Early voting started on September 22. Maybe we do need more
time for people to vote, but two weeks before election day should be
sufficient.
Have you gotten the creepy letter from the shadowy group
that wants you to scan a QR code and give them your email address so they can
bombard you with slimy “information” about candidates? Whatever happened to “I’m
X and I endorsed this message”?
It seems to have been written by newcomers contending that
our supervisors are ethically challenged. Goochland has not had ethically
challenged supervisors in 12 years. Right before that bunch was voted out of office,
the county treasurer was incarcerated for embezzling public funds.
The 2010 certified annual financial statement found 40
material misstatements. One or two of those are serious, 40 is a dumpster fire
on steroids. There was no one at that time on county staff qualified to “close
the books” so the previous auditors did that and then, checked their own work,
a no-no of the highest order. Internal financial controls back then were non-existent,
making it easy for the sticky-fingered treasurer to send tax dollars to her
mythical lover in Nigeria. No, I am not making this up.
It would be interesting to know how these shadow people
define ethically challenged.
A prominent Goochland
Democrat recently used social media to post an image of a traffic summons
issued to a Goochland republican candidate in Louisa, which included a
social security number. That very private information is redacted when released
to a citizen. The summons is public information, the SSN is not. Thanks to an eagle-eyed
page administrator, the post was promptly removed, hopefully before it was discovered
by an identity thief.
Exactly how that unredacted version got into the hands of a
prominent Democrat for posting is the real question. Does this mean that Goochland democrats have
people in high places in other counties, and presumably here as well, scouring public
documents and sharing private information? If so, be afraid, be very afraid.
It seems like people define ethically challenged as those
who do not agree with them. The “I’m right
and you’re evil” mentality is being weaponized to silence opposition.
For the record:
Regardless of who is elected to the board of supervisors,
the ad valorem tax on the Tuckahoe Creek Service District will not go away just
yet; TCSD connection fees will not be waived; the county will not build a grocery
store in western Goochland; and the roads will not improve over night.
Whatever happened to candidates proudly explaining their
positions on issues of local importance to voters and making their case for
election? Civil discussion of a wide range of issues has been replaced with mudslinging
and dirty tricks designed to obscure and silence thoughtful and valid opposition
to specific agendas.
Candidates must engage in person with their constituents.
Voters, especially at the local level, are being treated like morons easily
swayed to a particular viewpoint using buzzwords and hot button issues. Candidates
need to stop the dirty tricks and listen to voters to learn what they think,
not tell them how to think.
Whoever is elected to lead our county for the next four years
must be able to work with others to build consensus on a wide range of issues
facing the entire county, not just one district. There will be differing
viewpoints, which is healthy and can lead to creative solutions to problems.
Please do your homework before heading to the polls. Your
vote is a precious commodity. Make those who get it earn it.
11 comments:
Thanks Sandie. Fortunately there are only a few individuals in Goochland that resort to those dirty tactics. Unfortunately they are loud and never put their name on anything.
You are the voice of reason. Love this blog.
Sandie, both you and I were around 12 years ago and, as well as I can remember, we both rejoiced that there were new leaders at the helm here in Goochland. All was well and good. That was 12 years ago. Fast forward to now. A lot has changed! This county is more divided than I have ever seen it thanks to our present leaders. I feel that I can say this because I am probably the oldest activist in this county who has attended regularly BOS meetings, other committee meetings, court hearings and served on many boards. I have made it my business to know what is going on.
The division in this county can be directly attributed to present and past county leaders i.e.,our sheriff and former sheriff, our Board of Supervisors with the exception of Ken Peterson, Supervisor of the 5th District who did not publicly endorse anyone and other county employees.
The dignity of the offices these people hold or held no longer exists. As one supervisor told me when I asked why he was publicly supporting his seatmate on the BOS who is running against the incumbent Commonwealth's Attorney when he had never met or been in his courtroom, said "he endorsed who people he trusted told him." Is that good enough??? Not for me! These people represent ALL of the constituents in their districts and no public endorsement should be made.
AND, NO SUPERVISOR OR LEADER should tell citizens of their district when trying to talk to them about an issue that they (the supervisor)do not have time for their (BLEEP). THEY NEED TO BE OUSTED!
Then there is the candidate whose office is uncontested out slinging mud and doing the dirty work of spineless people who, themselves don't have the guts to do it.
There are many people who love Goochland and want it to be the warm, inviting, place they once knew it to be. I do not see that happening with the leadership we now have.
As Jack Webb of DRAGNET used to say, "JUST THE FACTS, MA'AM, JUST THE FACTS!
