Broken Windows: Why the Loudoun Times Mirror is partly to blame for the LCRC's email "joke"

You all remember when Guilliani was Mayor of NYC, and he said that crimes of vandalism needed to be prosecuted and not just let go, because if you allow broken windows to flourish, you get drug dealing and all sorts of other crime?

Well, here's the thing. Delgaudio regularly sends out to his constituents emails that rail against the evils of Obama, and he regularly sends out to his Public Advocate mailing list emails that rail against the evils of gays, lesbians, and transgendered people and how they're coming to take over the world. And he even makes speeches from the dais, yelling about both things. (video below the fold)

And, knowing this, the Loudoun Times Mirror still endorsed him. They endorsed him, calling his inexcusable behavior "antics". They endorsed him.

He sends out blatently violent images, and the Loudoun Times Mirror says nothing. (violent image below the fold)

(To be fair, neither the Ashburn Patch nor Leesburg Today said anything either. But they didn't endorse Eugene. The Loudoun Times Mirror did.)

Is it any wonder that Mark Sell would think that no-one would think anything of his disgusting email? Is it any wonder that a prominent Republican, the leader of the local committee thought that this would be accepted by the Loudoun community at large?

Of COURSE everyone would be okay with that little ol' picture of Obama. Why, Eugene does this sort of this sort of thing all the time! And he's been re-elected twice! No one cares!

Except that we do. We do care. The community at large does care. Just, apparently, not when Eugene Delgaudio does it.

Loudoun Times Mirror, rescind your endorsement of Eugene Delgaudio.

I write letters [updated]

The Ashburn Patch printed one I sent to all the local papers about Loudoun Times Mirror's deplorable endorsement of Eugene Delgaudio.

[Updated to add] The Loudoun Times Mirror printed it too.

Another letter from Eugene Delgaudio

This one didn't end up in my Inbox, but others have gotten it.

Eugene Delgaudio felt that this header image was appropriate to send out to his Public Advocate mailing list

Eugene Delgaudio felt it was appropriate to send out a header image depicting a pool of rainbow blood on a floor, with a bloody handprint.

Please, please, please Sterling. Vote this guy out of office. Please, please, please Sterling. Vote for Al Nevarez.

If you don't live in Sterling, but the thought of someone like Eugene Delgaudio remaining in office horrifies you, please donate to Al Nevarez.

Don't know who Eugene Delgaudio is? Here's a refresher:

The Daily Show
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Brief Note

Discussing Delgaudio's behaviors and parsing his letter in the post below is definitely on-topic. Attributing those behaviors and the wording of the letter to a mental illness is not, even if you are attributing it to a specific mental illness.

Delgaudio is mean, narrow-minded, and preys on the fears and loathings of others. Not all people who do these things are mentally ill, and not all mentally ill people do these things.

Personally, I believe that Delgaudio is acting, that he is a con-artist, that he behaves this way because it makes him money.

I am leaving up nazani14's comment on the post below, but I am asking you all, nazani14 included, to please stop speculating about Delgaudio's mental status.

Thank you.

Letter from Eugene Delgaudio

A letter from Eugene Delgaudio was in my inbox this morning. Mostly, it's got a lot of anti-community activism text, especially,

"COUNTY SUPERVISORS DROP KICK BUSINESS LEADERS?
And in Leesburg-- your Loudoun County Board of supervisors-- hears and considers condemnations of business leaders...[snip]

The pursuit of profit and prosperity is what makes America a great nation.

To attack free market leaders and business spokesman in Leesburg-- our local seat of government-- or on Wall Street-- is an attack on all our freedoms."[emphasis his]

Plus a bit about "donors and their companies". This makes me think that the letter is a reaction to both the pleas by residents to deny a franchise to OpenBand (link from Loudoun Times Mirror*) and the disgust over his taking a $2,500 donation from OpenBand owner MC Dean a month before a vote on that franchise is scheduled to take place.

The letter itself, as it was sent to me, is after the jump.

The upshot of the letter is a message to the people of Sterling: If you want someone who really does support working people, and wants to maintain the rights and freedoms of Loudouners, vote for Al Nevarez.

*"Bill Dean, M.C. Dean CEO and president, holds a minority interest in Times Community Media and sits on its board of directors" - from the article I linked to.

