A basic tenet of all levels of civic education is that citizens should vote. We are told of the importance of voting in social studies classes, Scouting, and in community groups.
Yet, a surprisingly large number of people never learn the lesson. Voter participation in the United States is abysmal when compared to other countries, and Virginia is one of the worst among the states.
Many excuses are given — people do not feel their vote makes a difference; campaigns are too long and too negative; issues are too complex; it does not make a difference who wins; all politicians are crooked. Added to voter uncertainty and apathy are purposeful actions on the part of government to make voting inconvenient and difficult.
Elections are held on days when most people have to go to work. Voting early through the absentee voting process in Virginia requires a specific approved excuse. Please note that this year there is an additional requirement: you must present identification that has your photo on it. Some who see it to their advantage to keep poor people and seniors who might vote for the candidates of the other party from voting have added this additional barrier in order to solve a non-existent problem that people have been voting for someone else.
Tuesday, Nov. 4, is another election. There is one in Virginia every year. Mark it on your calendar and stick a note on the refrigerator. Take a friend or neighbor with you to the polls and certainly ensure that your family members vote. Take along a photo ID. Let’s beat the numbers on low participation and do our civic duty.
This is the federal election year cycle. We can do our part in making Congress functional again. Sen. Mark Warner has been doing his part in taking on the big issues, working across the aisle, and showing leadership in getting the U.S. Senate to do its job. He deserves our support. If you live in the 11th Congressional District as I do, we could not have a better Congressman than Gerry Connolly. He was an excellent member and chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and has shown as a member of Congress that he understands our issues and is not afraid to speak out.
Next door in the 10th Districtm the choice could not be clearer. If the Republican nominee wins, you can expect to see her on Fox News each evening bashing Democrats for that has been her lifetime job. John Foust will provide the district with steady, sensible and principled leadership. Encourage people to vote for him. In the 8th District, former Lt. Governor and Ambassador Don Beyer will bring intelligence and reasonableness to the job.
There are two questions on the ballot. The state constitutional amendment question asks if the General Assembly should be permitted to exempt from taxation the property of surviving spouses of soldiers killed in action as it can now do for veterans. I recommend its approval as another small way that we can show appreciation for the sacrifices of members of the Armed Services and their families.
A Fairfax County bond issue question is on the ballot seeking authorization for a $100 million transportation bond. The money will provide for important road improvements to relieve congestion and to improve pedestrian and bicycle safety and access. I recommend that it be approved
Vote on Tuesday, November 4. As the teacher said, it is our civic duty.
To find your Congressional District, go to http://www.house.gov/
To find your polling place location, go tohttp://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/
To get more information on voting, go to http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/
Ken Plum (D) represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates. His views do not necessarily represent those of Reston Now.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe had two interesting supporters speak at his press conference on Virginia’s latest Energy Plan — the heads of the state Chamber of Commerce and the Virginia League of Conservation Voters. Both endorsed his update of the state’s Energy Plan as a step in the right direction.
There is a great deal to like in the plan. An emphasis on growing the energy sector of the economy by promoting increased development of renewable generation has never before been emphasized in Virginia.
Meeting the new federally imposed clean air standards does not need to hurt the economy, raise electricity prices or reduce jobs. To the contrary, cleaning up our environment while meeting future energy needs can be a spark for the economy and its expansion.
Part of the Governor’s Energy Plan proposes through education and strategic investments to prepare a workforce that will drive the future Virginia economy.
His plan calls for a reduction in energy consumption in the Commonwealth by aggressively pursuing energy efficiency measures in government, businesses and residences. The cheapest and quickest way to meet the immediate growth in energy demand is to educate and incentivize individuals and businesses to be more efficient. The growing green sector of the economy is leading the way in introducing technology and management techniques to reduce the demand for electricity.
A representative of the Southern Environmental Law Center speaking at a meeting I attended recently of the Virginia Conservation Network put into perspective the new energy plan and other actions that are taking place at the same time.
Under President Obama’s much anticipated and welcomed Nation Climate Action Plan, Virginia’s goal is to reduce its CO2 emissions from 2012 levels by 38 percent by 2030. Aggressive actions will be required of utilities to close or convert to natural gas the coal-fired plants that remain. Turning to renewables like solar and wind will be essential. I believe the state has been too timid in the past in turning to renewables, but I am confident there will be a significant shift with the President’s and the Governor’s actions. Governor McAuliffe announced last week that he is establishing a solar energy authority to help move the industry forward.
