Transcript for Leslie Hager-Smith--Challenger

1. Please take 3-5 minutes to give an opening statement about your candidacy and your vision for Blacksburg.

I want to thank the members of Citizens First and BURG for arranging this and thank all of you. I have been here for 26 years and raised my children here. I came here from Seattle, before that Athens Georgia. My husband is a professor and department head at Virginia Tech. My own background is in newspapers and non-profits and now I am Director of Downtown Merchants of Blacksburg. I sit on the Downtown Revitalization Committee. I was previously Director of Community Programs at the Y, founder of Epilepsy Parent Network support group; I was with the special education advisory board, and active in church, school and community. I got a lot of good advice. One was a friend; one friend told me to carefully monitor you voice modulation. A few weeks later a friend told me “People listen to what you say, but they think you don’t care. So I should modulate my voice a little less. I had two friends who wanted to take me out and buy me some new clothes. I said “Wait until I’m elected.” One said, “You must never ever be seen in sweat pants.” I am here with pants that may be too short, my heart on my sleeve, but my voice carefully modulated

My vision for Blacksburg is described as smart growth, managed growth, infill to reduce sprawl, preservation of green spaces. There are concrete ways to accomplish these: creation of ombudsman in the new planning department. It doesn’t mean a new hire. One day a week one of the present staff can be the intake person. We have to address the concerns of many in town who feel the town is closed, difficult to navigate, and they don’t understand the process.

Special tax districts to provide services. Identified problems in downtown are cleanup and policing. We need a special tax for that.

Density bonuses for the new urbanism.

Regular scheduled discussions with town staff.

Recent events have us all feeling tender and disappointed; we need to address specific problems and move on.

2. In the context of smart growth, can you please give a local example of smart growth and a local example of growth that was planned badly.

The elephant in the room is South Main. From start to finish, it went off badly. The first false step was earlier than the planning commission. Staff is full time professionals and didn’t do the job. No one was without blame. The planning commission went on to approve, town council was bullied into agreeing on rezoning, citizens were not paying attention. Planning staff watched while plans morphed until they were unrecognizable.

Pathways project is an excellent plan and serves us well. I think Jeanie Stosser’s project on North Main tried to come close. It was an attempt to give us what we say we want. I am confident that we can get it right. Blacksburg’s 16 squares were the original plan. One-fourth of the Blacksburg population lives in a well-planned community – Heathwood. There are houses, recreation facilities, walking paths. It is easy to get to campus and stores without a car.

• What specific actions would you initiate to preserve the town's green and common spaces?

Populace needs to be out there and be vocal and be clear that this is wanted. I want to see more people participating and keep the green spaces from being co-opted. There is a tension between infill and green space. Update the zoning ordinance. We are overdue for that.

3. What do you see as the three major problems facing downtown Blacksburg, how would you prioritize them and what specific measures would you champion to help solve these problems?

(1) Empty spaces are unattractive and breed a feeling they are creating more. The vacancy has been steady at 2 dozen for a few years. It has damaging effect on the image of downtown. If it were easy to fix it would be done. A typical commercial lease requires you to update that space. The space of Emilio’s and Ton 80 will cost $70,000 for sprinkler system. Most new businesses don’t have that.

We have paid for a study and we have fulfilled only one of the recommendations. One is to work with town to relax guidelines, develop micro loans, façade grants with CDPG funds.

We need to get property owners to the table. The merchant population is completely separate from property owners, - both need to be there.

(2) There is a lot talk about filth and policing. The solution is to clean up and get more police. We have not added police for 14 years. The town government is derelict in duty of getting basic services to downtown. It would take 14 positions to get up to national averages. This is the logical consequences of failure to develop basic services.

Cleanup positions were cut and never reinstalled. I advocate everyday for downtown.

This is what happens when you don’t keep up. A basic events tax will help to pay for positions. This would be a tax on sporting events and bar cover charges. It is hard, but not impossible to get this done in Virginia.

(3) Traffic is congested.

(4) Disincentives for abandoned property and over pricing. The Dillon Rule is the specter. It is150 years old and has started to be challenged. There are obstacles to disincentives with the Dillon rule, but there are good models in other communities.

• Please share your ideas for how Council and staff can play a more supportive role in attracting and keeping small businesses in downtown and making Blacksburg a more family friendly place?

We need a retail recruitment posse of merchants, property owners, and members of the community who can represent Blacksburg well. We are partnering with Pamplin School at Tech to do that, people who have strength in women’s clothing, youth markets.

4. Council was blindsided by the big box proposal. In response, Ordinance 1450 was passed to require that future commercial buildings in excess of 80,000 sq. ft. receive special review. How can we make sure we don’t get blindsided again? What criteria other than size might be useful in evaluating a proposed development?

