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""In
late November, one of [the] members [of Piedmont Mainstream Citizens] noticed
a Legals announcement in The Daily
Progress issued by the Industrial Development Authority of Albemarle
County. It read in part: 'a public hearing on the application of the Covenant
School ... requesting the Authority to issue up to $14,000,000 of its revenue
bonds ... to assist the School in financing or refinancing ...'"
On December 9, 1999, Bill Smith attended the hearing and voiced Piedmont
Mainstream Citizens "concerns as to a governmental body, appointed
by the County Board of Supervisors, assisting a private school with such
a bond issue" (William S. Smith, Letter to the Editor of The Daily
Progress, January 27, 2000).
At the meeting, the Industrial Development Authority voted to seek
a validation hearing in the Albemarle County Circuit Court. Subsequently,
Bill Smith approached the ACLU, who agreed to take up the case. Arguments were filed on Monday of this week and a hearing
is scheduled for February 28th at 2 p.m.
An Aside
"Over the summer, the Virginia College Building Authority approved
a bond-issue to finance new buildings for Pat Robertson's Regent University.
The ACLU of Virginia and Americans
United for Separation of Church and State (AU), representing Virginia citizens,
challenged the bond issue in Richmond Circuit Court. Judge Randall Johnson
blocked the bond issue, holding that the bonds would violate the constitution
because Regent University is 'pervasively sectarian'
"The Virginia College Building Authority filed a Petition to
Appeal in the Virginia Supreme Court, to which the ACLU and AU responded.
The Virginia Supreme Court has not yet issued a decision as to whether they
will hear the appeal. In that case, VCBA is represented by the law firm
of McGuire Woods Battle & Boothe, which also represents the Industrial
Development Authority of Albemarle County in the Covenant School case"
(Rebecca Glenberg, ACLUVA, electronic mail, January 30, 2000).
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