I will be working to make Virginia a leader in expanding the green energy sector of the economy as the state’s plan envisions. We have a lot to gain in jobs in green power, entrepreneurial opportunities, and preserving our quality of life. While there are a few climate change deniers around, the fact of the matter is that the ten warmest years on record have occurred within the past 15 years. Hampton Roads is next to New Orleans as the most vulnerable community for sea level rise. Implementing our new Energy Plan will surely move the Commonwealth in the right direction.
To see the entire plan, visit the Virginia Energy Plan website.
Ken Plum represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates. His views do not necessarily represent those of Reston Now.
As I wrote in a column several months ago, Virginia has historically ceded decisions to federal authorities on major issues on which the state had been unwilling to move forward, despite the Commonwealth’s historic antipathy toward the federal government. Another issue fell into this category last week: same-sex marriage.
Regardless of the desire on the part of conservative Virginians to pretend that it is not so, thousands of Virginians love someone of the same gender, an unknown number live together as partners and some have already gotten married in other states. While an amendment to the state constitution defining marriage as being between a man and a woman passed in a referendum more than a half dozen years ago, recent public opinion polls show a majority of Virginians as accepting of same-sex marriage.
Failure of the legislature to act on the issue resulted in two cases before federal courts challenging Virginia’s prohibition of same-sex marriage. As has been the experience in other states where such cases have been brought in federal court, the prohibition was found to be unconstitutional. With the Supreme Court refusing to hear an appeal of the cases, Virginia is once again having to face a reality that it has resisted.
It is not the first time. Virginia also had a law that said that persons of different races could not marry. The legislature refused to acknowledge the unfairness of the law or vote to change it. It took a federal court decision, Loving v. Virginia (1967), to strike down the law.
Virginia segregated its public schools based on race until the Brown v. Board of Education decision (1954) — of which a Virginia case was a part — struck down racial segregation. Virginia’s decade-long effort to resist the federal decision was called Massive Resistance. Asserting states’ rights arguments, Virginia leaders attempted to stop desegregation. The campaign was unsuccessful, although it did take 40 more court decisions to integrate the schools in Virginia.
Virginia was also part of the Baker v. Carr decision in 1962 establishing the “one man, one vote” principle because the state legislature refused to acknowledge population shifts that were occurring and permit legislative representation to reflect those shifts until the federal courts intervened. Just last week, a federal judge threw out Virginia’s Congressional redistricting as being discriminatory against minorities.
Federal intervention and the Voting Rights Act got rid of the blank sheet voter registration system and the poll tax that disenfranchised most African Americans. While it is good that the federal government has been a backstop to ending discrimination in many forms, it is truly unfortunate that the General Assembly has been unwilling to recognize the wrongness of their laws and make decisions on their own without the need for the federal courts to protect Virginians from their own government.
The argument for states’ rights has been used to justify violations of personal rights. The federal court was right in striking down Virginia’s marriage amendment. Now, the General Assembly needs to move forward on my bill to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation instead of waiting until we’re forced to by the federal government.
Ken Plum represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Reston Now.
Last week, Bob Brink, a former colleague of mine who represented Arlington-McLean in the House of Delegates and who was appointed by Gov. Terry McAuliffe to be Deputy Commissioner for Aging Services, spoke to the Northern Virginia Aging Network’s (NVAN) annual legislative summit. His talk, “The Age Wave: Ready or Not, Here We Come,” highlighted the challenges of the aging of our population.
“By 2030, as the last of the age wave turns 65, we will number 1.8 million people here in Virginia — 20% of the population,” he said, often flashing his Medicare card. “There are more of us, and we’ll be living longer: the fastest growing segment of our population will be those 85 and older.” While in 2010 nearly 1 in 8 Virginia residents were 65 and over, by 2030 nearly 1 in 5 will be in that age range.