Look at safety, character, sustainability; a planned community outside of Chicago, Illinois has 10 more with such things as: healthy lifestyle, environment, sense of place, community, economic and racial diversity, energy, esthetic design.

These can be written into a zoning ordinance, thresholds to the zoning ordinance. 1450 is an excellent tool, but it can be improved upon so that we have tools in place to prevent being blindsided.

5. There is a process underway to develop the old Blacksburg Middle School site. Can you discuss specifically how this process will ensure the development of the site in accordance with the community’s wishes and reassure a skeptical public that this development will become a proud reflection of Blacksburg’s unique character?

I can’t offer reassurance on that score. It is good we are doing it, but the fundamental problem is working with the county. This gives us a chance to step up and engage in creative problem solving together.
6. In these times of economic and racial challenges for large segments of our nation’s population, what do you think the Town and the Council’s roles should be to assure that Blacksburg recognizes and addresses the local manifestation of these national issues and promotes and monitors progress toward greater inclusion of members from racially/ethnically different groups into Town affairs and the broader community?
a. We need to invite as many people from as many walks as we can into the public process. It is critical and doesn’t always happen. It gets easy to just talk with ourselves.
b. I can’t be an expert on everything, but I am acquainted with people who can. People in the NAACP, Child Care Resources, CASA, people who make it their life’s devotion and we need to tap them and do it more often
Blacksburg has a schizophrenic disconnect. I’m talking about 2% of African-Americans who grew up here. They have a proud history and we can partner with Christiansburg Institute and Asbury Methodist Church. There is a broad international community represented by Tech.
• What strategies would you suggest the Town pursue to increase the amounts of affordable housing and public transportation, particularly for those who want to live where they work, and/or who could benefit from easier access to their place of work?
All can benefit from easier access to work. My impression is we are deft at getting transportation funding. We need to have pedestrian friendly neighborhoods. Lots of grant money for pathways systems.

7. Given the Town's decreasing net operating revenues and increasing long-term debt, what is your position on the $.01 increase in the meals tax, currently proposed to address Blacksburg’s immediate need for more police officers and additional staff to maintain downtown cleanliness?

My position is it must happen. Unfair competition from Virginia Tech, but we accept the needed increase. It is an immediate way to address problems. Long term, we should explore special districting so South Main would be districted and taxed for water runoff, light pollution, and other problems it will generate.
Better accountability and wiser spending. Events tax would be important. This would sporting events and cover charges. Tax revenue from activities that activities require extra services.
Prepare for a gray field that might be on our hands. Merchants say receipts are flat. Things look scary. Anne Taylor Loft is closing 113 stores, but we hear they move into South Main. It could be, but it could be they were moribund. It is hard to say. Economy needs to make us concerned about what might happen with this development.
Escrow accounts is an idea. Retailers pay into an escrow fund that will be used if they vacate their building for more than year. Escrow funds are then used to refit the building or look for a new retailer.
It is time for public rhetoric for Tech and its not paying taxes. There is historic intransigence of the University. I am the mother of 3 college age children. We want kids, safe and to have basic maintenance. As a woman, I can bring new insight into the reprehensible breach in the social fabric. We need to have a public conversation. Encourage the town to continue the conversation. Blacksburg and Christiansburg were the first to see this. We need to shine a public light on this.
• (If against - do you have other solutions to offer?

8. The new Arts Initiative is often cited as an indication of positive Town/Gown relations. What are the opportunities and obstacles to improving mutual support? What are some ideas you’d like to bring to Town/Gown discussions?

It is promising. This kind of thing has been tried in a lot of communities. We have the talent here to make it go. The community piece is in place. Virginia Tech announced 36 million for 3 large facilities. The Lyric board approached the state government to ask for the arts and culture district. We need to see what does that mean? Can we do something to address the problems we have. College Avenue promenade, the municipal campus, old middle school space – all are public spaces. The CRC is to add 3,000 jobs and will broaden dialogue. We need the dialogue with the town and gown, and CRC.

9. Recently stakeholders—including citizens, small business owners, and entrepreneurs—have expressed concerns about the responsiveness and transparency of town staff. How can Council address this problem?

I sit on town committees and I do work that in other localities is conducted by town governments. We private citizens can’t see council. I would be involved in working on transparency. The recent problems are produced by a culture in town government that maybe was a legacy of people who went before. I see promise. The planning and engineering department broken up will be helpful. People have been shuffled. The new Director of Planning is spoken of highly on all sides.

10. Which issues will be the focus of your time and energy on Council? If you could only accomplish three things on Council, what might they be and why?

