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TOPICS: downtown, town council
At a minimum, each Virginia Tech student spends nearly three quarters of the year in Blacksburg. As a result, each and every one of us is uniquely tied not just to Tech, but also to the town of Blacksburg. Everything that happens in Blacksburg happens to us.
Downtown Blacksburg is where we spend our weekends, where we get our lunches and where we stroll in our free time. Although you will never see advertisements for local elections in the middle of Monday night football or between episodes of “So You Think You Can Dance,” this does not mean that these are unimportant elections. In fact, in recent years Blacksburg has come across several issues that could change the town radically. Most famous was a failed bid by large retailer, believed to be Wal-Mart, to build a big box store in Blacksburg at the expense of the beauty of our town. These issues are by no means resolved as Blacksburg is a burgeoning town that will continue to experience growing pains as it struggles to become a larger city while retaining its original class and character.
Nearly 70 percent of the population of Blacksburg is comprised either of students or people directly involved with the university. It is important that we the faculty, the students and the staff of Tech find a strong voice in our town council. This year we have a wonderful opportunity to elect several candidates who can give a voice to the citizens of our fine university. There are three candidates who are not only involved with the university but also have already taken active roles in our community.
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All letters to the editor must include a name, e-mail, daytime phone number and affiliation to Virginia Tech. Affiliation includes: year and major for students; position and department for faculty and staff; current city for alumni and parents.
Interesting that the editorial board does not endorse candidates, but columnists can.
What about Krisha Chachra? She is a PhD candidate at Tech. So she is involved in the campus community. She also was born and raised in Blacksburg.
Greg Fansler is an Assistant Director of Alumni Relations at Virginia Tech, a fraternity adviser and a grad student at Tech.
These folks also work with Tech. Why not endorse them?
As for student involvement in local government and having a say, that is part of the purpose behind Town/Gown http://www.blacksburg.gov/Index.aspx?page=59
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I couldn't agree more Lisa. The CT has done a woeful job of covering this election in general. All we get is sound bytes and talking points from each candidate. Where is the actual reporting? Where are the in depth looks at the important issues? Does anyone at the CT know the first thing about the economics of the F&M development? Does anyone there know a lick about the old middle school debate? Do they know anything at all about Tom's Creek issues? Do they know anything at all about the downtown recycling project being instituted for businesses? If they do, they've tried very hard to make sure their readers do not!
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Then after not really covering the election in a meaningful way all semester, we get this pseudo-endorsement of 3 candidate because they are chosen as representatives of the student community? There are 3 CURRENT VT students in the race, but the CT writes that somehow only 1 of them would represent students and the VT community well? It just shows that their stated reasons for endorsing are clearly half-truths at best. If VT representation coupled with civic involvement were truly their principles, the endorsements would have been Carter, Chachra, and Fansler. If they want to endorse professionals that work for Tech, they'd say Anderson, Bush, Fansler and Sutphin.
This whole thing is a joke. I stopped reading the CT a long time ago for a variety of reasons but came back again this semester because I thought it was the only local news source that could provide the kind of coverage local elections deserve. Boy was I wrong!
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I cannot believe the bias I read. I personally will be glad when elections are done. The unequivocal support or lack therof of all the candidates. Blacksburg needs growth. But the powers that be appear to be too blind to realize it. Don't grow, hit em where it hurts--in their pocketbooks when they whine because they are raising taxes because they have no business income, or whine because everybody leaves Blacksburg to shop and/or eat because a select few stifle growth. Me, I'll be glad to ocntinue my quest to Christiansburg where our dollars and voice are appreciated or to Roanoke.
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Susie - You clearly don't know how Sales Tax Money Works. Blacksburg gets the same money from sales tax no matter where a store is in Montgomery County. Blacksburg benefits from sales at Christiansburg Wal-Mart and at Christiansburg Lowes the same way it does from sales at Blacksburg Heavener Hardware and Blacksburg First and Main stores.
Our dollars in Cburg effect Blacksburg the same - in terms of sales tax. The sales tax for Montgomery county is added up as a whole and then re-imbursements to Cburg and Blacksburg are split. Cburg could have more business than Bburg, but Bburg will still get a percentage of what Cburg sales tax brings in.
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But who would support Greg Fansler? His distaste for a vibrant downtown community and smart, sustainable development make him a rather repulsing candidate.
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I agree. Looks like someone either didn't research and/or is using the Collegiate Times to support their friends. That's what we get with "journalists" these days.
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I agree with Ken. The CT has done a horrible job in covering this and a horrible job with news coverage on all elections this semester! This town council election is making blacksburg history and this newspaper has done nothing to be a part of that. CT you are a joke and make a mockery out of journalism
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