Blackjack 2010

Yesterday I went to draft a list of questions for our 2010 candidates for the Virginia Beach City Council. I was shooting for 20, so I could do "Playing 20 Questions in 2010". My draft idea list went 30. I chopped 8, and then a 9th. Thus, 21 questions and the title.

Campaigns that wish to reply, the question list is below. You can cut and paste the question list, and e-mail your reply to vbtasucks@yahoo.com (Yeah, I just set up that address.)

As for the questions themselves, I asked some on public participation in government, a couple services questions. Some on land planning, and tossed in a couple fun questions (the arena and nightclub district) to keep the list and Virginia Beach from being too boring. Here we go:

1. The Budget Task Force proposed an 1% local Sales Tax and 1% local Income Tax, to be coupled with a revenue-neutral cut in the Property Tax rate. Do you support the proposal, and why or why not?

2. What additional measures would you support to bring more residents to the Resort Area in-season and for them to feel more welcome there?

3. What measures do you advocate for bringing the City government closer to the residents?

4. So far, the density credits program for affordable housing in the Strategic Growth Areas (SGAs) has produced zero new units. What, if any, additional measures do you believe should be enacted to get the units built?

5. What do you believe is the state of race relations in Virginia Beach and what could be done to improve them?

6. Currently the Open Mic session at the end of City Council meetings is not televised. Should it be, and why or why not?

7. Virginia Beach Vision proposed a local Gas Tax for transportation. It was in the draft 2010 Community Legislative Package (CLP), only to be removed before passage. Should it go into the 2011 CLP, and why or why not?

8. 2011 will be a City Redistricting year. What, if any, changes to the City's electoral system would you advocate within that process?

9. Do you favor continuing to implement evening and Sunday bus service on Virginia Beach's outlying routes, and why or why not?

10. Do you support mandatory Inclusionary Zoning, and why or why not?

11. Should meetings of the Resort Advisory Commission (RAC) be cold taped for later broadcast on VBTV, as a means to educate the public on Resort policy, and why or why not?

12. Do you support phasing out the BPOL tax? If so, how would you do it?

13. The Pembroke Area Implementation Plan envisions an arena between I-264 and the Witchduck Road light rail station. Do you support it, and why or why not?

14. In the recent past, City Council has discussed a possible "defined nightclub district". Would you support incorporating such into one of the remaining SGA plans to be done, and why or why not?

15. Do you support billing insurance companies for ambulance service rendered, as our neighboring cities do, and why or why not?

16. Do you support building the proposed entertainment center at the Dome site, and why or why not?

17. What do you believe should be done to expand recreation opportunities for youth?

18. What measures do you believe should be enacted to facilitate the construction of additional low-income apartment complexes?

19. How would you better utilize VBTV to get information to the residents?

20. What, if anything, do you believe the City should do towards aiding the housing of the international students who come to work in Virginia Beach?

21. What is your opinion of government by referenda?

Plenty of meat there. Feel free to hit candidates at forums with the above, or variations of them.