Bruce and Beth Roemmelt Host Deeds in Haymarket

May 14, 2008

Senator Deeds' was the special guest of his good friends Bruce and Beth Roemmelt last night in Haymarket. He spoke of the need to create opportunity in every corner of Virginia: making smart investments in Virgina's colleges and universities to create a research-based economy that develops new sources of alternative energy, putting broadband Internet access in every community, and retooling our community colleges to train our workforce for the jobs of the 21st century. Raising Kaine reports that he was asked about everything from overuse of Virginia's National Guard to transportation.

"Creigh was asked about transportation, and said he's proud of Gov. Kaine for throwing a plan out there, because nobody else did. Sitting in Beltway traffic helped him understand why this is a huge issue in northern Virginia. In Hampton Roads, it's a big problem too, in part because there are "choke points" everywhere (e.g., the Norfolk-Portsmouth tunnel, the most traveled road in Virginia according to Creigh). Creigh emphasized that we're "all in this together," and that it's called a COMMONwealth for a reason. It shouldn't be NOVA's responsibility alone to take care of NOVA. We have a common responsibility to take care of problems all over Virginia. That's why Creigh favors a statewide solution for transportation. Also, everything ought to be on the table, the plan has to be right for every part of Virginia. Creigh's very supportive of high-speed rail as a way to transform the state. Need to integrate land use and transportation planning. As governor, Creigh would get smart people to figure ou the plan, it would be his job to sell it." -Raising Kaine