70 Thoughts to “Economic Triage Now Needed”
Comments are closed.
Archives
Categories
Blogroll
- 9500Liberty
- Bacons' Rebellion Blogspot
- Bearing Drift
- Blue Virginia
- Citizen Tom
- Counts of Monte Cristo. The
- Derecho, The
- Dixie Pig, The
- My Side of the Fence
- My Star Journey
- NARAL Pro-Choice VA Blog
- New Dominion Project
- Nova Common Sense
- NovaTownHall Blog
- One Libertarians's Point of View by Al Alborn
- Pete Candland's Blog
- Potomac Local
- Prince William Muckraker
- PW Conservation Alliance
- PWC Moms
- PWCPolitics.com
- PWCPolitics.com
- Red NoVA
- Shad Plank, The
- She the People
- State of NoVA, the
- The Jeffersoniad
- Townhall
- VEA Daily Reports
- VivianPaige
- WDGolden.com
- You, Me and the Lamp Post
All contents copyright Moonhowlings.net
Blogroll
- 9500Liberty
- Bacons' Rebellion Blogspot
- Bearing Drift
- Blue Virginia
- Citizen Tom
- Counts of Monte Cristo. The
- Derecho, The
- Dixie Pig, The
- My Side of the Fence
- My Star Journey
- NARAL Pro-Choice VA Blog
- New Dominion Project
- Nova Common Sense
- NovaTownHall Blog
- One Libertarians's Point of View by Al Alborn
- Pete Candland's Blog
- Potomac Local
- Prince William Muckraker
- PW Conservation Alliance
- PWC Moms
- PWCPolitics.com
- PWCPolitics.com
- Red NoVA
- Shad Plank, The
- She the People
- State of NoVA, the
- The Jeffersoniad
- Townhall
- VEA Daily Reports
- VivianPaige
- WDGolden.com
- You, Me and the Lamp Post
We don’t have any money for a public relations firm to smooth this over!
Check out the unemployment rate in Oklahoma.
Seems as if there’s a compounding effect to the implementation of these policies. So it appears as if especially over the next few years there will be deeper and deeper cuts into the Counties budget. What will be left? We’re cutting back in so many areas.
Retail establishments go out of business: well then we don’t need so much retail space; we have fewer people
Less investment coming to the area: we don’t need investment; the Manassas area has vacant retail establishments yet several retail centers are being constructed; we don’t need it
Less State money for schools: we don’t need as much money; we have less students; we won’t need as many teachers
The bottom line is that although the economy may receive a shock, it’s temporary.
Oh my God. This should sober all of us up. Especially the Board. Was he ever consulted? I just did a google search on him and he appears to be THE expert on the economy of the region and he works as a consultant to local governments in the area. I’ll bet the Board never even thought to consult him or any economist for that matter. Like Riverside, they did not think past the immediate political pressures from outraged community members. I believe that in the heat of an election, with the electorate agitated by Greg-BVBL-HSM with incendiary rhetoric delivered from FAIR and CNN-Lou Dobbs, we had a mob rule situation. The Board just caved into the mob and allowed an entire segment of the population (20%) to get lynched.
I feel sick. I feel like we’ve all been caught up like children in a brawl and an adult just walked into the room. Just listening to his matter-of-fact delivery helped me to get a perspective.
Can we all just stop fighting and deal with the terrible mess we all helped create? I have a much better understanding of the “average German” problem that I learned in school. Nothing like firsthand experience to fully understand the lessons of history . It makes me want to cry.
In fact, I promise to stop obsessing over Greg and try to think clearly about what we can do to truly help with the triage. Could we focus our attention on concrete actions and work towards dialogue without the fighting with “the other side.”
nGL makes a good point. Let’s stay focused folks! Stop feeding the starving trolls.
Ruby – LOL
I don’t think anyone is obsessed with Greg Leteicq except Greg Leteicq. Ocassional snarling at the other does permit a healthy venting of frustraton. 🙂
Agree with Mr. Fuller – however he thinks long term. Our current leader announced interst in higher office a mere thirty days after being sworn in. Please. That’s why we need supervisors that are focused on PWC.
You saw the Chairman kind of blow off the five year plan. I am not looking for all supervisors to be only committed to PWC and to not have any personal ambitions, however, if they could be focused during their tenure and commit to a five year plan that would be handy!
It’s true Ruby. It happened before, they get desperate and start coming over here and spewing their garbage all over the place.
