For the last two weeks leading up to my vacation, things started falling into place for me to wrap up a number of projects and other initiatives. For example, in one case, the final report for a long-running project was published while I was away, and in another, we finished a series of cost estimates and sent them along to the client on my last day in the office.
This trend of completing things also was a theme during my vacation - I finished the remaining hikes in my copy of "Best Easy Day Hikes in Shenandoah National Part" and will write about those. But the hot topic of the day has to be outcomes of the June 1 Page County Board of Supervisors meetings, which I touched on very lightly last week - the Page News and Courier headline has it "Project Clover put on Hold."
The meeting was attended by more than 150 people; there is a photo of the packed meeting hall, as well as a gathering on the courthouse steps featuring signs that say "EDA: Where are the Jobs?" and the like. Among many local citizens, there is a view that EDA's long-running focus and funding priority on the Project Clover land deal has come at the expense of other important goals and objectives - I share that opinion and have said so here on the blog.
Other important issues at this BOS meeting were concerns over a school closing in Page County, and recent job cuts at the County level. Revenues are down, and County leaders are looking at hard choices. My opinion was that in a ranking of priorities, you'd look at a boondoggle like Clover as a lower priority than other items - it is a project that might even make sense in better economic times, but that's not where things stand today.
As the PNC reports, at one point in the meeting, Chair Johnny Woodward held up the deed and said, "...The EDA budget does not have this in it. Let's clarify this, the budget they had two weeks ago does not have that payment in it. Notice how I said two weeks ago. Their new budget does have it in it. They think I don't know that, but I do."
Supervisor Jeff Vaughan said," ...This board has considered all the pros and cons, the timing, and the true impact on Page County. To me, what we have is a mistake - but we have to draw the line sometime and not continue the misery in which we put our County in."
And finally, Supervisor J.D. Cave added,"I'm the lone one here that voted for this project in the beginning. There are many things in my life that I've done that I'd like to go back and change, but I can't. This one I can."
These are all rational decisions, and these speeches, along with the BOS vote to postpone the project, were very brave moves by these leaders. I congratulate the board on their efforts to do the right thing for the County. The final outcome of the meeting was a vote not to fund Clover, to look for ways to keep from closing the school, and look for funds that will help prevent some of the proposed job cuts.
As far as the EDA goes, this was a pretty significant no-confidence vote for the current leadership and direction. A referral to the 2009 EDA plan shows a range of initiatives that attention could now turn to - things that can have both an immediate impact and would set the stage for longer-term growth. To the extent that's possible, that seems like the right next step for EDA.
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