Adopt a highway clean up 30 October 10 am – CANCELLED

Check the events calendar for details.

How to help SERVE

Click the link to see how you can help SERVE aid needy families in the Manassas area. What SERVE Needs!

Phillipe Cousteau dives into the oil slick in the Gulf

The scale of the disaster may not be known for some time. Phillipe describes layers of oil beneath the surface. What will happen to them? Will we see beaches fouled by the surface oil cleaned over time, only to find the off shore sea floor destroyed by this subsurface oil? I doubt that there are any plans whatsoever for cleaning up oil beneath the surface over the continental shelf. And if it remains suspended in the water beneath the surface, out of sight, will the currents then send it around the world for years and years to come? A lot of questions but not many answer forthcoming just yet.

People Making a Green Difference

An interesting article from the Grist blog. Click the link to read about individuals who are making a real difference in their communities.40 People Redefining Green from grist.org.

Will the Board of Supervisors be raising our taxes soon?

If this article is any indication the answer may well be yes. To quote Prince William Conservation Alliance “As described in the 2005 Service Efforts and Accomplishment Report for Watershed Management, developers pay a Development Permit Fee to “meet expenses of site plan and lot plan review, site development inspections, and erosion control inspections.” In contrast, “[r]evenue from the stormwater management fee is dedicated solely to the operation and construction of watershed management projects.”

In the budget being voted on soon, supervisors plan to switch 70% of the cost of the Watershed Inspections Function away from developers. Developers who build new stormwater facilities will still pay 30% – perhaps enough to cover initial inspection costs, but all future inspections and repairs will be covered by the residents.” Click here to read the entire article.

Governor Proclaims April Confederate History Month

Now there can be no question that the Civil War was a significant part if Virginia’s history. There is also no question that it is also a major factor in our tourism industry. That said, our governor Bob McDonnell failed to make any mention of slavery as a factor, let alone a major cause for the Civil War. As the Washington Post pointed out today, roughly 25% of Virginia’s population during the war were slaves!

To fail to address this in his proclamation is both insulting to blacks and dishonest to history. It should not surprise anyone that he would make such a statement. His efforts to appeal to the base of the Republican party is in keeping with most of his other actions as and a perfect match for his money wasting, teabag Attorney General Cuccinelli.

From the governors mansion right down to our own county and district the far right attitudes of our legislators are clear. Whether it be McDonnell’s proclamation, Cuccinelli’s law suit against healthcare reform, Corey Stewart calling Tea Party members who insult and threaten congressmen and women “patriot’s” and the Coffee Party crowd, believing in civil debate “fruitcakes” and “nuts”, or John Stirrup introducing a motion at the BoCS meeting 23 March to THANK CUCCINELLI for his lawsuit, their positions are clear.

There are two questions we must ask ourselves. Are we content to let these actions go unchallenged, and if not, what are we going to do about it? My answer to the first one is NO I am not content to let these men push their far right agenda unopposed and I intend to do everything I can to see that they are reined in now and defeated in the next election.

This year we need to get our Democratic butts in gear and stop sitting on the sidelines like we did in November. You see what happens when we do! Everyone of us who believes this has to stop and that we need positive leaders, working for a better county, state and nation need to get behind our candidates. Right now you can show your feelings about McDonnell, Cuccinelli, Stewart, and Stirrup by working to reelect Gerry Connolly.

Gerry stood up for us on healthcare reform and now we need to stand up for him.  Make a donation http://gerryconnolly.com/ or volunteer. There is also a new organization just getting off the ground that is dedicated to electing Democrats in Prince William County. It’s called Greener Prince William PAC http://www.actblue.com/page/greenerprincewilliampac.

Look for more information on it shortly.

Ky Convictions Question Reliability of Touch Screen Vote Machines!

In Clay county Kentucky senior election officials have been convicted of buying and selling votes in the 2002 2004 and 2006 federal elections. Their actions included changing votes in the ES&S vote machines AFTER a voter had cast their ballot. The Lexington Herald-Leader has the entire story.
Lexington Herald-Leader article

Yes We Can – No You Can’t Video

Well worth the 2 minutes it takes to watch it.

Corey Stewart and the Coffee Party

Our BOCS Chair doesn’t have much good to say about citizens working for civil discourse in politics and yet the “Tea Party” are “patriots”. Check this post out.

Taxes – what do you think?

I was talking to a friend the other day and he commented on how our real estate property taxes don’t seem to change even though our homes are now worth a lot less than they were two years ago. As we talked I learned that this seems to be a real concern in Prince William County. I also learned that the percentage of tax revenue paid by commercial property tax is far less than that paid by home taxes.

Now I think we can all agree that small business and commerce are key to job creation and prosperity, but if commercial taxes account for less than 20% of the total tax revenue, is that fair to home owners?

And if it’s not fair, how do we address the problem without hurting small businesses? Your thoughts?