Cross-posted at my blog, Gio Writes Here.
In a textbook case of misplaced priorities, Republican Ken Boyd continues to support expansion of the Hollymead development area in Albemarle County despite clear opposition from the local community. Faced with opposition, the County's Board of Supervisors and more specifically their "de facto majority leader," Ken Boyd, responded by lying to residents saying "he would follow their lead and not support the inclusion," then, without notifying them of the change, quietly states at a work session that he had changed his mind based on "additional information" and now planned to approve it. Ken Boyd has a long record of supporting further development for the county, being the subject of a profile in the C-Ville Weekly, largely featuring this support, during his failed congressional run. Growth is a good thing, and the county needs some, the problem with this growth is that the infrastructure to support it is inadequate. Ken Boyd hasn't spent much time at all on fixing that. The owners association summarized it well on their website:
Albemarle Supervisor Ken Boyd, who was elected to represent our Rivanna District, has apparently flip-flopped and is going to continue to push a proposal that would allow a big box store, 100,000 feet of commercial/ office space and hundreds of new residential units at the parcel just across Rt. 29 from the Ashwood entrance to Forest Lakes. Only days earlier, he had withdrawn this idea, after your FLCA board testified in strong opposition and presented an e-petition signed by over 100 owners – indicating that it made no sense to allow this new development without first having the road infrastructure in place to handle it, including the extension of Berkmar Drive across the Rivanna River and north to Hollymead Town Center. Without this added infrastructure, all the traffic associated with this new development would all be centered on the Ashwood interchange. At the time, Mr. Boyd said he was withdrawing the proposal in light of our strong opposition: “Because I was elected to represent Rivanna, I’m going to do what the people said." We are dismayed to learn that at the very next opportunity, when we were not there to hold him accountable, Mr. Boyd has reneged and plans to resurrect this proposal, in a modified form that would benefit a single developer friend of his.
Clearly, the proposal is not in the best interests of the community. The only reason Mr. Boyd, who has "come to the conclusion that this is going to be [his] last term on the Board of Supervisors," continues to support it is because it would enrich his developer friend. He doesn't care what his constituents think.
Flashback to your campaign, Mr. Boyd:
Ken Boyd (R): "I think we started a lot of things in the last four years since I've been on the board of supervisors, we've got some important initiatives that are going and I want to see them to completion. That's to improve the water conditions and the water supply in this area, improve transportation, and fix our budget process and make it much better." (emphasis mine)
Republican Ken Boyd should stop focusing on enriching his friends and follow through on what he said in his last election. Until then, Boyd is the definition of cronyism in Albemarle County.
Note: Want to help keep Ken Boyd and his crony politicians out of office in Albemarle County? The county party can use your help. Visit the website, like the facebook page or follow the twitter handle @AlbemarleDems to get involved.
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