by jacob
They are having a poll over at the Loudoun Times today. Who would YOU like to see voted out of office. Well. We all know the answer to that question. The biggest idiot in the history of Loudoun Politics: Stevens Miller
Follow the link here
http://www.loudouni.com/themes/people
And put your displeasure on record. Power to the people.
Mark Sell, candidate for Chairman of the Loudoun County Republican Committee, yesterday released the following statement from Kyle Kunkler, the Eastern Loudoun RPV Victory Field Director in 2009:
I consider Mark to be an instrumental part of the GOP 2009 victory in Loudoun. Mark Sell’s ability to recruit and coordinate volunteer activities was essential. Throughout the campaign season, Mark came through and was able to motivate volunteers time and time again to come out and support our Republican ticket.
Mark was involved in virtually every aspect of the grassroots campaign in Loudoun from door to door events to the staffing of ‘Back-to-School-Night’ events for half of the county to his participation in various festivals, fairs, parades and community events. Mark brought people to these events, and participated, standing shoulder to shoulder with the volunteers that he so frequently was able to motivate into action. Mark also participated in phonebanking, the 72-Hour Task Force, and Election Day Operations. No job is beneath Mark, he knows that in order to lead one must be willing and able to do the grunt work needed to win an election.
Mark Sell always had a can-do attitude, and is ready to do whatever is needed to help a campaign. With his long background of activism in the local Party, Mark understands the nuts and bolts of what it takes to win the ground war. I wholeheartedly endorse his candidacy for Chairman of the Loudoun County Republican Party.
Klye was the Virginia Republican Party’s coordinator for eastern Loudoun. He lead the victory team. He oversaw the day to day trench warfare of the political campaign here in eastern Loudoun. The guy knows who brought the goods to the table. Mark Sell kept a steady stream of volunteers coming through the door. Volunteers are the life’s blood of a political campaign, especially at the local county level. The ability to put boots on the ground is called leadership.
It was this kind of leadership that helped make last falls campaign the success that it was. Politics is about advancing an ideology at the balot box. The Republican Party’s stated ideology is conservative. We all are conservatives here in Loudoun GOP. Some conservatives, like Mark, have been giving voice to conservatism for years in the public square. This involves, among other things, running campaigns. With this experience, Mark is able to consistently bring people to events. This is how campaigns are won. This is why Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli endorsed Mark for our Chairman. This is why the 2009 Victory Campaign in Loudoun endorses Mark Sell in 2010 — to take back the BOS in 2011!
by jacob
Monk, thanks for reminding me to sign my previous article. It was an oversight. I appreciate your pointing it out.
As for rattled, hardly. With Ken’s endorsement and the endorsements of hundreds of others, I see Mark running a strong race. Mark saw all the venom on the blogs directed toward him and Candace back in January. He also saw all the old wounds in the party getting opened up. In order to squelch all that he asked me not to post stuff about the campaign on this blog. The party does not need the venom. By the way, that is called leadership. Leadership is about knowing what is right, and not just giving in to ones baser instincts to hit back. This is what Ken did when a number of blogs were attacking him.
Notice the difference. When Greg Stone posted an article or two about Candace, I did not call it a steaming pile. Or denigrate anyone. When I saw Tags endorsement of Candace, I did not lament it. I also did not frame it as a poor choice on Tag’s part, nor try to dilute Candace with some statement about Greg Stone calling Tag on her behalf. You have.
Like I said yesterday, this party separates the men from the boys on SUNDAY. Where will you be? This is why I am asking you and others in the party if you will support the winner from Saturday, on Sunday. I will be there from day one. That is the adult thing to do. Candace has called for it, this is also leadership. You support her — so what gives? A simple yes or no will suffice. We need unity, the stakes are too high.
This is not about ripping each others guts people. The party does not agree on who is the best choice. The remedy for this is tomorrow’s election. The remedy is not demonizing and denigrating one another. The two campaigns have kept to the high road. That is called leadership.
by jacob
Today Loudoun County is at a crossroads. The people need to make a choice, either they can take back control of their government, or, they can leave it to the fiscally challenged Board of Supervisors (BOS) dominated by liberal Democrats. If the choice is to take back control, then Mark Sell is the man for this job. As a life long Republican Mark has been a campaign volunteer, Precinct Captain, Magisterial District Chair and Party Treasurer. Mark has paid his dues and learned the ropes in multiple campaigns. Mark has learned what needs to be done on the ground, in the trenches, to win elections. In the last election Mark was a deputy for Ken Cuccinelli in his successful campaign to become our Attorney General. The McDonnell-Bolling-Cuccinelli team ran as unapologetic conservatives, and won in a landslide.