I don't think it's fair to suggest that it is only Democrats making ethics charges or behaving in an unseemly way. There are Republicans out there, for example, calling people child "groomers" simply because they oppose banning books. There are outsiders such as "Moms for Liberty" supported by Republicans, coming in with their Christian Nationalism and creating unnecessary chaos. There's plenty of blame to go around. As an Independent, I'm disgusted with the entire process.
And I don't care at all for the "sign humping."
OK Pat;
a prominent "democrat" posted the traffic ticket. A prominent "democrat" obtained the information. A prominent "democrat" must have a connection or access to get that information. Is that a suggestion, or as Ann James said, is that "Just the facts"?
As an "independent" you jump to defend the democrats, but you believe releasing personal identifying information is wrong, right?
Manuel, please read my comment again. I did not defend Democrats. I did not defend whoever it is that is apparently being accused of wrongdoing. I simply pointed out that unseemly behavior is not a one-sided thing, and you just demonstrated that. Thank you.
Did I say that I believe releasing personal identification is OK? Did I say that? Do you know what a straw man argument is? Do you understand that it is unethical to put words in someone's mouth that they didn't say? Consider trying to debate without resorting to straw man arguments, if you wish to present yourself as a credible debater.
In this part of the state, most "prominent" politicians are Republicans, some of whom don't even have competition. Nobody should use their political position to obtain and share personal information, but this appears to be something shared by a private citizen. We don't have full details. All it takes to get most information of this type is an FOIA request. If that is the case in this instance, whose responsibility is it to make sure there is no personal information included in any documents that were released? If the information was illegally obtained, then yes, that is a problem, but I don't see that being asserted at this point. Any citizen, prominent or not, Democrat or Republican can request information of their government, by FOIA if necessary, and then share that information. There's nothing wrong with that. It's what newspapers do all the time.
So Pat, I did read your comment. You said it wasn't fair to suggest that only democrats resorted to unseemly behavior. But Sandie didn't suggest that at all. She only mentioned the facts in this specific case. The posting of personal information was made by a democrat about a republican, those are the facts.
It is obvious that accusing a democrat touched a nerve with you, so instead of expressing disgust with the personal information being released you jumped to an immature; "but the others do it too" argument.
And so, you accuse me of putting words in your mouth and say it's unethical to do such a thing, yet you did that to Sandie. Therefore, if my words are unethical and unseemly, where do you stand?
Lastly, if that information was obtained through a FOIA request, whoever released the personal information should be fired. And whoever obtained it and posted should, at the very least be ashamed; yes, be they democrat or republican.
Let's stop beating around the bush. If the summons is in regards to Jonathan Christy, the charge in and of itself (displayed without a SSN on the general district court website) is a bad look (ELUDE/DISREGARD POLICE-MISD). It doesn't matter if the candidate is a Democrat or Republican!
Someone released an unredacted version, which was not public record.
I understand what Pat is communicating here; thank you for advocating objectivity and for the prompt to ensure a full landscape is presented and coupled with any granular storylines. On that note, many of us enjoy reading this blog and appreciate the content that best positions readers to gather a full view of what has transpired or may transpire as a result of events. As feedback, compared to other postings, this particular one carries a heavier sense of limitation in its handling of the core issue here (i.e. the core issue seemingly being the extent of bad behavior and lengths to which people will go to when individuals run for offices, which is independent of platform beliefs - as a missing fact here).
For many years, I thought Ann was a kind and fair person who sought to make the county a better place. I have no idea what has happened over the last decade (tea party extremism perhaps?) but I have to say, the bitterness is alarming and I have been left disappointed and dismayed by her behavior. One only has to read the tiresomely long and tedious posts and letters to the editor (if you can force yourself to drudge through the massive word salads) to see a very unhappy soul who lashes out and denounces anyone who might disagree with her or not bow to her will as the self-appointed grande dame of Goochland county (beware to any who may be on her good side today, for if you fail to walk the line exactly as she dictates, you will most certainly be on her -hit list tomorrow). The hours, the days, the life spent as she stews and stirs, brews and brainstorms in a self-perceived noble effort to squeeze out each glorious manifesto - each passionate opus. Every word, every phrase, penned with such fervor and indignation… It is a marvel to behold and to ponder. I pray for this woman I once looked up to and please do not misunderstand— I write this not with criticism, but with concern as it is apparent to many in our county that much of the divisiveness that she so frequently speaks of originates at her very own keyboard, underneath her very busy fingertips as they frantically pound out ominous harbingers of doom and gloom that is sure to befall our beloved county if others should dare exercise the freedom and blessing of using their very own God-given minds.
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