Apparently,
this thank you may have been premature.
What's particularly interesting about the votes by Smyth and Hudgins is that I-66 expansion has often been pitted as an "inner suburb" (e.g., Arlington) vs. "outer suburb" (or even, horror of horrors, "exurb") issue. In this case, however, the "outer suburb" people joined the closer-in folks in voting against widening I-66. So, despite our past differences, today I want to say THANK YOU to Linda Q. Smyth (and also to Cathy Hudgins) for voting "no" on this ill-advised idea.
Now, I see that
the situation may have changed:
Sharon S. Bulova, chairwoman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, said that the county is strongly in favor of widening Interstate 66 inside the Capital Beltway and that the county's representatives to a regional panel have been told to change their votes on the issue.
[...]
The vote by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Government's Transportation Planning Board on Wednesday stripped the $75 million project from the region's transportation plan. The swing votes were cast by two Fairfax supervisors, Catherine M. Hudgins (D-Hunter Mill) and Linda Q. Smyth (D-Providence), who voted against the project. Because the panel's voting system is weighted by population, the project would not have been stopped if the Fairfax representatives had switched votes.
So, when I thanked Linda Smyth for her vote against widening I-66 inside the Beltway, it turns out it MAY have been premature. Today, following the Washington Post story, the question is, will Linda Smyth stick to her guns and stand up to orders from above? Back in May 2007, Smyth
told the Washington Post,
"I'm my own person. Gerry [Connolly] has never told me what to do, and he doesn't now. If he did, I'd bite off his head." Well, I hope that Linda Smyth meant it then, and I hope she does it now with a new Board of Supervisors chairman. The question is, will Linda Smyth "bite her head off" and stand up for what she thinks is right, or will she given in and do as she's been "told?" We'll find out soon enough.