Admin Ruby — and when they do they look so out of place and it just makes for good clean fun. 🙂
Admin & Juturna,
Good clean fun. hahahha
This is the first time nor will it be the last for trying to spread their “good cheer” around.
Below is the comment I just posted on this morning’s surprising Washington Post article. I’m sure deranged and inarticulate threats and insults will soon follow, but I’ll be too buy editing a follow-up video featuring renowned economist Dr. Stephen Fuller, PhD.
Everyone, let’s find Eric’s posting and click “recommend”!
El Guapo you are all heart. Guess it does not matter to you if some small mom and pop business folds up. They probably only worked their whole life to have the American Dream. Who the hell cares about their livelyhood? Well, I care. This is a travesty caused by hate filled, angry racist people with no life who did what ever they could to create divisiveness. School enrollment going down means the County will get even less funding because funds are based on enrollment. Sounds like you don’t care about our teachers either. Heck just lay them off, too along with God knows how many County employees. You call yourself El Guapo but really you should call yourself El Feo.
kgotthardt – keep em honest! Have a great day!
: ) You too, Marie! Enjoy the beautiful weather!!
El Guapo, were did you study economics? Oh, what? You don’t have a degree? Thought so. Amazing how the shrillest partisans can transform into experts on any subject that requires a smoke screen, when the facts don’t support their blind propaganda.
For more on Dr. Fuller’s institute:
http://www.cra-gmu.org
Marie, those businesses can relocate at another location where they are needed. If the county gets less funding for schools, it’s because it needs less funding. And there are plenty of job opportunities for qualified teachers all over the state. Short-term economic shocks happen all the time.
What I find objectionable is that people are more concerned about a minor short-term economic adjustment than the immigrants themselves. I understand that a party was held to help a local night club. My neighbor abandoned her house because her husband is illegal. I don’t know what she’s going to do. The place where I get my hair cut several employees have left in fear.
I have a friend in church. She’s an anchor baby. All her short life she’s heard rhetoric about how her mom is a drain on society, a threat to national security and morally bankrupt. She’s heard that she, as an anchor baby, should not be entitled to the same rights as her classmates and should be deported to a place she’s never been.
And we’re worried about minor, short-term adverse effects to the local economy in one of the most prosperous nations on the earth. [shakes head]
Guapo,
Think for a moment about what you’re saying. Retail establishments most likely to be impacted by the decreasing population in the county rarely stand in isolation; rather, they make up the strip malls that dot Sudley Rd., Centerville Rd. and Rt. 1. First one store goes in a strip mall. Soon it’s three, then five, then you’re left with a vacant, ugly strip mall. Anyone other than me remember what Westgate Shopping Center used to look like? A big old ugly Giant, and not much else with a wide consumer base. Then, about 7 years ago, they must have gotten a new management group because they did a major upgrade on the facade, and soon we had a new Barnes & Noble, then Panera, then Cold Stone, then Baja Fresh and, later, a new Ruby Tuesday. In just a matter of a few years the developers of that shopping center were able to transform it into a busy, thriving retail center. I go there at least five times a week, and it’s an 11-mile trip for me, one way. That only happened because our population was growing, and becoming more affluent.
Tell me, Guapo, what management company is going to come into the county, as maligned as it is now, and invest any money into transforming blighted, vacant shopping centers? The first one to go will probably be the one near Georgetown South (which is in the City, I believe), followed shortly by any number along the Rt. 28 corridor. The Manassas Mall continues to struggle, as do a number of the smaller strip malls on Sudley Rd. RIght now Westgate has a huge vacancy at the site of Old Country Buffet, and who knows how long that will take to lease.
Right now, the only new retail shopping we see going up (aside from the new Wegmans on Rt. 1) is in the moneyed western end of the county. Those folks won’t have to worry about vacant shopping centers. Instead, the very people in the Sudley and Westgate areas who pushed so hard for this amendment are going to be the communities losing retail shopping options and having to cope with vacant, empty houses. I don’t think that’s what most of those residents expected to happen.
The economy is in an economic slump across the region, but our county is particularly vulnerable because we’re also losing a lot of people at the same time.
We’re quickly becoming a ghost town. Sure, it’s nice that there’s less traffic and a shorter rush hour on Sudley Rd. (anyone else notice that?), but at what price?
