| Del.
Plum Needs to Explain Action on Wiehle Charter |
| To the editor: |
| On Jan. 3, I attended a public meeting hosted by State Sen.
Janet Howell and Del. Ken Plum. The meeting was an opportunity
for the public to provide input to both representatives before
the 2008 legislative session began. |
| During the session several Reston citizens reiterated their
desire to hold a referendum vote and let Reston residents
decide whether they want to become a town. Having been a long-time
Reston resident, I had heard stories from neighbors and friends
that Del. Plum had repealed the Wiehle Charter, thereby rendering
Reston an unincorporated Fairfax County property unable to
become a town. I took the opportunity to learn the truth. |
| I asked Del. Plum whether it was true that he repealed the
Wiehle Charter. If so, why did he do it? I also asked him
whether he was required to coordinate with community organizations
and secure their support prior to repealing the charter. What
was his response? Uninformative, trite, and snippety. Instead
of taking the opportunity to clear the air, Del. Plum simply
said that there had not been a town of Wiehle for nearly 85
years, so he repealed the charter. Period. |
| My understanding is that Virginia property has certain rights
and privileges associated with it. For instance Reston has
many parcels that were zoned for high-density years ago, but
for economic reasons, the properties were only minimally developed.
The Reston Heights project immediately comes to mind. |
| While Ken Plum had no compunction repealing our rights under
the Wiehle Charter, he spends no effort investigating whether
other rights are equally antiquated and should be repealed,
such as the right to high-density development granted to property
owners at a different time, for a different reason. |
| I contend that we need to revisit those decisions with a
fresh set of eyes and a thorough understanding of the damage
that high-density development does to Reston and the surrounding
area. With this as a backdrop, Del. Plum's actions appear
to be capricious and arbitrary and imply that there may be
other forces at work, less-than-ethical forces. |
| Therefore, I invite Del. Plum to clear the air and explain
exactly what he did, what his motivations were, and why he
applied different standards on the Reston Citizens Association
than what he applied on himself. Reston residents deserve
a full explanation as to why Del. Plum is denying them basic
liberties and an opportunity for self-government. |
| Todd Harbour |
| Reston |
