Make up your own mind

 Early voting starts on September 22. Go to here to learn how and where to vote in Goochland.

It’s that time of year when the candidates vie for your attention, often with sensational contentions. Please do not be swayed by the screaming and sound bites goading you to vote a certain way without doing your homework. Voting is a right that carries the responsibility to cast your ballot after carefully investigating the virtues of each candidate.

Virginia is a Dillion Rule state, which means that local governments, like Goochland’s board of supervisors, have only those powers ceded to them by the General Assembly.

Beware of single-issue candidates for state office who use astonishing amounts of campaign cash to convince you that the world as you know it will end unless they are elected to deal with one hot button issue.

The Virginia General Assembly is a bi-cameral legislature, comprised of a 40-member senate and 100-member house of delegates. In even years, the General Assembly meets for 60 days, in odd years 30 days. During those sessions, state legislators deal with thousands of proposed bills. That’s right, thousands!  Go  here  to inspect the list of bills proposed in 2023, which includes both house and senate versions of proposed laws. Because a bill must earn the blessing of both bodies, often with amendments, to become law, the number of introduced bills is whittled down by session end. Even so, it is a staggering amount of information for our elected representatives to wade through so the can make informed decisions. Lobbyists, who support or oppose specific issues, are only too happy to give the legislators thumbnail summaries and curry favor for their position.

Some bills are straightforward, like recognizing a person or organization for positive impact on the Commonwealth. Others, “defining noxious weeds”, literally get into the weeds of an issue considered great enough importance to a certain area to justify a law, but probably not sensational enough to warrant much attention from legislators.

Many proposed bills, however, deal with complicated issues that have implications for all Virginians. Throwing money at a problem is only part of the answer.

Response to mental health matters has a lot of moving parts. More inpatient beds are needed to supply immediate services for people in crisis to prevent danger to themselves or others. Mechanisms in place for delivery of those services are woefully inadequate. Currently, if a person is transported to healthcare facility in a mental health crisis, a law enforcement officer (LEO) must stay with that person until they are admitted to an inpatient facility. That can take a LEO “off the street” for days. This either reduces local law enforcement response capabilities or increases a law enforcement agency’s overtime budget, which is funded by tax dollars.

Then there are unfunded mandates. The General Assembly has power to require –mandate—local governments to implement policies that cost money without funding them. These could force a local government to forego replacing an ambulance or school bus to comply with the state mandate. Localities must have balanced—revenues must equal expenditures—budgets. Prudent local governments, like that in Goochland, understand that unexpected events, like the pandemic, can throw careful budget planning out the window. State legislators focused on single issues, care little for negative fiscal impact of their actions at the local level.

Sludge, aka biosolids, application to fields is another issue on which the Commonwealth flexed its muscles a few years ago. Biosolids, the end product of municipal wastewater treatment plants, are touted as an excellent soil amendment farmers can spread on their fields instead of more expensive fertilizer. Supporters contend that use of biosolids is safe and helps farmers be more profitable. Opponents contend that the substance poses health hazards and can foul groundwater. When a county banned application of biosolids, the General Assembly replaced a locality’s power to ban application of biosolids with the power to only regulate them.

Everyone complains about the roads. Goochland is dependent on VDOT, a state agency, for construction, maintenance, and competes with every other jurisdiction in the state for funding. Economic development is important to generate revenue to fund core services and keep real estate tax rates low. Goochland needs to partner with the state to attract new business. Support of our representatives in Richmond is vital for success in both of those areas.

Dillon rule limitations on local government underscore the importance of good working relationships between our General Assembly team—two delegates and one senator—to ensure that Goochland’s interests are both represented and protected in Richmond.

Each fall, Goochland County holds an informal meeting where elected officials, constitutional officers, and other stakeholders discuss opportunities and concerns about pending state legislation with our representatives in Richmond. This forges positive lines of communication to protect the county’s interests in real time when the General Assembly is in session.

Other matters of local importance, that one-issue candidates might ignore, include giving a county the power held by towns and cities to set speed limits in certain areas without wading through the convoluted VDOT process. There are no formal towns or cities in Goochland, just place names and zip codes, so we’re at the mercy of VDOT.

Voters, especially women, are cynically viewed as lazy and easily manipulated to vote a certain way when continually bombarded with slick commercials. These scream about sensational topics at the expense of mundane matters that affect our daily life. Please do your own research on candidates and decide who will pay attention to all proposed legislation, not just issues that attract media attention.

Don’t let a carefully crafted sound bite steal your vote. Do your own research before you decide who will govern best.