Politics & Government

Woodbury Councilman Outlines Rationale For 'No' Vote

Christopher Burns says Penn Cycle should not have been assessed for the upcoming Courtly Road work.

By his own estimation, Woodbury Councilman Christopher Burns says he votes with his colleagues about 95 percent of the time.

As the lone dissenter on a resolution regarding the , Burns outlined the reasons why he .

A first-term councilmember, Burns said he’s not against the project itself, but disagreed with the assessments being levied against Penn Cycle, which was also assessed when Lake Road was fixed up a couple of years ago.

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“It’s inconsistent with how they assessed parcels when they did Lake Road,” Burns told Patch. “Penn Cycle should not have been assessed (for the Courtly Road work).”

No one from Penn Cycle spoke during a public hearing on the matter during the Aug. 10 council meeting.

Find out what's happening in Woodburywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

City staff have indicated that there was a mistake made when bike shop was assessed last time around, Burns said.

“Neither they nor my colleagues on the council were particularly bothered by this,” he said, adding that he thinks highly of the work of city staff in general.

Burns said he feels that he is often the “1” on 4-1 votes, and it’s sometimes “awkward.”

Asked whether such “no” votes could be construed as a way for him to stand apart from the council, Burns said it’s not a political ploy.

“The city benefits from having people of differing opinions,” he said. “I don’t see my ‘no’ votes in any way as political posturing.”

Burns called himself a “procedure and precedent” person and simply wanted to convey his disagreement with how things were handled regarding the Courtly Road project.

“I don’t want to make it more significant than it is,” he said.


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