Tim Lovain recently wrote a letter to the Gazette in which he endorsed Justin Wilson as a mayoral candidate and as a student of public policy. He seemed to base his conclusions regarding Wilson on the belief that Wilson shares his theory of democracy, which is that elected officials should use their own opinions regarding issues that the citizens feel strongly about and to use care not to be overly influenced about what the citizens of the community think on these issues and what they want for the city. He also seems to rely heavily on others that share his “theory” of democracy and he quotes Edmund Burke as support for his belief. This is an interesting choice. Edmund Burke lived in the 1700s and was an elitist politician who was unconcerned about the masses. He considered a well-ordered society as one in which the ruling elite was a “natural aristocracy” that should rule the masses and he considered democracy as the “most shameless thing in the world.”
It is troublesome that Mr. Lovain and Mr. Wilson (and perhaps other members of the council) embrace this flawed and self-serving concept of democracy and Lovain makes a thinly veiled assertion that he and Wilson are superior to the citizens of the city in their abilities to analyze and reach proper conclusions regarding the issues affecting the city. No facts were offered to support this position, undoubtedly because there are none.
During the last mayoral election there were strong feelings and open discussions regarding integrity and honesty leading up to the vote. Both Kerry Donley and Bill Euille, who I had supported and voted for earlier in their political careers, refused to honor a pledge that they had made to support the winners of the Democratic primary election. A pledge is a solemn promise and scores of true Democrats who honored the long-standing values and beliefs of the Democratic Party were deeply disappointed and angry. Allison Silberberg won the election and has served as mayor continuing her focus on improving the quality of life for the citizens of Alexandria. It did not go unnoticed at the time that other members of the council, all identifying themselves as Democrats, went invisible and remained silent on the unacceptable behavior of these two former mayors.
We need new people on our City Council with new innovative ideas, a high level of integrity and honesty, who embrace, without exception, the values and beliefs of the Democratic Party. We are approaching an election that will allow us to make it happen. Please vote.
Thomas Greene
Alexandria