To the Editor:
“Back to the Past” [Letter, Gazette Packet], written by Jody Manor in your Oct. 22 edition, is a complete mischaracterization of “Van” Van Fleet’s beliefs and actions. First of all “Van” Van Fleet is not anti-development and has said so verbally and in print a vast number of times over the last 15 years. The reality of the situation is that he is against “bad development” not “development.” He continues to fight tirelessly against developments that are not compatible and don’t fit in to their neighborhoods. He has railed against most of the new monolithic waterfront developments because their architecture is alien to the old and historic district.
The assertion that “Van” has been an obstruction to virtually every commercial project is simply not true and unsubstantiated. Ironically, he sure didn’t object to Mr. Manor’s expansion of Bittersweet’s restaurant operations down to the waterfront. Saying that “Van” and his cohorts (whoever they are) have created a “toxic environment” against business is absolutely preposterous. He is a small Alexandria based businessman himself and he has always been helpful to those wanting to start their businesses here in Alexandria. Truth be told, The city itself has been an impediment against small businesses, not “Van” Van Fleet.
Mr. Manor claims that “Van’s” campaign has two planks, no growth and no development, both of which are untrue. He favors both; only they have to be done the right way. In addition, I am positive that “Van” didn’t miss the news about TSA moving to Alexandria. However, I think Mr. Manor missed the news that there was a GAO bid protest to the TSA building being sited at the Victory Center instead of at another location in Springfield. So, while the City Council is patting itself on the back, the reality of the TSA building is that it is now in litigation and if upheld will return our commercial vacancy rate back to 17 percent.
This is the real issue, the city starts taking credit for projects that are either “not final” or still “in process” and use these projects to bolster their popularity. A lot of these developments, the citizens don’t want. “Van” Van Fleet speaks for the citizens not for himself or his “cohorts” as Mr. Manor would have you believe. I would challenge Mr. Manor to point out a single development wherein “Van” Van Fleet was not on the side of the overwhelming majority of the views and beliefs of the people in whose neighborhood the development was being built. Quite simply put, “Van” Van Fleet’s advocacy against bad development is not keeping us in the past but shepherding us into the future with an eye on preserving the important historical aspects of our past.
Michael Harris
Alexandria