John Moss-Candidate District 9
CVB Candidate Questionnaire Responses
Office Sought: City Council
District: District 9
Campaign Email: johndmoss4109@gmail.com
Phone Number: 757-636-1534
Campaign Website and/or Social Media:
Facebook – John Moss
Priorities & Philosophy
What are your top three priorities for Virginia Beach over the next four years?
Candidate Response
Affordability, flood mitigation, preserving the mini-eco-social-economic micro systems across the city
How do you define “responsible growth” in Virginia Beach?
Candidate Response
Growth that does not degrade at a minimum and improves existing qualify of life
When growth, neighborhood and natural preservation conflict, how do you approach that decision?
Candidate Response
Growth that is incompatible and comes at the expense of natural preservation is negative growth. If the growth cannot internalize the cost of making the necessary investments at the developers/investors total expense to nullify impact and neighborhoods and the environment then it is not really growth. It is the creation of profits at the expense of degrading the existing quality of life.
Neighborhoods & Land Use
What criteria will you personally use when voting on rezoning or development proposals when residents express concern over excessive density?
Candidate Response
This is criteria I applied for 17 years when I served. First, benefit of the doubt goes to the position taken by the existing residents of the most impacted neighborhoods. Second, the impact on the overall environment and infrastructure that are assets of all Beach. Third, the Comprehensive Land Use Plan. Fourth, is it requiring direct taxpayer subsidies or reliant on taxpayer subsidize financing. Lastly, if the project associated with zoning be viewed by people 50 years from now a wise choice.
How do you propose to ease the housing shortage and affordability issues in Virginia Beach while protecting the use and enjoyment rights of current residential neighborhoods?
Candidate Response
Reduce the cost burden of local government and schools on taxpayers. Increasing density is not an approach that has proven to increase housing affordability. If the high density increased affordability are major cities would be the cheapest place to live. City Council should not get in the public housing businesses. No measures the City Council can nullify the fiscal and monetary policy of the federal government and the Federal Reserve Board. The City should support the Community Development Corporation over the Virginia Beach Development to increase access to affordable housing. Affordable housing is the mission of the Community Development Authority.
Should the City’s Open Space Fund prioritize acquiring parks and natural areas in underserved neighborhoods before purchasing land from large private landowners?
Candidate Response
Other:
What criteria would you use to prioritize future Open Space acquisitions?
Candidate Response
I would rely on a science based assessment that prioritize habitat most critically at risk, the minimum footprint required for a critical habitat to assure its sustainability to set the requirement for open space whose prime purpose was on vegetation, insects, birds, fish, and animals over people and then defining the requirement for open space where serving human needs for human activities as the prime mission and where the need is most critical. Like with one’s home balance based on engagement with the community you work to find the right balance between the two requirements lists and between meeting today’s needs and investing in the future. Citizens voices need to be actively listened do just not heard. All choices are fiscally constrained, which makes it very important not to repeat the mistake represented by Pleasesure House Point.
In what ways will you support making development information more accessible to residents and promote residents having earlier and more meaningful input in development decisions?
Candidate Response
I would hold monthly meetings in District 9 where zoning requests, conditional use permits, and variances being requested would be covered. I would request my peers on Council support that on the City’s website a page be established for each district where each zoning request, conditional use request, and variance request would be posted with an abstract with linkages to all documents submitted and created by city staff. I would want to learn the barriers to the city ability to email to register their email to be notified whenever a request for a zoning change, conditional use permit request or modifications, change in conditions previously agreed, to, variance requests in their district is filed.
I would like to see the City Council to not hear and vote on zoning applications on the same night. I think the public hearing should come one Tuesday and the vote with no public or applicant input just Council discussion. It should be made clear that on the vote night the only changes that shall be made are changes the City Council does not need the consent of the applicant to make. The applicant on the public hearing night can hear the opposition and on his rebuttal can publicly offer to amend their application to mitigate the neighborhoods opposition. The applicant would have until the upcoming Friday to update their application for the mitigations they specifically mentioned at the public hearing no others. The updated submission would be available NLT the following Monday NLT 10 am on the website and a link emailed to every council member. It would not be until eight days later that City Council would vote on the application without additional applicant or public discussion.
This would incentivize applicants and affected parties to know where the share common ground, where they fundamental difference on which they agree to disagree and decide to punt their differences to City Council. City Council should adopt a rule that any items that have opposition cannot be brought to City Council before fourteen calendar days after the day of the date of the Planning Commission vote.
I think it would be great that the applicant would have to file the actual full terms of their request and presentation materials they plan to present with the City Clerk by 2 pm Thursday and it would be publicly posted Friday morning by 10 am. Missing the deadline cause their application to be delayed in coming before the City Council.
I also would like to see the development of those filing to be in opposition to a planning item, to agree on a single person to represent them as a group as rebuttal to the applicants rebuttal, adopting the procedure in court. The status quo should get the last voice.
Natural Resources & Environment
Will you support policies and measures that increase Virginia Beach’s tree canopy?
Candidate Response
Yes
Virginia Beach has over 900 lakes and ponds, many of which are incorporated into our stormwater management system but are experiencing sediment infill. What solutions will you support to improve our coastal resiliency through the use of these environmental assets?
