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What Campaigns can tell you about Candidates (also, new Aquatic Center Documents online)

02 May

First a brief word from our sponsor..over at myvaresources.com on the Town of Christiansburg page, you will find links to the Lionberger Contract with the Town and Change Orders to that contract. (http://myvaresources.com/Town%20of%20Cburg/CburgAquaticCenter.htm)

Now, I am sure that all of you have probably seen more campaign information this year than ever before. What does this tell you? Well, obviously there are people who really, really want to win. Maybe they want to win badly enough to spend lots of someones money on ‘advertising’.

What it tells me is that there are those who are scared, for perhaps the first time, that the status quo will not be maintained. Or, maybe there is concern that if new eyes come into local government, things will become public that have not become public before. After all, Christiansburg only discovered the Freedom of Information Act about 3 years ago (although it has been around for about 40 years now).

Now, how are they treating their opponents. There are a lot of distortions and lies going around. Campaign signs have been stolen. All of that seems like a much harder way to prove you are the best candidate than simply showing what you have done.

How people run their campaign can also show you how they are likely to treat people who do not share their goals, values, or beliefs. Are they likely to discuss issues with you logically, offering the data to support their positions, or are they just going to stand in defiance and demand that they have their way?

Is raising or not raising taxes more important that irresponsible spending? Is making promises that are never fulfilled what you want in a candidate? Do you want leadership that takes credit for the work of others and places any blame squarely on anyone else they can find to blame?

Stop and listen to the candidates. Are they answering your questions or are they dodging them. During the candidate forums, I heard a lot of “mistakes were made” comments but I never once heard the comment “I made mistakes, but I have learned from them.” Of course, there is no evidence in the minutes of Planning Commission or Town Council to indicate that mistakes were acknowledged or that steps were taken to prevent those mistakes from happening again. In fact, the minutes show the same mistakes being made over and over again.

***another word from our sponsor FOIA*** If you were present at the Candidate Forum you heard Mayor Ballengee note that he did not know what urban sprawl meant. Well here are a few definitions for future use:

The Town of Christiansburg, VA page at myvaresources.com has a LOT of documents and audio/video recording links where any citizen can take a look at what government has been doing in Christiansburg for the past decade. You will see from meeting minutes that budgets are discussed early in non-election years and late in election years. You will see a pattern of issues coming up before the election and then not being supported or addressed until time for the next election. In short, you will find all of the political games that you see at the State and National level, right here at your own doorstep.

As always, check out the information for yourself. Sometimes change is about going back to the way that things use to be, where elected officials represented all the citizens not just special interest groups.

You might also want to remember that the same Comprehensive Plan that set the stage for the Aquatic Center includes a goal of having a Civic Center. Is that what’s next on the agenda? Will it happen the same way, behind closed doors without citizens being informed?

Please take the time to do a bit of research on candidates before you cast you vote on May 4th at the Armory.

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Posted by on May 2, 2010 in Christiansburg, VA, Citizen Participation, FOIA, Land Use, Local Government, VOTE, Your Tax Money

 

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http://www.myvaresources.com/blogs/depotdazed new features. WOW!

10 Nov

The primary reason why I started hosting depotdazed on a private site along with this one is that the private site allows me to add a lot of nice features that cannot be available here. I just added a few new ones:)

You will now find RSS feeds offered by the RichmondSunlight which is a site that tracks legislative activity. At http://www.myvaresources.com/blogs/depotdazed, you can now find 4 new features:

  1. RSS feeds for comments made by citizens on different bills.
  2. RSS feeds containing those bills sponsored by Del. Dave Nutter.
  3. RSS fees containing those bills sponsored by Del. Jim Shuler.
  4. RSS feeds containing those bills sponsored by Sen. Ralph Smith.

One of the first things I noted was as comment: Kathleen SB1065. Following the links on that brought me to where I found that the bill was to prevent Associations from restricting people from saving energy by utilizing wind driven drying devices …..CLOTHESLINES. Del. Nutter voted against the bill, Del. Shuler voted for it.

Home all those Associations feel safe knowing that they will not have to tolerate some neighbor hanging bloomers in their backyards! Oh…my…gawd….this was just too much. I can see I am going to be spending a lot of time looking at what elected officials are doing here.

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Posted by on November 10, 2009 in VOTE, Your Tax Money

 

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Some Christiansburg Voting Facts. Maybe this will inspire people in other areas to GO VOTE!

25 Sep

Thanks to the Registrar’s Office for this information being on their website. Elected officials are the ones who are making or are responsible for the individuals making decisions that affect your life in many ways (traffic, taxes, stormwater, development, economic development, water, sewer, garbage, fees, recreational facilities, Aquatic Centers, sidewalks, walkways, trails, and even filling those blasted potholes).