Mark plan is to field a full suite of candidates, who will build on this momentum. Candidates who will remember their conservative roots, and that their duty is to the people. Candidates who are also unapologetic about their conservatism. Candidates who know that a government that governs well, governs least. Smaller government demands that the spending must be cut. Mark plan is to field a full slate of fiscal conservatives to oust the big spenders on the BOS in 2011, and engage every constituency in our county. This will require seasoned leadership. It is for this reason I support Mark Sell for Chairman of the Loudoun County Republican Party and ask you to come out and vote him on March 6th, 2010.
We all have seen our party lose its way in this last decade. The spending excesses of our Republican congress, and our local county elected officials resulted in a Republican Party as a small minority. The party deserved what it got. The party must never again forget its fiscal conservative roots. Small government is good government. If we do not reduce spending we cannot reduce taxes without running even higher deficits. Runaway government spending is the root of our economic woes. Mark will find candidates who understand this, and more importantly, will not forget this.
As a long time grass roots activist in Loudoun County, Mark has worked hard to stop the Meals Tax, the increases in the Sales Tax and on other liberal boondoggles, giving voice to our shared Republican and conservative ideals in the public square speaking before our BOS on many occasions, so that the people of Loudoun will not be saddled with even higher taxes. The People of Loudoun deserve better than what they have been burdened with in past years. Loudoun has the highest tax rate of any county in VA. Loudoun even has highest taxes of any county in the South. We can and must do better. To do so, we must win the BOS. To do that we need a leader who has been there, in good times and in bad, and who knows the ropes. Mark Sell will not need on the job training. He will be ready to lead from day one — Mark knows Loudoun.
For more details about Mark, his plans and his vision for Republican victory in our county go to www.sell4chairman.com
by jacob
Mark Sell, candidate for Chairman of the Loudoun County Republican Committee, today has released the following statement from Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli:
I can attest from first-hand experience that Mark Sell is an excellent choice for Loudoun County Republican Committee Chairman. Mark has worked side-by-side with many of us over the last decade on key conservative issues ranging from the fight against tax hikes to the Marriage Amendment. From Committee Treasurer to District Chair to Precinct Captain to Rules Committee Chairman to a Loudoun County Volunteer Coordinator for my own victorious campaign last year, Mark has shown his mettle where it counts — in the planning councils, in the trenches, on the phones and on the streets. He has the proven skills at organization, mobilization, fund-raising and finance to head up a winning effort for Loudoun Republicans in 2010, 2011 and beyond.
This is tremendous news for the Sell campaign. During the past weeks of campaigning, Mark has made appearances before the the good folks at Leisure World, LCWC, the LCRC and lastly the fiscally challenged BOS. Mark has received endorsements from many conservative Republicans, and his campaign delivered close to 300 applications in support of Howie Lind for the upcoming 10th district convention. Boots on the ground activism delivered those votes for Howie, and will deliver the votes for other Republicans in 2011. Ken Cuccinelli knows this and that is why he endorses Mark Sell for the Chairman of the Loudoun County Republican Committee.
Mark sell has been a conservative voice in Loudoun County politics for years. He is an activist who has exemplified the word ‘active’. Mark has spoken before our Board of Supervisors both Republican and Democrat controlled on countless occasions. Mark has worked every election cycle, supporting our Republican party in both good times and bad. Mark has seen his fair share of big spenders on both sides of the political divide. He is a Christian, patriot and a conservative, this reality has reflected in his actions and words since the day I met him.
HOUSE BILL NO. 971 is a sales tax. This bill is most egregious in that is a plan for future spending, when the economy is back on its feet. The bill targets fuel use. It will collected as part of the sales tax and will be buried in the price of other items sold through vending machines; as such the sponsors are attempting for this new levy to be a hidden tax. The bill in its totality is here.
In addition to the sales tax imposed pursuant to § 58.1-603, there is hereby levied and imposed in each county and city embraced by the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority established under § 15.2-4830, a retail sales tax at the rate of 0.50 percent.