Candidate Response
I would support solutions based on science that fiscally executable. I would want to learn from folks on the ground what are policies changes that are soft solutions. I do not favor adopting feel good policies that do not materially move the needle. Aggressively preserving what we have that is working well is always the highest priority. Not permitting development that degrades the quality and performance of our existing four watersheds and close to 30 drainage systems is critical.
How do you plan to protect Virginia Beach’s natural resources from data center expansion?
Candidate Response
I will be constrained by whatever by right property-rights exist where data centers exist when I take my seat on City Council and state imposed restrictions and/or granted discretion. It appears that the City Council may well adopt a no data center policy position and incorporate into the city’s planning ordinances. I believe data centers water requirements are inconsistent with water resources; therefore, not a compatible land use. If the City Council between now and my taking office, with District 9 voters’ consent, I will engage my peers on City Council to codify that position in all the appropriate documents. I am not oppose to data centers inherently, but their water requirements before you get to the other factors where mitigation is possible, the water demand requirements incompatibility with our available resource cannot be offset.
How should the city balance development with the recommendations from the Dewberry Report and ensure the protection of wetlands, waterways, and flood-prone areas?
Candidate Response
I recently had the opportunity due to generosity of a family member to spend a time on Hilton Head Island. A community that clearly decide to build a community inside a live oaks, pines, other tress and pine forest. Development had to take place without sacrificing the community being a forest. That is not an opportunity that we cannot recreate, but there is a lesson to learn. Change that comes as the expense of destroying why you decide to live in a community is not growth it is destruction of what you value. If a community’s value change you have evolutionary improvement. The last four years have been represented by key zoning decisions that many, to include myself, would characterize as destruction – not net positive.
The Dewberry Study recommended a multilayered approach with, if I remember correctly, an adaptive strategy for their implementation. Yes i do support the study, but fiscal constraints will drive the balancing, which is why citizens must have meaningful participation and not subject to manipulation by city staff and their hired consultants to reverse engineer the answer they have already decided upon.
What is your position on the Green Line for the next 5, 10, 20 years?
Candidate Response
Six votes are not on City Council now. I judge the Green Line to be a hard line that we need to preserve in perpetuity to keep a sustainable rural-agricultural community in our land use portfolio of the City. For 17 years I voted to preserve the Green Line and my position has not changed as private resident, and would remain my position if I experience the honor and privilege of serving the residents of District 9. There are fiscal consequences, but I believer those are net positive as well a total lifecycle cost basis.
Historic Preservation
Virginia Beach is home to sites and events of national significance, including the First Landing, the Lynnhaven settlements, and the Battle of the Capes. What specific investments or initiatives would you support to better preserve, interpret, and promote our history over the next decade?
Candidate Response
I am not sure where investments covered in this question can effectively compete with all the priorities facing our community. I certainly would not be willing to raise taxes to make such investments. I would lend my support to securing the private sector to make financial and in-kind donations. There is no shortage of demands for taxpayers dollars in the City’s possession. This area would certainly have to compete for whatever “discretionary” spending the City Council in each budget cycle that may exist.
What specific actions would you support to preserve the character and identity of Virginia Beach’s historic neighborhoods, waterfront communities, and cultural landscapes?
Candidate Response
First, all neighborhoods deserve to have their character and identify preserve. The fact that a neighborhood is on the water or historic does not create a front of the line non-compete advantage to be protected. All neighborhoods need to be united in demanding they not be subject to exploited by monied special interests with incompatible rezonings, poor maintenance of stormwater management facilities. We should rely on the objective application of science and engineering balanced with fiscal reality to set our land use policies, our budgetary priorities, Council votes, Council’s holding the City Manager and his staff with quality enforcement, and City Council giving residents feedback benefit of the doubt and shifting the burden of proof. By doing the detailed homework I am well known for doing and actively listening to all neighborhoods with focused time, energy, and effort on District 9 make myself an effective advocate for the values, concerns, and priorities of neighborhoods.
Do you support protecting historically, culturally, or archaeologically significant sites even when doing so may reduce development density or economic return for private landowners?
Candidate Response
Yes
Do you believe Virginia Beach invests adequately in preserving, interpreting, and promoting its history? Why or why not? If not, what specific improvements would you support over the next four years?
Candidate Response
I do not know. I do not believe it is core function of government to promote or interpreting. I do believe there is an element of preserving history in terms of land and buildings that the free market will not do that local government within fiscal restraints should do. The latter is not open checkbook. Once land and building assets are acquired or exempted from property tax as possessed by qualifying institutions the private sector to include non-profits should incur the manpower and financial expense for their interpretation and promotion. First and foremost the City Council has a fiduciary responsibility to perform the core functions of government and not lower the personal living standards of its residents by the budgets they adopt.
How would you ensure redevelopment does not erode the character and identity of long-established communities?
Candidate Response
Without six-votes no council member can assure what the question solicits.
What I can assure his how my votes would be cast and to what end my coalition building efforts would be expended to the ends of the questions.
