At a time when the county should be seriously discussing solutions…

Ms. Thornton spreads FUD…Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. In the past several months, the County has received two of the most important planning documents in the last decade. One concerns the modernization and upgrade to the County’s public safety systems and the other is a draft comprehensive plan. Dr. Tony Picardi, explains how, by spreading unfounded rumors, Thornton is attempting to poison the public opinion against these reports in a letter to the ESN. Unfortunately, other candidates are helping her to spread her FUD.

In the next issue of the Eastern Shore News, Ms. Thornton felt obliged to abuse the whistle blower, which is typical behavior for a guilty politician – stonewall the public and not too many folks will find out the truth. While Dr. Picardi finds no joy in refuting the natterings of mendacious politicians, he does respect the voters and offers the following validation evidence for anyone wishing to determine for themselves if Thornton is worthy of the public trust.

Regarding Thornton’s misrepresentation of the Comprehensive Plan. When asked at the Arcadia CBES Forum about the Plan, she responded immediately, “I don’t support 10 acre lots”. Read the Comprehensive Plan on the County’s web site and find no 10-acre lots advocated.

Regarding Thornton’s misrepresentation of the Public Safety Systems report, she makes numerous statements calculated to engender fear at the Chincoteague Town meeting on October 1, 2007. Listen to the audio of that meeting on the Town of Chincoteague Web site. After minute 44 she notes, “The ultimate goal is to move everything out on 13.” She goes on to suggest, “If you can get the Fire Services Committee to kill it, it won’t be resurrected.” This is her plan for poisoning the Fire and Safety System modernization for the County. Read the County’s Public Safety Systems Report on the County’s web site.

Regarding Thornton’s remarks spreading FUD about the proposed water quality standards for the protection of Virginia’s shellfish growing waters, she is heard on the audio of the October 1, Chincoteague Town Meeting after minute 30 spreading fear and uncertainty, saying, “It would prohibit anything” and “I have my own idea of why this came about…you have to really wonder why ‘they’ are doing it”. Now I personally attended the public hearing on this proposal to find out, along with an overflowing room at the Painter Agricultural Extension Station, that this hearing is only a notice that the State Water Control Board is in the process of considering how to better protect the shellfish industry on the Eastern Shore. There are NO regulations yet. The State wants help from us to write any new rules. There are no prohibitions on central sewerage systems and no bogymen lurking.

Now Ms. Thornton correctly states that SONs is suing the County. What she left out is that this is in part because of HER illegal appointment of a Planning Commission member. Wanda implies that the same person wrote both my and Terry Elliott’s letter to the newspaper. While this is another falsehood, it is evidence that multiple people are fed up with her FUD.

Having supplied all the evidence to you, Dr. Picardi will leave the topic of Wanda Thornton’s FUD for others to revile and write about. Please let us know what you think.

For everyone who drinks water in the County, here are sober facts.

Ed Hopkins is a PhD groundwater hydrologist. He knows groundwater. And in this just-released Question and Answer discussion, he lays out just how fragile our source of potable drinking water is in Accomack County. He explains why we need to restrict water withdrawals (and therefore development densities) off the route 13 recharge spine. He explains that the deep Yorktown aquifer is slow to recharge, especially in times of drought, like now. And on the recharge spine, we need to protect forested recharge areas. At the end of the day, water using activities on the Eastern Shore will be limited by the Yorktown’s finite supply. Either we husband the resource and choose wisely how we develop, or the resource will disappear and we will have no choice but to pay very dearly for a drink. This is why it is critical that we elect Supervisors to the Accomack Board that put groundwater above petty parochial politics.