THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 14, 1996 TAG: 9607120246
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 160 lines
I read with interest the article entitled ``The Chesapeake of Tomorrow'' (The Clipper, June 23) about the city's plans for 30 years in the future.
It is exciting that our city, one of the fastest growing in the East, has enough forethought to plan for the future. But I am concerned that short-term growth is making an immediate impact on the way our city will develop and affecting the way we live today.
When I moved my family to Hampton Roads five years ago, I chose Great Bridge over other communities for probably the same three reasons most other families locate here:
A safe environment for our children and strong civic and church involvement.
A strong school system, where our children could receive a solid education without fear of violence and where parent participation was encouraged.
Homes that were not tract houses slapped together on tiny lots by contractors interested in fast turnover.
During my limited residency here, I have watched the city grow much as Virginia Beach did two decades ago, increasing the tax base rapidly with little apparent planning. Store fronts continue to be thrown up on Battlefield Boulevard, subdivisions continue to sprout up without apparent thought for quality of life issues, and new roads continue to lag behind the need for them. City planners put the cart before the horse, seriously impacting the spirit in which residents moved to the Great Bridge area.
We were promised the Great Bridge Bypass extension to Interstate 64 in 1992. Yet, we have watched Battlefield Boulevard being turned into another Little Creek or Virginia Beach Boulevard with multiple strip malls, fast food restaurants and two large car dealerships on the way. City leaders have endorsed this expansion, saying it will bring jobs and growth. But all it has brought are minimum-wage jobs, extensive congestion and an increase in population. Residents would have preferred to go eight miles to Virginia Beach Boulevard or to Military Highway to purchase cars at existing auto marts rather than see more car dealerships built on an already over-congested road.
To help diffuse some traffic and allow a contractor to build lower cost condominiums, we now plan to extend Volvo Parkway through a quiet, well-established subdivision, seriously affecting residents of that area. Major roads need to be designed and started prior to this huge industrial, residential and business expansion to diffuse Battlefield Boulevard and its major arteries of Cedar Road, Mount Pleasant-Jonestown Road, Volvo Parkway and Great Bridge Boulevard without destroying established neighborhoods.
Ample recreational areas remain at a premium. Residents are forced to drive to the Greenbrier area for recreation. For such an expansive community, it is shameful that more softball fields, running and nature trails, golf course and parks are not available.
I applaud the farsighted planning of our community for the 21st century, but let's not forget about the closest wolf to the sled. We have not taken the lessons learned by our Virginia Beach counterparts in their huge expansion and applied them to our development and planning. With ongoing plans of Battlefield Boulevard development, limited major road thoroughfare development and increased lower income housing construction, we are seriously impacting the reasons that drew most citizens to living in Great Bridge and ultimately causing a less positive ambience.
I am not foolish enough to believe that we will hold back construction, but let's ensure our residents understand the short-term plan for this development and growth.
W. Perry Bingham
Blackthorne Court Love for children
Much has been written about Randy Forbes, the state delegate and state Republican chairman. While we agree that Mr. Forbes is an effective legislator, we would like to comment on him as a father and a coach.
Randy has coached for the past four years in the Great Bridge Baseball Association. It has been our privilege to have Randy as our sons' coach, because he has the ability to bring out the best in every child. We feel the reason he can do this is his genuine love for our children. A child knows when someone really cares about him, and because Randy's concern for each player is real they are willing to give their best.
Randy's attitude with the players and parents is a very positive one. He never yells or makes the children feel bad about a play. He always has encouraging words for each player. It has been said that a negative experience in children's sports can affect a child for a lifetime. How fortunate our children are to have had a positive experience that will last them a lifetime.
It is no accident that Randy Forbes produces winning teams. You see, he convinces every boy that whether the game is won or lost, he is in truth a winner for giving his best effort!
At times, as parents, we may not always realize what a commitment it is for Del. Forbes because of the many hours he spends dealing with his business and the business of state government. That is why we are especially grateful to him for his willingness to make a difference in the lives of our children.
Thanks, Coach Forbes, for being a role model and caring coach that every parent wants for his or her child. We truly appreciate you not only for what you do for Chesapeake and Virginia, but what you do for our children.
Tommy and Theresa Bray
Southern Oaks Drive
and other Mustang Pirate parents Further division
I would like to respond to the letter ``A wife's defense'' (The Clipper, June 23), written by Susan S. Cooke.
I, too, am the wife of a Chesapeake firefighter. I have read many letters regarding the tragic fire on March 18 that took the lives of Johnny Hudgins and Frank Young, but I could not rid myself of the feeling this particular letter gave me. This letter was upsetting because it was written by the wife of an administrator in the fire department. All of the employees of the fire department and their families shared in the grief, as Mrs. Cooke must have seen.
I have heard from many firefighters over the years since I have been married to my husband how the fire department ``family'' is not as close as it used to be. I feel this letter is separating this ``family'' even further. It is separating union member fire department personnel from non-union fire department personnel. All Fire Department personnel, union and non-union, have their own opinions. Some of the views stated in Mrs. Cooke's letter were written strictly in regards to union leaders and members, which includes officers, firefighters and emergency medical services personnel. However, I know that there are non-union fire department personnel that agree with some of the union's views and there are some union personnel who may not always agree with their views.
I truly respect Mrs. Cooke's opinion, and I feel her pain. She wrote about the disappearance of pride and happiness in her husband's face. I also have noticed a change in my husband's face and in the faces of other firefighter friends. Some of them worked side by side with Johnny and Frank. They spent 24-hour shifts together. Some of them also had outside relationships with Johnny and Frank. They played ball together, worked part-time together, participated in hobbies together and had family outings together. They were not just fellow employees; they were friends.
Mrs. Cooke's letter was upsetting to me because it attacked all union members. My husband is a union member. In some of her statements she spoke only of union leaders, but in others she addressed the Firefighters Union. It is in those statements she is addressing my husband as well as about 190 other union members. I cannot speak in regard to all of them, but I personally watched my husband and many other union members also put forth extra hours helping with funeral arrangements, picking up family members from the airport and being at the homes of the Hudginses and the Youngs both day and night to offer support. My husband, along with another union firefighter, established ``The Children of the Fallen Firefighters Scholarship Fund.''
Mrs. Cooke's letter also spoke of the firefighters in the fire administration having more than 100 years of experience among them. That is true also of the firefighters in the union. They are not rookies either. But that should not be an issue. The issue should be that the finger-pointing needs to stop. No one knew this tragedy was going to happen. If they had known, it would have been prevented.
As I previously stated, I am not speaking for all union members. I am not denying that there are some of them out there who are unhappy. Those are the ones Mrs. Cooke needs to find and discuss her views and opinions and not bring down the entire membership of the Firefighters Union. They have worked together and achieved many goals over the years. Maybe reviewing some of their accomplishments would enlighten Mrs. Cooke.
It is time for the Hudgins Family and the Young Family to hear that all of the employees of the Fire Department - union and non-union - are working together for the safety of Johnny's and Frank's colleagues.
Mrs. Cooke, I agree with you that ``we all have to survive this tragedy and continue to push forward.'' However, this will never be accomplished unless we let our husbands, whether they are administrative personnel or fire suppression personnel who risk their lives on a daily basis for the safety of our citizens, do their jobs. I am sorry to say that I feel your letter may have caused further separation between the two. Let's hope not.
In closing, I would like to reiterate a question I read in another letter which I feel greatly expresses my feelings: ``Why are people still trying to blame instead of trying to heal?''
Karen H. Rudis
Marston Drive by CNB