A Moderate Candidate
Our good friend Phyllis Randall of A Moderate Voice has just made the official announcement that she is running for Loudoun County Supervisor from the Broad Run District.
Issues such as: public safety, education, the growing problem of illegal immigration, creating and maintaining open green spaces, an increased need for youth services, and environmental concerns, are all being ignored or barely spoken of at all.
Of particular concern is the fact that the number of Loudoun's children living in poverty jumped 49% between 2000 and 2004. How can we call ourselves a family values community when although we live in one of the wealthiest counties in the country, almost 57,500 of our own children live in poverty?
My sense is that even though a Democrat, Phyllis is a good bit to the right of some Loudoun County Republicans on a number of important issues. For those who have not been living in a cave, that follows pretty exactly the trend that has seen Republicans turned out of a number of state offices over the past few years.
Our esteemed commenter and fellow blogger "Mod" is going to be a formidable candidate. Check out her announcement and if you like what you hear shoot her some cash.
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What I do find entertaining is that you are supporting a democrat in a race where a republican challenger is named... all the while from your perch inside the LCRC. Have you violated your oath yet, or are you above such things and able to pass judgement on lesser individuals who seek to join the Committee?
Phyllis happens to be a friend so of course I am going to say nice things about her because I think she is a wonderful person, and this likely won't be the last time. She does not represent my district. She is one of only several announced candidates so far who in my knowledge are right on illegal immigration.
Eugene Delgaudio and George Hidy are the other two, and since these are the ones who will likely be battling for the slot in my own district, I early on told George I'd be supporting Eugene (and more out of personal loyalty, conservatism and approval of the job he does as supervisor, I must add, than because Eugene is the Republican).
I realize I might need to make a decision when the time comes if I feel compelled to straight out recommend Phyllis over a specific Republican candidate. The Republican Party has some self-fixing to do, and I would be interested in helping to fix it - but I know the rules and if I feel compelled to quit I will.
I will be very interested in seeing which candidates might be expected to do the right thing on issues such as limiting business licenses to companies that use legal workers, more rigorous crackdowns on zoning and overcrowding violations, and so forth.
The current BOS members, obviously, will have a great opportunity to prove where they each stand on these issues by their actions between now and November.
Interestingly, I do agree with all of your stances on immigration.
I hail from Culpeper and I went to school with Steve Jenkins (of their Town Council) and I support his effort to introduce legislation to enforce an end to overcrowding in residences.
Word is, when many of these illegals hit California, there is a word-of-mouth list of places to head out for. Culpeper is one of those places, and it gains it's notoriety from not having any limits on how many can live under one roof.
But, at the same time, I want to see the developers pay their fair share of the infrastructure costs that they bring.
Back in 1993 when the impact fee legislation fell imto "sunset" the recommended impact fee was a mere $10K or 5% of selling price, whichever was less.
Back then, the average cost of an education per student was around $9K-$10K.
Today, the last students into the Loudoun school system are running as close as $28K each to the citizens of Loudoun, without the benefit of a uniform "Impact Fee".
All in the shadow of the developer's average 150% return on their dollars.
I'm a business man and I fully realize the need for profit, but there is a point where some of that profit is sitting squarely on taxpayer's backs. And that's wrong.
I do support "local" builders. They buy material here, they pay taxes here, and most do not upset the delicate balance of taxes because they simply don't approach the volume that the big boys do. (and I'll add that those bog boys do not pay taxes in this state in many cases -Deleware comes to mind - in this County - nor do they put anything substantial back into the county compared to the taxes that are required to pick up the slack.
Meanwhile, in the past five years, many have reported nine and ten figure profits.
That is YOUR money. That is MY money.
That's where the majority of the taxpayers are going to vote. I agree there are other fish on the grill, but the biggest one to fry is development and traffic funds that have gone missing.
Back on topic...
I found the copy of the Republican Pledge, and post it here for analysis.
"I hereby declare that I am a Republican and that I declare my support and endorsement of all Republican Party of Virginia nominees in the November 6, 2007 General Election.
Actually the membership says all ensuing elections.
But it does say "all", which is why I have not decided to perform as a delegate. I may just funnel delegates to a candidate who can make that promise. I'm pretty sure I can't support ALL, but am trying desperately to try to support one in my district.
Thanks for the good comment, Dean, I must say I agree with all of it.
One would think that after all the schools I came thru that I should have probably nailed "Delaware" better than I did, huh?
Which district are you in, if you don't mind my asking?