Hey, it's not just me!

Here's a question: Was it was Doug Wilder's persona and style that allowed him to demand wide-ranging powers in the newly elected mayor's office? Now, could it be that same persona and style are the reason Manoli Loupassi is proposing a Council resolution to cut back on some of the mayor's powers in the areas of budget and spending?

Hey, it's not just me! I took a lot of heat from Fan residents and a School Board member because of comments I made about city schools in one of my columns for the magazine. I basically said you can't get a decent public school education and that's why families move out in droves. Anyway, six comments in the Times-Dispatch's Op-Ed section today from Vision 20/10 Greater Richmond Region's online survey seem to agree with my position. I hear the same thing on the playground probably twice a week. I wish the people who took offense would not see my comment as an affront to the great job they are doing improving the schools but as the reality of the situation. Most families applaud the advances being made but simply feel they don't have the time to wait around for the whole system to be fixed.

Hey, it's not just me! (Part Two) Check out the letters in response to J. Tyler Ballance's letter to Style Weekly regarding public masturbation and breastfeeding.