Will Goldsmith does it again in today’s C-Ville with his review of last week’s pivotal/profound/resounding election results. For those who live in Albemarle, be prepared for a fascinating future – both short- and long- termed.
What do the elections mean? David Slutzky says:
“I think that the likelihood is great that there’s going to be significant curtailment of development options in the rural area. It could take the form of [transferable development rights], it could take the form of downzoning, it could take the form of a curtailment of property rights through a package of actions by the Board [like the rural area protections]. We may even say you can’t build on a private road, you have to build on the public road, unless you come to us for a waiver.”
More on TDR’s at CvilleTomorrow.
Photo courtesy of Charlottesville Tomorrow
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One quote that really stood out in that article came from Christian Schoenewald. He says: “Most of the people who live in Albemarle, regardless of Republican or Democrat, are fundamentally conservative people. They want to keep as much of their own money as they can, they want to raise their families, they want to go to church. This is not Berkeley, California.”
As a moderate, I found this comment to be somewhat offensive. Going to church, raising your family, and wanting to keep your own money are not conservative values. They are values that just about all people hold regardless of their ideology or partisanship. I guess he was trying to find some way to uplift Albemarle Republicans’ spirits.
While I think it would be a little unwise of me to call Albemarle a solidly Democratic county I think we can now say that at the very least it leans Democratic. I think you have to go back to the early nineties or late eighties to find a presidential candidate who carried over 50 percent of the vote in Albemarle as Kerry did in 2004. Then of course there is the 61 percent Kaine victory, the 58 percent Webb victory, the 59 percent defeat of the marriage amendment, the 54 percent victory for Al Weed in the county, and then of course the recent ousting of our 16 year incumbent Republican Commonwealth’s Attorney.
There are a couple of bright spots for Republicans in the county. They could point to Rob Bell’s success in the county in 2005 but I would remind them that his district only includes a portion of Albemarle. In 2005 the Republican candidates for House of Delegate seats in Albemarle (Landes, Bell, McCrystal) picked up 13,333 votes. The Democrats (Toscano and Koleszar) won 12,592. Two things must be noted about these numbers, however. First is that the three precincts of Albemarle in the 59th were not included as Abbit is a nominal Independent. Second, Landes ran unopposed. If you subtract his votes from the Republican total (2,099) Republicans won 11,234 votes. In other words, if you add up the votes of Democratic HOD candidates and Republican HOD candidates with a challenger from the opposite party, Democrats beat Republicans by 1,358 votes in Albemarle. I think it’s pretty hard to deny what direction things are going. They could also point to Harding’s victory but they must remember that he advocated expanding a government office and he did not have a party label next to his name on the ballot.