The Roanoker Magazine Article on Countryside

In the November/December issue of The Roanoker Elizabeth Parsons wrote an article "Countryside: A Bad Deal Gone Worse?" Parsons spent many hours, days, months compiling my FOIA information and interviewing developers and appraisers. None of which thought the city's grandiose idea of upscale development in good times or bad time was a good idea. Upscale housing in a fly zone. How in the world could anyone think that is a good idea? I will be posting soon on my website The Roanoke Free Press with the "Queen Darlene COMPLETE article as furnished courtesy of The Roanoker Magazine. They talk about Countryside in it.

BULL: A Puppet Musical and FiddleFest Lite Videos

Saturday and Sunday at the Dumas Center on Henry Street, the Thistledown puppeteers premiered “Bull - A Puppet Musical.”

.

Thistledown Puppets is a family-friendly puppet company dedicated to entertaining and inspiring the child in everyone. These young puppeteers share their love of puppets through funny and memorable characters and engaging stories. They offer puppet design custom puppet building and performances. Below is a snippet from the show.

Below is clip from FiddleFest Lite held at the Taubman Museum on Sunday, November 9th. It featured the Sandy Ridge group and Herschel Sizemore who teaches mandolin.

Public Art eats small child!

Notice the small boy that appears in the Pelican's stomach.

Saturday morning at Fire Station #7 on Memorial Avenue a "Meet The Artist" event was held as the last installment of Public Art was admired by this young fellow who lives on Grandin Road. Now, I know you don't believe he has been swallowed by this Pelican made out of copper, steel, brass and aluminum but the piece is titled "Second Chances." The Pelican's mouth moves in the wind while the fish try to escape with a second chance at life. The artist is Eldon Slick from Tucson, Arizona. The art will be on display until April 2010. Pictured with the artist is City Manager, Darlene Burcham.

City Attorney Explains FOIA To Council

On Monday, September 15th, City Attorney William Hackworth at the request of Mayor Bowers explained the FOIA (Freedom Of Information Act) and the reason Councilman Court Rosen was denied a copy of the Roanoke City Market Building proposal prior to the September 2nd City Council meeting.

.

Mayor Bowers said that the public may want clarification as to what bits of information the Council can have access to and asked Mr. Hackworth for the legal standing on that.

.

The City Attorney said that the issue “was a novel one for him and one that had never come up before … he had never had a member of a governing body ask for proposals” prior to award or rejection. He spoke to Bill Hefty, an expert attorney on the Virginia Public Procurement Act in Richmond and they had not ever had that issue come before them either. However, Mr. Hackworth relayed Mr. Hefty’s advice that “if Council as a whole decides they want to see proposals submitted as part of an RFP process they have a right to make the decision to do so. However, an individual member of Council acting on their own would essentially have the same standing as a member of the public.” Therefore they would be denied. Mr. Hackworth elaborated by saying if an individual member of Council asked for a proposal he would advise them to bring the request before all members of Council in a closed meeting.

Countryside Direction Finally Made Clear

After heated debate Roanoke City Council agreed 6-1 to move forward with a Request For Proposal to maintain Countryside as an 18-hole golf course. Those present literally stood up for Countryside. Only ONE stood up opposed and it was Hank Bostwick's sidekick, Chris Berry of chrisberryonthe.net.

.

Besides myself, speakers included the President of the Senior Tour, Tommy Firebaugh, who spoke representing 130 members which includes members such as "Chip" Woodrum and Board of Supervisors member "Butch" Church.

.

Also speaking in favor of Countryside Golf Course was the well respected former Director of Athletics at Patrick Henry High School, Woody Deans.

.

The RFP will be for a minimum of 10 years. It will be put out for a period of 45-60 days per the City Manager, Darlene Burcham. She also reiterated that the current operator Meadowbrook (who may also bid on the operation) would be asked to continue operating the golf course for 8 months until fiscal year end June 30, 2009.

Hank Bostwick seems "alarmed" that his so-called - "Sources close to the City government have indicated to me that based on the age of the course, it is likely that the irrigation system–which is an asbestos irrigation system–will need to be replaced sooner rather than later. Roanokers will be shocked, no doubt, when they are hipped to how much it may cost to encapsulate and remove the asbestos from the course and replace the aging irrigation system." Get with the program Hank, your sources are baloney. There IS asbestos in the irrigation system and according to the DEQ asbestos experts it can STAY in the ground undisturbed and another irrigation system installed. IF development had occurred the irrigation system would have been disturbed. THEN the developer would be subject to expense. Ony a fool of a developer would have not done their due diligence before committing to any ground disturbance.

