- Did John Poindexter start PNK2030?
- No. The Executive Committee (EXCOMM) recruited John as our leader. The EXCOMM unanimously offered John the position of non-Executive Chairman. Non-Executive means he cannot give direction. His role is to coordinate the activities of the PNK2030 Committee Chairs to form unanimous positions as to how best work with the county leadership to realize a shared vision of the future.
- What do you mean by “Partnership” in “Partnership for New Kent 2030”?
- The “Partnership” is with the county, and it is working well in the areas of Broadband and Strategic Planning. We are experiencing increased transparency. Critical infrastructure challenges are being addressed, and we are on our way to creating a Strategic Plan for good growth. We have endorsed citizens who share our hopes for the future. Regardless, once the votes are counted, we shall continue to engage the elected officials in creating a future in a transparent forum.
- Why do you refuse to work with the County officials?
- It’s not true. As a matter of fact, we urged the county to develop a strategic plan before reworking the Comprehensive Plan; we even convinced the County to delay an already-released RFP for the revamping of the County-wide comprehensive plan until the County completes the first-ever Strategic Plan, which PNK2030 pushed the County to do.
In addition, we contacted the County to revive the momentum for bringing broadband Internet access to everyone in the County. The results are that the County hired a consultant to do a study, which is now complete, and a steering committee (NKBBAC) has been appointed to analyze the study and lay out the best way to pursue the objective. New Kent County had a Broadband committee several years ago, but there was no result from it. This time PNK2030 will make sure that nobody drops the ball.
- Re the OPEN PNK2030 meeting on October 20th…. Who will be speaking? What’s the agenda?
- We will have folks who’ve been working within the Partnership and within county appointed committees provide updates on initiatives such as broadband and development of the county’s very first Strategic Plan. This is an opportunity to meet many Partnership members and learn more about our goals. Our Executive Chairman, Mr. John Poindexter, will be there as will the Committee Chairs. We encourage folks to bring their questions – we’d love to address whatever questions our fellow citizens have about PNK2030.
- How much does it cost to join the Partnership for New Kent 2030? We’ve heard only rich people are allowed.
- Anyone can become a member of PNK2030. It does not cost anything to join. And there is no requirement to donate money – although many of our founding members did so. PNK2030 members come from legacy families in the county, from folks who just arrived this year and everything in between. Many members are business owners. Many have children in the county school system. And there are many retirees in the group. All want this beautiful county of ours to be its best – to provide services to all residents but to not lose our rural character and tranquility.
- What do PNK2030 members do?
- PNK2030 has undertaken several initiatives and ongoing activities aimed at fostering good government focused on the good of the county, not individual interests or random development. There is an overview of these activities and further details on the PNK2030 website (PNK2030.org).
The Partnership needs folks who want to do research into all kinds of county and citizen endeavors – like zoning laws; updates on Commonwealth acceptable building proffers; and Conditional Use Permit submission processes and ways to improve them so all citizens are aware of what is being contemplated. We also need folks to attend public county meetings and provide feedback on what took place. We have several committees and subcommittees that meet periodically and we get together as a larger group several times annually. Often we provide the county administration or Board of Supervisors with our research and materials. If we believe we can help the local government, we want to do so. Providing research information, which the county did not have to pay for, is helping.
We also created and maintain this website and our Facebook page as a service to provide information to the public. We hope the information is helpful – and we’re always open to feedback and suggestions to improve them.
- Why should PNK2030 folks attend county meetings – and provide feedback to the Partnership? Doesn’t the county post meeting minutes?
- Today the county posts approved minutes from Board of Supervisor and Planning Commission Meetings on the county’s website. Unfortunately, at a minimum, those minutes are at least a month old by the time they are approved – then they have to be posted ….. and sometimes the posting takes several months. If we, the citizens, are to stay aware of what our county is doing with taxpayer funds, then we must keep ourselves informed and up-to-date on meeting agendas and results.
Additionally, county business can and has been discussed and decided upon, at those county meetings, that was not previously announced or posted online for the public to see. In other words, the agendas are changed midstream – without announcement – and county business can be finalized before the public knows anything about it. It’s hard to have an involved citizenry when that happens. That’s why it’s imperative citizen representatives attend every single meeting.
- PNK2030 established a PAC. What is a PAC and why does PNK2030 have one?
- Political Action Committee (PAC) — A popular term for a political committee organized for the purpose of raising and spending money to elect and defeat candidates. Most PACs represent business, labor or ideological interests. PACs can give $5,000 to a candidate committee per election (primary, general or special). They can also give up to $15,000 annually to any national party committee, and $5,000 annually to any other PAC. PACs may receive up to $5,000 from any one individual, PAC or party committee per calendar year. A PAC must register with the FEC within 10 days of its formation, providing name and address for the PAC and its treasurer.
Any person, association, organization or group of individuals that anticipates receiving contributions and/or spending funds in excess of $200 for the purpose of influencing the outcome of any non-federal election in Virginia must register as a political committee with the Virginia Department of Elections (ELECT).
In other words, PNK2030 established a PAC because it was required by the Commonwealth of Virginia to do so – as soon as the $200 cap was reached, a PAC had to be formed. It’s the law.