on December 10^th, (7:00 PM in Room 107 A&B, in the Development Services Building, 5 County Complex Court) when we host a courtesy review for a proposed auto sales establishment on Smoketown Rd.

Both these projects are located in the Neabsco District, but we welcome all Prince William County residents to our civic association meetings and we’d like to see many more citizens get involved with their communities.

Opinion

The exhumation of Lynn Family graves at the site of the soon-to-be-built 12th high school has been controversial and heart rending.

All week long, email has been exchanged, with friends, with colleagues, elected officials and reporters. Before I write another sentence, I’d like to thank Jill Palermo, writing for insidenova.com, who has produced a series of articles, beginning on August 23, regarding the gravesite at the proposed 12th high school.

If not for Palermo’s efforts, none of us might have noticed what was happening, the Lynn family may never have learned the whereabouts of their ancestors as Palermo wrote on Nov. 18 , and this loss of a piece of our history may have gone unnoticed. Her continued efforts and research culminating in this article from Nov. 21 captured the attention and helped Dr. Bill Olson, Chairman of the Historical Commission’s Cemetery Committee share his concerns about the site and the exhumation.

Our Potomac Local editor, Uriah Kiser, wrote about the situation on Nov. 18 and again on Nov. 19. WRC-TV reported on Nov. 18 and WUSA-TV posted this video report.

The video from the school board hearing may have answered some questions, but for many of us, the answers were not sufficient. PWCS has posted a lot of information on this page, but I am very much aware this information was not posted prior to the outcry of residents.

I thank Delegates Scott Lingamfelter and Rich Anderson for championing the citizens and the Lynn family. Our representatives of the 31st and 51st Districts and their staff have been extraordinarily helpful and I believe we may see some state regulation to ensure this situation is not repeated.

I am so disappointed, not only in the way this situation has been handled, but in the lack of direct communication from our local elected officials. I do appreciate Chairman Stewart and Supervisor Nohe’s efforts to enact a new policy to ensure no other gravesites are violated without proper notification of the family, but it feels like a case of “Too little, too late.”

There was a time when any one of us concerned citizens could pick up the phone or send an email and get a response directly from our elected officials. That seems to happen less and less, as responses now are often through a spokesman. I understand it is becoming near impossible to interact with every constituent with a problem, since each district now has a population over 65,000 residents.

Our county has grown too large, too fast. There is an enormous push to get this school up out of the ground. Economic Development is scrambling to get jobs here that are more than retail and restaurant.

State and Prince William County transportation officials are hustling to catch up with roads to transport all these new residents.

We continue to build homes at an alarming pace, we’re consuming all the old growth and wetlands with promises to mitigate or relocate…Isn’t that like robbing Peter to pay Paul?

I want to leave you with a thought that plagued me all week:

Tourism is the best idea for Prince William County. Tourism means people come here, spend their money, enjoy their visit and then go home to their own state or county, where their children go to school.

Our primary resource for tourism is our history. How horribly ironic it is that we have obscured this site. Worse still, how many times has this happened before the press, the citizens and the internet became the watchdogs of development and the protectors of our resources?

Opinion

My Grandpa said, “Trust has to be earned.” I believed him because I believed everything he told me. Today, though, I’m not sure that was accurate. I think we all start life trusting. Just picture the joy when you toss your toddler in the air! That child trusts you to catch him/her. If you missed, that child may develop mistrust, but it is not an inherent, natural part of childhood.

TRUST: noun: trust
1. firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.
“relations have to be built on trust”

What happens to change that trust? Does trust begin to erode when children discover there is no Santa, no Easter Bunny, or no Tooth Fairy? Do we stop trusting when Dad says he’s taking your dog to “The Farm”, when what he really meant was he was having your elderly friend euthanized?

Is trust something you lose all at once or is it bitten off a piece at a time when you look at the photo of the food you ordered and are faced with the sad imitation when it arrives on your tray? Does your trust diminish when you open a package that you think should be full and it looks half empty? There’s a caveat on the box that reads, “Contents may settle due to shipping.” Are you satisfied with that explanation?

So, perhaps it becomes our nature to be skeptical about people we should trust or used to trust. Certainly, when we read, “Canada says 386 Kids Rescued in porn bust” and discover among those arrested are teachers and doctors, our trust is tarnished. When we read about pedophiles in the Catholic Church or trusted child care providers abusing children in their care, it is no small wonder we have become jaded.