Hank Bostwick's StarCityHarbinger is again misrepresenting the facts of the meeting: He states that: "A few citizens, including Roanoke Star-Sentinel’s Council reporter Valerie Garner, spoke in support of the golf-course-in-perpetuity motion and noted that decaying infrastructure at the golf club and course need immediate resources from the City coffers."

As a "surprise" guest at our neighborhood meeting on Monday, Sept. 8th, Mr. Rosen said "he had no problem with Countryside remaining an 18-hole golf course". Then when asked "in perpetuity" -. Mr. Rosen responded, "YES" looking me straight in the eye. This can be confirmed by Councilwoman Anita Price who was present as well as other neighbors. However, Mr. Rosen contradicted that statement at City Council tonight when he questioned the city attorney - referring to Mr. Lea's motion that Mr. Lea "meant the premise of the whole motion was to make Countryside a golf course in perpetuity and my understanding to that is no - I am just asking as a matter of law" (he was looking at the city attorney for a response). The City attorney explained (though I am sure Mr. Rosen already knew the answer) that the motion is NOT a contract. Then Mr. Rosen went on to say "I have a lot less issue with that."

Mr. Lea is right that something else is "cooking" behind the scenes but this blatant contradiction is a much too obvious "red flag."

This is what I said and is the exact text I read which I gave to the City Clerk:

It was on May 2, 2005, Council voted to take an option to purchase Countryside Golf Course. Here we are over three years later and time is of the essence with the lease ending Oct. 31st and with no RFP yet issued.

The “data and financing“ has been available for all these years.

.
There is no reason to stall the process any longer and risk the shutdown and eventual decay of the golf course. Decay of city owned property is NOT fiscally responsible. This DELAY is not physically responsible…. stalling leads to suspicion.

.
We are intelligent citizens.

.
I will quote a member of Council’s own words in an email dated 9/22/05 obtained from a FOIA request - that said, "this process is being watched by a large number of people who are intelligent and can determine when they are being involved or left out … trust is a major factor here …let’s do what we have to do to keep that with our citizens." I have not forgotten those comforting words Mr. Lea and we are still watching and we are still intelligent.

.
Council had questions at the briefing on Countryside in regard to promotion of the golf course. If you initiate a “google” search of “Countryside Golf Course Roanoke” you will see that what comes up besides the airport hotels that tout it as an amenity for their guests. The results of the search displays the City’s website under Planning - Special Projects which says though stalled that the golf course is still slated for development and the RFP for development is still downloadable. It is no wonder that people say they think the course is closed. I ask Council to have this destructive promotion removed from the City’s website.

.
I ask Council to consider a ten year operating agreement as the minimum for the City to consider. To really recoup the City’s investment a 20 year lease would be a better. As Ms. Shuck stated at the airport commission meeting 20 years was OK with them as long as there was commitment by this council that the property would be used for golf course fairways. She also stated that golf course fairways was a preferred use by the FAA. Evidently the FAA considers golfers as expendable.

.
Again, I ask this Council to end this delay today and our anxiety and expediently instruct the City Administration to issue a RFP.

Countryside Banner Waves Again

Horns blew with thumbs up signs as we hoisted the banner again on Saturday. With another Council crisis looming Al and Ken were called to duty once again. One man stopped his SUV in the middle of Cove Road to give us a "high five". When will we be able to retire this banner? What is going on behind the curtain oh, ye, mighty and powerful oz.

Countryside Petition Had 1,290 Signatures

At Monday's Council meeting I heard it said that "I did not get that signal" referring to the fact that the citizens/voters wanted to keep Countryside a Golf Course. This came from Councilman Rosen. A year ago we presented a petition of 1,290 signatures that included Senator John Edwards and Congressman Bob Goodlate. I realize those on Council now were not paying attention to Countryside or other city issues at the time so I will remind them of this petition at my next encounter.