Also, ask the 85 county employees about to be RIFFED how they feel about the economic impact of the resolution. FIgure 85 county employees at and average salary of between $50-60K/year, plus benefits. Do the math. Those people losing their jobs will see their salaries go to fund the resolution. And not one supervisor spoke against that.
And an $18,000,000 hit to the PWC School budget. Thanks a whole freaking bunch, BOCS.
I guess you ought to get the word out if you would like people to express their opinion at next week’s board meeting.
This morning in today’s Washington Post, one of my fellow supervisors, Woodbridge Supervisor Frank Principi, proposed repealing the cracking down on illegal immigration. Please email Supervisor Principi and the whole Board at [email protected] and ask them to continue the crackdown. The vote to fund the resolution will be next Tuesday, April 29, at 2:00 p.m. at the McCoart building at 1 County Complex, Woodbridge, VA 22192. I know it may be inconvenient, but please try to attend and ask others to attend as well. Everyone will have 3 minutes to speak.
— Corey
Corey A. Stewart
Chairman
Prince William Board of County Supervisors
1 County Complex Court
Prince William, VA 22192
(703) 792-4640 – Telephone/(703) 792-4637 – Fax
[email protected]
http://www.co.prince-william.va.us
Another point about the budget mark-up. Frank Principe proposed adding 3 FT inspectors to Neighborhood Services, who would have helped to enforce the neighborhood codes that so troubled those behind the Resolution? Corey pushed back, and Principe lost the straw vote.
I’ll say it again. The impetus for the resolution was largely the blight caused by homeowners and renters violating zoning ordinances. The logical reaction from the county should have been to increase the number of inspectors, ratchet up inspections and patrols, and then really come down hard on homeowners who failed to comply. Instead, the county decided on a full-frontal assault on immigration. Talk about an inefficient waste of county time and resources. Those overcrowded neighborhood eyesores are quickly becoming vacant, overgrown rat traps, and Corey Stewart pooh-poohed the idea of more housing inspectors, at a time when we need dozens more.
That’s not leadership.
I believe Mr. Principi has given all the supervisors the green light to rethink which parts of the Resolution need to stay and which need to go.
I have not yet talked to a person who doesn’t think the jail portion of the 287(g) program is a good idea. None of us want criminals out on the streets. Checking status at the jail is much cheaper than involving our police officers.
Playing ‘Cops and Illegals’ is just not the county image I want to project. It is expensive and we cannot afford it during this economic downturn.
Dr. Fuller is a renowned economist not associated with any political agenda. I believe it would behoove us to listen to his advice unless we want to be known as the county that WAS.
I would encourage Mr. Corey Stewart to show leadership and modify the resolution. We cannot afford the full funding without destroying jobs (and therefore families), decimating our schools, endangering our fire, rescue and police personnel, and overall becoming an embarrassment not only to Northern Virginia but also to the state of Virginia.
Perhaps we should invite Dr. Fuller to address the board during Citizens Time. Purple, interesting email from Corey. At least it cost us less than his earlier postcard blitz.
Sure, I’ll take his suggestion and email the entire board — and ask them to support Frank Principi’s resolution.
Great site!!!! Go Principi, someone with some real gonads! It’s about time.
Chairman Stewart has misled me. He is nice in person. And he plays nice on the news and on the videos distancing himself from hate groups. But why bother if he is going to tear this community apart AGAIN!!!! Why must he run our government in such an extremist, partisan, and dysfunctional way?
At some point, you have to judge the man for the company he keeps. I made allowances for election season because I politics is politics. But there’s no election next month! Why does he have to create another dangerous volatile situation at the PWC Gov. Center Tuesday???!!!!!! Why support a failed policy that is going to destroy our economic competitiveness!?!?
I take back every nice thing I said about him. Well, most of them. He may be a good person but he’s the WORST KIND OF POLITICIAN in the worst sense of the word.
You just can’t trust anyone in pubic office today.
Casual Observer, If they did invite Professor Fuller, Corey and Dip-Stirrup would ignore him just like they did Chief Deane.
Why,
Probably…but lots of other people would hear it. You’d be surprised how many watch the meetings on ch. 23.
I just bought a home in manassas because of the crack down. I think all the people who are against the crack down must not have lived next to a overcrowded home before. I also think that instead of bashing those who implemented the policy we need to pull together. If you are afraid of investors buying up property cheap and creating cheap rental slums then start your own investment group and buy some of the properties yourself. If you are afraid of strip malls being defunct why don’t you rent a store and start a small shop of your own. There are many examples of what can be done we just need a little creativity and some positive approaches from this point on. When we are given lemons we must make lemonade. Bottom line is we can bash corey stewart and the supervisors all we want but until the next election all we can do is take control of our community get the word out there that we all aren’t bad and create an image that our area is diverse, lawful, safe and a good area that anyone would be proud to raise a family in. Now doesn’t that sound better than scaring everyone to acting in a emotional irrational way.