The bill reenacts § 58.1-604.1 and § 58.1-608.3, with the former stating:
Use tax on motor vehicles, machinery, tools and equipment brought into Virginia for use in performing contracts.
with the later being the vehicle for setting aside the taxes for application to …
any public facility or to extensions or additions to any public facility
This is not even a targeted tax that will set aside money for roads. Apparently we need more firehouses with Greco-Roman columns like the one near Purceville off of RT7?
That Rust and May sponsored/wrote this mess is not a surprise. The only good thing about Rust is that he is not Stevens Miller. Kory and Watts, both of Fairfax, both Democrats, also cosponsored this bill. What is a surprise is that our freshman delegate Tag Greason voted for this bill. The vote on the committee was:
YEAS–Orrock, Lohr, Greason, Pollard, Englin, Abbott–6.
NAYS–Cline, Cole, Gear, Marshall, R.G.–4.
ABSTENTIONS–0.
NOT VOTING–Johnson–1
Of the five delegates who represent Loudoun county, three are on the wrong side of this issue, and one is not involved. This is the kind of thing that crushed Republicans in the 2006 and 2008 election cycles. Republicans start acting like Democrats and forgot that the money belongs to the people. VA is in a financial hole not because we tax too little, but because we spend too much. When growth in the budget exceeds growth in the economy, the end result is deficits.
The real trouble with our state and federal government is the spending. New taxes are not fiscally responsible as the proponents of such legislation would contend. This is akin to providing an alcoholic with a full bottle of whiskey and calling it responsible because, “Now he won’t drive as badly as he would if he were suffering from withdrawal.” I also have a bridge to sell to anyone who is willing to buy it.
Our legislators are addicted to spending. Taxes are just a means to this end. We must target the spending and reduce it; then the current taxes collected will suffice. If the legislators are able to cut the budget, current revenues will exceed our needs. The size of government relative to GDP is far too large already. People in VA are tightening their belts, so must Richmond. It has been done elsewhere, 34 states are cutting their budgets. We are raising taxes. What is wrong with this picture?
The people we elect, be they Republican or Democrat, must realize that the total size of government must be reduced. To paraphrase the politics of the 90’s, “It’s the spending, stupid.” To reduce spending takes far more courage than it does to levy a new tax that will not take effect for several years, as HB971 does …
no provision of the first enactment, except adding § 30-134.1 to the Code of Virginia, shall become effective until the first day of the third month following six consecutive months in which the unemployment rate in the Commonwealth is equal to or lower than it was in January 2008
It will be a while before this tax is enacted, but it will be a thorn in our sides when it goes into effect. Are the sponsors and supporters of this bill counting on the electorate to forget who foisted this new expense upon them? Why push a bill that is in effect a plan for future government expansion, when the size of government is too big already? Are not fiscal conservatives for smaller government? Is not Tag Greason touted as a fiscal conservative?
An argument that it is a tax that will not go into effect now, but, will wait for good times to return (thereby not harming Virginians) does not hold water. Such a tax will hurt us when it does take effect. Most importantly such a tax will be used to fuel further growth in government and allow for more spending. The end result will be an even larger financial hangover when the lean times return.
The deficits we run today were born years ago when the economy was doing well. The economy expanded and so did the size of our government. Instead of maintaining the level of services, which already were too profligate, the government took the opportunity to grow. The government grew faster than the economy and now in the lean times we are saddled with crushing debt and deficits.
Voting to increase taxes — even if they are in the far future, possibly after Tag retires from politics — is not why the people of Loudoun sent Greason to Richmond. Target the spending Mr Greason. All spending has constituencies that will protect it. It takes far more courage to slay the dragon than it does to feed it.
Tag’s platform touted fiscal conservatism and keeping VA business friendly. HB971 is not fiscal conservatism; HB971 is not business friendly legislation. Forget the lipstick folks, this bill is a pig. Tag is new to Richmond and we have great hopes for him here in Loudoun. Mistakes happen, and this vote was a mistake Tag.
Loudoun County Supervisor Stevens Miller (D-Dulles), who is running for the 86th district house of delegates seat, was the catalyst of an odd story in the current edition of the Loudoun Independent newspaper.
During a September 15 “executive session” (closed meeting), Miller apparently accused his fellow supervisors of some degree of bias in the selection process for candidates for the vacant county administrator position. The following day, a report of the accusation was leaked both to a Northern Virginia blog and to Independent reporter Jason Jacks.
