Evening star., 1955-11-07
|Woter Bond Issue

Voter Bond Issue
In the sound and fury cur
rently being raised by the ag-
gressiye opponents Of the
Fairfax County water bond
issue which viii be presented
to the voters tomorrow. no one
should forget the basic issue
that Is involved.
In your newspaper last Sat-
urday, one Edward Gibbons
attacked the Fairfax County
Federation of Citizens Asso-
Citations, as well as its officers,
committees. delegates. and its
procedure. He charged She
nanigans" and "railroading."
and accused County Executive
Carlton Massey Of trying ito
throw his weight on the side
Of the outlandish bond issues.
Mr.. Gibbons, letter was en-
tirely unwarranted. as have
been other attacks which have
appeared In letters to the edi-
tors Of certain metropolitan
and county papers. His letter
contributes nothing to q bet
ter public understanding Of the
issues which win be voted on
tomorrow.
The position taken by the
Federation on the school,
water and hospital bond Is
sues was q countrywide public
recognition Of the fact that
public facilities must be pro-
vided for Fairfax County
nOw--before the gap between
increasing populations and
static public services becomes
too great to be bridged by or
binary methods Of public
finance. Fairfax County must
either face up now to the re-
sponsibilities that It's growth
has brought. or 1t must wait
until catastrophe overtakes Ii
through the utter breakdown
Of public services ct some fu-
ture time when expense and
public Inconvenience viii be
multiplied.
Mr.. Gibbons long history Of
antagonism Is well known to
those who have followed the
progress Of Fairfax County
during recent years. 1t dates
back to 1850 when the county's
tax system was reorganized.
It has cropped out perennially
ever since, whenever steps
have been proposed which rec
Ognize the need for modern
ixing Fairfax County's public
services. His position. there
fore, Is wen known. Thus, he
appears 70 be serving nobody,s
cause neither his own. nor
the public's by publicly at
tacking the federation's proce-
dure in It's October 20 meeting.
The heart Of the matter Is
still whether Fairfax County
shall begin now 10 provide for
the schools. medical facilities
and water supply that 1t must
have. or whether 1t win wait
! to see how bad the situation
can become before taking
these steps.
Nan Netherton,
Secretary, Fairfax COUNTY
Federation Of Citizens
Associations.
AAt
] read with interest and
amazemeqt the editorial in
Sundays edition Of your paper
entitled Fairfax water is
sue.
In your editorial you have
stated that 1t Is surprising
that the question Of q $40 mil
lion bond issue for q coun-
ty-opersted water system
should have aroused so much
controversy and confusion. In
order 10 enlighten you and
your readers on this subject, I
will have 10 take you back
several years to the time that
the Board Of Supervisors pro-
posed to construct an inte-
grated sewer system on reve-
nue. bonds only without a
pledge Of any kind on the
faith and credit Of Fairfax
County,. or course the record
shows that this was not practi-
cal. The sound business men
whose business 1t Is to buy this
type Of municipal bonds would
have no part Of this bond issue
because they felt that the rev.
enue would not be sufficient.
Consequently, we now have q
hRlf-integrated sewer system
on bonds backed by the fun
faith and credit Of the county.
and not revenue bonds. The
sewer system runs over miles
and miles Of open land with
very few connections. The re-
suit Is obvious. no revenue as
the bond buyers predicted. In
the portions Of the sewer
system where there are con-
nections, the lines overflow
every time there Is . heavy
rain and poliute nearby lakes
and streams. incidentally. the