The age wave presents challenges to our society beyond the obvious impact on our health care system, he said. Adults age 65 and older are now twice as likely to be living in poverty as they were a decade ago. Almost 200,000 Virginia households, half of them 62 or older, are living in substandard conditions. Opportunity costs to those who are family caregivers will total more than $400 billion in lost wages, pensions and Social Security. The cost of government services will rise at a time when revenues are not keeping pace or dropping.
The Northern Virginia Aging Network (NVAN) is made up of the six area agencies on aging serving the jurisdictions of the region, as well as the critically important regional service and advocacy organizations and volunteers. Brink indicated that the state Aging Division “will be aggressive in encouraging innovation in service delivery, including formation of public-private partnerships” to provide needed services. He praised the Fairfax County Elderlink, a public-private collaboration of the Fairfax Area Agency on Aging, Inova Health System and the Alzheimer’s Association for care coordination of older adults.
NVAN had recommendations for meeting the challenges of the age wave, among them expanding Medicaid services that would provide direct benefits to about 62,000 older Virginians who do not have and cannot afford healthcare. Ironically, at a time of shrinking revenues, the expansion of Medicaid would bring back to the Commonwealth $5 million a day in taxes already paid by Virginians.
Recognizing that most seniors prefer to stay in their own homes, NVAN recommends tax credits and grants that would expand consumer access to livable homes. The professionals and citizen volunteers who make up NVAN see the need for a quality, cost-effective, continuously trained long-term care workforce to improve the quality of life for older adults and people with disabilities. The demand for long-term care workers is expected to increase by 160 percent by 2030. A critical element in building such a workforce is paying a living wage. An expansion of Virginia Public Guardianship Program is seen as needed for vulnerable adults.
Commissioner Brink implored those in attendance to reach across jurisdictional lines and outside bureaucratic boxes as we work to meet the needs of our aging population, or as he expressed it, “to ride the wave together.”
Ken Plum represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Reston Now.
I first heard of Vincent F. (Vince) Callahan, Jr. in 1965 when he ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor of Virginia.
It was his first run for political office, and while it may seem that he aimed high to start, in those days it was easy to get the Republican nomination since the Republicans always lost.
Callahan got 37 percent of the vote, but four years later his running mate for governor, Linwood Holton, who had also gotten just 37 percent of the vote, was elected the first Republican governor of Virginia since Reconstruction.
In the meantime, Vince had run successfully for the House of Delegates in 1967. He served for the next 40 years, making him the second longest serving member of the House of Delegates in history. Vince recently died of West Nile virus and was buried last week.
In 1978, I joined Vince as part of a five-person delegation representing Northern Virginia that was split with three Democrats and two Republicans. Although we were from different parties, Vince and I worked closely together on many issues including education and transportation.
He was a strong proponent of public schools and was a real champion for George Mason University while on the Appropriations Committee. He eventually became chairman of that committee when Republicans took control of the House of Delegates. He worked hard for money for transportation for the region, and when I organized the Dulles Corridor Rail Association he became vice chairman of the Association.
I will miss Vince very much, and I continue to miss the era of politics he represented. We worked together on behalf of our constituents without regard to party. In the early years we shared the goals of wresting power from the Byrd machine that had controlled Virginia with an iron fist for most of the 20th century.
While I was part of the Democratic majority at the time, I was shut out of many of the decisions of government because I was a Northern Virginian and progressive. Before he left the House of Delegates, Vince was feeling the alienation from his party that now controls the House just as I felt in the early days when the Democrats were in control.
In recent years, Vince started to publicly endorse Democrats including Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine and Governor Terry McAuliffe. He simply could not accept the tea party ideology that dominates the Republican Party in Virginia today.
There were excesses of power when the Democrats controlled the House of Delegates when Vince was first elected. During his years in office there was a shift of power to the Republicans where the same excesses of power can be seen.
Vince knew of the experiences under the Democrats and did not contribute to repeating them when his party came to power. He worked on behalf of the good of the Commonwealth and his constituents–not ideology or party. Vince Callahan was a true Virginia statesman.
Ken Plum represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Reston Now.
There really are not many native Virginians living in Northern Virginia.
The growth of the region has come primarily from people moving here from other states or countries. Survey downstate Virginians and you will find many not wanting to travel here much less move here. Most will cite traffic as their main objection, but clearly there are differences in lifestyle and perspectives across the regions of the Commonwealth.
