Concerned about our image

To the editor,
"Attention advertisers! Check Your Ad."
These words lead off the classifieds in the Orange County Review every week. Every week! Every business, individual, or agency that places an ad in the paper has an obligation to make sure the ad runs and that it reads correctly. No doubt the front page of today's paper (and maybe several more pages to boot) have explained the legal subtleties and political implications of Orange County's failure to check that its ad actually ran. It may be that the paper failed to run an advertisement for a public hearing but the onus to make sure it ran in a timely fashion falls squarely on the county. We should not, now, weeks after the planning commission voted, be in a position where we have to debate the validity of a public hearing or the legality of a vote. What does that do to Orange County's image?
Orange is, and should be, concerned about image. Orange wants to appear friendly to new and existing businesses but does not want to appear to be "for sale" to every developer waving cash, in the form of proffers or perceived future tax revenue. Also, tourism and history are big business in Orange now and are expected to grow. Tourism is all about selling an image of Orange. So, image does count for a lot.
In the Walmart debate, one side is saying Walmart must be welcome on its own terms or Orange County will appear unfriendly to business. This is the position taken by Walmart Corporation, which insists the location it has chosen for its supercenter is a good location and they do find support among numerous would-be discount shoppers. The other side of the debate contends that this particular special use permit must be opposed because it would be wrong to build a Walmart supercenter on the site of the Wilderness Battlefield.
There are numerous opponents to approving a special use permit that would permit Walmart to build a supercenter on the Wilderness Battlefield. They include the Piedmont Environmental Council, Civil War Preservation Trust, National Parks Service, Virginia Department of Historic Resources, various U.S. congressmen, the speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, the Governor of Virginia, over 250 historians from across the U.S., and yes, a few Hollywood actors. And a lot of Orange County citizens. They say proceed with caution. Know that what you destroy will be lost to Orange County, the United States, and the world forever. Know what it is you are proposing to trade for letting Walmart build on its first choice site.
Towards this end, various opponents of locating a Walmart supercenter on the site of the Wilderness Battlefield are prepared to defend their position by paying for cultural resource managements studies. But Walmart claims to have already achieved "balance" with preservation in their current proposal.
Walmart says the supercenter will not adversely impact the battlefield. The message from Walmart seems to be no thank you, we know better than do any so-called experts, this is a fine site for a big box store and it won't impact any cultural resources, at least not to any degree that our shareholders or our would-be clientele will care about.
And what does Orange County do? Up until now it has seemed like Orange County is rushing ahead to approve a special use permit despite overwhelming, well informed opposition. This is certainly the image of Orange County that has appeared in the national media. Previous letters to the editor have suggested that Orange County will be seen as standing up to "outsiders" when they vote the party line of Walmart's hired experts.
"Outsiders" is the term Walmart advocates have used to dismiss the informed opinions of some of the most highly educated historians and politicians in Virginia and the nation as a whole.
However, my read of the national coverage of Walmart's foray into Orange County is that the world doesn't see David standing up to Goliath. They see local officials stifling opposition as they maneuver the county towards embracing a Walmart supercenter on the Wilderness Battlefield. Is this a fair description of the actions and opinions of the members of the board of supervisors and the current employees of the county? Perhaps not, but it does seem to be our national image. And Orange County should be concerned about our image.
John Floyd
Barboursville