Calling all readers! Cast your nom for Person of the Year 2010
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PHOTO BY DAVE MCNAIR
PHOTO BY JEN FARIELLO
Election day might be over, but that certainly doesn’t mean you can relax your ballot-casting fingers. On the contrary— it’s that time of the year for turkeys, new senators, bonfires, and The Hook’s annual Person of the Year.
You know the drill: for the past two years, The Hook staff has hemmed and hawed over the year’s movers-and-shakers, up-and-comers, and news-makers to pick one local citizen who has made the biggest impact. In 2008, we chose Gary O’Connell. Love him or leave him, the then-City Manager was at the forefront of many of the year’s biggest— and most controversial— decisions. A year later, Joel Salatin was dubbed “Person of the Year,” for the headline-grabbing work he was doing with Polyface Farms. From a mention in Michael Pollan’s non-fiction tome The Omnivore’s Dilemma to being featured in two bold documentaries (Fresh and Food, Inc.), Salatin was the local citizen we deemed most influential.
This year, we have a plethora of locals to choose from— but why leave out you, dear reader? You’ve followed the stories; you’ve commented on the updates; you’ve re-tweeted our headlines. Who do you think is the most noteworthy C’villian in 2010? Who made the most controversy— for better or worse— this year? Which citizen made an impact that influenced you? Who has the most potential to make waves in 2011? Leave us a comment below with your nomination for “Person of the Year;” leave us a comment on our Facebook page; or tweet at us @readthehook.
Even though he lost his election… Tom Perriello.
I’ll second Tom for person of the year. His dedication and long work hours are something to be admired, regardless of which side of the isle you might reside. I really hope he stays in the area and utilizes his skills and knowledge to help the people here.
Help the people go broke? Please. wake up.
Sleaze of the year would be appropriate for Tom.
Support Perriello also. He’s not why the country is broke - George Bush did that
Support Perriello also. He’s not why the country is broke - George Bush did that
Exactly how did George Bush make the country go broke? He IS responsible for the money he spent in Iraq (one trillion) He is NOT responsible for all the people who lived beyond their means and then blamed someone else for their not paying their bills.
Anybody that gave a loan to an unqualified person broke the law. It was not George bushes responsibility to go over loan documents.
It was CAREER Government workers (not appointees)that let Wall street get away with murder.
It was the Unions that forced US car companies to spend 2k per car on retirement benefits that should never have been given, making their cars inferior.
It was Chris Dodd and Barney Frank and soon to be indicted Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters that came to the defense of the criminals at Fannie and Freddie.
George Bush allowed too much government spending but it was the consumers who mortgaged everthing and then ran their credit cards up when that ran out.
The person of the year in C-ville should’nt be a guy that gave an 850k earmark for a museum to nowhere a week before an election.
Buying votes is not worthy of anything but an indictement.
Hawes Spencer
Joel Salatin can win every year for all I care…
I support Tom Perriello for person of the year!!!
Halsey Minor.
Whether real or perceived he seems to be the punching bag for most of you and the topic of several stories on this site.
Why not Oliver Kuttner? There isn’t an a more eclectic and interesting individual that has a chance to change the world from this area. He’s given us buildings on the mall and then developed a world class car that might help save the planet. He will speak passionately at a City Council meeting and take city officials to task in the past.
Genoways. The Hook has been all over this story (its like McNair is running a column, scandal-du-jour) and its also gotten loads of national media attention. The guy browbeats a vulnerable employee into committing suicide. The rest of his staff quits in disgust. The resulting scrutiny exposes he never bothered coming to the office, while paying himself under a contract he wrote more than Charlottesville’s City Manager, looting $450,00 out of an endowment to do so. So then–instead of getting fired and sued, or prosecuted– with a combination of smooth talk and threats of litigation he persuades a new, gullible and soft U Va President to whitewash the scandal, and set him up with a sinecure in the Office of Research, the best place for money to disappear without anybody noticing. You may have to rename it villain of the year.
Blinky
Jim Baldi
O. Kuttner. He hasn’t always succeeded in everything he has tried his hand in (witness the Terraces as a development project) but in others (Starlight Express, automobile concerns) he has brought innovations to our community. This year he brought an innovation to the world.
And please oh please do not, just for the sake of controversy, name Halsey or Patricia or Baldi or Genoways a la Time’s Man of the Year designations. In these times, we need to hold up examples of people who create goodness, value and innovation and not complications in the lives of others.