Add to the mix CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) Photoshop, magicians, and optical illusions.
Is it any wonder when we hear some declaration like President Obama vowing to eliminate homelessness for the current 62,000 veterans sleeping in the streets by 2015, we doubt? (It seems especially doubtful after the healthcare.gov debacle.)

So, when Prince William County Schools contract to exhume 13 graves, without investigation by our top notch experts on the Cemetery Committee of the Prince William Historical Commission, and after posting the most minimal of notice in the Washington Post Classifieds, is it any wonder we feel mistrust?

What could possibly be the big rush to move these remains? Why couldn’t this be delayed until adequate public notice was given? I have been told the state only received two objections to the exhumation. I don’t think that is surprising, since practically no one knew about this in time to take any action to delay the proceedings. Why is there no attempt to alter the plans, fence the cemetery and show respect to the dead as we have done in so many other locations in Prince William County?

There are quite a few of us asking questions now. We’re asking the School Administration, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, our School Board Representatives and we’re asking our elected officials. To date, I have received a response from Prince William County Executive Melissa Peacor stating the county’s School Board is ultimately responsible for school projects.

Peacor’s response was polite, but not satisfying.

School Board members have asked that we just be patient until Prince William schools officials respond and another told me she shares our concerns and will be seeking more information.

Unfortunately, since exhumation began on Veteran’s Day, we may all be too late. 

Opinion 

I heard a rumor today. There’s a possibility of snow next week! All right, I didn’t actually hear a rumor, but I did read several Facebook posts, like this one from WMAL Radio and another from accu-weather.com. After the last few years, it seems early November is too soon for snow, but if we know anything about NoVa, it’s that you never know what’s coming next.

To be prepared now will mean no last minute panic with everyone racing out for their typical “bread, milk toilet paper and snow shovel.” Today is as good a day as any to find your shovel. If you can’t find it, maybe you need to clean out your shed. (This happens to me all the time. I set out on a mission and get side-tracked.

While looking for the snow shovel, I see all the cobwebs that have accumulated in the shed. Next thing you know, I have dragged all the lawn equipment out onto the lawn!)

I couldn’t find my snow shovel. I’m pretty sure it’s because I don’t have one. I had one. I actually had three, but I believe they were worn out and I thought I would replace them at the end of the season.

I don’t think I actually followed through with that plan, though.

I am undeterred because I have a secret weapon! One year, for Christmas, my romantic, thoughtful husband bought me a snow plow! You may scoff. You may think, “What? How about a nice piece of jewelry?” Believe me, the snow plow is the best gift he EVER bought for me!

In our nearly 40 years of marriage, up until the snow plow blessed our home, Bill never shoveled snow. I would always get up before daylight and get the driveway shoveled so he could go to work. Then I shoveled the walks. I shoveled neighbors’ driveways. I shoveled neighbors’ walks. One year I shoveled an entire intersection after the snow plows left banks six-feet high and a single lane open. I worked all day until there were two lanes in every direction.

Most people who have survived winter driving in this area once, stay home the next time. I absolutely am afraid to drive in snow! I’m not afraid I will wreck. I have four wheel drive on a pickup and grew up in Indiana, where we had big snows and lived in Illinois, where we had even bigger snows. What I am afraid of is that someone else will hit me!

To help you brace for the coming season, here’s a video from VDOT to help you track where the plows are. I sincerely hope everyone who can stay home, does stay home when it snows and lets the emergency crews do what they need to do.

I am going to list a couple of my favorite recommendations for snowy weather. Add yours in the comments. Oh, and the reason that snow plow is such a great gift? My husband likes to use it!

Snowfall checklist:
If there is snow forecast, please get your vehicles off the street to let the snow plows do their best work.
When you shovel, please do not throw the snow out into the street! Throw it into your yard. The streets will clear faster with much less icing from freeze/thaw.
Get a weather radio and keep it turned on.
You should already have an emergency kit from tornado season. Be sure batteries are still fresh and add a warm blanket.
Check on older or disabled neighbors and clear a path for them.
What are some of your favorite tips for snowy weather?