For those who move here and live here for a short time or even for decades, there are many questions about the state — its history, traditions, politics, and culture.
I often get questions directed to me as an elected official who is a native Virginian and student of her history. Periodically, I teach a course on Virginia history at the OSHER Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) of George Mason University at its Reston location at the United Christian Parish.
This week, I just started a new class that I have entitled “What is it about Virginia?” Once again most of the students are “come heres.” Even though as retirees they may have lived here for a long period of time, they still have questions about the state, its history, its impact nationally, and its people.
First there is the history. As Ronald Heinemann and his co-authors described it in their book Old Dominion, New Commonwealth: A History of Virginia 1607-2007 (University of Virginia Press, 2007):
“Four centuries of remarkable history. Site of the first permanent English settlement in the New World. Home of the first representative assembly in America. Landing place of the first Africans in the Chesapeake, whose heirs were among the first to be enslaved on the plantations of British North America. Birthplace of the great generation of founders, who led the Revolution and created a brilliant constitutional order, four of whom were among the first five presidents of the new republic. Mother of presidents. Mother of states. The state whose territory was the scene of much of the critical fighting of the Civil War…The Commonwealth of Virginia — the Old Dominion — was without peer in the first two-and-a-half centuries of American history.”
Then came the matter of being on the wrong side of the Civil War and the move “to a defensive, tradition-bound, inward-looking, and different version of American development (1820-1960) and back again to a progressively conservative society in the late twentieth century” to today when President Obama wins the state twice, all five statewide elected officials are Democrats, and the General Assembly is controlled by the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party.
The major themes that play throughout Virginia history — change and continuity, a conservative political order, race and slavery, economic development, social divisions, and geographic diversity help to make Virginia a fascinating topic for discussion. I hope my students will enjoy the class as much as I am sure that I will, and I hope someday to be able to talk with you about Virginia.
Ken Plum represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Reston Now.
Virginia’s first governor, Patrick Henry, was elected to four one-year terms. Henry’s reputation as a leader was well established before he became governor with his famous “Give me liberty or give me death” speech made in St. John’s Church in Richmond before the Revolution.
Virginians honored his memory about a decade ago when the renovated Library of Virginia/Supreme Court building was named the Patrick Henry Building and became the office location for the governor and his staff and cabinet secretaries.
Henry would have been proud when one of the former reading rooms converted to a public meeting room was the scene last week of a press conference by Gov. Terry McAuliffe announcing his plan to expand Medicaid to the extent that he could within the constraints of the law.
Henry in his day railed against oppression and taxation without representation. McAuliffe spoke on behalf of Virginians who are paying billions of dollars in taxation while the legislature is refusing to act on a plan that would bring that money back to the Commonwealth to provide health insurance to the poorest working people.
I went to the Governor’s press conference last week as a way to demonstrate my support for the actions he is taking to expand Medicaid. Because of legal constraints, his plan is modest. It extends coverage to about 25,000 persons who do not have health insurance including 20,000 Virginians with serious mental illnesses.
The number eligible for health insurance under the federal programs is 400,000, but to reach that number requires an act of the legislature. In the meantime, the Governor has instituted a program to aggressively enroll eligible persons in the federal insurance marketplace.
“While the plan that I am announcing today will do a lot of good for a lot of people, it does not solve the larger problem of providing health insurance coverage to low-income Virginians,” the Governor said. “The General Assembly has made it perfectly clear that they unequivocally are the ones that have the power to expand and close the coverage gap. With that power also comes responsibility.”
The General Assembly is scheduled to go back into special session on Sept. 18 to discuss Medicaid expansion. Neither the Republican leadership that controls the House or the Senate’s Republican majority has indicated a willingness to approve any kind of expansion of health benefits. Rather, they continue to follow the direction of the Koch Brothers-financed Americans for Prosperity and their Tea Party constituents to refuse to accept anything related to what they call Obamacare.
The insanity of refusing to take $5 million a day of Virginia taxpayer monies while thousands go without insurance coverage defies a reasonable explanation.
As Governor McAuliffe clearly stated, it is up to the legislature. I bet Patrick Henry would have been even more forceful; we have taxation of Virginians to support health insurance programs in other states but not ourselves!
