Upon calling one of their elected representatives in a certain Northern Virginia locality, constituents' comments are recorded in a database for action and future reference. The following consists of such database entries for the communication from one A. Thomas, presented in reverse chronological order.

Date In: 07/18/2002, Method: phone, Issues: ENV — Environment, PARKS — PARKS
Comments: Opposed to the "Christmas in July" event at Lake Fairfax scheduled for Friday, July 19, 2002. WBIG is advertising that they are bringing 50 tons of snow, at a time when residents are being asked to conserve water and electricity. He asks that this type of thing be discouraged in the future.

Date In: 03/19/2002, Method: phone, Issues: PARKS — PARKS
Comments: Constituent wants a list of Park Authority Golf Courses.

Date In: 02/22/2002, Method: phone, Issues: LIB — Library
Comments: Loves the library system, praised this time the work of Mrs. Smith of the Tysons-Pimmit branch, who helped him with research.

Date In: 08/08/2001, Method: phone, Issues: TRAN.VDOT — Transportation — VDOT
Comments: Constituent called to report that the street sign at Virginia Lane and Virginia Avenue is obscured by shrubbery and presents a safety hazard for drivers who won't know what street they are on. Wants to know if the property owner can be required to remove the shrub, which was trimmed last year but has grown back.

Date In: 06/20/2001, Method: phone, Issues: IT — Information Technology
Comments: Thinks the County should implement/promote the use of computers and/or programs that let you speak into the computer, in lieu of typing, which then records and prints out what has been said. He says it would be easier for people like him who can think quickly, but type slowly.

Date In: 11/13/2000, Method: phone, Issues: ELECT.VOTE — Elections and Voting
Comments: Called to say that he feels the elections went very well here, and he believes that the entire nation should use the types of machines we used here in the County.

Date In: 11/01/2000, Method: phone,
Comments: Called to say that he hated trick-or-treaters, and that he wanted the practice stopped. Wanted to know who organized it, and whom he could call to get it stopped. Mr. Thomas feels it is a waste of his time to answer the door when it's just kids trick-or-treating, feels it poses a security threat to him, and doesn't like the idea of kids getting candy for free. Asked me if the latter was familiar with the practice of trick-or-treating. I said yes, yes he was. Upon the constituent's request, I informed Mr. Thomas of how I handled trick-or-treaters this Halloween, namely by giving them candy after asking them who the eleventh president of the United States was. Mr. Thomas replied that at least those kids earned their candy, but it was still a security threat, and he doesn't want any more trick-or-treaters to come to his door ever again.

Date In: 08/11/2000, Method: phone, Issues: TRAN.TS — Transportation — Traffic Safety
Comments: Called to say he had developed a shorthand system that takes one hundred twenty words per minute, but the speakers on the radio, when announcing traffic problems, spoke at a rate of one hundred eighty to two hundred words per minute. Chairman needs to work with radio stations to improve the delivery of information to make the roads safer.

Date In: 06/20/2000, Method: phone, Issues: TRAN.TS — Transportation — Traffic Safety
Comments: Constituent had heard talk show host Victoria Jones (WMAL), who did a program on pedestrians, tell people that every one out of six fatalities in the District (area) is a pedestrian. He is concerned because bikers and joggers have a "cavalier" attitude and frequently "ignore" traffic signals. The police don't enforce laws and "let them do it." This is costly to the taxpayers. Feels we need more bridges and overpasses, and better enforcement of laws. Spoke generally about the Metro Area, without noting specific areas in the County.

Date In: 01/20/2000, Method: phone, Issues: TRAN.VDOT.SNOW — Transportation — VDOT — Snow Removal
Comments: Constituent called to offer suggestions on clearing snow and asked what teenagers were charging to shovel snow. NO PAPERWORK; no response necessary. Constituent said he would call back next week with information he had gleaned from calling teens on his home—owners—association list who were clearing snow to let me know what they were charging.

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