Did you know that:

  • In 1998, 11% (1,007) of the possible voters in the Town of Christiansburg determined who was elected to public office in the town.
  • In 2000, 12% (1,225) of the possible voters in the Town of Christiansburg determined who was elected to public office in the town.
  • In 2002, 21% (2,279) of the possible voters in the Town of Christiansburg determined who was elected to public office in the town.
  • In 2004, 8% (971) of the possible voters in the Town of Christiansburg determined who was elected to public office in the town.
  • In 2006, 11% (1,398) of the possible voters in the Town of Christiansburg determined who was elected to public office in the town.
  • In 2008, 11% (1,527) of the possible voters in the Town of Christiansburg determined who was elected to public office in the town.

In 1998, 2002, and 2006, the office of Mayor was up for grabs. Only the 2002 election spurred a larger turn out than the 2008 election for Christiansburg. In 2010, the office of Mayor will again be up for grabs. If whatever it was that spurred on such turnout in 2008 happens again, we may have another record breaker.

For now though, think about these numbers as a reminder that whether it is local, state, or national, each election has the strong potential for a minority to dictate the dance for the majority. The only way to make a difference is to register to vote and then VOTE! For voter information including where to register, where to vote, who’s running, etc. The League of Women Voters of Montgomery County and the Montgomery County Registrar supply information.

Don’t forget that Christiansburg residents will get a chance to choose whether to keep election in May or move them to November to be combined with other elections saving your tax dollars. However many citizens show up and vote, those are the ones who will determine the outcome of the referendum.

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Posted by on September 25, 2009 in VOTE, Your Tax Money

 

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Plan ahead for some important events! LWV Candidate Forums!

11 Sep

November 3, 2009 is election day in Virginia. Voters will be casting votes for:

  • Governor
  • Lieutenant Governor
  • Attorney General
  • House of Delegates
  • Board of Supervisors
  • School Board
  • Mayor of Blacksburg
  • Town Council of Blacksburg
  • Christiansburg Referendum to Move the Voting Date from May to November

That date is not so very far away. Now is the time to either start or continue looking at the choices available to you.

The League of Women Voters of Montgomery County will be hosting several Candidate Forums and you can find information on when those forums will occur at the LWV of Montgomery County, VA’s website at http:lwvmcva.org.  The Leage of Women Voters of Virginia will co-host with the AARP of Virginia a statewide televised Gubernatorial Debate also and that information is on the site as well.

You will also find other useful links such as the VOTER INFORMATION link which gives you links to such information as:

  • how to verify that you are registered to vote
  • where you go to vote
  • what is on your ballot
  • how to submit and verify the status of an absentee ballot
  • Spanish and English version of the aCLU documents describing your voting rights
  • and, FACTCHECK.org, one of the best places around to find out if the information you have been provided is accurate.

Every one of the web pages on that website has a link to VOTE411.org where you can find a ton of information along these lines and MORE!

Be sure to check bookmark the lwvmcva.org website because there will be ongoing updates to the candidate forums page including information such as (for forums sponsored by the LWV of Montgomery County, VA):

  • Links to online videos of the candidate forums
  • Questions presented to the candidates as part of the LWV’s Voter’s Guide candidates’ responses
  • Questions from the public that there was not time to address during the forums and the candidates’ responses

Each time you vote you are investing in your future and the future of your children and grandchildren because the decisions made by elected officials today will have long term repercussions. Each time you vote, whether in National, State, or Local elections there WILL be an impact on you. I think it is worth it to take some time to learn about the candidates and cast my vote for the best person for the job! How about you? Do you have a little bit of time to invest in your future?

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Posted by on September 11, 2009 in VOTE

 

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Dirty tricks are out there for people trying to check out elected officials before voting time

24 Aug

Wondering how elected officials in Virginia voted to help you decide how to vote in November? Use case.

I just did a google search on Virginia delegate voting records and the second site on the list was:

Virginia Delegates Voting Record

Virginia Delegates Voting Record. Portillo’s Beef Nutrition Facts » Cat Hair Loss Hock » Poor Nutrition Fetal Dead » Body Hair Growth In Men …
brendenstickel.jsrqidyxw.cc/virginia_delegates_voting_record.html – 3 hours ago – Similar

***Note the part I put in italics: “Cat Hair Loss Hock….” This was my first indication that something was not quite right! Read before you click. If it looks like things are not quite right, then don’t click on it. I mean what has cat hair, fetal dead, and body hair got to do with Delegate voting records.