The substance of Miller’s strange statements in the Independent story might lead one to conclude that Miller himself was the source of one if not both of the leaks, possibly to ensure his accusation received press coverage.
No one will know the truth about what happened in the executive session or how the proceedings might have been leaked until one of Miller’s fellow supervisors speaks out. But a review of the facts is instructive:
During the Tuesday, September 15 executive session: Miller said something about the hiring process and the final slate of candidates for the county administrator job.
Within hours: Dated September 16 but reported as “today,” so likely after midnight that same evening – a story about Miller’s statement appeared on the Crystal Clear Conservative blog:
Today, in unusual fashion, Loudoun County Supervisor Stevens Miller (D-Dulles) attacks his fellow Loudoun BOS for not having a minority candidate in the final round of recruits for a new county administrator. He referred to other BOS members as being bigots.
Less than 24 hours later: The CCC blog post and quotes from Miller appear in a newspaper story. Though the Independent article is dated “September 17″ on the page, their Website software – Drupal – embeds the actual date each post is begun in the URL.
The story by Jason Jacks was started on “2009-09-16,” the same date as the CCC blog post:
Supervisor Stevens Miller (D-Dulles) is denying claims made online that he called fellow members of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors “bigots” during a lengthy closed-door meeting in Leesburg Sep. 15…
The press and residents are not permitted at these gatherings, but the Crystal Clear Conservative blog said that Miller verbally “attacked” other supervisors at Tuesday’s meeting for not including a minority among the final candidates for the job. The blog also said that Miller “referred to other BOS members as being bigots.”
“That is absolutely not true,” Miller shot…
Though it’s unclear whom the board has interviewed so far since personnel hirings are confidential, Miller did acknowledge that he has concerns about the process.
“I think we should be looking at a more diverse pool of candidates,” he said.
Miller would not comment on whether he intends to pass along his concerns to any civil rights organizations, such as the NAACP.
Now let’s review the facts.
Within a 24-hour period, Miller’s statement from a private meeting the previous day is reported on both the blog and newspaper Web sites, and in the latter story Miller confirmed the substance of the blog report. Although Miller denied accusing the other supervisors of “bigotry,” he then proceeded to confirm he thought the hiring process potentially merited reporting to organizations that police the public sector for racist policies and actions.
Miller’s statements to the reporter comprised a denial that is not really a denial at all – and the substance of the story contradicts its headline. If one attempts to discern the actual point of the Independent article, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that it’s simply a platform for Miller to publicize the political message begun in the private session the previous day.
The essence of Miller’s message is: The board of supervisors conducted a hiring process which gives indications of racism, and which I publicly denounce.
This brings up the question of how the story leaked so efficiently that it evolved into a newspaper report promoting Miller’s message within 24 hours.
The author of Crystal Clear Conservative wrote to me:
My source, who wishes to be unidentified, did not give any indication that Stevens leaked this out to the press for additional attention.
I believe the CCC author would have no reason to lie to me, and her coverage of Miller is generally very critical, so the possibility she conspired with Miller to get him some PR seems unlikely. But her statement above also is worded such that CCC herself does not deny the ultimate source of the leak could have been Miller.
Jacks, a good reporter with whom I am acquainted, did not respond to a request for comment about the story – which is no surprise since he certainly would not say anything about a confidential source and has no obligation to reveal anything to a small-time local blog anyway. So all we have to go on is the that in a short period of time Jacks found the CCC blog post, got the quotes from Miller and turned it into a news story the substance of which is actually contradictory.
Though a great blog, CCC is not exactly Fox News in terms of public awareness, so it’s notable Jacks found the post and whipped up a story so soon after the private meeting.
But it is strange that a local blog post in itself would have been the genesis for a news story. (A local liberal blogger picked up on this point while entirely missing the substance of the Independent article – either as a result of myopia or plain dishonesty).
All kinds of unattributed statements appear on blogs, and one like in the CCC post seems hardly worthy of news coverage. It’s one a reporter, I would think, in most cases would not bother to make phone calls about, and certainly would not have expected Stevens Miller to have any inclination to comment on.
However, the blog post ACCOMPANIED BY a pointed quote from Stevens Miller, delivered as a package, could be considered raw material for a news report. As a news report, it is bizarre; but applying Occcam’s razor, the simplest solution is that Stevens Miller wanted the CCC blog post to be found so he could use it to get his message out.
For now this is all supposition on my part, but even a cursory review of the events must lead one to conclude it worked out very conveniently for Stevens Miller.
