Time to give Albemarle County Government a piece of your mind

It's time to give Albemarle County Government a piece of your mind — and, guess what? Albemarle County Government actually wants you to do so. I received the following e-mailed notice from the County today (Friday, July 29, 2016) through Albemarle’s A-Mail system. Strategic Priority Ranking 2016 Throughout Albemarle County's FY17 budget process, and for the past several years, you have heard that the growing expectations and service needs in our County outpace our available resources. During the budget process, as the Board and staff reviewed projected expenditures and revenues, it became clear that we need to refine our budget approach to more closely align County services with the most important community values. While we have always aligned our budget with our community's values, this priority-driven budgeting process takes that one step further. This spring, the Board of Supervisors started on an important journey which began the critical task of prioritizing community objectives. Their work, along with your input, will provide a clearer and more helpful framework for decision making on major financial issues. Where are we headed on this journey? Continuing our progress towards a budget that puts identified priorities first and emphasizes accountability, innovation, and partnerships. In short, Albemarle County is working with you to put additional building blocks in place to plan for a sustainable future that provides realistic balance between revenues and expenditures and which reflects our community's goals. Please visit www.albemarle.org/PriorityRanking2016 to learn about the work that has been done to-date and to find out the ways in which you can provide feedback and insights. This process doesn't work unless we hear from you! Your comments will be reviewed and shared in September, when the Board will continue its work to further clarify and refine the strategic objectives. At the conclusion to the information provided by the County on their PriorityRanking2016 webpage, they ask three questions: 1) At first glance, how well do you feel that these focus areas reflect your goals for our community? 2) What feedback would you like to share about how these focus areas are ranked? 3) What additional comments would you like to provide? Below are are my comments and questions that I’ve already e-mailed back to Albemarle County Government. I hope you’ll send them yours. Gary Grant

Whatever Albemarle My Feedback on Albemarle’s Priority-Driven Budgeting Goals and Areas of Focus: Citizen Engagement: 1) Use the term “resident” instead of “citizen.” Not all who live in Albemarle are citizens. 2) What measurement(s) will you use to determine whether Albemarle Government is “successfully” engaging County residents? 3) Where can Albemarle Government’s list of its residents’ “values and aspirations” be found? Rural Areas: 1) Define what Albemarle Government means by “thriving” farms and forests. 2) List the names of the “traditional crossroads communities” Albemarle Government is referring to in this category. 3) Provide a glossary of terms for this entire document. What, for example, is a “small area plan?” 4) What “country crossroads” are you referring to in this category? List them by name. Critical Infrastructure: 1) Change the words “invest in” to “pay for” in this goal. 2) Name the “development areas” you are referring to in this goal. 3) Name the “high visibility public spaces” you are referring to in this goal. 4) How will you determine whether an entrance corridor meets your goal of having “an attractive aesthetic appearance?” By what criteria will you measure this? 5) Keep the Circuit and General District Courts in downtown Charlottesville. 6) Do NOT spend any public tax dollars (local, state, or federal) on providing broadband access to any residents of Albemarle County. This is NOT a core responsibility of government. Residents need to pay for their own Internet service just like they do for other utilities. Internet service must not become a government welfare program at the expense of other residents and taxpayers. 7) Define the following and give examples: “Establish and implement an approach to consider age-friendly community needs and initiatives as part of County planning.” Do NOT hand over any taxpayer money to The Senior Center, Inc., a private, non-governmental organization. 8) Any new police training facility needs to be developed as a regional facility in cooperation with (including shared funding) Charlottesville, UVA, and the TJPDC (Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission). Development Areas: 1) What “aging urban areas” and “existing neighborhoods” are you talking about in this category? Name them. 2) Define “Urban Service District” and “proactive rezonings” and “gray infrastructure” and “transportation revenue sharing money” in a glossary. 3) Explain, list, name, and/or define what the Board’s “land use aspirations and intentions” are. 4) What is ‘“small” small area planning?’ Define in a glossary. 5) Ten items in this Development Areas category seems like too much to include as Tier One [Immediate] priorities. Economic Prosperity: 1) Define what Albemarle Government means by “economic resiliency/preparedness.” How will Albemarle Government know when the County is economically resilient and prepared? Educational Opportunities: 1) How will Albemarle Government know when it has achieved “enhanced” educational opportunities for at-risk pre-schoolers? What measurements will you use to determine this? Operational Capacity: 1) Define “operational capacity” and “salary compression” and “differentiated compensation” in a glossary. 2) Do NOT use acronyms like DSS and IMPACT without noting on first reference what the letters stand for. 3) What does the following governmental gobbledygook in this category mean? “Develop alternate, sustainable funding strategies and other . . . blah, blah, blah . . . for both Schools and Local Government.” 4) Include the terms “geo-policing” and “land banking” in a glossary. 5) How will Albemarle Government know when it has accomplished “robust communication” between the Board of Supervisors, the School Board, and the Planning Commission? Please explain how you will measure “robustness?” Natural Resources: 1) Please explain what you mean by “thoughtfully” protecting the County’s ecosystems and natural resources. How will you measure and know when you have accomplished “thoughtful” protection? My Goals for Albemarle County: Having lived and paid taxes in Albemarle for 30 years, here are my current top goals for the County, in descending order of importance: Top Priority (Tier One - Immediate): Police Department staffing at a ratio of 1.5 sworn officers per 1,000 County residents. Next Priority (Tier One - Immediate): That the Board of Supervisors budget for and hire an attorney in FY2018 to sue for release from the Revenue-Sharing Agreement with the City of Charlottesville. Next Priority (Tier Two - Mid-Range): School choice for all Albemarle students, regardless of residential address, on a school building space-available basis with family-provided transportation to the chosen school or to a transportation hub from which public school buses depart on regular routes to the chosen school. Next Priority (Tier Two - Mid-Range): School year Sunday afternoon hours at all Jefferson-Madison Regional Library branch libraries in Albemarle County. Next Priority (Tier Three - Longer Term): Roadways that are safe for cars, trucks, motorcycles, and bicycles. My Additional Comments to Albemarle County Government: 1) Scrap your alleged “Community Engagement” format used during the FY2017 Budget development process. It was a miserable failure. All six Supervisors should do what Supervisor Ann Mallek (D, White Hall) does — no staff presentations, stands up in front of her constituents, asks what they have on their minds, listens, takes notes, invites questions and comments, does her research, and provides replies and answers as she’s able. 2) Be specific. 3) Define everything. 4) Practice the intent and the spirit of the Virginia FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) as well the letter of this law. Err on the side of openness. 5) Give the public their full three minutes of Public Comment time even when there are more than ten speakers signed up at a meeting.