Also note the link listed at the bottom….who ever heard of brendenstickel as an entrance page to a Virginia site? I beefed up my security and clicked:

If you click on that link you are taken to a site that is related to something called searchand protect.net. You will immediately get noticed that your computer has a serious virus problem and is immediate danger.

The authors of the webpage have designed webpages that look almost identical to the Windows security page warning you would see if you have an actual problem. You will be prompted to continue by clicking buttons in order to save your computer.

DON”T DO IT!!!! I stayed only long enough to verify that this was a simulation of the security prompts before I hightailed it out of there.

I can’t believe that ANYONE would use something as important as voting records in this manner. Whoever is doing this needs to go to jail for a very, very long time!

Watch yourself when surfing the web. Take the time to look and if anything comes up looking funny. Get out of the site as quickly as possible WITHOUT clicking on anything within that site!

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Posted by on August 24, 2009 in FOIA

 

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November isn’t that far away. Are you doing your voter homework?

04 Jul

Have you ever taken time to read the Declaration of Independence? After all, that is the single document, whose signing we celebrate on the 4th of July. I have a feeling that the writing and signing of this document was a very solemn event, without bands or fireworks. Have we turned it into a celebration that has lost some of the significance found within the statements contained in the document itself.

I am sure that there are those who remember from their high school days some of the key phrases like:
“When in the Course of human events…” or “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

However, there are probably far fewer who remember some of the other important phrases held within that document. Specifically, those facts which are listed to give support to the claim that the King of Great Britain established a form of Tyranny over these States.

Now, take some of those facts and try looking at them from the perspective of the local, state, or federal government being in the place of the ‘King’ and I think you may find some similarities.(I’ll paraphrase a few of these here.)

  • refusing to allow the enactment of laws for the public good.
  • refusing to allow Governors to pass Laws that were of immediate need of the public until he could get around to giving his approval, then neglecting to attend to them.
  • governing bodies were required to meet in areas far from their stored Public Records, striving to wear them down to where they would simply comply.
  • dissolution of those agencies/groups daring to oppose the King.
  • after that dissolution, to fail to replace the groups, thus eliminating effective responses to issues that arise.

I wonder if these are some of the guidelines that we should be evaluating our government officials on when it comes time to vote? For those seeking reelection,  how have they handled the discussion of issues and/or voting on ordinances that affect the public good. (Remember that a zoning ordinance, subdivision ordinance, stormwater ordinance, and ALL other ordinances are the laws that your local officials are enacting.

When you look at ‘refusing to allow Governors to pass Laws’ comment, think about where elected officials go to get information on what they are allowed, by law to do. Do they take the word of someone telling them that the ‘minimum standards’ are what is required by law (which is true), or do they have the foresight to ask, are we allowed to do more than the minimum? Do our citizens deserve more than the minimum?

I think the “required to meet in areas far from their stored Public Records” shows a clear correlation with public meetings and public documents, but in this case concerns the degree of openness that the government is willing to provide people (and what the people are willing to accept). Are the elected officials making sure that the public has the information needed to understand their government and what is happening when decisions are being made?

The last two, I group together and see a relationship with the creation of citizen committees and their ‘failure to thrive’ due to neglect. When was the last time you heard an elected officials request that a citizen committee be formed. When was the last time you heard of such a committee presenting a report to the government agency? Any such reports should be public knowledge. In fact, it should be done at public meetings whenever possible. Citizens have a right to know what information the government is being given that may affect decision-making.

Fortunately, we are in a position where we do not need to breakaway from government in order to change the way government works. We have the ultimate power in the form of voting. It is unfortunate that so few people exercise that right and responsibility. However, I believe that is in the process of changing. More and more younger people are becoming involved and active. They seem to be taking their right to vote quite seriously. We may well see a major shift in the voting population based upon age groups.

There are a lot of people out there who say that these younger voters will lose interest, they will stop coming out to vote. If you are someone running for office, be careful of this stance. Information is much more accessible than ever before. It takes only a few minutes for someone to go to a site like Project Vote Smart and check out the voting records of your current elected officials. Of course, you can find other information there such as biographical information, positions on issues, ratings by interest groups, public statements, and perhaps most importantly, campaign finances.

For a quick preview of what to expect on the November 3, 2009 ballot, check out https://www.voterinfo.sbe.virginia.gov/PublicSite/Public/FT2/PublicElectionDetails.aspx?Ret=1
Yes….the referendum for changing the voting date in Christiansburg from May to November is on the ballot. Now, it is in the hands of the citizens of the Town of Christiansburg.

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Posted by on July 4, 2009 in Citizen Participation, FOIA, VOTE

 

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