Bonds Bonds Bonds!

 Update 11/08/2012: The Fairfax Times reports that all four of the bond measures passed by the overwhelming majority of voters.   The bonds will authorize the County to borrow an additional 185 million for...well all the things you can read about below/ 


It happens every election.  You go up to the ballet, cast your vote for the candidate you think is the lesser of two evils, and then you get hit with the crazy stuff.

But that I mean bonds.  Apparently, the County needs to get your approval before it can rack up more debt to pay for important things.

Library Bond:

The libraries are asking for about $25 million to cover renovations.  The libraries that are going to get the bulk of this money are the John Marshall Library, Pohick Regional Library, Tysons-Pimmit Regional Library, and the Reston Regional library.

My take: If you actually go to these libraries, this measure might be worth your while.  On the other hand, most people are using libraries for the free internet service these days.  Is that really worth all that new debt?

Public Safety:

The Police and Fire Departments, as well as the Court system are asking for about $55 million in new bonds to cover renovations at their buildings.

My take:  If you don’t have security, you don’t have a country.  These services are critical.  So unless you think you can take on crime by yourself or save your house from a burning fire, I’d go ahead and vote on this one.

Stormwater Drains

Around $30 million is being asked to construct new storm drains around the flood prone Huntington area of Fairfax.  Although the neighborhood narrowly escaped serious damage from hurricane Sandy, the area has been damaged by weather events around three times in the past decade.

My take: This is probably worth it as this measure will go a long way toward saving lives and reducing property damage.  With hurricane Sandy on everyone’s minds, I would hate to see citizens from this locality suffer the kind of damage we are seeing up in New York and New Jersey.

Parks:

Seriously? When was the last time you went to a park?