Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Sierra Club member and Alexandria resident Robert Pringle questions the club's choices for City Council, agreeing with resident Michael Peck.
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Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Michael Peck's letter to Patch of July 13 explains better than I could why the Sierra Club's recent endorsement of candidates for City Council is unbelievable, and I won't repeat what he said. To me, it is particularly galling that, as a representative of the Sierra Club, Mr. Amel should repeat the fiction, a staple of high-density advocates, that without its favored projects (BRAC, Beauregard, National Harbor II and now a Potomac Yard metro stop) landowners would develop even more densely under the rubric of "By Right." In fact, the developers need new, looser zoning regimes in order to raise land values, get rid of those awkward poor people, and make the kind of money they are after. To argue that they can do more under "By Right" is …
Friday, July 13, 2012
Alexandrian Michael Peck disagrees with the Mount Vernon branch of the Sierra Club's explanations for its Council candidate selection.
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Friday, July 13, 2012
To the Editor: As someone who has ongoing, active advocacy board relationships with organizations like the Blue-Green Alliance, former Apollo Alliance, Penn State Center for Sustainability, and the American Sustainable Business Council, and who has worked with many Sierra Club members of the Blue Green and Apollo Alliances and the Virginia Sierra Club, whom I count as friends starting with Carl Pope, former Sierra Club iconic chair; I would like to make the following points in response to the Letter to the Editor by local Sierra Club chapter President Dean Amel. Mr. Amel confuses the need to control sprawl (his stated main concern) with well-managed and well-planned development. The simple answer is that density does not automatically …
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Local Sierra Club Chairman Dean Amel explains how the organization evaluated council candidates on the issues.
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Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Dear Editor: Patch has published two letters to the editor critical of the Sierra Club’s endorsements in last month’s Democratic primary for Alexandria City Council. Criticism of the Club’s endorsements has centered on the endorsed candidates’ stands on major development issues facing Alexandria, including the Beauregard Corridor Plan, the waterfront and Potomac Yards. Now that the primary is over and passions have cooled, I would like to explain in greater detail how the Club evaluated the candidates on these issues. Those opposed to the Sierra Club’s endorsements appear to oppose the increased density that would result from the three plans I’ve mentioned. The Sierra Club is neither anti-growth and anti-density nor pro-growth and pro-…
Katy Cannady
8:50 pm on Tuesday, July 17, 2012
The Sierra Club took positions on several controversial issues in its endorsement statements. I think Mr. Pringle's letter is more about the surprising positions the Mt. Vernon chapter of the Sierra Club took on the land use issues. Mr. Pringle states that he is long time member of the Sierra Club. He certainly has the right to question to the actions of an organization he belongs to, at least … more ›