I got curious UPDATED

How much money has MC Dean (owners of OpenBand) and William H. Dean (owner of MC Dean) put into Loudoun races so far this cycle*?

 MC Dean: $12,500 (counting the $2,500 reported on Delgaudio's latest filing. Not yet on VPAP)
William H. Dean: $20,500.

Total: $33,000.

Of those numbers, $7,500 of MC Dean's contributions are going to BOS races. $18,000 of Bill Dean's contributions are going to BOS races. That's $25,500.

The BOS recipients are:

Buona ($5,000 + $500)
Clarke ($5,000 + $500)
Delgaudio ($2,500 this year)
Letourneau ($2,500 + $3,000)
Volpe ($5,500)


$25,500 $24,500 to five Supervisor candidates, including one scheduled to vote on OpenBand in less than 2 weeks. The rest, if they win, will almost certainly vote on OpenBand during their tenure.

MC Dean and Bill Dean together make the largest contributor to the Loudoun Board of Supervisors races.


What are they hoping to get for their money?

*Not counting money to Opportunity Virginia PAC and Va Rep - Senate Caucus.

 [UPDATE #1: James Brabham, an executive at MC Dean, donated $500 each to Buona, Clarke, Letourneau, and Volpe. (Norman) Douglas Cumins, another executive at MC Dean gave $250 each to Buona, Clarke, and Volpe.
So, their totals from MC Dean etal this year are:
Buona ($5,000 + $500 + $500 + $250) = $6250
Clarke ($5,000 + $500 + $500 + $250) = $6250
Delgaudio ($2,500 this year)
Letourneau ($2,500 + $3,000 + $500) = $6000
Volpe ($5,500 + $500 + $250) = $6250

Which brings the total for BOS candidates alone to $27,250. VPAP doesn't have searches by employer, so all I've got to go on is donations from people I know are employed by MC Dean. If you know of others, please let me know and I'll add them.]

Noticed this while compiling the campaign contributions list

Delgaudio got another $2500 from M.C. Dean. That brings him up to a life-time total of $12,500.

You think he'll recuse himself when they vote on OpenBand in a couple of weeks?

A picture's worth a thousand words

BOS Sterling: Candidates answers on Metro

I have answers from all three candidates for the Board of Supervisors Sterling seat so I'm posting them here for your convenience:

Eugene Delgaudio (R)

Dear Liz Miller

Thanks for writing.  The topic of metro is important to many people.

I have made many statements regarding metro and they are below and I am opposed to it as I prefer a more flexible and far cheaper system of buses.

ENTIRE POLITICAL ESTABLISHMENT STANDS WITH DELGAUDIO NOW ON RECKLESS METRO SPENDING
http://joineugene.com/news/article.php?article=6838

Government Is Spending Without Limits
http://joineugene.com/news/article.php?article=6714


I give permission to quote the posted statements or simply to link to them is okay with me.

Al Nevarez (D)

We need to complete the second phase of the Dulles Metro project as quickly and in as cost-effective a manner as possible. Sterling has a lot of commuters; speaking as one of them, I can assure you we’re anxious to see the Metro expanded into Loudoun County. As a Loudoun taxpayer, I’m excited about the Metro bringing a whole new source of tourist and retail revenue into the area. And as a resident and driver, I’m looking forward to the reduction in traffic that will come with public transportation options taking cars off the road.

I am absolutely in support of the Metro.

L. Ali Shahriari (I)

I must first reaffirm my commitment to citizen participation in this and in all matters that affect the people of Loudoun. The residents of Loudoun should be those who make the ultimate decisions regarding metro expansion with the BOS only implementing the people's wishes. Nonetheless, I will give my personal opinion on this issue.

I declare my full support of the extension of metro rail to Dulles Airport and into Loudoun County. Rail service is an efficient, environmentally friendly alternative to automobile transportation. Metro Rail is urgently needed and long overdue for the Dulles Corridor area. As the population in Loudoun and the surrounding area increases, the demand for accessible transportation to the Washington Metro Area and vice versa is undeniable.

I will address four key issues that I believe are important in this debate:

Firstly; the airlines and companies that make use of Dulles Airport (IAD) should contribute in some form or another towards metro expansion. This could be through mandatory or voluntary contribution.

