Town Council ‘Gong Show’ on Front of School Building
CAPE CHARLES WAVE
October 30, 2013
Cape Charles Town Council has adopted another new procedure to control dissent, which sounds a lot like the old TV program “The Gong Show.” Council member Frank Wendell consistently says what other Council members don’t want to hear, so they have begun limiting his remarks to five minutes at the end of each meeting. Joan Natali is the timekeeper, and sounds the gong when Wendell’s time is up.
Click on the slide show below to hear Wendell harangue Town Council members at the October 17 meeting for their refusal to recognize the front of the old school building in Central Park. A developer wants to construct a parking lot in front of the building in violation of the Town’s historic guidelines. But if the front of the building is on Plum Street instead of facing the park, then the planned parking lot would be on the “side” of the building.
The limits imposed on the people of Cape Charles and our elected dissenter, the manner in which the Cape Charles School was sold, and most of the recent Town and Council decisions bring back memories of a government dictatorship very similar to that of the communist countries in the Eastern Bloc. Theoretically, this is known as creeping socialism. Having spent years behind the Iron Curtain, I expect Town leadership to come after all the dissenters and take away their properties as the next step.
For Old School Cape Charles, watching this slideshow is like having amnesia and deja vu at the same time.
“Duck and Cover” would be a better name for the new reality show. This meeting was one of the worst that I have been to. Mayor Sullivan spent much of the meeting gaveling Frank Wendell. She and the rest of the Town Council either try to shut Frank Wendell up or ignore him.
Lifelong resident Frank Wendell asks legitimate and thoughtful questions about the town he grew up in and loves, and look at the reactions he gets from his fellow councilmen. They also ignore comments by anyone against what they want. They never answer questions, either. This Town Council has something to hide. They have bent over backwards to give away the school and now want to deny where the front of the building is. If they admit the front is the front, then they have a big problem. The developer wants to put a parking lot in the front of the building, and that is against Town code. THAT is why they are covering up and running for cover. This has been a dirty deal from the get-go, and the entire Town Council, especially Frank Wendell, knows it. The Council and staff have spent so many hours and so much of the taxpayers’ money it is unbelievable. I have told this story to other towns on the shore and they are in shock at the stupidity of it. Shame on you Mayor Sullivan and your colluded Council — you have all made a mockery of town government.