Another Update: Court Rosen Wants Countryside Sold

Mr. Rosen said, “he thinks it would be worth while to engage a broker to see what they believe the value of the golf course is” and “and maybe someone is out there that may want to buy the golf course and operate it“. Read the article in The Roanoke Times today and my article that will be in The Roanoke Star-Sentinel online Thursday and out on Friday.

.

At the 2:00 PM Roanoke City Council meeting Court Rosen threw a monkey wrench into what was going smoothly and on "course" for a 5 - 10 year Request For Proposal for operation of the golf course. There was a 40 plus minute debate Monday afternoon that became clear that we have Council members working their way into selling the property. Mr. Rosen wanted financial data on the city's debt obligation compiled and a broker to assess it's sale value. He quoted some erroneous capital costs stating that the cart path repairs were 1.2 million dollars. With grass it is $25,000 and full pavement is $180,000. SEE corrected numbers below from Mr. Townsend. LISTEN AND WATCH HERE - pick 2:20 PM.

.

It is not rocket science what the finances are with the golf course and it has been available for years. Mr. Nash, said Rosen was " mixing apples and oranges". The debt service is "apples" and the "operational costs" are oranges. WE ARE TALKING ORANGES. The golf course has sustained itself since its inception in 1967 and as Mr. Nash pointed out "something happens to THINGS when the City buys it". Meadowbrook, the current operator, has under reported their profit since taking over operation. Why might you think that Meadowbrook under reports it's profit? Why might you think that they might just want the $17,500 yearly lease reduced even further for a 5 year lease. Yes, rounds are down because of the state of flux but as any smart business would do - not report their actual profits to keep their lease cost low. I know that to be so in this case. It has not been marketed and heck, people say "Oh, I did not know it was still there".

.

There are other local golf facilities wanting to operate the golf course. One in particular that has past experience in caring for the golf course had just called me between the two Council meetings Monday begging to be able to do a presentation to City Council. So now we know that they are out there but just can't get in.

.

As I have been telling City Council for 2 years the almost $4 million loan on the property is financed at Carter Bank, amortized for 15 years at 6.25%. Have they ever heard of an amortization schedule? So exactly what can't they figure out in about 5 minutes? If I here "we can never have too much information" one more time well just say my hair is on fire. There is more to this than meets the eye. There are members of Council hell bent on having it sold for whatever reason. One thing that Mr. Rosen said, "we need money for neighborhoods and schools". So I guess we are not a neighborhood. He also said he did "not hear any citizens say they wanted to keep the golf course during the election". Well, Mr. Rosen, must not have listened or more precisely turned a deaf ear. It came out in forums where he said "we can never have too much information" and I will have to "study it". Roanoke City is NOT a corporation and City Council works for the people. City Administration is the business side of our local government and City Council members are the balance that weighs that with the well-being of the citizens. This is not the Pharma lobby he had been a spokesman for in Washington, DC, prior to coming to Roanoke.

.

There was a briefing Monday as well on the NEW REC CENTER planned for Fallon Park. What's wrong with this picture? Let's take some of that amphitheatre money just sitting there and pay off this loan. Just think how much could have been saved these past years in interest. Way over 1/2 million in interest only now.

.

Buena Vista BUILT a municipal golf course that sustains itself - Vista Links is just one example. Ms. Burcham is wrong when she said she could not find golf course that are not subsidized by the City. Looking at the financial figures she picked up from other golf course - they had "depreciation" as an expense. Well Countryside has ITS OWN equipment and there was NO depreciation on Countryside's disclosed financial information. The golf course operation has cost them not one red cent - it has made money as Mr. Nash stated. The debt service is the fault of the City and should be taken care of separately. Why is it that other projects seem valuable enough to put money into but Countryside not only sustains itself while other parks have to be subsidized by our tax dollar? I don't have to repeat the projects that get funding here. Again NOT ONE red cent has gone into the golf course and the debt - well the City got themselves into that by financing like a mortgage so they just need to deal with it!

.

Mr. Rosen does not realize or does not care that we have no recreation in this part of the City. Mr. Rosen though cares for a dog park and has no concern that a "memorial tree" is planted right in the proposed location of the Highland Park dog park.

.

