Author: James A. Bacon
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Told You So
The housing sector is picking up but recovery is being thwarted by a shortage of lots in desirable locations, reports the Wall Street Journal. No commentary is needed. The article says it all: Today many [the available] lots remain empty. They often are in distant suburbs of cities and still owned by banks, builders or…
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The Fiscal Fix
A former planning director proposes analyzing development projects on the basis of how much revenue they generate per acre. The results will astound you.
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What Incremental Change Looks Like
by James A. Bacon As long ago as last October, if today’s Washington Post article is to be believed, leaders of the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors had lost faith in the willingness of President Teresa Sullivan to “consider dramatic program cuts in the face of dwindling resources and to approach the school with…
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What An Existential Threat Looks Like
by James A. Bacon For a glimpse of the disruptive future of higher education, University of Virginia stakeholders who are up in arms over the resignation of President Teresa Sullivan should enroll in a class taught by David Evans, a popular computer science professor and winner of the Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council…
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We’re No. 4! We’re No. 4!
Virginia is the 4th best positioned of all the states to “grow, create jobs and prosper” in the coming five to 10 years, according to a new report, “Enterprising States: Policies that Produce,” published by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The Old Dominion was surpassed by North Dakota, Utah and Texas. Virginia strengths were the…
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Helen Dragas Has a Lot of Explaining to Do
The Virginia press is actually doing its job for once, surfacing pertinent information about the circumstances surrounding the resignation of Teresa Sullivan from the presidency of the University of Virginia. It looks like the Board of Visitors needs to come clean with the full story. First, this from the Washington Post: After consulting with board…
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What Would T.J. Do? He’d Make the Tough Choices.
by James A. Bacon Finally, hints of clarity out of Charlottesville. Digging into the departure of University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan, Karin Kapsidelis with the Times-Dispatch has uncovered at least one concrete instance of the “difference in philosophy” that drove the Board of Visitors to seek Sullivan’s resignation. Money quote from David Leblang, chair…
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UVa: Where’s the Vision?
by James A. Bacon There has been a lot of coverage of Teresa Sullivan’s resignation as president of the University of Virginia but precious little analysis of why the Board of Visitors lost confidence in her ability to lead the states’ flagship university. Rector Helen E. Dragas made some cryptic remarks to the effect that…
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A Better Explanation, Please
We are now nearly 48 hours into the Teresa-Sullivan-resignation news cycle but only a little closer to understanding why the University of Virginia president and Board of Visitors decided to part company. Rector Helen Dragas made some vague comments Sunday about disagreements over the university’s strategic direction, but otherwise the board has not been forthcoming.…
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“An Existential Threat”
James A. Bacon University of Virginia Rector Helen E. Dragas gets it. Explaining the Board of Visitors’ differences with departing President Teresa Sullivan, she told university deans and vice presidents that Virginia’s flagship educational institution can not continue to conduct business as usual. “The pace of change in higher education and in health care has…
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Hey, How about a Richmond-Norfolk Mega-Region?
by James A. Bacon The Hampton Roads and Richmond regions should align themselves as a “mega-region” to gain critical mass in the competition for economic development, maintain Thomas R. Frantz and Nicole L. Pugar in a Times-Dispatch op-ed today. “Cities that want to compete nationally and internationally are blurring boundaries, combining their assets and resources,…
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Sullivan Steps Down as UVa President.
Hmmm. I wonder what this is all about. The University of Virginia board of visitors announced this morning that Teresa Sullivan is stepping down as university president after a tenure of only two years. The board will hold an emergency closed-door meeting at 2 p.m. to “consider amending the contract of a University employee,”according to…
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A Footnote to MWAA’s PLA Vote
A letter written by three former governors and a U.S. Senator — John W. Warner and Linwood Holton and Democrats Chuck Robb and Gerald L. Baliles — was instrumental in persuading the board of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) to reverse its policy favoring Project Labor Agreements in Phase 2 of the Rail-to-Dulles project.…
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The Idea List
The recently published “pipeline” of 22 public-private partnership proposals does not represent a McDonnell administration transportation agenda. Think of it more as an inventory of ideas worth checking out.
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Boo, Redskins!
by James A. Bacon I’ll join Peter and Don (see the two previous posts) in expressing my displeasure with the McDonnell administration’s decision to approve a $4 million grant to support the retention of the Washington Redskins football team headquarters in Loudoun County. Frankly, I’m sick and tired of pro sport teams holding up state…