Virginia Beach Open House on Transit

Overall, I was impressed by the Virginia Beach Open House on Transit. With the exception of still having the Southeastern Parkway on the plan, Everything else seemed very logical. They have acknowledged the fact that the bus system in Virginia Beach is terrible. The city staff seem to be actually committed to delivering Light Rail to the Beach. I think that for the most part, this appears to be because none of the Transportation Planning people are actually from this area. This is not a bad thing, in fact it is a plus because they are not so deeply emotionally attached to all of the petty reasons that have obstructed progress in the past. I spent alot of time talking to the Comprehensive Plan Coordinator, Tom Pauls. I thoroughly enjoyed this and found him to be both knowledgeable and committed. He thought of Virginia Beach not only as a city but as part of a region. Although we disagreed on the Southeastern Parkway, I think that he is definitely the man for the job as far as the upcoming Comprehensive Plan is concerned. I feel confident (as long as the Virginia Beach City Council doesn't meddle in it) that the plan will be a great leap forward for Virginia Beach. I was, speaking of city council, suprised that multiple city council members failed to appear, including the mayor, Meyera Oberndorf. They apparently, according to Councilman Uhrin, had election-related activities to attend. I would have thought that something like a meeting on the FUTURE OF VIRGINIA BEACH would have been important enough to qualify as important in an election year, but apparently not. It is more important for funding contributors to spend time with the mayor and company than the citizens of Virginia Beach.