Headline misrepresented victims

I am writing in response to the headline in the upper right hand corner of this week's cover, "Developers DOWN," with an image of a small plane overhead. After turning to page 12, I realized you were referring to last week's devastating plane crash in North Garden that killed David Brown and Robert Baldwin of Qroe Farm.

Having spent the past year working with the two passionate and dedicated men who perished in that plane crash, I find this headline and imagery to be morbid, insensitive, and inappropriate. 

Baldwin and Brown were not simply "developers" in the sense that most people think of developers– only interested in the land as a commodity. Bob and David were truly pioneers in the work they were doing here in Albemarle County and we, for one, were very proud to have had the opportunity to work with them on Bundoran Farm. 

If anyone were to visit their website and take the time to try to know who these men were, they would discover that a big part of Qroe's mission is the preservation of farmland, sustainable land use, and low-impact development–– all things this county could use in very large doses. 

I'm not sure why you chose to advertise your article in the way you did– perhaps it's a simplistic effort to draw in readers. While you may have done that, I think you also misrepresented these two important individuals and their contributions to the fields of land preservation and development, and what we still hope will be a contribution to our community.

Jen Trompetter

McKee Carson
Charlottesville

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