Mixed bag of thoughts ...

It's been a little too long since I've posted, but here are a few quick thoughts:

First, congratulations to SEAL Team 6 for their remarkable heroism in the capture and killing of Osama bin Laden. From my hometown of Virginia Beach, this band of warriors truly showed their bravery in what they did. We will likely never know their names, but will always remember their accomplishment.

Second, I had the honor of accompanying my friend Sean Kelley down to the White House Sunday morning to revel with a few hundred other Americans as we celebrate. Sean, a professional photographer, was one of the first photographers on the scene at the Pentagon on 9/11. I was there, too, as a reporter for The Washington Times. And neither he nor I wanted to be at what was a fitting coda for the nearly ten years that bin Laden has alluded us.

As The Washington Post's Petula Dvorak wrote in here column this morning, bin Laden was a "boogeyman" for those people who've grown up with September 11th fresh in their minds, serving as a defining point in their lives. It certainly seemed that early Monday morning the revelers - most of whom were under the age of 25 - were getting the "boogeyman" of bin Laden off their backs as they reveled not so much in his particular death, but rather the closing of a chapter in their lives. I think that's actually how many Americans feel - that bin Laden's death is truly bringing a sense of closure to how 9/11 impacted them. Now does this change our foreign policy? Whether we're in Afghanistan? That's to be seen and discussed later. But for now, people seem to feel a sense of relief as if a cloud has been lifted.

For me, it is closure in many ways because I was at the Pentagon on September 11th, 2001 and saw the horrors that bin Laden and his cowardly bunch wrought on this country. The death of bin Laden just feels like a chapter that seemed to go on and on and on has now ended. But that doesn't mean the book on the war on terrorism or our vigilance has ended or should be lessened.

Second, I wanted to say thank you to Governor McDonnell for signing legislation today that will require the companies operating at the tank farm to upgrade their tanks. Both Sen. Chap Petersen and Del. David Bulova along with Mayor Rob Lederer and my colleagues on council are to be commended for their leadership. Thanks to Congressman Gerry Connolly and county leaders, too, for the work they did in making this happen and helping to keep the pressure on the tank farm.

Finally, the City Council passed the FY 2012 budget last week. The bottom line is that taxes won't be going up (or just minimally, really, if at all) with the City setting a property tax rate of 93.7 cents per $100 assessed and .05 cents added for storm water projects.

We still have the lowest tax burden in all of Northern Virginia and I think the entire DC region. We also have the best services and this year we added three new part-time park and recreation workers, invested in the arts and culture programs our community values and gave City employees a much deserved 1.75 percent COLA, starting January 2012.

I'll probably write more about the budget soon, but for now know that the City - thanks to the staff, my colleagues and the community - once again were able to collectively pass a budget that is fiscally responsible, sound and responsive.

Sorry for the time away.