NEW information just received on current operator's offer:

The cost to replace the irrigation system is $850,000. The golf cart repairs would be $300,000 with full pavement replacement and minor repairs to the clubhouse at $50,000. Meadowbrook wants $1.2 million upfront for these repairs. In turn Meadowbrook for a 10 year lease offered rent payment of 7.5% of total revenue or the following:

2009 = $30,000, 2010 = $50,000, 2011 - 2018 = $100,000

**Total revenue reported by Meadowbrook in 2005 was $917,839, 2006 was $912,319, and 2007 was $815,174. This would relate to the 7.5%.

Countryside Maintenance - Begging For Dollars

Monday evening the sale of the Countryside property (one acre) to Newbern, LLC, for the TRANE building expansion will be finalized. The Planning Commission was unanimous in their recommendation. It will come before Roanoke City Council at the 7:00 PM meeting. This acre will pinch the 2nd and 3rd fairway and at a minimum will make it very "unattractive". I will ask Council to "earmark" the $55,000 paid for the acre for maintenance of Countryside Golf Course. Maintenance or improvements that will not be covered by the expected new operating agreement being drafted. As some of you may remember - the most urgent need is the golf cart paths and irrigation system. Below are two conflicting architectural renderings. The first is what I received several months ago along with a "Request For Comment". The second is an attachment on Monday's agenda. Now maybe I was not updated on the change in building design and the parking reconfiguration that took place prior to the Planning Commission review. At this point I don't know what is actually going there or when. If you figure it out please let me know.

Rendering I Received with Request For Comment

Rendering attached to Monday's agenda.

Lobbying For Countryside Golf Club

Lobbyist - let's kick the lobbyists out of Washington - but not out of Roanoke City. It takes a heck of an amount of lobbying to "get through" to City Council and City Administration. They keep dancing "a little side step" a song I heard from the movie something about Texas and a whorehouse. Just ask the dog park advocates what it takes to get what you want or what you don't want. In both Council's and the Administration's defense they have a lot on their plate. Council is part-time and Administrators .... well have you ever read the FULL Council Agenda with attachments. It boggles the mind just putting that "tree killer" together. OK, you say, what is my point. My point is something our current Mayor then former Mayor told me/us back in 2005 when Countryside first came on the chopping block. He said, "the squeaky wheel gets the grease" and that "they [city admin] will wear you down and wear you out as that is their full-time job". Well we know how it is to run around trying to figure out what the strategy is for the next round of Countryside (pun intended). I told someone last night that if I were a betting person, I'd say we are looking at a 5 year operating agreement out for a Request For Proposal. They will extend the lease with Meadowbrook for a few months. Of course, Meadowbrook may or may not bid on it but probably will - renewal with the Airport Commission for 5 years ... effectively Council will see this as a win and try to make us feel like WE have won. Hold your horses. Look at it politically - they get to pass the buck to probably a new or practically new future Council. No permanency in direction - will we be back at square one in five years. Will we still be here (alive and kicking)? Maybe we'll just be too old and tired to fight anymore.

What Came First...

What Came First, the Chicken or the Egg?

Roanoke City Council met August 4 in an information session on Countryside at City Hall. The session began around 11:15 and lasted for about two hours. During that time the full council was briefed in depth by Brian Townsend before giving way to a question/answer time.

Much of Townsend’s briefing was geared to providing the new council members; Rosen, Price, Bowers, and Nash; and opportunity to become familiar with the history of the Countryside purchase and development plans by the City.

Much of the briefing centered on how the airport impacts the club. With a significant chunk of land leased to the city by the airport commission and with that lease due to expire in mid November, the city will need to renegotiate the lease for golf to continue. In addition, the airport commission wishes to widen the Runway Protection Zone (RPZ). To accomplish that goal, a land swap is being proposed that will swap two tracts on either side of Ranch Road for land on either side of the current RPZ. The parcels offered by the Airport Commission for the swap have been altered from the original proposal, however. No doubt Valerie will go back and tweak her now famous RPZ image to illustrate the current swap proposal. Townsend stated the reason for the change was due to the overall value of the property being taken by the airport commission not matching the value of the property the airport commission was giving to the city (at least that’s the way I understood what he was saying.)

Part of the informational briefing centered on the current state of the golf facility. Townsend informed the council that Meadowbrook currently pays $17,500 for the lease to operate the course. The annual debt service for FY 2009 is just over $470,000. Meadowbrook reported $87,500 in profit in 2005, $79,800 in 2006, and $43,200 in 2007.