Secondly; if parking garages are financed by the county, they should be operated by the county and the revenue generated should go towards county financed design and building costs.

Thirdly; a toll structure based on car occupancy should be taken into consideration. This would encourage use of public transit and personal responsibility among travelers. Regardless, future tolls should be decided by the people.

Fourthly; project costs, labor agreements, and construction contracts must be transparent and reasonable. All project related expenditures should be audited by an independent or citizen led committee. Local companies should be utilized to provide construction services and laborers should be from the local area.

Again, although I personally support the expansion of metro into Loudoun, I believe this issue, like all issues, is for the people to decide on and for the BOS to act upon only with popular support.

-Ali

Candidates are answering the question

You can read the answers on the Metro page. I apologize for the unattractive appearance of that page. I'll work on making it look better later.

So far I have answers from:

• Malcolm Baldwin (BOS Catoctin)
• Tom Bellanca (BOS Chair)
• Shaun Broy (27th Sen)
• Jim Burton (BOS Blue Ridge)
• Dave Butler (10th HOD)
• Pamela Danner (34th HOD)
• Eugene Delgaudio (Sterling)
• Cliff Keirce (BOS Broad Run)
• Mike Kondratick (87th HOD)
• Donald Marro (27th Sen)
• Andrea McGimsey (BOS Broad Run)
• Randy Minchew (10th HOD)
• Ali Shahriari (BOS Sterling)

Thank you to all who have responded and also to the several who have told me that they will respond.

York endorses Delgaudio, Plowman, others

When he goes over to the dark side, he really goes over to the dark side. How can the same guy who endorsed Stevens endorse Delgaudio?

Needless to say, this year I'm certainly not on team York.

Because I'm on team Nevarez, team Wexton, team Ronis, and team Keirce.

I'm on team "best person for the job", and anyone who thinks that Delgaudio or Plowman or Buona or Williams is the best person? Well that guy can't be such a great person himself.

Sorry, Scott. You lost me.

York, Chapman, Nevarez win nominating contests

I'm delighted Al Nevarez won the caucus! I can't wait for him to beat Delgaudio in November!

I've updated the campaign websites page to reflect the new reality.

Information from my Inbox

At the LCDC meeting last night, according to my sources:

 

• Josh Actor withdrew from the Commissioner of the Revenue race
• Andrea McGimsey's campaign manager introduced himself and said her website is live. I still can't find it. If anyone has a link to it, pass it on.
• Bahri Aliriza is still in the Sterling race. My money is still (literally) on Al Nevarez to win the nomination and, eventually, the general.

Expanding on my comments

Paradox13 put up a post about the redistricting over at Loudoun Progress. And I made a couple of comments there, which I'm going to expand on here.

Stevens disagrees with me on a lot of what I'm about to say, but this is my blog, my opinion, and here it goes.

I don't care one iota if there is one Western district or two. I think having an HOA or a town kept entirely in one district is a fine desire, but not something that ends up mattering a whole lot on election day. I do think that it matters if a district is contiguous. I do think it matters if you have to leave the district to reach another part of it, but ultimately, I think that there are many ways to split up Loudoun relatively equitably and Miller 5 (unamended) and HOA 4 were two of them.

I've said before that I am partisan only inasmuch as the Democratic party is the party that has, as part of its platform, a pledge (among other things) to protect the rights of women, minorities, LGBT, and people with disabilities.

In this county, we have an elected official whose day job it is to fight against the right of people who are gay.

There was one and only one partisan piece of redistricting that was included in both Miller 5 (unamended) and HOA 4. That piece was including MY precinct, Oak Grove, with Delgaudio's district.

And Sally Kurtz amended it into Andrea McGimsey's district.

Which is so phenomenally stupid that I am flabbergasted that Mike Turner is crowing about it.


Oak Grove has a net 100 reliable Democrats. Delgaudio won last time by 200 votes. Oak Grove was the keystone in the plan to get Delgaudio booted out this November. And the beauty of it was, it wasn't gerrymandering, because Oak Grove BELONGS in Sterling. It is otherwise isolated from the rest of the county. There was no way for Delgaudio to complain about it. It was natural to join it in. OF COURSE it should be joined in.


Now, instead of making the demise of Delgaudio's Board tenure a sure thing, Oak Grove is merely there to increase McGimsey's win margin, in an obvious bit of gerrymandering to pull us into her district.

