Voters were better informed about candidates this year

Dear Editor,

Congratulations to the Chesterfield Observer, the Chesterfield Chamber of Commerce, the Chesterfield Business Council, the Chesterfield County Council of PTAs and civic associations from Southampton, Oxford and Westview for the exceptional election information provided to voters. Your thorough coverage in the Observer throughout the fall gave candidates an excellent opportunity to inform voters about themselves and county issues.

The forums sponsored by the organizations named above offered what has been too rare in previous elections - an opportunity for citizens to hear from and ask questions of candidates. The newspaper coverage and the forums represented a great deal of work and coordination. Voters complain about the highly biased and often untrue information that they receive in the mail and on television about candidates. If voters went to the polls uninformed this year, it was not because opportunities to learn about local races were not provided.

Thank you to all who worked so hard on helping us be informed and be better citizens.

Nancy Finch

Bon Air

Dear Editor,

Chesterfield voters have real reason to feel proud after [Nov. 6's] election. Thanks to them, the era of one-party government appears to be at an end for Chesterfield, and none too soon. Of course, tremendous damage has already been done with the large-scale rezonings approved by the previous board of supervisors with its "rubber-stamp" approach to rezonings requested by housing developers and wealthy landowners. That toothpaste is already out of the tube, and there is probably no way of putting it back in. We can only do better in the future.

In the weeks before the election, I found myself wondering if Chesterfield citizens even knew of the tens of thousands of new homes which have already been approved by the previous board, and of the effects upon our quality of life they will have with regard to overcrowded schools and roads, higher taxes, environmental degradation and even dilution of existing home values. The election showed that a fair number of people are definitely paying attention. Kudos also to the Observer, which maintained an independent voice and did a great job of keeping everyone informed.

Richard Lanier

Midlothian