I honestly wanted to believe the Mr. Corey Stewart would understand the implications of the ‘Resolution,’ and make the necessary modifications and amendments to fit our current economic problems. It just doesn’t look like that is going to happen.
I also clearly remember Chief Deane, whose department is the greatest stake-holder in the immigration issue (other than the immigrants, of course), being promised he would have the equipment and personnel he needed to do the job. That is not happening. Chief Deane was lied to.
The supervisors need to approve the full funding for those cameras or scrap the probable cause component of the Resolution until we can pay for it. Responsible government mandates this!
Corey’s email blast to his listserve means he’s calling for re-enforcements. Expect to see HSM stickers in droves, and another marathon citizens time. If Corey’s going to send emails, he should pull together email addresses from all the supervisors so that as many people as possible receive notice. But that would be seeking balanced input, and that’s the LAST think he wants.
My suggestion to all of supervisors would be to send emails — under your own names — to all the constituent email addresses you have in your databases.
I’m damn sick and tired of Corey and Greg having their way with this county.
“Also, ask the 85 county employees about to be RIFFED how they feel about the economic impact of the resolution.” ALL 85 of them should show up and tell off COREY and his THUGS.
kgotthardt,
You took the words right out my mouth!
Casual Observer
“I’m damn sick and tired of Corey and Greg having their way with this county.”
Amen.
Great idea, except they don’t know who they are yet. Corey told the County Executive that he’ll need to evaluate departments and who determine gets riffed. How magnanimous of him not to take credit for his work!
As much as I appreciate your attempt to stay positive, I don’t see sinking our savings into a small shop of our own. 🙂 Nor are we likely to be forming an investment group for commercial or residential real estate ventures anytime soon. 🙂
I just read the WSJ column urging Americans to start stockpiling food:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120881517227532621.html
so I’m thinking spending the family fortune into Costco may be the smarter route. Either that, or sticking it under the mattress. 🙂
of course, I meant to type AT Costco.
casual observer ,
You and I and MANY share the same concerns!
It is getting scary out there and I don’t mean PWC…can’t anyone see this?
ick, I may have to save and recycle my vomit. 🙁 ok that was a joke, but seriously!
redawn,
Yeah, I do get panicky now and then. Shoot, if the WSJ is worried about the economy, it has to be bad!
I am not worried about an economic impact of losing the lowest income generating segment of the population. We are going to save more money in other areas that are not affected by low income losses and will recover quickly, it is simply a supply and demand correction, it will recover very quickly.
Wow, Michael sounds like you know more than our areas top economist. Impressive.
casual observer said on 24 Apr 2008 at 1:24 pm:
Another point about the budget mark-up. Frank Principe proposed adding 3 FT inspectors to Neighborhood Services, who would have helped to enforce the neighborhood codes that so troubled those behind the Resolution? Corey pushed back, and Principe lost the straw vote.
I’ll say it again. The impetus for the resolution was largely the blight caused by homeowners and renters violating zoning ordinances. The logical reaction from the county should have been to increase the number of inspectors, ratchet up inspections and patrols, and then really come down hard on homeowners who failed to comply. Instead, the county decided on a full-frontal assault on immigration. Talk about an inefficient waste of county time and resources. Those overcrowded neighborhood eyesores are quickly becoming vacant, overgrown rat traps, and Corey Stewart pooh-poohed the idea of more housing inspectors, at a time when we need dozens more.
That’s not leadership.
Kenneth said – you are exactly rigth. If stewart really wanted to address the problem, he would do things like hire more neighborhood inspectors and clean it up…not the crap we ended up wth….shows how important FAIR was to stewart……..screw us!!
DoubleE,
That was very funny. I don’t usually laugh out loud but that one got me. Thanks.
Michael,
Do you think we would have had the technological advances without the laying of fiber optic cable throughout the region? Who picked up those shovels and dug those ditches? I’ll tell you, it sure wasn’t the ‘high income generating segment’ of our population.
Then we experienced a very profitable housing boom also attributable to a particular segment of our population.
