Let’s have a little time off task. What’s on your mind?
- The economy?
- The Liberty Street wedge?
- The Budget presentation on Tuesday 2/17?
- Presidents Day sales?
- MI?
- The horrible crimes besieging our county?
The flowers are for decoration. There are some serious things going on around these parts. We will continue with the open theme. Hopefully every one had a good Valentine’s day and that cupid was good to them. Feel free to discuss what you want.
M-H, with the flowers and the spirit of love that they represent, it’s hard to comment on most of the topics you put forth.
Yea, I thought of that. It is hard to do hearts and flowers with those topics. And I left off the horrible air crash with directly links to Manassas.
However, do not let my topics limit anyone. I was having a hard time thinking of anything positive.
I was going to do dogs kissing. That didn’t work out so well either.
We could spin feeling the love as we watch the BOCS pretend to get along at the Budget Hearing?
We could feel the love as the majority of horrible crimes are being committed by our own citizens who are legally able to vote, would pass e-verify, and speak some form of English?
We could feel the love as a sense of familiarty now that Liberty St is back?
Can’t do any more….. 🙁
You make some darn good points. I am not ready to give up on love yet though, Juturna.
Pretty hard to feel the love through what’s going on around us. Perhaps that is the love…that we realize it.
People are avoiding this thread like the plague…so it isn’t just you.
Juturna,
With each journey I take in my life, my hope is that the people I meet along the way will change my life, change it in ways I could never anticipate. when I first moved to PWC I met amazing people in the fight to preserve open space. Through immigration, I have met the most amazing people, people that give me hope, that citizens, given the right opportunity, will stop hate from spreading like the plague. As human beings we are flawed, , but along the way, somehow, we manage to muddle through, allowing our best instincts to prevail, even if sometimes it’s scary to do so.
My neighbor across the street had her 40th birthday 13 February. She’s from Hungary and has NO family in the US; she has three beautiful little girls (5, 3, 1). She teaches piano and plays organ in a church on Sundays.
I have a 1928 Schubert piano album that she loves. I managed to get it reprinted (looked beautiful), wrapped it and together with a vase full of flowers walked over and sang “Happy Birthday”. The look on her face when she saw the album gladdened my heart. I had managed to give someone happiness. And, yes, she played for me.
Then, the next day I read about the Prince William county park employee who killed his wife and two children. Puzzlement!
Juturna, your wit here speaks volumes. Our county government has lost touch with its priorities. Too many on our Board of Supervisors have become obsessed with a non-violent civil offense having to do with immigration status, and given up caring about anything else. This was excusable when “illegal immigration” looked to be a winning election issue. But it just hasn’t been, and cannot be in the America we have thankfully become.
Tell that to Montgomery County in Maryland!
Serious things are happening in PW, yes I agree. People here need to resolve to let goodness prevail for the future of our communities.
The housing market in PW is in bad shape and employment is not looking much better. To top it all off, the social division existing from the maligned immigration debates is the worst I have ever seen in a community.
The only way to alter discomfort and the awful economical situation is to vote and replace the political machine that is in place.
The race for the 52nd Virginia Delegates and others seats are approaching and the people of PW must make a choice for who will be the best candidate for their district. Who will best serve the interest of the community and keep those interests over their own personal ambition and desires?
It is a good time to help someone different than the status quo, someone who is going to truly represent us, and why not someone really in touch with our community? Mr. Rafael Lopez is seeking the nomination from the Republican Party for the 52nd District and we in PW should look at his candidacy at http://rafaellopez4delegate.blogspot.com/. His candidacy presents be a different alternative He is an experienced former councilman, a positive candidate and a fresh start that will bring to PW a better community understanding. I know Rafael and he will be working hard for you and your families. Rafael Lopez will give the best of himself in order to accomplish better for the people.
Didn’t any of you take a vacation from reality yesterday and jump into romantic la-la land for awhile?
I hope you did! We have plenty of other days to discuss the woes of the world, but not enough devoted to love, no matter how sappy.
XOXOXOXOXO,
Your resident Pinko,
PAP
PAP, to answer your question: NO. I gave up and altered the topic. Love was on vacation.
WHWN:
Lost priorities in terms of dollars spent? But not in their hearts. Most of the Board did not want to vote for this sad, sad mistake. They were caught up in the hysteria more than any of us. Or most of us. We can only imagine what it was like for them under all that pressure from inside and outside this county.
The board was under tremendous pressure to do something they ultimately wasn’t in the best interests of Prince William County. They have been bombarded by hundreds of emails demanding action be taken. What they were not told is that some of those demanding the action didn’t even live in Prince William County or Virginia.
Should they have checked out the individuals emailing? Yes. Do they have the staffs to perform those miracles? Most do not.
Bornstein,
Funny post. It was supposed to be funny, right?
“What they were not told is that some of those demanding the action didn’t even live in Prince William County or Virginia.”
Robb Pearson doesn’t live in Prince William County or Virginia, Moon-howler. Why should they listen to him, either?