I really like Andrea. I think she's been a good Supervisor. But if this bit of redistricting sends Delgaudio back to the Board next year (especially if he wins by less than 100 votes), I will never forget that it was she, and Mike Turner, and Sally Kurtz, and Kelly Burk, and Susan Buckley, and Jim Burton who made this happen.

And I will make sure that everyone, everywhere, who has ever heard of Delgaudio knows EXACTLY whose fault it is if he wins.

Information on the RPA and the RPA Screening Area (from my post at Loudoun Progress)

It's clear from last night's Monday's Public Hearing on the RPA, and from the mail traffic I've been getting, that there's been a lack of clarity on the RPA and especially on the RPA Screening Area.

FACT: If you are in the RPA Screening Area and the PROJECT (deck, swingset, patio, vegetable garden) you want to complete is LESS THAN 2500 square feet in area, then you are cool.
You don't have to ask permission beyond what the county (or your HOA) already requires or do water testing or anything.

FACT: This means that the only folks who have to worry about whether they are in the RPA Screening Area, are landowners with Huge Tracts of Land that are looking to subdivide or build homes or large shopping areas. In which case, the $3400 fee for doing the testing is a small percentage of the price and is a cost of doing business.

QUESTION: So, who has a vested interest in sending out panicky emails to homeowners in Broadlands, Brambleton, Sterling, and other well-built-out areas of the county where the average size of a project is 240 square feet? Couldn't be builders and realtors? Could it?

FACT: The bulk of Eugene Delgaudio's campaign money comes from realtors and builders

FACT: Donny Ferguson, who wrote that Western Traditions blog post, is a former Eugene Delgaudio aide.


Here is a picture of a map overlaid with the RPA:



And here is a picture of the same map overlaid with the RPA Screening Area:



How do you find out if you are either area?

1. GO HERE: http://gisinter1.loudoun.gov/weblogis/agree.htm.


2. Click on Yes, and then click on the tab marked "Search".


3. Enter your address (it works best if you enter as little as possible - house number and first part of your street name).


4. Click Submit. Then click Map It on the linked list the site gives you.


5. Now click on the Map Layers tab in the new window.


6. Click on the drop-down box under "Layer Groups" and select "Environmental".


7. Now select the select "Draft RPA Screening Tool" and scroll down to click apply. If there is no beige on your site, you're not in that area.


8. Now, unselect that option and select "Draft Chesapeake Bay Area" and scroll down to click "apply" to see if you are in the RPA.
   If your site doesn't have any green in it? You're good.

If there is any brown on your site and you are doing a project that disturbs less than 2500 sq ft, this document says that you are okay.

If you are within the green area, then you'll need permission to do your project.

Joe.My.God on The Man in the Orange Hat

Seems ED is getting attention everywhere. Not my doing this time!

Edited to add: The comments on both sites linked to above are pretty hateful, and most speculate about ED's sexuality, which is disrespectful and beside the point. I don't recommend reading them.

Dispatches from a busy weekend

Saturday:

• I helped move the LCDC into new offices! Look for us now in the old Leesburg Today building on the corner of S. King and E. Market! It's an accessible space, with an elevator and a by-god accessible bathroom. I don't know when the Grand Opening will be, but the executive meeting a week from today will be held there (I am the only member of the Loudoun or VA CSBs on LCDC's Exec. committee).

Sunday:

• Had a lovely b'fast at Joe's Cafe on West Church. They serve terrific (and plentiful!) food at reasonable prices. Open for b'fast and lunch 7 days. Go give them a look-see. This is not a paid endorsement, I am simply a very happy customer.


• Went to the Earth Day celebration at Clyde's Willowcreek Farm. Saw Erica Garman, Tammi Marcoulier, Oya Simpson, and many, many other friends. It was a fabulous festival and I already can't wait for next year!


• Finally, went to a fund-raiser for Marty Martinez in Leesburg. Lots of excitement! And had fun playing with one of the world's sweetest two-year-olds. Turns out, I've got the same phone as her papa. Our son had fun playing with the other kids who were there.

In between and after, our family had a blast together. We admired our garden. Our son kicked our butts at Uno. We read books, told jokes, paid bills, and just enjoyed spending time as a family both at home and at events.