I will not vote for providing direct and indirect subsidies to include allocation of the city’s borrowing capacity, granting encroachments on city easements, and granting variances to proposed developments, which generally high density redevelopment incompatible with neighborhoods relies upon to be profitable.
I will not defer to the analysis of the city staff or offerings of the applicant. The latter does not mean I will not take it into consideration. I will do my own analysis that will involve intense interactions with affected neighborhoods. There is a lot of talent and knowledge in all our neighborhoods and I avail myself to leverage that talent and knowledge. Making the most empirical and qualitative case is the best path. Voters play a rule, if we have a majority of city council captive of monied special interests then it is difficult to the truthful public interests to overcome greed.
Infrastructure & Fiscal Responsibility
In what ways should new development be required to account for the full cost of infrastructure impacts (roads, drainage, schools, public safety)?
Candidate Response
State law and the Dillion rule the conditions under which the City can require a development to provide right away, easements, pay for traffic light, pay for turn lanes to reflect direct impact of a development on public infrastructure is narrow in its application. Now on drainage, if the City fully enforces its stormwater management regulations the development can be required to internalize the full cost of the incremental discharge generated by the development. The should be required to the full extent that the law allows. If it is not a by right use, and is not compatible, for example, adds traffic to and already saturated arterial – just do not approve.
Will you support stronger requirements for stormwater management tied to new development?
Candidate Response
yes
What policies would you support to provide tax relief to residents of Virginia Beach, such as repealing the Meal Tax, Homestead Exemptions for Seniors, and reducing the tax rate?
Candidate Response
For the next two budget cycles adopt the lowered default real estate tax rate. Lower the meal tax two-cents for a start towards its elimination. I would support a universal homestead exemptions for all owner occupied residencies. Virginia Beach has a various senior citizen exemption program so, I would need to see where that falls short after adopting a homestead exemption if the General Assembly would pass the constitutional amendment for voter approval, which I believe it would require.
How do you determine what public/private partnerships you would support with taxpayer dollars?
Candidate Response
I believe in the free market and it would be the rare exception that would get me to vote for a public-private partnership. It would have to cash-flow positive to the unrestricted General Fund in year two, produce a 10 percent return by year, provide a equity position, and any taxpayer investment including debt retired in ten years, and no sale of land, and lease would be at market rates and escalated annually.
How do you envision the future of ITA lands?
Candidate Response
It is public’s vision that counts. As I said before, I believe in holding to the Green Line. As to the recreational use now being discussed with at $62 million price tag that includes a hotel. I do not see a reality based priority list where the $62 million dollar required investment out competes a long list of unfunded projects.
Should Virginia Beach prioritize infrastructure and resilience investments before approving higher-density development in certain areas?
Candidate Response
Yes
Decision Making
When given the opportunity to recommend citizens to advisory boards and Planning Commission, how would you determine who you nominate or whose term you recommend extending?
Candidate Response
Well in advance of scheduled of expiring terms, likely six-months out at my monthly meetings I would be actively soliciting nominations, and also asking people to directly apply and of course, without any commitments. When I got to the point that I thought I had my list narrowed down to the top three or maybe it would be just one, I would confidentially reach out to trusted agents to vet my thinking process. I certainly will be looking for candidates with not even the appearance of a conflict of interest.
How would you determine when to abstain from voting on a redevelopment project?
Candidate Response
When the law requires it and when there is even the appearance of a conflict of interest. I not only would file a letter, I will as I always did publicly read my abstention letter into the public record.
If presented by a private developer, would you sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement on a redevelopment project while serving as a City Council member?
Candidate Response
Other:
If a special interest organization donates to your campaign or offers other incentives to you, how do you ensure that you give equal time and consideration to the concerns of other parties when considering a vote on that donors project, or do you think such donations should be refused or returned?
Candidate Response
During my prior service I have always been accessible and will make my meetings with paid advocates public public. I will provide the City Clerk and the City Attorney a list of all by donors and ask them to let me know when any agenda item involves a donor donating more than $250 dollars. I will make that public and will judge and state my reasons for abstaining or not. I think donations in excess of $250 from individuals, partnerships, corporations, LLCs that regularly do business before the City Council as the principal or an attorney for the principal should be returned.
I would support City Council adopting an ordinance that requires member of City Council abstaining from a voted where the applicant or a contingent buyer to any action before City if the aforementioned parties donated more than $250 dollars to City Council in their most recent election or if donating since their election if the amount prior to their election was less than $250 than the post election donation would be added to determine if the $250 threshold had been exceeded.
Commitment
If endorsed, are you willing to publicly support the principles of Conserve Virginia Beach? These principles are the protection of neighborhoods, the preservation of natural resources, safeguarding of historic amenities, and avoidance of fiscal and physical waste.
Candidate Response
Yes
Is there anything else you would like voters to understand about your approach?
Candidate Response
City Council is a homework job and attention to details, and active listening to District 9 residents and frequent interactions with the same is important. If elected I look forward to working with District 9 Civic Leagues how to create an advisory council that I could reach out to District 9 issues, concerns, and priorities and on major city-wide issues. I found the questions posed and answers provided give you insights on my positions and reasoning process.