Two bad supe choices

It's ironic Christian Schoenewald's favorite bumper sticker is "Don't Loudoun Albemarle County," and yet his candidacy is aimed at doing just that [August 25 HotSeat: "Unknown: Schoenewald takes on Rooker"].

At least he admits that he's running to get a better job. It's clear Schoenewald has all the jingoisms of the Blue Ridge Builder's Association/Republican party memorized, especially the one about the county making it hard to build in the designated growth area.

As a growth area resident, I know it should be hard. One house in the wrong place on two acres in the rural area looks odd. But 10 wrong houses built on two acres in the growth area means big problems. Schoenewald should ask the County Engineer how much time and taxpayer dollars that department spends trying to fix developers' errors.

Dennis Rooker isn't much better [September 1 HotSeat: Rookersville: Welcome to the neighborhood... model]. While the Board of Supervisors cut the recommended budget to educate our children, they gave the wealthiest Albemarle residents about $10 million in tax breaks, adding $1 million to the tax bill for the rest of us.

The $10 million is from the "Land Use" program that has been called "welfare for the rich." That program– supposed to save rural land from development– is a miserable failure. I've frequently challenged board members to show any return to the taxpayer for the over $100 million spent on the program so far. Not one member has replied.

Tom Loach
Crozet