I like Punchak’s approach. Show some love. Share what little you have with others. I made homemade Valentines, “I love you a hole punch” with hole punches on the inside.
My friend celebrated her wedding anniversary on the 14th, and her husband was recently laid off from work. I made them a card with a coupon inside, “One Free Resume.” He called to take me up on it, so I’m rewriting his resume before his job interview at the end of February.
Whatever happened to the blog get-together at a local restaurant?
The BOCS was correct in identifying the proliferation of illegal immigrants as concern to this community. The transient nature of illegal immigrants is no different than PWC becoming an absent landlord community – who wants that?!
What was incorrect was the BOCS overstepping its bounds and attempting to balme the Police Chief and then direct the PD on how they should operate, making a moral judgement and gratifying a very small voice of angry and xenophobic nut cases. (Face it, they might be dead on regarding many issues, but they are simply crazy over there. Not ONE of them is my idea of an appropriate dinner guest.)
The LOCAL issues were and should have been limited to zoning and similar violations. Zealously enforcing those regulations would have included 7-11’s, neighborhoods, loitering, vandelism and grafetti. Providing Michelle Casciato with the resources she requested over and over again instead of hiring a few expensive police officers would have been in the best interest of the community.
Watching the BOCS attempt to direct the operations of the PD was like watching Bush direct the military. Join, help or get out of the way.
God Bless you, Punchak
So D. Bornstein, the candidate your are advocating for is to replace Jeff Frederick? What is your role in it? Are you the campaign manager? What advantage would Mr. Lopez offer over Mr. Frederick? Are you concerned that people like Slowpoke have been conditioned to dislike Hispanic people?
Emma, Robb Pearson said right up front who he was and where he was from. He did not pretend to be a constituent. He spoke from his own experience. He was not deceptive. Robb Pearson was not involved in a mass emailing campaign.
I see a huge difference. What possible parallels could you see other than he doesn’t live in Prince Willilam County? If I recall correctly, neither do you.
To Shelly B.:
No I’m not a campaign manager. I’m a supporter and a friend, a concerned voter. You ask, “Am I concerned that people like Slowpoke have been conditioned to not like Hispanic people?” Well, that would be bigotry, which should be a concern to all of us. We need to overcome the ugliness of bigotry and prejudice. You and Slowpoke should know that Jeff Frederick identifies himself as Hispanic; his mother is from Colombia. As you may know, Jeff Frederick is not running again for the delegate position. Rafael Lopez is a former councilman who seeks the seat and he has the experience, knowledge and energy to advocate well for the 52nd district.
Thank you D. Bornstein. I did not know that Frederick was not running. Is this new information? Perhaps Mr. Lopez could come on the blog and answer questions some time. Does this mean Mr. Lopez supports the type of leadership Mr. Frederick has shown?
Emma doesn’t live in PWC??? I assumed she did. Why do people outside PWC want to see us shoot ourselves in the foot over and over again until we bleed to death over this immigration thing? What’s in it for them?
Well, no, I don’t live in PWC, but neither do several of your regular posters here. But, among many things, my taxes help pay for the county jail that happens to reside right here in the City. Mr. Fernandez’s blight on the community is a short walk from my home, even though his original intent was to protest enforcement actions in PWC, and he and his partner don’t even live in the City themselves.
There is a good deal of overlap between City and County that directly affects City residents. I would say that my tax dollars, the work I often do in PWC and the money I spend in PWC businesses make me a lot more invested than someone who has never lived in the area.
I also don’t believe that the BOCS was moved by hundreds of robo-emails, but by real people like Rick Bentley whose quality of life was suffering because of neighborhood overcrowding and utter disregard for neighborhood norms for noise levels, numbers and types of vehicles, trash removal and yard maintenance. Neighborhood solutions are nice, but for so many people those efforts were simply not working.
Had those neighborhood solutions been effective, this situation might never have escalated to the degree that so many of you here object to. You have to live with it to understand it, and when all your efforts fail, and your elected leaders aren’t listening, you might get a little angry, and you might want to take the legal route rather than the “neighborly” route. And then when some outsider comes here to tell you how racist you are for feeling the way you do, he might not find a welcome mat rolled out for him.
Had the BOCS adequately funded Neighborhood Services there would have been a better outcome.
Hiring Cops to do what the jailers were doing attracted more attention and that was supposed to be the springboard out of PWC. Too bad the momentum feel apart when LT Gov disappeared.
Emma, the City of Manassas used to be part of PWC back in the day. I see no reason why you shouldn’t have a say in how things are run by the BOCS.
But I have to say I agree with Juturna. The Board had no interest in solutions to solve Rick’s issues. That wasn’t politically charged enough for them. Or, to be fair, it wasn’t politically charged enough for six of them. If they’d taken an afternoon to think about the situation in a solutions-oriented way, there would have been no need for robo-emails, media strategies, or election slogans about “cracking down” on anything other than these neighborhood issues that just needed a little more attention. How about millions of dollars of emergency funds going to Neighborhood Services. Don’t you think that would have helped to enforce the housing ordinances that were being broken?