A final interesting issue – and one which I believe will become more interesting in the weeks to come – is the utter silence from all the Democrat and Independent supervisors who now have been publicly accused of bias and possibly privately called bigots.
(I am leaving the two Republican supervisors out of the discussion because a Democrat calling Republicans racists is the quintessential dog-bites-man story, and they are just two votes out of nine in the hiring process).
If Stevens Miller had NOT called the other supervisors bigots, and someone had concocted an out and out lie in the leak to CCC blog, one would think somebody out of the entire board would have spoken up to defend Miller from such potent false claim.
One of the supervisors, a Democrat, told me:
I have decided to be quiet in public about this issue, because we are in the middle of the most important decision this Board will make during our tenure. As important as many of the other challenges and opportunities we face are, I believe this one will have the greatest impact of all. We are hiring the top county employee, who will be responsible for wise use of our tax dollars, leadership for all our employees, and stewardship of so much that impacts our lives. I do not want to do anything to jeopardize the process we are undertaking, and because it is done in executive session, I want to honor the confidentiality and sensitivity of a fair process.
Once we are ready to make a decision and announce it publicly, I would be happy to talk.
This is a very reasonable statement and prudent course of action, and none of the supervisors has any responsibility to reveal jack to a local conservative blogger anyway about what happened in executive session. But it’s also hardly a vigorous defense of Stevens Miller against what would have to be considered a scurrilous false statement conveyed to the CCC blog and reported in the only remaining newspaper serving eastern Loudoun county.
I think the absence of a single syllable of public defense of Stevens Miller from his fellow supervisors, and the fact Miller himself echoed the accusation of bigotry in statements the following day, serve to support the notion that he did in fact call the other supervisors bigots.
If this is the case, it is not surprising the other supervisors – for the most part on the liberal side of the spectrum – are silent. In the liberal playbook, the charge of racism is used to stifle debate. It is the accusation that implies such dreadful moral condemnation that once leveled cannot be refuted. Voices must hush, heads shall bow, and the accuser is declared winner of all arguments.
Most sensible people recognize such shallow argument as the patent nonsense it is, sloganeering rather than thinking. When prominent Democrats attempt to employ the tactic on the national stage, the American public now responds with a collective snort of derision.
But reality apparently has not sunk in here at the local level. Looking across the political landscape in Virginia during this state election season, one has to wonder if many of the Democrat candidates have been fooled into thinking they could ride to victory this November on the same wave which carried so many Democrats to victories in elections from 2006 through 2008.
If Stevens Miller believes he can win Tom Rust’s 86th District seat through racial politics, I would suggest he is attempting to ride a wave which crested earlier this year and became a dank ebb tide over the summer.
The Democrat moment was 11 months but also an eon ago – the eon before Democrats showed what they do when they control the federal government. In the learning process since, Virginians have discovered that much of what they were told prior to the historic 2008 elections was a sham.
Making an incendiary accusation that bigotry could have tainted the hiring process in Loudoun County might have temporarily stunned his fellow supervisors into silence, but in my view it is an act of political grandstanding that voters in the 86th district will recognize as a ploy with no basis in reality.
UPDATE: Full disclosure – I am a Tom Rust supporter, as anyone can tell from the ad in our sidebar. But I am also one of the few area conservatives who seems not to have a reservoir of animus toward Supervisor Miller, and I think I’m one of the few who has never written about him here. From my minor communications with him, I have found Miller to be reasonable for someone on the other side of most issues. Racial politics, however, is in my opinion one of the primary scourges of modern culture, and I will call it out when it arises in my neighborhood.
I never knew the man, but he was responsible for allowing the employment of the people who populated the segment of Loudoun County government which was so incredibly ineffective and which had such an immediate bearing on my life: Loudoun County Zoning Enforcement.
As referenced in the above link, Loudoun County zoning enforcement has been the ultimate joke when it comes to local government effectiveness. Loudoun County zoning “enforcement” has presided over illegal migrants establishing a major beachhead in our community.
I know it is an open question whether illegals got preferential treatment from mortgage loaners. It is also an open question whether illegal immigrants have been getting a pass from local government authorities for anything the illegals might do.
But one thing we can say for sure: Kirby Bowers allowed Terry Wharton to remain employed by Loudoun County, and Terry Wharton was the guy who allowed this to happen throughout our communities – simply because Mr. Wharton was never reined in.
