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Delay nearly derails VRE vote
Spotsylvania County's membership to Virginia Railway Express almost disappeared because VRE supporter and Supervisor Benjamin Pitts' plane was delayed, making him over an hour late to Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting
Date published: 11/26/2009
By DAN TELVOCK Spotsylvania County Supervisor Benjamin Pitts said he didn't know while on vacation that a monumental vote to finalize membership to Virginia Railway Express was scheduled for Tuesday. He expected to be home well before the 6 p.m. meeting, but he did not account for possible airport delays. "I was planning on being back in the county by 3 p.m.," said Pitts, who was leaving Fort Lauderdale on a flight to Richmond. The Board of Supervisors meeting convened at 6 p.m. Pitts' plane faced numerous delays, and by the time he landed in Richmond, the Board of Supervisors meeting was under way. Meanwhile, the three pro-VRE supervisors at the meeting were frantically waiting for Pitts' arrival. His vote was necessary to certify the county's VRE membership because the seven-member Board of Supervisors already has three members who oppose VRE membership. A 3-3 tie vote would mean that VRE membership would not happen. The timing of the vote was important because the agreement the county has with VRE states that supervisors had to pass this resolution by Nov. 30. Tuesday's meeting was the last one for this month. Supervisor Jerry Logan, who voted to join VRE, said supporters planned to thwart a tie vote by leaving the room. If there isn't a quorum, the county board cannot vote. "It was unorthodox, but rather than have VRE simply evaporate and be gone, we were thinking about everything we legally could do to preserve [the membership]," Logan said. "We were biting our fingernails." Minutes before the VRE vote, Pitts entered the Board of Supervisors chambers in a short-sleeve Hawaiian shirt. He was smiling--and slightly embarrassed. He later said that while driving home, he received calls from county staff telling him about the VRE vote. Instead of going home, Pitts went directly to the meeting. Supervisors voted 4-3 to adopt a resolution that makes the county a member of the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission and VRE. "I understand there were some tense board members there," Pitts said yesterday. "I am glad it worked out the way it did." Supervisors Emmitt Marshall, T.C. Waddy and Gary Jackson cast the "no" votes. Dan Telvock: 540/374-5438
Read more stories about Spotsylvania Date published: 11/26/2009
Pitts is a clown
(posted by
wiseman
, Nov. 30, 2009 1:00 am)
The schedule for Board meetings is set in January. Pitts knew about this meeting but apparently didn't care. What a joke.
Pitts
(posted by
Torpedo72
, Nov. 28, 2009 2:32 pm)
If Pitts had to cut his vacation short then he is more of an idiot than I first thought. He ran his entire campaign on VRE yet he doesn't know when the vote is? What a clown. Hey Dan, tell us again why you chose to report that Pitts had his campaign account filled with donations from realtors, deveopers and C500 members after the election?
I'm sure the real estate agents and
(posted by
MrWonderful
, Nov. 27, 2009 1:53 pm)
developers who will profit from VRE will happily reimburse Mr. Pitts for his shortened vacation. How nice for a dedicated public servant like Mr. Pitts to be able to afford a vacation in Ft. Lauderdale.
What does it tell us about them?
(posted by
Dang
, Nov. 26, 2009 10:51 am)
That they are --gasp-- politicians? Seeing to it that there are not enough representatives present to cast a valid vote is only one of several vote delaying tactics used in politics. If anything, they were willing to make sure the will of the majority of Spotsy voters was not thwarted again because of the unfortunate circumstance that one of the members of the BOS was delayed in arriving at the meeting through no fault of his own.
IF Mr. Pitts cut...
(posted by
bhaas
, Nov. 26, 2009 10:05 am)
his vacation short to make this vote, his dedication is commendable. To know about this, someone would have to be on the "inside" because that information is not in the FLS article. It seems rather obvious this information, if known, would have been newsworthy. Perhaps Mr. Pitts should clarify the record here.
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