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Politics & Government

Visioning Task Force - Public Safety Version Meets

The second session conducted at SCSS

How do you see the Mount Vernon District in 25 years?  That was the question posed to members of the community at a public meeting Monday night.

Only a handful of citizens showed up, but a few came equipped with several suggestions for Supervisor Gerry Hyland's Public Safety Visioning Task Force.

"My concerns are threefold.  Vandals, illegal hunting and the irresponsibility that goes along with that and traffic fatalities," offered resident Bob Lee. 

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Lee had no problem identifying concerns within his community, but he did point out his confusion over trying to relate current issues to a district 25 years in the future.  "Twenty five years seems a long time off to think ahead, especially considering technology," Lee said.

This was the second of two town hall meetings the public safety task force is holding to gather public input on the future of Mount Vernon.  Other committees on topics like education and parks and recreation and conducting their own research. 

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Public Safety committee chair Joseph Cammarata said public meetings are all part of the information gathering stage.  Findings will eventually be boiled down and compiled into a report.  A draft will be put together by December 15.

"What do we want to keep, what do we want to fix, what do we want to add, all of that," said Cammarata.  He said Supervisor Hyland made this project a priority because he's so focused on strengthening the community.

"He's very community oriented," Cammarata said.  "He lives in and serves the community."

The first town hall meeting was better attended with about 15 people showing up to voice their opinion.  It was Monday night's low attendance that worried one citizen.

"There really aren't many people here who are looking ahead," said resident Irene Mills.

Other topics batted around at Monday night's meeting were police presence in certain areas, wildfire response, search and rescue, drownings in the Potomac River and cyclist safety on roadways.  Everything mentioned was taken down to be synthesized and compiled into a cohesive report.

At one point, a citizen directed a question directly to law enforcement in the crowd, by Cammarata said that wasn't what the evening was about.

"We're trying to appeal to the public at large," Cammarata said, "not an agency of the public."

According to Cammarata, public safety concerns discussed at the first town hall meeting included police coverage and pedestrian safety along the Route 1 corridor and in the district.

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