And consequently, Loudoun County zoning “enforcement” was the biggest joke in the nation under Kirby Bowers’ watch. We actually had someone who was apparently an advocate for illegal immigrants serving as our lead zoning enforcement agent.
Surprise, surprise: Sterling became Loudoun County’s safe zone for illegals.
Goodbye, Kirby. As far as I can tell, I need to say: Thank you for nothing. If you have any ideas or evidence which contradict my summation, please post in the comments and I will gladly bring to the front page.
But as far as I can tell, you presided over the ineffectiveness of Loudoun County zoning enforcement.
It’s only the first round, but my money is already on the Redskins.
This came across in the comments:
[And yes, Firefox and Wordpress are suddenly not playing together nicely. You may need to switch to Internet Explorer to watch the video, or else Just click here to watch it on the Youtube site.]
UPDATE: “Alcohol, sex, and cigars…” (I think I have died and gone to blogger heaven.)
I would like to say, right here, right now, that I am willing, anytime, anywhere, to hold this debate with Sally Kurtz. Obviously, I will be taking the “For-” position.
Supervisor Kurtz, please have your people contact my people.
UPDATE II: New motto: “Loudoun County takes looking a gift horse in the mouth to the next level.”
…just like the rotation of the Earth could play a role in tomorrow’s sunrise.
This came up in the lively thread at Too Conservative and also at Operative Word (well worth reading them both): Ya think anyone might be gearing up to use today’s vote as a campaign issue?
I’m gonna say … probably.
Check that: What I meant was, OH GODALMIGHTY YES!
And here is how it just might start. 6″ x 9″ folded size, 4 pgs, glossy card stock, entire piece flooded in dark burgundy ink full bleed (all text reversed or in reversed boxes), opens to a spread with photos (names in captions) of each of the five Supervisors who voted against the co-branding project, perhaps a quote from Andrea McGimsey that she has a football signed by “Redskins Quarterback Frank Herzog,” a summary of what Loudoun County missed out on, “logo”-type gold text representing “Redskins Hall of Fame” facility with wording to the effect of “What Loudoun County Just Lost.” Back cover is mailer portion on the bottom, and on the top something like: “Five Supervisors killed the deal to make Loudoun County the ‘Home of the Washington Redskins’ and instead sent the money for HOSPITALITY TRAINING for the ‘Journey Through Hallowed Ground’” – with an inset photo of Rt 15 south of Leesburg during rush hour.
This might be the cover:
But that’s all probably just crazy talk, so please disregard.
In the greater Washington DC metropolitan area there is no more potent brand name than the Washington Redskins. But it goes further than that. For decades in our nation’s history, through the Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations – before most of the Baby Boomers had entered kindergarten – the Redskins were the preeminent “local” professional football team throughout the American southeast, with a fan base extending from Maryland through Florida and as far west as Texas. East of the Mississippi and south of the Mason-Dixon line, you can find communities of Redskins fans whose roots go back for generations.
That is why the Redskins are an NFL franchise like none other (and I say this, begrudgingly, as a lifelong Dallas Cowboys fan). That is why, despite a record of often chronic mediocrity since the early 1990s, the burgundy and gold has grown into one of the two most profitable franchises in all of professional sports (the other being a certain silver and blue team in Texas).
Little known to much of the “Redskins Nation” is the fact the Redskins spend the vast majority of their time in Loudoun County, with the main offices and training facility at Redskins Park located off the Loudoun County Parkway. But Loudoun has gotten precious little PR or money for that matter as a result of this silent partnership.
Now, Loudoun County, the area’s residential mega mart with homes as far as the eye can see and a commercial tax base consisting of seven motels and a roadside custard stand (and some massive corporations asked only to provide beer money for the Board of Supervisors’ summer picnic), has an opportunity to co-brand with the Washington Redskins – and serve as home for the future Redskins’ Hall of Fame museum. The price tag for Loudoun County’s share of this joint marketing effort is $250,000, which would be drawn from money already allocated to promote tourism here. This would appear to be a no brainer, because the Redskins brand is only going to get stronger, and our county desperately needs the revenues that would accrue from becoming a destination with more emotional buy-in than the airport is currently affording us.
For an excellent introduction to this issue, please click here to go read Loudoun Insider’s story at Too Conservative. Then come back here, please, to read the rest.