To learn more about the Affordable Care Act, sign up for a webinar at Innovate Virginia.
Ken Plum represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Reston Now.
I had no idea what to expect when the jury announced it had reached its verdicts on the charges against former Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife Maureen, but when the verdicts were announced I was stunned.
The jury of seven men and five women left no doubt in their findings: eleven counts of guilty for the former Governor and nine counts of guilty for his wife! All the efforts to explain away their behavior, redefine their relationship, and nuance words and actions were not successful.
Virginia has now achieved the level of disdain we have held towards governors of other states in similar circumstances. We have a former governor found guilty of corruption in office. Somehow with Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson having occupied that seat, it was not supposed to happen in Virginia.
Bob McDonnell is the last person anyone would have thought would have brought this legacy to Virginia. He served his country in the military. He has three degrees from a Christian university. He married a professional cheerleader from a major league football team. The thesis for his masters’ degree spelled out an old-fashioned morality that he thought was essential for how people should behave. He was a prosecuting attorney finding others guilty of crimes in order to keep his community safe. He represented his community in the House of Delegates where he introduced bills that included one for a covenant marriage. His first statewide elective office was Attorney General responsible for seeing that Virginia’s laws were fairly interpreted. His win for Governor was by a wide margin. He appeared squeaky clean.
The jury heard in detail what happened during his term as governor and determined he was guilty of corruption. That is the way our system of justice works. Not only is his legacy tarnished so too is that of his wife and family. For the Governor and his family on a personal level, they have my thoughts and sincere prayers. There will be an appeal, no doubt. Whatever the criminal justice system does with the case under appeal will not restore the man to the elevated position he had in the public’s mind when he became governor.
We need to turn our attention now to the legacy for Virginia. Maybe we Virginians had it coming for we had become somewhat pompous over our reputation for the clean government we thought we had. Despite some cynics’ views, virtually all elected officials and government employees are honest, hard-working people who want to do their best for the Commonwealth. For those who do not fit this category we need to participate in a whistle-blowing exercise that will expose any who are putting their selfish gain above the public good. And the legislature needs to do more work on its conflict of interest and ethics laws. Maybe those changes can become the legacy of Bob McDonnell.
Ken Plum represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Reston Now.
Del. Ken Plum (D-Reston) and his wife Jane will host the annual Plum Family Picnic and Pre-Election Rally from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday at the North Hills Picnic Pavilion on North Village Road.
Special guests will include Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va. 11) and Dranesville Supervisor John Foust, who is the Democratic candidate for the Virginia 10th District Congressional seat.
Also on hand: State Sen. Janet Howell, Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins and Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring.
The annual casual event is hosted by Friends of Ken Plum to thank supporters and to gather momentum for the upcoming general election.
The event is a Democratic fundraiser. Donations of $35 to Virginia’s Act Blue are encouraged. To register or donate visit Act Blue’s website.
Photo: Janet Howell (l) and Ken Plum/File photo
Although it has been many years since I was a teacher in the classroom, I still get a nervous stomach around Labor Day each year in anticipation of the beginning of a new school year.
Teaching is the hardest work I have ever done in my life including being a legislator. I taught before the era of Standards of Learning (SOLs) and massive standardized testing. The challenge I and my colleagues had in our time was to recognize, nourish and expand individual students’ knowledge, talents and abilities. Today’s teachers have unfortunately been forced to teach to standardized tests that do not recognize individual student’s knowledge, talents and abilities nor do the tests or the assessment process of teachers recognize their unique skills and talents.
I attended the annual meeting of the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) recently where Sir Kenneth Robinson, noted author and speaker, spoke about the need for revolution — not reform — in public education.
Although it has been many years since I was a teacher in the classroom, I still get a nervous stomach around Labor Day each year in anticipation of the beginning of a new school year. Teaching is the hardest work I have ever done in my life including being a legislator. I taught before the era of Standards of Learning (SOLs) and massive standardized testing.
The challenge I and my colleagues had in our time was to recognize, nourish and expand individual students’ knowledge, talents and abilities. Today’s teachers have unfortunately been forced to teach to standardized tests that do not recognize individual student’s knowledge, talents and abilities nor do the tests or the assessment process of teachers recognize their unique skills and talents.