Tom Perriello! He is, in Barack Obama’s words, “one of the best congressman Virginia has ever had.” And although he lost his re-election, he has done for for the 5th district in less than two years than any other congressman did.
Oliver Kuttner is a close second.
*he has done more for the 5th district in less than two years than any other congressman did.
Sorry, typos.
Bill Marshall, glad you take the time to actually provide facts and data to support your statements. So Elisha, what exactly did Tom Perriello do for the 5th district? If you make a claim, back it up.
Person of the Year, Mark Brown. Saved the ice park and brought a new dimension to the Downtown Mall.
Peter Chang!
@St. Halsey: You wrote: “He will speak passionately at a City Council meeting and take city officials to task in the past.”
Is Mr. Kuttner’s car a time machine, then? Is it?
If so: He has my vote!
william…
here is a nice link about freddie mac and fannie mae…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs
Tom Perriello!
What about that guy on the downtown mall that plays the fiddle while using a hula hoop?
Thanks billmarshall. I had not seen that. Hopefully everyone will check it out.
Town Elder-I should have said “he has taken city officials to task” but I like you explanation better.
Voter for Oliver- he can take us back to the future!
Perriello, Perriello, Perriello. Both sides of the aisle admire Tom’s conviction politics and solutions-based approach. He was a great credit to this city and district, and gracious in defeat. (And will surely go on to bigger and better things).
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/virginiapolitics/2010/11/tom_davis_on_tom_perriello_sti.html
Tom Perriello. His hard work was awe-inspiring and his concession speech was articulate, upbeat and gracious.
Maurice Jones…the Barack Obama of Charlottesville.
Or Meredith Richards for spending all her since she left Council persistently nudging and lobbying the feds and state government and getting us a new train that runs on time. She’s Madame Mussolini!
I SUBMIT IT SHOULD GO TO
GERRY MITCHELL FOR FINALLY STRAPPING A PAIR ON
and SUING THE POLICE FOR HITTING HIM WHILE HE CROSSED
THE STREET IN HIS WHEELCHAIR AND THEN SERVING HIM
WITH A SUMMONS IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM.
SOCK IT TO ‘EM, GERRY, and ENJOY FLORENCE.
Bill Marshall,
If you read at all you may want to check out the actual percentage ofthe budget that has been spent on the “war” in Iraq that has yielded absolutely nothing except a bankrupt economy in the U.AS.and alot of grieving families, and then try to think back on who it may have been who conjured up the idea of spending ourselves into a black hole for absolutely nothing. Who could it have been… now let me think….oh, I don’t know, maybe…..SATAN????
Oh, and Bill Marshall, don’t you know those darn “tax and spend” Democrats like that nasty Bill CLinton left this country with a budget SURPLUS of only $236 billion that George Bush — you know –the FISCAL CONSERVATIVE– worked very hard to turn into a $1.3 TRILLION DEFICIT.
Periello? Political convictions? I supported him because I thought he would support withdrawal from superfluous wars that only got our sons and daughters maimed, killed and left stark raving suicidal, and drove our country into bankruptcy and got us hated and disrespected by the rest of the world for meddling where we did not belong, yet there he was up in lights voting for lots more $$$ for war in Afghanistan. Someone please remind me: How many Afghanis were there on the 9/11 planes again? How many Iraqis?
And please don’t tell me that Afghanistan is where Bin Laden/Al Qaeda is hiding so we need to be there…you just missed him — he was there on Sept 12, 2001. Try Yemeni, try Pakistan, try Algeria, try Saudi Arabia… you know,places that the terrorists were actually from or hung out in.
Tom Periello–some anti-war candidate.
I nominate the homeless guy that looks like Santa Claus who plays harmonica in the Downtown Mall. Old Santa blows a mean blues harp!
kim
George bush managed to pay the loan payments on all of his spending. Even if we had not gone to iraq 911 would have eaten up the surplus in lost tax revenue alone.
The mess we are in now has to do with everybody overspending. George Bush, The Republican congress, The Democratic congress (from 2006 to now)local governments, and consumers.
It will take a reduction in military spending, entitlment spending and eliminating all of the waste in government to get things back on an even keel.
Government is too big and needs to be cut back. Not by deregulating Wall street or other consumer protections but by serving the people more efficiently.