1. Downtown has 50% restaurants, 50% retail. Retail recruitment takes energy rather than money. Money has recently been invested. Arts facilities being built, but I want to see downtown more than a food mall.
2. Shining a light on Tech’s role in paying a share of taxes. This is exactly the right time to do this.
3. Improved relations with the county is critical – not just the old middle school, also traffic, the connector road, and road build-outs,

11. What skills, experiences and personal characteristics do you possess that would make you a more effective Council member than other contenders in achieving cooperation with the public, with fellow council members, with the business community, and with Virginia Tech?

I offer that I am not an academic. My background is in newspapers with a grounding in local government. I have insight into small business and a non- profits background. That is a departure from others. I am the only one still raising children. I have lots of social experience. My children have attended almost every school in this town. I have active partnerships throughout the county. I speak with my counterparts in Radford and Christiansburg. The three downtowns have more in common than with mall management so we are working on marketing strategy. I am energetic and like to think I have a sense of humor – both are important.

For Challengers: (Derek and Leslie)

12. Are there failed policies or practices in recent Council decisions? How would you prevent similar actions in the future?

There have been staff failures and staff successes. The town has been awarded excellence in cool cities and recycling. Ordinance 1450 is one of the grandest failures. Personal failures on part of many. Concerned that I didn’t participate in the decisions so it is too harsh to rehash them. I am convinced we can all do better.

Audience questions

1. Long term budget problems, what specific items you would eliminate or streamline?

The Alexander Black House is such a wonderful asset. I can’t understand why five years later it still sits there. We have got to fund raise to get it completed. The building itself would be compromised if we didn’t get the job done.

I understand that town staff goes to Las Vegas to a shopping center convention. We don’t need to send them there one more time.

Blacksburg Partnership— people don’t know what it is. We have spent $50,000 per year for five years now. We spend $0 on downtown merchants and they do all the planning for town events. And it is all done with zero money from the town. We publish the visitor’s guide to downtown. Refuse pickup was refused by the former provider. The town left it to owners. Recycling takes place because certain fa-sighted merchants fund it. The town puts in zero to them. But the town puts $50,000 a year into Blacksburg Partnership. It started as a good concept, but Blacksburg Partnership needs to be reevaluated. $50,000 from the town, $50,000 from Tech, and $40,000 of it goes to a paid consultant in Roanoke. We can do better.

2. What about traffic?

Traffic improvement has been on the planning desk for years. Progress Street would be one-way. We have a sound bus program – additional funding. I am concerned about student housing that is being built far out. A lot of traffic is only going through downtown.

3. Low impact utilities. In 2000 it was in the works, but stopped in 2001. It was stopped because people were looking to central sewer. Now we are taking an old style. We need state of the art study now?

I can’t pretend to bring that same level of information about this topic. We need to get on with the building with it. We study these things too much. Sometimes we have too much information. Staff lives in a hot house environment. They say, “Lets make another study,” because they get criticism no matter what they do. My sense is a sewer is needed, not another study.

4. Housing for everyone who works in Blacksburg – police, citizens? Plans for outdoor pool?

I don’t have plans for a pool. I don’t hear people discuss that widely. It was new information for me the other night.

Housing – We can’t be able to house everyone. The town can’t do it all. We need to partner with others who can. The list of people who are farsighted is long. Bob Pack, Rick Kraft, Richard Reid, Bill Ellenbogen are examples. These are ones who could make it happen. We need to work with those that can make it happen. Let’s get smart about what we see and help the towns in the county to work on that with us.

5. How to determine overpricing in downtown rent and what to do?

There are good models in other towns, but we are nipping at edges of the Dillon Rule. You begin to pay into escrow if you allow the property to sit a year empty. You set a threshold. Every month goes by, levy a penalty into escrow. The money can be there for micro loans for startups or to fix property problems.

6. How do you know what is overpriced?

There is an inflexibility of lease arrangements. Blue Ridge Outdoors tried to come back with a new organization. He was told he couldn’t have the empty property and was told it was being leased for longer than a year. He was told someone would sign a three year lease, but the space is still for rent. It is challenging – not straightforward, but we have more than our share of empty space. The parking problem is pretty much addressed. Kent square is closer to the Lyric than if you park at Wal-Mart and walk to the deli counter.

7. What about the town’s regulations and zoning? Annie Kay’s wanted to make modification. The town refused and they moved south of downtown. That kind of regulations is inimical to revival of downtown.

Sometimes I think that too. There is a tension between rules and regulations and the town we want to see. We need to get more cordial relations. If we express true willingness to work with people that will help.

8. What about bike lanes? The town is not bike friendly? Any ideas of bike lanes?

Bicycles haven’t come to forefront. I sit on the Sustainable Blacksburg board. I appreciate your feedback and you are the type we need to get on those committees.