Opinion 

Do you remember, when you were a child, how you were always waiting for something? It seemed like nearly every day was spent in anticipation of some glorious event.

We waited for school to begin or we waited for school to end. Birthdays seemed much longer than a year apart, especially those important years, like age 6 to start school (In Indiana, we started school at age six if you were born by December 31.) Pre-school and Kindergarten were virtually unheard of, at least where I grew up, so, six was a major birthday!

Thirteen was awesome because then we were teenagers! Age 16 was magic if you were lucky enough to have a vehicle to drive. Eighteen meant you were old enough to join the service. Twenty-one and you were finally an adult. (I have never forgiven the state of Indiana for lowering the legal drinking age to 18 in the year I turned 21!)

In between those mile-marker years were holidays and holy days. I always felt lucky to be Catholic because we celebrated lots more days than kids in public schools. We had eight Holy Days and nearly all of them fell during the school year. I was intrigued with All Saints Day, not only because occasionally we got a three day weekend, but that there were individual feast days for saints and then they ALL had a birthday celebration on November 1!

All Souls Day remained a little murky for me. Halloween and All Saints Day were filled with fun, candy and a celebration, so the prospect of honoring the souls in Purgatory and praying for their release was sort of a return to the solemnity that I typically associated with my religion.

I waited with gleeful anticipation for many events, like the birth of my children. I waited for my husband to make rank, because it meant a little more money in our military pay.

There are other kinds of waiting, not nearly so pleasant, like waiting in line at the commissary, waiting in the aptly named rooms of countless doctors and dentists through the years. There’s waiting in traffic that consumes our time needlessly and makes us irritable and late.

There’s the awful waiting for a diagnosis to be made. Our nerves become stretched tight, our fists clenched in fear and desperation for news we never want to hear. There’s waiting late at night, pacing the floor, agonizing over those same children you once waited for in gleeful anticipation.

Sometimes I have to stop myself. I have to say aloud, “Stop waiting!” Find something productive to do while you wait. Fill your heart with busy! Crowd your mind with the need to help others and soon, you’ll find you are no longer waiting.

Perhaps the oddest observation of all is as we get older, it seems time passes faster. One day you look around and find you are no longer waiting. Suddenly you wish you could slow everything down! So much of life is behind you and there is, for the first time, less life ahead. That happens to most people around the age of 45…I just noticed it today! 

So what? Halloween is over. Bring on the Thanksgiving Turkey! Get out the Christmas tree! Happy New Year!

Opinion

Are you a responsible person? Do you get to work on time, meet your obligations, take care of friends and family, keep up your property, call your mother and pay your bills on time?

If yes, then you probably are a responsible person!

Sometimes I find myself wondering if people have lost their sense of responsibility.

Here’s an example: Have you ever seen small children in your neighborhood who were outside, unsupervised, running out into the street, dashing out from between cars, or riding their bikes in the middle of the road? The first thought that flashes through my mind is, “Oh, Dear God, protect them!” As soon as my heart slows to a normal pace, the next thought follows, “Where are the parents? That child could have been killed?”

Do you think those children, unsupervised, denote irresponsible behavior on behalf of the parents?(Actually very few child pedestrians are killed by vehicles in comparison to other causes of childhood death. That’s likely a topic for another day.)

All right, try this one: You never leave your shopping cart in the middle of the lot or in a parking space. You always dutifully walk your cart back to the corral. (If you don’t do that, quit reading here. You are most decidedly NOT a responsible person!) What happens if you see someone else’ cart in the middle of the lot or in a parking space? Do you take that cart back to the corral where it belongs, or do you think, “Well, I didn’t put it there, so I’m not taking it back!”

Declaring yourself a responsible person is not an easy task! Through the years, the idea of responsibility seems to have shifted. It often seems to me that people go to extravagant measures to shirk their responsibilities. I realize there are lots of extenuating circumstances why someone may be unable to meet their obligations, like medical conditions or disability may make it impossible for someone to work and earn a living or pay their bills. I’m sure I could name lots more reasons why someone may be excused from their obligations, but for brevity we’ll move along.