Townsend also covered the short-term capital improvement needs for Countryside:

Cart Paths:

-$25,000 for paving paths near tees and greens/returning rest to grass

Or

-$180,000 for full replacement

Irrigation System

-$100,000 for repairs

Or

-$700,000 for full replacement

Burcham and Townsend then presented their two basic recommendations:

1. Short Term Golf Course Agreements

-Extend limited lease agreements with a management group for five years

-Finalize Land swap and Lease Extensions

-Limited capital improvements

-Identify additional redevelopment ideas (may still develop at a later date)

2. “Golf Course Stewardship” Long Term Golf Commitment

-Finalize land swap and lease renewal with Airport Commission

-RFP operation and management lease

-Feasibility Study for golf operation

-Invest in the capital improvement plan

The discussion was focused and productive. Most council members stated their support for maintaining the golf course. The real debate seemed to be centered on the airport lease. Here comes the chicken and egg part. Dr. Trinkle and Mrs. Mason were especially focused on the upcoming possible lease extension by the airport commission. The question is will the airport commission extend the lease so that the city can then commit to golf or does the city need to commit to golf so that that airport commission will extend the lease? Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Mr. Nash and Dr. Trinkle also broached the subject of a permanent commitment to golf. One thing that our organization hopes to avoid is another round of development roulette five years down the road when the housing market looks sunnier. We want a firm commitment to support fully Countryside Golf Course. One way to demonstrate that is by seeking a long-term lease with the airport commission. If the airport commission were to commit to a long-term lease (ten years or longer) where the city guaranteed that the land would remain a golf course, then the airport commission could be assured of having a low-density acceptable use of the property.

Mayor Bowers made several comments that cheered us. He stated that he didn’t want this process to drag out. He wants citizens to be heard in the matter and then a firm time window of no more than a year established to iron out the details of the city’s course of action. Of course, with both the Meadowbrook lease and airport commission lease all coming due in October/November, that time table will need to be pushed up even more.

Mayor Bowers also stated that Roanokers tell him that they are “…green with envy…” over Salem’s commitment to parks and recreation facilities. He maintained that Countryside is an ideal location to develop our own recreation facility with tennis and competitive swimming components.

Court Rosen and Anita Price did a lot of listening, but Rosen did state that the city can make Countryside Golf Course are real amenity. He mentioned that thinking out of the box on how to utilize the assets of the course is important. He gave for example, the idea that memberships may be offered to employees to businesses that choose to locate in the city.

Anita Price quietly made the powerful point that the city and Meadowbrook need to be doing more to market and publicize the course. She pointed out that the visitor brochure produced by the Roanoke Valley Convention and Visitor’s Bureau does not list Countryside in the golf listings. Other public courses are listed, but not the city’s course. Several phone books serve the valley. Interestingly, if you want to look up Countryside in the yellow pages of the Verizon phone book (the largest and arguably most popular), you won’t find it listed at all. It does appear in the “Yellow Book” with an attractive quarter page ad.

Mr. Lea restated his long-standing support for the 18 hole golf course. Like the other council members, he stated a desire to meet with the airport commission.

Dr. Trinkle, in addition to his other comments, stated that he wants the city to commit to five to ten years of being good stewards of the golf course. He also wants to hear from the public about how the facility can benefit the community and schools.

Mrs. Burcham began to wind down the meeting by stressing that the staff would like to put forth an RFP for a 5-year lease to run the golf course facility. She stated that the council and staff would need to define expenses and responsibilities before entering into the lease agreement.

At that point, the discussion became a little murky and difficult to follow. We weren’t sure exactly what will be brought before the council in terms of RFP’s at future meetings. However, we believe that Council directed staff to bring an RFP proposal with at least a five year lease built in back to them. It also appeared that some council members directed the staff to negotiate with Meadowbrook for a long-term commitment; however, that negotiation may be handled through the RFP process. (The council members sat with their backs to the public and there were no microphones, so it was sometimes difficult to hear comments and read body language.)

Countryside Neighborhood Alliance had a strong showing with many of our friends present. In addition, representatives from the golf course attended.

The session produced news of an upcoming meeting with the airport commission to discuss several issues. Perhaps the lease extension and land swap will come up. This meeting will take place on September 2 at noon. We didn’t catch the location.