Awwww....

Sincerely, I can take snide remarks by The Man in the Orange Hat. After all, if he's clown enough to embarrass himself on NBC's cameras so that I could hand the video over to my friend who was teasing me about living in a state governed by an anti-gay Governor and AG, then it's just amusing that he blames me for that embarrassment.

I think it's adorable that my spouse got all Papa Bear about it. He's taken a lot of guff from TMitOH over the years and not gone off on him. I totally understand that this was one comment too many. Since I wasn't there to call him out myself, it's totally appropriate for my spouse to do it.

But, hey! I have this blog. I'm out here and I can take criticism. And, O Orange-hatted One? If you're sitting on that dais, or if you're talking your anti-gay crap to the cameras? You'd better be ready to take some criticism too. 'Cause guess what? No video? No being laughed at on The Daily Show.

On the other hand, looks like getting national attention isn't something TMitOH is trying to avoid, what with getting involved in the fight against gay marriage in Iowa.

Does anyone have a link to the local tv news video of TMitOH protesting outside Obama's message to school children last year?

Lastly, can anyone make heads or tails of TMitOH's latest fundraising letter?

And just because I LOVE IT, here's that segment again:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Gaywatch - Virginia Edition
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform

Where I come from

I come from a neighborhood in Brooklyn that probably has the highest concentration of gay and lesbian parents of any place in this country.

My best friends had gay parents, my 5th grade teacher was a gay parent...so coming here it was kind of a shock to find out that there are people who think that gay people shouldn't get married, shouldn't have kids, shouldn't teach school.

Now, the folks I grew up with are just plain folks. Living their lives. Going to the grocery store. Wiping their (grand)children's noses, and kissing their scraped knees, and making peanut butter & jelly sandwiches on 7 grain bread (just kidding about that, they make almond butter and jelly sandwiches on 7 grain bread).

In no way are the parents of my friends ever confrontational about their lives, they just live them. They are people...who happen to be gay and lesbian...living lives exactly like those of the straight folks next door.

And it seems, from comments on John Stevens's blog, that just having a conversation about it is disrespectful of the commenters' reading of the Bible.

Well, okay, not one person who didn't want to talk about it showed up. Which is fine. We had a great discussion anyway, and I'll post a link to the video when it gets posted. (To start, here's a podcast of Anna Holmes's sermon from Sunday morning's services.)

But I'm going to say this here, now. My friends' parents, my fifth grade teacher, my cousin...they have a right to live their lives. They should be allowed to get married. They should be allowed to adopt children, together with their spouses. They should never have to worry that if one of them gets sick, the other won't be allowed to visit her spouse in the hospital. They should not have to worry that if one of them dies, the other won't be able to stay in their house. This is not about religion, this is about basic justice. This is about human dignity.

Great LCDC Meeting Last Night!

• LCDC has a facebook page!


• We had a brief visit from Bill and Tracee from ENDependence. They're really happy with us for being aware of accessibility issues.


• Jeff Barnett and Dennis Findley both spoke (Rich Anthony was at our December meeting). I love that we have such a great set of candidates to run against Frank Wolf this year. My intention is stay neutral in this primary, because they all have strengths I think we can use in Congress. The thing I like best about all of them? They follow the five rules of campaign speaking:


1. Tell everyone who you are.
2. Tell them what you're running for.
3. Tell them why you're running.
4. Ask them to help you.
5. Tell them who you are.

I will be posting campaign updates from all candidates as they send them to me.

• We had a visit from a guest speaker who forgot that this was not a group concerned about an unduly speedy gov't takeover of healthcare, we're a group who wanted Single Payer Healthcare - yesterday. Steve, thank you for joining us! I hope we weren't too rough on you! Please tell everyone back on the Hill that we want Medicare for Everybody NOW.


• I asked everybody to call or canvass for Eileen Filler-Corn.


• Several new members joined us, and several lapsed members returned!


• We got updates from the chairs of the various committees


• We got times and places for district and full committee meetings (I'll post them here, too!


• We were reminded of various volunteering, and civic involvement opportunities


• Stevens asked the membership to join us next Sunday at the UUs of Sterling for the Standing on the Side of Love forum. More on this later.
  
• And I got several people signed up to join the Membership Committee! YAY!