Split decision
John Borgmeyer’s article “Dem Yankees—new arrivals wrench Albemarle from the GOP” [The Week, November 30] could have included some more facts, not just ones that justified his headline. True, John Kerry was the first Democratic candidate for President to win in Albemarle in anyone’s long-term memory. False, Al Weed actually did not win although Borgmeyer says he did—he lost, even though it was by fewer than 250 votes. And some other Democratic winners were selectively omitted, like Gov. Mark Warner, who won decisively in Albemarle, State Sen. Creigh Deeds, State Sen. Emily Couric, and in case anyone forgot, Doug Wilder, who won in the county in his historic election as Governor.
So Democratic majorities in Albemarle didn’t happen overnight and cannot be explained on the basis of newly arrived voters. It seems rather that the county reflects the split loyalties of the country as a whole, and that each party prospers when it has strong candidates and a serious get-out-the-vote effort.
Rhoda Dreyfus
Albemarle County
The editor replies: Whoops! We love Al Weed so much, we blinded ourselves to the facts. Seriously, Dreyfus is correct regarding Goode’s victory in the county, and we regret the mistake.
The price is wrong
The news that Andrew Alston, the ex-UVA student who was charged with the second-degree murder of Walker Sisk, a firefighter at the Seminole Trail Volunteer Fire Department, received only three years for his crime on a conviction of voluntary manslaughter still saddens and outrages me and many other people in Charlottesville [“Buying time,” The Week, November 16].
Walker Sisk died from 20 stab wounds, one to his heart, within 15 minutes from the time he and Alston met. Sisk was not known to carry a knife, since he never attacked anyone or expected an attack. Unlike his assailant, violence was not in his background.
The judge in this case instructed the jury to consider whether or not Alston acted with malice. How can you stab someone 20 times with no malice? You stab someone 20 times when you want to kill a person.
The defense lawyers also claimed Alston knew Aikido, which enabled him to use a knife they claim Sisk brandished. Apparently Alston studied Aikido in 2002 once a week in a short-term summer course. The defense lawyers brought in an Aikido expert to show how this could occur. Do you think that little training made Alston enough of an Aikido expert to use it skillfully in a drunken confrontation?
Who cannot see that defense lawyer spin was flagrantly at work here? The decision of the jury testifies to the skill of Alston’s lawyers—not to the truth of this case.
In the meantime, Sisk, a great kid who had no history of violence or making any trouble for anyone, is dead, and his parents are devastated. Alston, who has a history of violence and incarceration and a reputation for carrying knives, is alive and well. His parents apparently have the money to pursue his freedom and can see him at Christmas, but Barbara and Howard Sisk will never see their only son again.
Walker Sisk touched the lives of many people in our community in very special and wonderful ways. We will never forget him. I ask the people in our community for their heartfelt prayers for Walker Sisk’s family and friends.
Karen McDowell
Charlottesville
Dismissing pro-lifers’ Big Lie
As a neighbor of the Planned Parenthood of the Blue Ridge office building, I think the distortions being put forward by the Central Virginia Family Foundation and its supporters should be noted. The letter by Marnie Deaton, a director of the organization, and hence a spokesperson for them, is typical [Mailbag, December 7]. They have adopted the Orwellian line that an office building is a hospital, which is more than a mischaracterization but part of the Big Lie propaganda technique. They think if they repeatedly lie they set the framework for the debate.
I was unable to attend the Board of Zoning Appeals meeting on November 9, but I understood by looking at the headline of that date in The Daily Progress that Renae Townsend knew her appeal would lose so she joined others in a lawsuit against Albemarle County. The meeting was simply a publicity stunt at which they wished to spread their propaganda, and Townsend sent me a copy of her remarks.
Since this is on the public record, let me say not only that the appeal was frivolous but so is the lawsuit. The Central Virginia Family Foundation knows it has more luck with a pliant Congress than our local officials. Going back to your article “Zone of contention” [The Week, October 19], you quote Tobey Bouch, a board member of CVFF, as parroting the party line knowing full well that at issue is an office building. Next is the party line that this affects property values and the resale of the litigants’ real estate. In fact, it is the argument of someone who kills his parents and then argues for mercy because he is an orphan. It is their tacit support, their failure to speak out, that leads to vandalism and attacks on people and property with which CVFF disagrees. Finally, their false claims that this office building was built without proper notice to them has been proven untrue time after time and they know it.
Under the Constitution’s First Amendment is the right to “freedom of speech” and “peaceably to assemble,” which means the CVFF have the right to repeat their Big Lie propaganda and to gather in front of the office building. What they need to understand is their rights are not superior, but merely equal, to our rights to point out their propaganda techniques and to disagree with them.
Frederic B. McNally
Charlottesville
Parenthood in the ’hood
As chair of the Planned Parenthood Charlottesville Area Council, I would like to correct Marnie Deaton’s assertion that many of the nearly 1,000 supporters who participated in the November 9 BZA public hearing were “trucked in” from out of state.
At the BZA hearing, Planned Parenthood volunteers and staff recorded the names and addresses of 979 supporters. From this data we were able to ascertain that the vast majority, 806 (or 82 percent), of these supporters were from Charlottesville and Albemarle County; 37 supporters (or 3 percent) were from out of state (including Maryland, Vermont, New Jersey, Tennessee and Washington, D.C.); and the majority of the remaining 15 percent were from counties surrounding Albemarle.
Deaton also stated that, “The Albemarle BZA doesn’t need a bigger auditorium, they need to check IDs and limit hearing observers to Albemarle residents only.” We disagree. The zoning issue Planned Parenthood faced on November 9 challenged our right to keep our facility open. That challenge affects a wide spectrum of individuals. This is particularly true with regards to Planned Parenthood of Charlottesville/Albemarle, since we are only one part of Planned Parenthood of the Blue Ridge, which includes medical and educational centers in Roanoke, Lynchburg and Blacksburg. We believe that any individual interested in this zoning challenge had a right to attend, including Deaton, who is a resident of Greene County.
As a resident of Albemarle County, I want to personally thank the many supporters who attended the November 9 hearing. The amazing show of support confirms that this community truly understands and appreciates the comprehensive reproductive health care services provided by Planned Parenthood. The numbers don’t lie: This community overwhelmingly supports Planned Parenthood.
Sherri Moore
Chair, Charlottesville Area Council
Planned Parenthood of the Blue Ridge
Miss manners
In your recent article about the hospitality of first First Lady Dolley Madison [“Dolley dearest,” Ask Ace, December 7], it was surprising that Lee Langston-Harrison, a curator at Montpelier, did not mention the book Montpelier Hospitality. It was published by The Montpelier Foundation in 2002 and was written by the volunteers. It gives history, traditions and recipes. It is a beautiful book with many fine photographs.
Margaret Bayard Smith was a guest at Montpelier on August 4, 1809, and she wrote, “Hospitality is the presiding genius of this house and Mrs. M. is kindness personified.”
I like your column and read it every week.
Easter Martin
Charlottesville