I read two stories this week that prompted this train of thought. The first was an article declaring Louis Osbourne (Ozzy Osbourne’s son) declared bankruptcy. He’s 38 years old, and while he didn’t state his reasons, he looks pretty healthy to me! I think it would be irresponsible to ask his very wealthy parents to give him money, but to avoid bankruptcy, I think it would be perfectly all right to ask for a low interest loan from Ozzy and Sharon, as long as Louis Osbourne would be paying that back.

Then, I read Michelle Singletary’s column in the Washington Post on Oct.11. She told of a couple who have struggled to pay off their bills through devastating health problems and job loss. It took them many years, but they were rewarded with knowing they paid their debts. (They were also honored as client of the year by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling)

Their story is remarkable and encouraging. I hope you’ll take a few minutes to read Ms. Singletary’s column and then watch this video of Wendall and Linda Ramage. They are definitely my heroes and if I gave an award, it would be for “The Most Responsible People.”

Opinion 

At lunch with a couple of friends last week, we discussed (among many other things) diversity. Both my friends are honest, open-minded folk, both care and are concerned for their fellow men and women. Both friends are intelligent, well-educated and well connected.

That conversation spurred me to take that topic a little bit further, as often happens when curiosity is piqued. I knew exactly what that word, “diversity” meant. You probably already know that it means: the inclusion of different types of people (as people of different races or cultures).

I don’t like that word. It sounds like division not unity. It made me wonder how many words start with the letters D, I, or V.  One site states there are 157 words that begin with D, I, or V. Before I started looking at them, I was already thinking ahead with terms like divide, divorce, and divest.

I actually thought the prefix was “div”, but it is only “di” That prefix occurs in loanwords from Greek, where it meant “two,” “twice,” “double”. It’s really a variant of “dis”

All right! “Dis”! Now we’re getting someplace! Except we’re not, because a whole slew of “dis” words popped in my head, like “discordant” “disgust” and “disagree” There are an amazing 1619 words that begins with “Dis” and not one of them sound like unity to me.

Many years ago, when I first began working for Non-Appropriated Funds at Scott AFB, we received training in “race relations”. I looked that up, too, but found nothing remotely like the class the Air Force taught. Our class was designed to teach EEO (Equal Employment Opportunity). EEO was understanding that all people are equal and there can be no discrimination when hiring or promoting employees.

I pretty much aced that class. I grew up attending a Catholic school, where the majority of students was white, but there were plenty of black children, too. There were no Hispanics or Asians or any other race that I recall, but not because of exclusion. It was a small, poor, Indiana town without a lot of opportunities that would encourage people to move there.

I lived for a number of years in subsidized housing. (They were called “the projects,” a hat tip to the Urban Renewal Projects that spawned them. There, white people were a minority, but I never felt excluded.

During the 60s my heroes were Martin Luther King Jr.,  John F.Kennedy and Robert F.Kennedy. All those men shaped my life. They were all about unity. No one talked about diversity…we talked about coming together, and “one nation.”

So, I asked my friends, why would anyone declare they belong to the Republicans for Black Empowerment? Doesn’t a title like that divide us instead of unite us?

I was surprised when one of them told me there are a lot of white people in the Republicans for Black Empowerment. He said that group exists to encourage more black people to seek office, particularly as Republicans. That sounds like a very fine idea! I definitely agree with the premise, but if I started a group called, “White People Power,” I’m pretty sure that sounds like the klan or white supremacists. If I began a movement for white people month, I feel certain that I would be called prejudiced.

I don’t think I want to be diverse. I don’t think I want anyone else to be diverse, either. I want what we struggled through the 60s to achieve; unity and equality. Stop celebrating diversity and start celebrating unity. Stop telling me you’re Hispanic or Black or Asian or anything else. Tell me you’re American. Tell me you want to run for office because you are the best candidate. 

Opinion 

I have the ability to think for myself. Better still, I have a desire to genuinely understand all sides of an issue. I don’t have a lot of campaign savvy. I never studied political science, nor did I participate on any debate team, but if you want to know what it takes to win my vote, here’s the way it works for me.

A successful campaign is not about “winning” a race.  It’s about achieving an opportunity to do good for the majority of people with a defined need. A successful campaign has nothing to do with personal gain. I’m sure we all get a little weary of reading the rants, blame slinging, self-serving rhetoric and incessant yammering of people declaring themselves to be the one visionary who has it all in perspective.

