Eye Of The Beholder

After Tuesday night’s regular September Covington City Council meeting, we here at the Virginian Review are wondering if council’s priorities are not somewhat misplaced.

Council adopted a comprehensive plan Tuesday that included the following data from the Census Bureau: In 2011, 20.5 percent of the city’s residents were living in poverty.
Councilman David Crosier brought this fact to council’s attention and called it “very alarming.”

Council moved on with other business without commenting on this “alarming” fact and entered into a prolonged discussion over the bright yellow paint scheme of a business located in downtown Covington.

Instead of focusing on the economic status of its citizens, council, led by Vice Mayor Bill Zimmerman, began discussing the possible creation of a downtown historic district and ordinances that would place architectural restrictions on buildings that include the color of paint permitted on dwellings and businesses.

Why is council more concerned with how the city looks than with the economic status of its citizens?

Those who regularly attend Covington City Council meetings can attest to the large amount of time council spends discussing grass that needs to be mowed, how well kept the entrance ways are and whether or not the inmate work crew from the Alleghany Regional Jail has swept the streets. Councilwoman Stephanie Clark recently met with representatives of The Alleghany Foundation, at their request, about the possibility of enhancing the appearance of entrances to Covington along Alleghany Avenue.

Covington City Manager J.B. Broughman tactfully reminded council that “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

We agree. We also suggest that council’s time could be better spent on economic development and intergovernmental cooperation rather than making sure the grass is mowed and cars are parked properly on the street.

At some point council’s concern for beautification should be shifted toward the empty buildings on Main Street and the continual decline of the population of the Alleghany Highlands.

After all, it won’t do us one bit of good to have a city that fits council’s definition of “beautiful” if there’s no one left to live here.