Unfortunately, there is a contingent on the Board of Supervisors who contend the money would be better spent educating hospitality workers about the Journey Through Hallowed Ground (JTHG) which is a stretch of road in western Loudoun that is being preserved from future development.
So either the $250,000 will be spent on a marketing initiative to allow Loudoun County to formally co-brand itself with the national powerhouse franchise Washington Redskins and open the door for the Redskins to build their Hall of Fame here, or the $250,000 will be spent on literature, receptions and meetings for personnel from wineries, antique shops, restaurants and bed and breakfasts in western Loudoun to tell them all how wonderful the JTHG project is so they can pass the information along to customers … at some point in the future, this educational effort is supposed to benefit Loudoun County.
It appears one of the main interest groups advocating to get the $250,000 spent on western Loudoun is the same group that funded many of the Democratic supervisors’ recent campaigns on the “slow growth” agenda. Read into that what you will.
I have also heard that at least one of the Democratic supervisors, Andrea McGimsey, is opposing the cross-marketing project with the Redskins in part because she has a problem with the “Redskins” name. Frankly, I have trouble believing this, because Ms. McGimsey’s district is practically ground zero for the Redskins Nation – portions only a few miles from Redskins Park – and from my brief conversations with her she seems reasonable and honestly concerned about her contituents. But the rumor is out there that she finds the name of the team offensive. Let’s hope this is not true and, in any case, that Supervisor McGimsey would have a bias for economic growth in Loudoun County.
Regardless of the hearsay, the fact of the matter is the Board of Supervisors may well vote against the Washington Redskins project and send the $250,000 to promote tourism in the western part of the county. I think this would be a major opportunity lost.
The public hearing will be tomorrow night, Monday, December 1, 6:30 pm, in the Board Room of the Loudoun County Government Center, 1 Harrison Street, S.E. in Leesburg. The matter will be voted on by the Board of Supervisors Tuesday morning. If you are a Redskins fan, or concerned about the lack of commercial tax revenue in Loudoun County, please show up at the meeting Monday evening and sign up to speak (arrive at 6:30 pm and walk down to the right front part of the room and ask to have your name put on the speakers’ list. They will call you up and you can speak for up to three minutes saying why you think we should spend the money on the Redskins project).
Here is the story in Loudoun Times earlier this month.
“Wouldn’t that be something to say, ‘Redskins Park at Loudoun County?’” said Supervisor Lori Waters (R-Broad Run), who chairs the Board of Supervisors’ economic development committee. “This is exciting news.”
The partnership would allow Loudoun to place its name throughout all Redskins-owned media outlets. A county banner advertisement would appear on the team’s Web site, and mention of the county would be made regularly on Redskins-owned radio stations and television programs. Also, “Home of the Washington Redskins” would appear on the county Web site and on other county material.
If you cannot make it to the hearing, send an e-mail with your thoughts on the matter to the entire Board of Supervisors at bos@loudoun.gov. Or you can go to this page on the Loudoun County Web site and click on the name of each supervisor to contact them individually.
Javier Martinez, 46, a construction worker who lives in Manassas, said that a year ago he was able to send up to $1,500 a month to his wife and two children in the Mexican state of Zacatecas. Now he can only send about $500 a month. His work laying tiles has slowed down, and he can no longer find renters for the three houses he owns as immigrants have left Prince William County because of the ongoing crackdown on illegal immigrants.
(emphasis added)
In a nutshell there it is. The core of citizen outrage over illegal immigration in Northern Virginia is that the illegals are gaming the system to get away with stuff that law abiding residents would be penalized for. You can’t fight city hall – unless you happen to be facilitating the presence of illegal aliens, in which case city hall gives you a stack of get out of jail free cards, when you actually should be thrown in jail.
Buying single family homes, subdividing them into boarding houses and renting out floor space is a pretty fantastic investment arrangement which has also been against the law long before any Mexican entrepreneurs started doing it here. But our local government has decided to allow it to happen with the surge of illegal aliens into our communities.
In case you are new to the area, here is a basic primer: Boarding houses in neighborhoods are considered a bad thing because the boarders tend to behave badly.
And as the Washington Post geniuses did so elegantly and unwittingly for us two years ago, they once again document how foreign nationals have been allowed to thumb their noses at our local laws and proceed to degrade our neighborhoods.