I know I get sick of all the pompous declarations, the flag-waving attempts to appeal to my patriotism, the subliminal messages designed to push my buttons, the media messages, and the continual assault on my senses and sensibilities all designed to sell me an idea.

Here’s a fact for all those candidates and incumbents: You don’t know me. You don’t know what’s in my heart or in my head. Your endless attempts to manipulate my vote by appealing to some issue you think matters to me will not work.

I realize I am a minority, not as a woman, but as a free thinker. I remain unencumbered by loyalty to any political party. I am motivated to vote for a candidate by what he or she has shown me, not what some campaign manager told me.

I am completely turned off by any candidate who opens his mouth to sling mud about his or her opponent. Don’t talk to me about your opponent! Talk to me about what YOU can do. Don’t make accusations, don’t try to artfully disparage your opponent, and don’t stretch the truth to make yourself look good at the expense of making someone else look bad.

If you are an incumbent, you are certainly welcome to tell me all the good things you’ve already done, as long as you include the things you are going to do in your next term. If you are a challenger, don’t spout those talking points unless you have the data to back it up. Show me a plan, convince me your idea is best or even that it will work.

If you have made an error, committed an indiscretion or been guilty of misjudgment, I forgive you. I’m fairly certain politicians are human and I do not expect perfection.

What I want, what I demand, is that you do the best job you can do, without bias, prejudice or unfair advantage. I expect a man or woman of honor and integrity, someone who cannot be bought with gifts or favors. I will vote for the person who is not looking to make a name or a career in politics, but is intent on serving for as long as he or she is effective as a leader. Show me that and you don’t have to “win” my vote. I’ll humbly drop it at your feet.

Opinion

Last week, I began to feel prospects dimming in the search for a government or contractor job. Seven months have passed since smart companies caught wind of sequestration and began paring their ranks. Bill, being a well-compensated employee was in the vanguard of layoffs. I’ve begun considering the possibility my husband may no longer find employment in the cleared jobs he’s done all his life and perhaps would need to look outside the federal service sector.

First, I searched for “employers Prince William County.” That term yielded some pretty good information, such as this story from the Washington Business Journal. The author, Michael Neibauer, is a staff reporter. His data wasn’t exactly heartening if one is seeking a professional, technical position, as he summarized the employment prospects by declaring the top ten employers in Prince William County using the 2011 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report.

Seeking justification, I worked with my research partner, Google. I gained an excellent result with this document: the Virginia Community Profile, compiled by the Virginia Employment Commission. That document is the jackpot if you like simple statistics. There, on page 21, I found a list of the top 50 Prince William County employers.

For brevity, here’s the top ten. I encourage you to look at the entire document.

1. Prince William County School Board

2. U.S. Department of Defense

3. County of Prince William

4. Wal Mart

5. Morale Welfare and Recreation

6. Sentara Healthcare

7. Wegmans Store #07

8. Minnieland Private Day School

9. Northern Virginia Community College

10. Target Corp

In addition to learning who the top employers are, there’s lots of information about working in, or outside Prince William County. I can’t say it was great to learn that computer and math careers fall in the top five of unemployment claims. (Page 17) Then, on page 22, I discovered 7016 persons work for the federal government and 17,683 persons work for local government. Well, there’s something to work with.

My next search took me to the Human Resources page. There, I found 34 positions open, but only one in IT (Information Technology) and it was for a Geographic Information Systems Division Chief, nothing even remotely like an Oracle Database Administrator.

Looking at the remainder of the Virginia Community Profile, I saw diminishing numbers of employees. It appears if you are a professional Oracle DBA with many years of experience, you will not find a job in Prince William County, with or without a clearance.

In fact, after seven months of searching both within a 30 mile range and outside of it, using every conceivable job search that may yield results, such as: Indeed,  Simply Hired, Bright, Monster, Beyond, and Dice as well as every friend we have in the industry, we remain unemployed.

A shutdown of the Federal Government looms, certainly further decreasing opportunities. The economy is plugging along, the stock market is doing well, yet day after day, more people just give up looking for work. If you want a sobering look at the state of jobs, not just here, but all over the United States, have a look at this document from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

It may seem increasingly difficult to remain optimistic. Yes, we’re down…but we’re not out!

I continue to hope for the best, but I am beginning to wonder if I have prepared for the worst.