He expressed concern that schools are organized on an industrial model — I have described it as a factory — where all the children are expected to come out alike at the end of schooling. At the same time we recognize in society the special talents individuals may possess, the orientation of many schools for too many years has been to ignore individual differences and to have identical expectations for all students. Schools cannot operate successfully as a factory of the past where every student becomes the same widget, but schools need to adopt a mass customization model where every student is recognized as a unique being.
As Sir Kenneth Robinson expressed it, “education is meant among other things to develop people’s natural abilities, and I believe it really doesn’t do that. … To focus on them in the traditional school setting, very many brilliant people are weaned away from the very talents that excite them.”
For Robinson, schools should focus on awakening creativity and developing natural curiosity. “Much of the present education system in the United States fosters conformity, compliance and standardization rather than creative approaches to learning,” he says.
Clearly, the standards and testing programs have gone too far, and fortunately the push back from students, parents and teachers is finally being recognized by legislators. The General Assembly reduced the number of SOL tests required, and a commission established to look at the issue is likely to recommend even more reduction. Graduation requirements need to be made more flexible in order that students can more fully develop their individual talents. Sir Kenneth Robinson’s curiosity and creativity need to be rewarded in the classroom.
The anticipation I feel with back-to-school time is shared by parents, students and teachers alike. The excitement needs to be recognition of the great things that happen in classrooms every day. The managers of that process–the teachers–deserve our gratitude, recognition and better pay. When you talk with a teacher, please join me in thanking them for their dedication and hard work.
Ken Plum represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates
“Climate change, once considered an issue for a distant future, has moved firmly into the present,” according to a report, Climate Change Impacts in the United States, that was released this year and that includes the findings of 300 experts affiliated with the National Climate Assessment and Development Advisory Committee .
Their findings are the same as I heard discussed last week at the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators National Issues Forum in which I participated. A couple of speakers brought unique backgrounds and insights into the issue of climate change. Retired Vice Admiral Dennis V. McGinn is a widely recognized energy and national security expert. He insists that climate change is a threat to our national security.
Dr. James Hansen, formerly Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and currently an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, started in the 1980s raising awareness of global warming and speaks forcefully today of the need to take action to protect the future of young people and all species on the planet.
In legislative chambers in Virginia and throughout the country, climate change continues to be debated by politicians some of whom question whether or not climate change is actually occurring and whether humans have anything to do with causing it. Meanwhile, there is a clear conclusion among scientists as expressed in the Climate Change report:
“Evidence for climate change abounds, from the top of the atmosphere to the depths of the oceans. Scientists and engineers from around the world have meticulously collected this evidence, using satellites and networks of weather balloons, thermometers, buoys, and other observing systems. Evidence of climate change is also visible in the observed and measured changes in location and behavior of species and functioning of ecosystems. Taken together, this evidence tells an unambiguous story: the planet is warming, and over the last half century, this warming has been driven primarily by human activity.”
Climate change means hotter and more erratic weather, warmer oceans and fresh water sources, heavy downpours, global sea level rise, and reductions in glaciers and sea ice, among other changes. Shrinking land ice along with an expansion of the ocean as it warms and natural land subsidence that occurs along the coast will result in areas being inundated with increased episodic flooding. The Virginia coastline will be especially hard hit.
Actions can and should be taken by legislators to protect our communities, children and future generations from the dangers of climate change. We need to reduce harmful emissions for sure, and
I have put a lot of emphasis in my work on renewable energy. We need to deal with big polluters some of whom receive government subsidies recognizing that alternative energy sources are becoming increasingly available to us from rapidly growing clean industries.
Above all, however, politicians need to be honest with the public in acknowledging that the climate is changing, and we can do something about it!
Ken Plum represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates
For those whose parents lived through the Great Depression, you can skip the next few sentences since you know what I am about to say. For my younger readers, let me explain that life during the Great Depression (1935 to the mid-1940s) was so difficult that it made an indelible mark on the way that people thought and lived.
Jobs, money, food and the basic necessities of life were in such short supply that most everyone learned to be very careful in the use of all their resources. The impact of scarce resources diverted for use in the war effort during World War II reinforced their conserving way of living.