As far as I’m concerned, to deny the benefits, flies in the face of reason.
Casual said, “Great idea, except they don’t know who they are yet. Corey told the County Executive that he’ll need to evaluate departments and who determine gets riffed. How magnanimous of him not to take credit for his work!” Then they should ALL show up….take the day off!
Either that, or strike for the day and take vacation time.
Kevin, You know darn well the county would sell these homes off to the highest investment bidders who would not do justice to the communities. Look at their record for selling out to developers.
And I doubt many people here have the will or the way to buy up homes. Shoot, it’s hard enough to afford your OWN home in this area.
GL is full of you-know-what, saying people are having bidding wars over foreclosed homes. Yeah? Then why are there still so many of them? And if there are bidding wars, who is having them? Wealthy investors who don’t give a crap about our communities or people? This, “My friend told me” is stupid. Why should be trust ANY of HIS friends?
Now listen to this.
Okay, so I meet this lady while I am walking today in the Battlefield. She’s really nice and strikes up a conversation with me. She tells me about this subdivision in Manassas off Lomond Drive (Sumner Lake). She says there’s a really nice walking path, a fountain, ducks and geese and everything, that I should check it out. It used to be a farm, she says.
So I get all excited because this nice lady who must appreciate nature (I assume, because she likes walking in the Battlefield) gives me a tip on a new place to walk.
To get to this place, you have to drive all the way through Lomond Drive in Manassas. Now, I drive through those areas a lot, I’ve lived near there, and I’ve subbed at Stonewall a few times. So I know what the neighborhoods look like. They’re cute. But since I haven’t been there in awhile in daylight, I think, hmmmm….now maybe I will actually see some rot that they talk about on BVBL.
No lie…all the way there, all the way up Lomond, I see ONE house with overgrown grass. This ONE house needs a paintjob. The rest of the houses middle class places, 20-40 years old with yards big enough to make ME drool and enough mature trees to make me whine. And many, many are up for sale, just as they are in my Bristow town home neighborhood.
So I accidentally drive by Sumner and onto Stonewall which means I have to turn around, but before I do, I see some more affordable looking apartments and town homes. I see a group of minorities (mixed) playing basketball in the parking lot of their development. I see people pushing baby carriages and I see blooming spring flowers.
I finally DO make it back to Sumner.
OH MY GOD.
My idea of TOTAL HELL.
McMansions everywhere shoved next to each other, yes, a fountain, but a fountain stuck in the middle of this hoity-toity subdivision that would give me hives if I had to live there. And this is what they’ve done to it. To boot…..loads of homes for sale.
It occurs to me that some of the people who live in subdivisions like these don’t appreciate their neighbors because the older streets look, well, too working or middle class. Developers will often come into older neighborhoods and “gentrify.” Unfortunately, many of the “gentry” don’t appreciate the original charm of the area and would like to anaconda-out anyone who doesn’t earn at least three times the median income of the state.
So, no offense to anyone who might live there, but it’s apparent to me why there are social tensions in Manassas. It’s not just about race. It’s about class.
“McMansions everywhere shoved next to each other, yes, a fountain, but a fountain stuck in the middle of this hoity-toity subdivision that would give me hives if I had to live there. And this is what they’ve done to it. To boot…..loads of homes for sale.”
LOL…you know your post made me laugh. I remember when they were building that place. Husband and I went in to a few models and – while nice, but commonplace – nobody had a yard and homes were one on top of another. Ticky-Tacky Plastic barbie land…..
But what freaked me out most was the (as you enter the development) immense community Gazebo. I swear, I asked hubby if it was where they planned to do ritual human sacrifice for those dwellers who stepped outside the mold….
Creepy-town, thy name is Sumner Lake…
LOL!!!!!! Yeah, I can see human sacrifices there……a pentagram drawn in the middle and candles all around……hee hee heee…..there goes my vivid imagination!
Oh I don’t know about the pentagram…but I sure did imagine sacrifices for not having mowed a lawn and perhaps being late on one’s HOA fees…
Maybe floggings for the delinquent with hedge trimmers or something… Definitely an artifical environment composed of plastic and viynl.
k,
A little history lesson for you regarding Sumner Lake. It used to be called Smitherwood, and was owned by Judge Selwyn Smith. There are three houses sitting where many kids grew up fishing. This was the LAST property that was zoned Agricultural in the City of Manassas. It’s about 90 acres there WERE tons of pine trees on the parcel.