Multiply this tile worker by a few hundred and you will suddenly understand exactly what has happened in eastern Loudoun County. You will also understand why Sterling Park residents are not only asking “where is our Board of Supervisors?” but also where the hell are our Sheriff’s Office and County Prosecutor, and why the hell Terry Wharton and his entire department are still employed.
The LCA group I reported on last week tonight sent notice they have begun growing from a forum to a blog, and it is a pretty impressive one at that.
What a concept: get a bunch of members of the Loudoun community to talk about what is happening in their neighborhoods, and end up with bucketloads of interesting commentary. They seem to be going in a number of different directions, but that is probably a good thing – bottom up rather than top down, and no telling where it will finally land.
This recently came across via e-mail; Loudoun Community Association:
Important government functions meant to protect our quality of life, such as zoning enforcement, are not being implemented even to the degree permitted by existing laws…
Please consider this forum an ongoing “open letter” to our local government officials.
That reminds me, tomorrow night (Tuesday, July 22, 6:30 pm) there will be a follow up public hearing in which the Loudoun County staff and entire Board of Supervisors will be at Park View High School to deliver the findings of the previous series of public hearings held in Sterling and Potomac Districts, and also to hear public opinions. I believe people get to speak for three minutes. It is an important chance to have the whole Board hear what you have to say – say, about zoning enforcement in eastern Loudoun – and not have to drive out to Leesburg to get it done.
So be at Park View tomorrow evening if you can.
The preliminary findings of the county staff are linked at the Loudoun Community Association Web site, go check them out. I won’t have a chance to read them for a while because of work but plan to eventually give my opinion. It will be interesting to see which public comments at the previous seven hearings the county staff heard.
[UPDATE: Dan Genz of the Examiner reports the crackdown won't be all it's cracked up to be or all that Sheriff Simpson requested. This does not bode too well for much change in eastern Loudoun.]
Loudoun County Sheriff Steve Simpson announced yesterday that the federal bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has approved the Loudoun Sheriff’s Office for participation in the federal 287(g) program, which provides authority and additional tools for local government agencies to enforce federal immigration laws.
It’s about time.
Help Save Loudoun presented a detailed proposal on the 287(g) program to the Loudoun Board of Supervisors in October, 2006.
NVTH readers may recall that the Sheriff’s changing stance on 287(g) was a controversial issue in the county last year. The Joseph Passarelli tragedy highlighted the spectacular failure of local law enforcement agencies, who had the illegal alien, hit-and-run driver in custody 23 times and let him go in every single instance. Let’s hope the new, formal relationship between our Sheriff’s Office and ICE will also lead to a reversal of what is perceived in Sterling to be a very hands-off approach to illegal aliens by local law enforcement.
The problem as we see it in Sterling appears as follows: Illegal aliens are a sticky wicket for certain local government agencies – specifically, the Sheriff’s Office and the Zoning Enforcement Team – to deal with, so representatives of those agencies routinely give illegal aliens a free pass for infractions that would land citizens in a heap of trouble. If you or I had a DUI incident, turned our residence into a boarding house or began running a construction-related subcontracting business out of our home, we would be spanked legally and financially in short order. Illegals, however, seem to get away with stuff like this all the time. At a “community meeting” a few weeks ago, that was the dominant complaint from the citizens – of ALL ethnic groups – who attended. What we want is for our Sheriff’s Office to apply the same rules to illegal aliens that apply to us, and the new agreement with ICE provides an opportunity for hope that infractions under the jurisdiction of the Sheriff’s Office will now be dealt with more effectively. (The Zoning Enforcement Team, alas, may be beyond hope, and that is a blog post for another day).
So let’s hope that the continual DUI infractions, assorted related crimes, and crimes of every sort will now begin to abate as the Sheriff’s Office takes a more proactive stance on apprehending and processing illegal aliens suspected of violations. When word gets out that Loudoun County is once more under the rule of law, our community may become a less attractive location for illegal migrant workers.
As reported in today’s New York Times, even the Bush administration has been taking a harder line on illegals which is nothing short of a miracle; so while we can’t expect him to be transformed into Sheriff Joe overnight, we should expect Sheriff Steve Simpson to instill a culture of enforcing the rule of law throughout his department.
In case any of our readers are not clued in about why it is important for local government agencies to have all the necessary tools and authority to apprehend illegal alien criminals rather then let them slip through the net, this seems as good a time as any for another illegal alien recent crime round-up. Most of these links, below the fold, are from our vigilant, esteemed reader Lynn.