Overall, we were very pleased with the tone and seriousness of the discussions. The council members were civil to and respectful of the public and each other. They discussed, unrelated to Countryside, having a retreat at a local venue (most likely the city owned Apple Ridge Farm) to discuss issues and set goals and priorities. If the chickens can be hatched, Countryside Golf Course may have a bright future.

City Council to Be Briefed Monday

"I think it was a mistake to even try to do something with it in the first place," Nash said. "But the city backed into a situation, whether they intended to or not, where they have a municipal course, and hopefully they can get it right this time."

~Alvin Nash quoted by Mason Adams in his Roanoke Times article August 3


The Roanoke Times ran a piece in the newspaper today. In his article Mason Adams raised three primary questions that may be batted around.

• Does the council want to take another shot at development or leave it for recreation?

• If the latter, then should it be used for athletic fields, passage for the Lick Run Greenway or maybe even an aquatic facility with swimming pools?

• And if the council does want to stick with the 18-hole golf course, then who manages it? Meadowbrook? The city? Or should it issue a request for proposals?

Representatives of Countryside Neighborhood Alliance and Save Countryside will be on hand to monitor the discussion. We'll post a report here after the meeting.

Roanoke Times Countryside Article

An unexpected article appeared on the back page of the Sports section today. There is reason for optimism for at least 5 years. CLICK HERE to take the link to the Roanoke Times Article.

This is my shot of the 10th tee.

Countryside Women Win Team Championship

Countryside placed 5 women golfers in the top 10 in the Roanoke Valley Women's Golf Association City-County championship. Congratulations to Becky Bondurant who tied for second place overall and Sara Cole who came in third along with Marilyn Bussey, MarC Milona, and Kit Davis. They received the McCorkindale team trophy. These Countryside women also hold the HOF team (Hall Of Fame) title.

.

These ladies are the pride of Countryside Golf Club and have been so for years. They don't get enough "kudos" so let them know we are proud of them. Marilyn and Becky can be found at the Countryside clubhouse most days.

Irrigating the 12th fairway

On another note - how about the new manager - Todd has made substantial improvements to the golf course. Let him know the next time you are up at the clubhouse. When you talk to him it does not take long to realize he really cares about the golf course. Todd has worked hard in his short amount of time here to improve the maintenance and IT SHOWS!

July 4th Fireworks Video/Music

Friday evening I enjoyed great company at a friends house on 6th Street, Southeast. We gathered for food and beverage and to watch the fireworks from my friend's deck. The anticipation built, the children got "antsy" and so did I. This was going to be my first attempt at taking pictures of fireworks and I was at the ready. The neighborhood fireworks had us jumping to the deck only to be greeted with a "false start". Then it happened low into the trees at first - then soring higher. I snapped pictures fast and furious. Captured here are the best of who knows how many shots I took - I lost count. This was not as easy as I had thought especially with no tripod. So TURN YOUR SPEAKERS ON for "Stars and Stripes" music accompaniment.

Councilman Dave Trinkle's Website

From Councilman Dave Trinkle's Website - CLICK HERE: SPEAK OUT ROANOKE

"Consideration given to feasible usages for Countryside, including: potential for a high quality and well maintained municipal golf course with specific benefits given to city residents, location of other athletic sites including athletic fields, tennis (indoor and outdoor) and aquatics. Also to be studied is the viability of other greenspace uses, greenways and some compatible housing sites."

Juneteenth 2008, Washington Park

Thanks to Ken and Rosanne Saunders for participating and helping hand out the candy and T-Shirts. Free food and good music was enjoyed by all. It was so very hot - we committed to buying a tent before next year!

Local Colors May 2008 Video

The host country for Local Colors 2008 was the Philippines. Countryside Neighborhood member, Evelyn Sayers, who regularly attends our meetings and is always ready to help at our events dances in Local Colors again this year. Watch this video to the end and see our lovely neighbor.


The below video depicts the countries of Mexico, Greece, and India. You have to wait all the way to the end for the "hot" belly dancing!

Countryside Neighborhood Slide Show

Great pictures thanks to Susan Hall, enjoy!

Shine the Light on Them, Valerie!

As an observer from another locale, I am continually amazed by the biting and scratching going on in front of and especially behind the scenes of Roanoke City Council.

I'm very proud that you are running on principle. Government MUST be of and by the People. No other candidate for City office can hold a candle to you. Win or lose, you are a champion, a bright light. Thank you for taking the time to run.