By income standards of the time, my family would probably have been considered low-income but not poor. My dad did maintenance work for the Norfolk and Western Railroad; my mom was a stay-at-home mother. They never forgot their experiences of growing up during the Great Depression or living through World War II that followed it. We did not have a lot to spend, but we were very frugal. Dad was an excellent gardener who raised all the vegetables that we ate during the summer and that Mom canned or froze for the rest of the year. The potato bin in the cellar was always filled to last us between the harvesting of crops.
I continue to be influenced by the way they thought and lived. I seek to re-use whatever resources I can and feel guilty if I feel that I am being excessive in what I am buying or using. Sometimes I could be referred to as being cheap although I prefer to be called conserving.
The quality of conserving that necessity brought to my parents and their peers is a quality that necessity will once again bring to our society. The depletion of natural resources as well as the degradation of the quality of life that comes about in the use of some of our energy resources will force us into being more conservation-minded.
While climate change will force major policy changes in the way we secure and utilize our energy resources in the future, there are actions that we can take today as individuals that can make a positive difference for our children and grandchildren. One example I use is energy conservation in our homes. We can save money and energy resources with an energy audit. There are certified persons who can identify energy losses in your home and offer ways to prevent them. Energy counselors like those with LEAP (Local Energy Alliance Program; leap-va.org ) can also help save energy and money for you in your home. A recent effort on my part to identify and close air seepage into our home will I believe add to our comfort this winter and save money on heating.
I still get satisfaction when I am able to be conserving. For my parents and others it was a matter of survival. For the future it may well be a matter of survival as well.
Ken Plum represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates.
Mrs. Alice Foltz was my sixth and seventh grade teacher as well as being principal of Grove Hill Elementary School near Shenandoah, Va. She passed away in 2005 at the age of 99.
Mrs. Alice, as she was called to prevent confusion with another Mrs. Foltz who was the fourth grade teacher, was a great source of inspiration to me. She along with many other warm and caring teachers inspired me to become a teacher.
The first half to full hour of Mrs. Alice’s classroom day was always a study hall during which homework assignments and work sheets could be completed while she did her work as principal. As one who completed his assignments quickly, I could have gotten into real problems had Mrs. Foltz not had the foresight to make me the “cafeteria manager.”
My duties in this assigned job were to go to the other six classrooms in the school and pick up the lunch orders and payments for the day. I would total up the number of students who had purchased milk only and the number of students who purchased lunch that included milk, check to make sure the monies collected were correct, and tell the cook, Mrs. Rodabush (who incidentally used the government surplus cheese to make the best macaroni and cheese I have ever eaten), the number of lunches she needed to fix.
It was a rather simple and routine job, but for me it was the greatest thing that could happen. I was trusted to go throughout the school on my own and was given a significant duty. I may have learned more from my school job about confidence, trustworthiness, and responsibility than I did in the classroom. Mrs. Alice knew exactly what I needed!
Imagine my surprise when about a decade ago I met another Alice Foltz! This one was in Centreville and was not related to the Alice Foltz of my youth. My new Alice Foltz is the inspiration and leader behind the Centreville Labor Resource Center that provides counseling and assistance to day laborers in the area.
At a time when a government-supported worker center was closed in 2007 in a nearby community and a tough anti-immigrant ordinance was passed in the next county, Alice as she is called by anyone who knows her, was able to convene a series of open community dialogues to discuss the impact of immigration in Centreville. The success of the Centreville Immigration Forum led to the establishment of a non-profit, non-government center where immigrants can learn English, acquire job-seeking skills, and be matched with private employers who are seeking day laborers.
Alice is a soft-spoken, persistent and strong leader who has accomplished in her community what government programs could not do and what other communities had unsuccessfully attempted. Too bad political leaders have not learned from her approach.
Alice Foltz has my greatest admiration. I am blessed to have known both of them!
Ken Plum represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates
The opening of the Silver Line on July 26 brought an overflow crowd of dignitaries and well-wishers to cut the ribbon and ride the first train. The half-completed project received a lot of acclaim with its airy and sleek stations and gleaming new equipment. The first phase of the extension of Metro that will increase the size of the mass transit system by 25 percent has clearly captured the spirit of most of the community.
The feelings about heavy-rail transit in the Dulles Corridor have not always been viewed so positively. While the idea of mass transit to Dulles Airport has been around for more than 50 years, positive steps to make it a reality were slow in taking place.
