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ACCORDING TO A RECENT article in The Free Lance-Star, Clyde Matthews has started an umbrella organization called Fredericksburg Area Citizens for Truth and a campaign to oust Mayor Bill Beck from office. Also in the news, the Silver Cos. is fighting the city, and Beck in particular, over a deal involving the silt from the removal of the Embrey Dam? But does any of this surprise anyone anymore?
So often the stories that dominate the headlines come as out of nowhere--utter truths without a past. But the Embrey Dam issue, for instance, and the ugliness that suffuses the whole matter, was predictable.
Is the Silver Cos. simply a company, like any other, trying to do business in the city? No. Its size and its infusion into so many elements of both public and private business with the city puts it more often than not in the position of partner. It has also recently employed both our former city manager and city planner--the two principal architects and deal-makers of much of the business that transpired between the two entities. The Silver Cos. has long enjoyed the fruits of a gracious City Hall.
Let's take Snowden Park, for instance. The Silver Cos. needed better dirt to complete Central Park. It entered into a dirt swap with the city using undeveloped city property across from Bragg Hill subdivision. The Silver Cos. got the good hard dirt it needed and an award for good citizenship from the city brass for building what it said were ready-to-go ball fields. The city got its ball field, all right--one whose topsoil is a combination of stones, concrete debris, and some grass. It sits closed, empty and literally sinking. And if the city had ever wanted to develop the property, there are serious doubts the tract would now be stable enough. Some good investment!
Enter FACTLet's turn our attention to Clyde Matthews and FACT. Complaints of little progress by the new City Council majority have been systematically appearing since the last election. There has been a discernible pattern of harassment and attempts to hinder observable progress.
During the infamous "e-mail trial" involving five of our esteemed councilmen, many were struck by the silence of their two colleagues, who were somehow not included in the lawsuit. Fact is, they weren't even included in the initial Virginia Freedom of Information Act request that led to the suit being filed in the first place. It seems they were granted immunity from suspicion from the outset, a fact not unassociated with how friends deal with one another. Their omission from the complaint leveled at the other five, though not an act graced with subtlety, was, nonetheless, no crime. But their public silence on the matter was significant.
Were these two councilmen aware that a suit would be brought against their colleagues? I cannot say. But there is no doubt that Councilman Joe Wilson was aware of a movement by certain political foes of Beck to discredit the mayor's efforts and hamper potential progress during his tenure. I say this because of a document passed to me by Wilson when requested under FOIA, and a matter of public record.
The document is a paper copy of an e-mail from John Goolrick, a local politico and outspoken critic of Beck. It is dated May 19, 2002, a mere five days after the election, and is addressed to Larry Silver, Silver Cos. Vice President Jud Honaker, Wilson, political consultant Jan Eckert, and others not readily identifiable from their e-mail addresses.
It begins "more I think about it, more I am convinced that we should not just sit back and let events take their course. I think we should put together a group under some umbrella name such as Fredericksburg Concerned Citizens Association (FCCA) or whatever. Richard Garnett has mentioned he has names of lots of people citywide to join in. Purpose would be to monitor new council, call for accuracy and fairness in media, etc. Get someone such as Bill Mitchell or Clyde Mathews [sic] to head it up."
Leave no trailThe next line is a doozy. "Leave no Silver footprints." Silver is capitalized. This message, we'll remember, was being sent to Larry Silver and Jud Honaker. It continues, "Richard could certainly be deeply involved with this group and should be. As Bill said, I think Idlewhyle [sic] might be among the first opportunities to strike, particularly since Matt Kelly has said he is for it (even though he was endorsed by that fraudulent group Voters Against Sprawl)."
I would like to call attention to the next part. Goolrick says, "Anything we can do to drive a wedge between the newly elected members will be helpful to the city." Driving a wedge between those the voting public have just elected can hardly prove helpful to the city. Who would Goolrick really like to help?
He goes on. "I believe Billy Withers will try to put on a show of independence, particularly since he won so convincingly. Fortune and Kelly are the weak links. Fortune may well prove to be a loose cannon, and knowing Kelly as I do, I will be surprised if he is a team player."
He continues. "Any group formed should act in a positive manner"--a cynical comment, as his intention seems to be the opposite.
So what does all this mean? Were any of these suggestions acted upon? After all, Goolrick may have some political experience, but he hardly runs the city like the Wizard ran Oz. Right?
Well, perhaps we can't say for certain, but let's look at what has occurred since he wrote the e-mail. The five councilmen alluded to were singled out and subjected to a suit in the farcical yet infamous e-mail scandal. The Silver Cos. hired a Northern Virginia lawyer to monitor and very publicly cajole our council regarding every move on any deal involving the erstwhile partnership between the city and the company. And as we have found out recently, Clyde Matthews has indeed headed up an organization under "some umbrella name." Along with a ludicrously staged letter-writing campaign against the mayor, and the threats of any number of lawsuits, a pattern of negativism toward any action taken by the new council is easily discernible.
Let's cut it outThe Silver Cos. should desist in its bullying tactics on our local political scene. It's bad business and poor partnership. The only way to a solution is if the city begins to act like the public agency it is, and the Silver Cos. concentrates on its role as a private business. The lines between public and private interests must be clear and separate enough to function.
And in view of his continued silence, while his colleagues and his mayor have been systematically attacked, Wilson should explain to the public if he condoned, or has participated in, any of Goolrick's suggestions.
Fredericksburg has made enormous strides in bringing certain "factions" to working together. As a city, we have passed through a trial by fire initiated five years ago after the infamous rezoning of the Silver Cos.' proposal for Celebrate Virginia.
From the upheaval created by that issue, the city and its neighboring counties have seen improvements in many areas, including public participation in, and understanding of, the political process, and a settling down to tackle the tough issues facing our little town grown big.
There is no place in our new world for any business, or person, large or small, hampering the difficult work facing any elected--yes, elected--body.
PAUL LEWIS, a Fredericksburg resident, is president of Rappahannock Area Grassroots.