Petition to Proceed with the Town Square Beautification

We love our town and feel so fortunate to have a supportive business environment, fine neighbors and a beautiful place to raise our son. He’ll grow up with fond memories of our regular walks on the perimeter walking path (owned by The Inn at Little Washington, but open to the public), our expeditions to the library and the county park, ping pong at Tula’s, ice cream at the Country Café and visits to the great friends we've made in this community. No town is perfect, but we can all work together to shape our future here. The council has made some missteps in the Town Square Beautification Project and those need to be corrected. This petition is simply a way of showing that we believe the council didn't intend to break any laws and that, once those issues are resolved, we’d like to see the project completed so we can enjoy an even more vibrant town.

Dear John and Diane, Your petition regarding "myths vs. facts" about Washington, Virginia is very troubling to me. I have long been admirers of the great work you two have done in creating a lively and attractive business in our town. We have recommended your inn often, and have heard nothing but praise about your new dining enterprise. But no one likes to be referred to as "evil", which is the implication of your Burke quote. Edmund Burke was a great political and social thinker, and I believe he would have among the first to raise questions about the "Town Square" project and its most unusual funding scheme. This latest contretemps is due in large part to a column I wrote in the Rappahannock News which pointed out that a part of the deal was in "apparent" violation of a specific law of the Commonwealth, a law based upon the "Establishment Clause" of the United States Constitution. Since then, the Town Attorney has agreed with my assessment, and the Mayor stated his agreement publicly and said that that integral part of the arrangement would be rescinded. Yet you insist that my contention and the opinion of Mr. Bennett, the Town Attorney, is incorrect. I suggest that you read the minutes of the June 17, 2013 meeting, or listen to the recorded version. And certain communications revealed during the FOIA requests seem to reaffirm the odd quid pro quo for the gifting of that piece of Middle Street. And County money is, of course, spent in the County Seat. The County owns and maintains a number of buildings and properties in the town. And the County "beautifies" the Courthouse complex constantly. And, of course, no one opposes any property owner improving or "beautifying" property. You two are a good example of taking a property and working to make it more attractive on a daily basis. The more, the better. But I don't think you have asked for or received Town funding. Mr. O'Connell did indeed recuse himself from the vote, as should anyone votin

Dear Ben Jones, Thank you for your kind words about our contributions to this town. We love this place and want to do what’s right. We understand that the town council made some procedural mistakes. These occurred at public meetings and were undisputed at the time. We've read the charges posed against the town government and The Inn at Little Washington. While no one is above the law, it seems that the law is being used as a tool by those who have an ax to grind with members of the council and/or The Inn and that we, as town residents, will stand to lose no matter what the outcome. If anyone questions our motives, well, they’re transparent: We're living, working and raising a family in this town and don’t want to see our hard-earned tax dollars used to pay for an unnecessary legal battle. Those against the Beautification Project have been very vocal and we wanted to provide a place for others to voice support for the project. Our petition is not a formal legal document; it’s simply meant to show solidarity with a group of people whom we believe had the best interests of the community in mind and never intended to break the law. In addition to creating an electronic version of the petition, we've been walking door-to-door collecting signatures from town and county supporters. We've had many real-life, civilized conversations on this topic and have found that the council and The Inn has many supporters. Our “Myths and Facts” page was originally written after discussions with neighbors and county residents who were misinformed on some basic issues. We don’t represent the town and therefore the document wasn't meant as a comprehensive explanation of current events. We do appreciate your respectful and intelligent questions and hope we've answered them. Now that the issues at hand are in litigation, a judge will decide the outcome and we don’t see the need to engage in any debate. Our petition states the actions we support; we stand by our

April 12, 2015 We add our support for the Town of Washington beautification project and the actions of the Washington Town Council to facilitate the initiative. As former residents of the Town from 2005-2010, we appreciate the improvements made by the Council, which benefit both residents and visitors alike. We also feel that it is important to acknowledge and applaud the valuable contributions made by Council members and other local residents in facilitating these types of beneficial projects. The extreme vitriol over this matter and the legal attacks, including allegations of intentional wrongdoing, launched against the Town Council and Mr. O’Connell are unnecessary and personally disheartening. While procedural mistakes may have been made, we have not for one moment questioned the intentions of those involved, which we believe to have been solely to benefit the community that we love. Moreover, based on our review of information that has been made public on this issue, we find no basis for the assertion that any laws have been violated. Even if procedural errors may have occurred, no evidence has been presented that the actions taken were willful or knowing, and any such errors can be easily remedied through actions by the Council. Andrea Wooten & Steve Ray