When I organized the Dulles Corridor Rail Association (DCRA) in August, 1998 to provide mass transit in the corridor, there were many doubters, naysayers and skeptics. The original board made up of community and business leaders and professional planner Patty Nicoson, who became and remains president of DCRA, went about building the case for a mass transit approach. Population growth projections for the region provided the clearest evidence that highways and cars would not be adequate to meet transportation needs in the future. The idea that the nation’s capital did not have a rail connection to its international airport was appalling to many. Air pollution’s effect on the health of the region was also a concern.
DCRA was able to get the conversation going about mass transit for the corridor and kept it before the attention of public officials as the many issues related to the project were debated. Should rail just go to Tysons Corner? Dulles Airport? Loudoun County? Should it be bus? Bus rapid transit? Light rail? Heavy rail? Should it be a subway system? Aerial system? How many stations? Where?
DCRA played a role in making sure that public officials got a regular flow of information on what was happening in other localities, advantages and concerns related to options, and the costs and consequences of inaction. As planning progressed and the project went through its ups and downs and near-death experiences, the DCRA board and its members were there to write letters, provide fact sheets and opinion columns, line up speakers for public hearings, and even run full-page ads in The Washington Post at a critical time in the approval process for the project. Twice a year, DCRA held receptions at significant locations along the route of the rail line and recognized individuals and organizations that had contributed to moving the project forward.
I was honored to be asked to speak at the opening ceremony for the Silver Line, where I acknowledged as I want to do here the critically important and very effective work of Patty Nicoson towards the success of this project and the significant help of current and past DCRA board members. Many have mentioned that we might still just be talking about it if not for the work of DCRA and its success in keeping it truly nonpartisan. I am pleased to have been a part of such an effort that will be transformative for our region.
Ken Plum represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates
Since 1990, the Annie E. Casey Foundation has ranked states annually on overall child well-being in a report called Kids Count Data Book (www.aecf.org).
The Foundation’s report is viewed as the authoritative source of information on how we are doing nationally as well as state by state for our children. An index of key indicators in four domains measures what children need most in order to thrive: (1) economic well-being, (2) education, (3) health, and (4) family and community.
“States vary considerably in their amount of wealth and other resources. State policy choices also strongly influence children’s chances for success.” (Kids Count Data Book, page 20) Living in the ninth wealthiest state, Virginia, in the wealthiest nation, the United States, we need to ask ourselves if we are doing as well as we should for our future as represented by what we are doing for our children.
Virginia’s rate of 15 percent of children in poverty is better than the national rate of 23 percent, but we can take little comfort in our better percentage when we realize that there are 279,000 children in poverty in Virginia. All regions of the state, including Northern Virginia, contribute to that number that has gotten worse in recent years. Reflecting the recent recession, the percentage of children whose parents lack secure employment has risen from 23 percent in 2008 to 25 percent in 2012.
Despite all the evidence of the importance of early childhood education and the incredible returns that can be realized from an investment in preschool programs, more than half (52 percent) of Virginia’s children are not attending preschool. Unfortunately many of the children who do not have an opportunity for an early start in education contribute to other statistics that find 57 percent of fourth graders are not proficient in reading, 62 percent of eighth graders are not proficient in math, and 16 percent of high school students are not graduating on time, although these numbers have been improving in recent years.
Virginia has seen a slight improvement in the health indicator of low-weight babies at 8.1 percent over the last decade but exceeds the national rate of 8 percent. In Virginia as well as in the nation, about 6 percent of teens abuse alcohol or drugs.
Probably paralleling the increase of children in poverty is the number of children in single-parent families increasing from 29 percent in 2005 to 31 percent in 2012. The number of children in families where the household head lacks a high school diploma has improved from 13 percent to 9 percent during the same period and beats the national 15 percent.
The area of greatest improvement in Virginia is the rate of teen births per 1,000 dropping from 34 percent in 2005 to 23 percent in 2012. Still the lower percentage represents over 6,000 babies born to teenagers each year.
While the statistics are interesting, the much more important question is how they inform public policy. Officials at all levels of government need to demonstrate through our actions that we know how much kids count!
Ken Plum represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates.
