The
5
November 2002
vote on
the sales tax was a great victory for common sense
and a significant defeat for land speculators, as
well as “business-as-usual” politicians and
those that supported them. At the same time, the
outcome presents an unprecedented challenge for
those who desire a sustainable future.
Despite
all the noise and ink, little of lasting
benefit will come from the election unless
citizens can take advantage of the opportunity
provided by this refutation of business as usual.
Citizens must step forward and forge intelligent, fundamental
change in settlement patterns and governance
structure. The
scope of needed change is far more profound than
just securing a fair allocation of existing funds
or finding additional sources of money for
transport facilities.
The
vote was a refutation of past action and inaction.
It was not a vote for a sustainable future
because there is not yet a broad awareness of what
is needed to achieve that goal.
With
the defeat of the referendum, speculators,
developers and builders cannot mask the fact there
is little prospect for new roads to open more land
for scattered urban land uses. That is a big plus.
However, the vote will have lasting impact only if
smarter growth interests attack misleading ad
campaigns that mask locational reality.
The
smart growth forces must do more than stop,
hobble and postpone projects. They must generate a
base of support for the fundamental change needed
to create balanced communities in sustainable New
Urban Regions. Balanced, Alpha Communities are the
sine qua non of really smart growth.
The
pre-election debate failed to educate governance
practitioners or the media. They do not yet grasp the reality that no amount of money,
no matter what the source, will solve traffic
congestion unless there are fundamental changes
in human settlement patterns and the evolution
of balanced communities.
In
conceding defeat of the tax measure, Governor
Warner said he was not “giving up on better
roads and improved mass transit.” No one is giving up on better functioning
streets, roads or shared vehicle systems, but the
“solution” is not trying to build transport
facilities to serve dysfunctional settlement
patterns.
The
day after the election, The Washington Post
was still spending editorial page space supporting
the sales tax as the “solution.” This was in
spite of the vote and the fact that the paper’s
own news stories provided some of the best
ammunition the anti-sales-tax-forces had. The facts did not support the editorial
position of the Post during the campaign.
In
the media coverage since the election, nearly every
proposed solution is presented with an equal and
opposite reason why it will not work. This is a
continuation of the “let's you and him fight”
media coverage that characterized the election. Many proposed solutions, and most reasons
why proposed solutions will not work, are rooted in
a failure to understand the importance of functional
human settlement patterns. The one solution that is
not yet being widely discussed is fundamental change
in the pattern and density of land use and the
creation of balanced communities.
Beyond
the need to understand the imperative of functional
settlement patterns and the need for balanced
communities, is the fact that many of Virginia’s
most pressing fiscal and mobility problems stem from
relying on a tragically flawed tax strategy and an
18th century governance structure. The
Commonwealth must evolve a revenue stream based on
taxes and fees that reflect the level and location
of services rendered. Virginia
must also
evolve a governance structure that reflects
economic, social and physical reality.
In
the most simple terms, during the debate on the
sales tax:
No
state or municipal office holder who supported the
sales tax increase committed to plan transportation
and land use together.
There
was almost no discussion of the need for fundamental
change in settlement pattern, tax strategy or
governance structure.
By
putting the sales tax on the ballot, the legislature
opted for stopgap political expediency. By
supporting the measure, most governance
practitioners and some business leaders fell in line
for more of the same. The citizens were too smart to
accept a non-solution. From the most optimistic
perspective, the sales tax measure hastens the day
of reckoning on transport, land use, tax strategy
and governance structure. It makes the 2003
elections much more important.
While
the vote provides an opportunity for progress, the
real work is just beginning. Without a common basis
of understanding among governance practitioners,
citizens and the media, a new generation of
leadership must still come forward with solutions.
They must overcome the tendency of incumbents --
especially those who have controlled
Virginia
politics
for decades -- to say to citizens who voted against
the sales tax, “OK, you turned that down, now you
can live with the consequences.” Citizens must not
allow politicians to cobble up another non-solution.
--
November 20, 2002
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