Warner Overlooked Southside
CREWE, VA -- Mark Warner completed his term as governor of Virginia in January and his fellow Democrat, Tim Kaine, was inaugurated to succeed him.
Let's get something straight at the outset. I like Governor Warner. I voted for him and I endorsed him in The Journal when he sought the governorship four years ago. He is intelligent and humane, and he possesses the other attributes that voters should appreciate in a public leader.
But I still am more than a little angry with Mr. Warner and his departed administration. My grievance comes down to this: Mark Warner did precious little to improve the lot of Southside Virginia and its people during his four years as governor.
Maybe I am overlooking something. But I worked every day at this newspaper day and The Journal during the Warner administration and received literally thousands of faxes and other communications about what he and his administration were doing. But if my life depended on it right now, I could not point to one thing Mark Warner did for Southside Virginia, which remains the orphan of the commonwealth in one administration after another.
What got me hopping mad about all of this was a newsletter I saw last week extolling all that the exiting governor had done to improve the quality of life in Southwest Virginia.
Well, good for that region of the state. But we in the great Southside region are residents of the state, too.
Governor Warner and his folks appeared to think that Southside Virginia begins and ends in Danville. In fact, I don't think of Danville as part of our region at all, but that is another issue for another time.
Our region yet again has been slighted by the powers that be in Richmond, and so what's new about that?
Some former Warner official may read this and send me a laundry list of what was done to lift the stock of Southside, but I do not think the list would be very deep.
Again, I know of nothing that I could list on such an accounting.
What can be done about this deplorable situation? Leaders and residents in this part of Virginia should yell "FOUL!" and demand that the state find every and all means to help the Southside region to better its lot. I am not asking for a handout out, but rather a hand up. There's
a big difference.
As for the new governor, Tim Kaine, I am not holding my breath. If he is like is immediate predecessor, he will do little, if anything, to help our region, either. This is all the more reason for regional leaders to lobby this governor often that, yes, Virginia, there is a great Southside region and it has been neglected by Richmond for too long.
Let's get something straight at the outset. I like Governor Warner. I voted for him and I endorsed him in The Journal when he sought the governorship four years ago. He is intelligent and humane, and he possesses the other attributes that voters should appreciate in a public leader.
But I still am more than a little angry with Mr. Warner and his departed administration. My grievance comes down to this: Mark Warner did precious little to improve the lot of Southside Virginia and its people during his four years as governor.
Maybe I am overlooking something. But I worked every day at this newspaper day and The Journal during the Warner administration and received literally thousands of faxes and other communications about what he and his administration were doing. But if my life depended on it right now, I could not point to one thing Mark Warner did for Southside Virginia, which remains the orphan of the commonwealth in one administration after another.
What got me hopping mad about all of this was a newsletter I saw last week extolling all that the exiting governor had done to improve the quality of life in Southwest Virginia.
Well, good for that region of the state. But we in the great Southside region are residents of the state, too.
Governor Warner and his folks appeared to think that Southside Virginia begins and ends in Danville. In fact, I don't think of Danville as part of our region at all, but that is another issue for another time.
Our region yet again has been slighted by the powers that be in Richmond, and so what's new about that?
Some former Warner official may read this and send me a laundry list of what was done to lift the stock of Southside, but I do not think the list would be very deep.
Again, I know of nothing that I could list on such an accounting.
What can be done about this deplorable situation? Leaders and residents in this part of Virginia should yell "FOUL!" and demand that the state find every and all means to help the Southside region to better its lot. I am not asking for a handout out, but rather a hand up. There's
a big difference.
As for the new governor, Tim Kaine, I am not holding my breath. If he is like is immediate predecessor, he will do little, if anything, to help our region, either. This is all the more reason for regional leaders to lobby this governor often that, yes, Virginia, there is a great Southside region and it has been neglected by Richmond for too long.
posted by Rick Gunter at Saturday, March 11, 2006
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