Juturna, LT Gov disappeared for Corey but remind me why again? And also, why didn’t he run for Congress last fall? We had to endure the embarrassment and the economic fallout all Corey’s political grandstanding and then it just goes pfft. All for nothing.
Emma,
I most certainly do feel that emails influenced the BOCS members–at least some of them. I have heard them say so. How do they know the difference in Susie Smith in Arizona and Rick Bentley in Manassas? They don’t if that information is not included.
Robb was not part of the ro-mailer group. He was invited to come down by contributors on this blog to share his story. Remember Emma, Robb was one who held rallies against illegal immigration. He had a change of heart and wanted to share his story. That does happen to people.
I know several people who have not changed how they feel about illegal immigration but they have changed their rhetoric and how they want to deal with neighborhood issues. Their change came from studying the effectiveness of various behaviors and what they wanted associated with them.
We consider Robb a friend and a resource. He shared his story with us. He spoke to the BOCS once. However, when he did so he told them who he was and why he was there. Big difference in that and what was done with the robo emails that did influence some of our BOCS.
Emma, in my neighborhood the Immigration Resolution has done nothing to address problems similar to Rick Bentley’s. Why? Because the problems are caused by good old boys – white residents. Beefing up the resources for Neighborhood Services would have had more of an impact than playing “I can enforce federal law better than the feds”. I believe most people want their neighborhood problems solved before they want to play immigration cop.
ShellyB,
As for Jeff Frederick, I think it was about a month ago when he became Republican Party Chairman and announced he would not seek the delegate seat again so he could devote himself to the Chairman position.
Rafael Lopez’s website is: http://www.rafaellopez.org and he has a blog there also. Please visit his website and I’ll let him know about your site as well.
“I made homemade Valentines, “I love you a hole punch” with hole punches on the inside.”
I KNEW I liked you for a reason, Cindy! 🙂
Thanks D. Bornstein. That’s good news actually. I feel a lot better about Jeff Frederick representing the Virginia Republican party rather than representing the everyday people of Prince William County. The last several times I heard his name it was the same story: Another really embarrassingly ignorant, insensitive, or downright hateful quote to give Virginia and PWC a bad name. Time Magazine was the topper. “Go knock on doors, people, and tell everyone Barack Obama is a terrorist. That’ll convince’em!”
A story relating to a planned march by John Steinbach/Mexicanos Sin Fronteras
this afternoon is now on the web site of the News & Messenger (InsideNova). I’m
surprised it hasn’t been discussed on this blog, especially since the stated
number of marchers is 500. Apparently it is to start at Manassas Park,
go through Manassas and on to the Courthouse complex in PWC. The march
apparently stems from alleged incident between a Hispanic woman and a
MPPD officer.
My take is that Mr. Steinbech and Mr. Fernandez (a small march late last week)
miss the spotlight of media attention and want more than “Warhol’s 15 minutes”.
Lights, camera! Por favor!
Bornstein, you keep mentioning that Mr. Lopez is a “former councilman” without mentioning which council. I guess that must be because he is a former councilman from the Dumfries Town Council…hardly a glowing, or credible, recommendation of past elective office. In the future you might want to leave that out, or at least not dwell so heavily upon it…unless that’s the only thing that he has on his resume.
AWCheney, you are right he is a former councilman from Dumfries. Is that supposed to be embarrassing? Is Dumfries a second class place? Do we have to believe that a councilman in Dumfries is less than a councilman anywhere else? Wow! I like the arrogance from people when they are elitist or they are bureaucrats, or they might be those intellectuals that may think that Hispanic/Dumfries is not good enough.
Some Americans just elected the least experienced candidate as a president, and many of his cabinet positions were filled with tax cheaters and who knows what else we will find later. Come on AWCheney, I want to see you in Washington protesting the people that are marching this nation towards Socialism.
And..what’s wrong with having experience from the Dumfries Town Council? The people in Dumfries are equal to the people of any other jurisdiction. They have families, needs and concerns just like you. I subscribe to having equality in our society, in Dumfries, Gainesville, Dale City and everywhere.
Because, D. Bornstein, the number of people who actually vote in the Town of Dumfries is almost negligible…it makes Manassas Park look like a shining example for voter turnout.
FYI-
Perhaps on other channels, but WRC4 has advertised a piece about
this afternoon’s local Mexicanos Sin Fronteras march (to be shown at 11 tonight).
D. Bornstein,
Please excuse the rudeness of some posters here. Certainly someone elected to a position in government, having some local experience, should not be demeaned. I have not had an opportunity to look at Mr. Lopez’s website. It use to be that the average guy was elected to office, you didn’t have to be a lawyer or doctor, you just had to want to serve the public.
Yes Elena, thanks for your kind words. You’re right, good leaders should be able to rise from the ranks of average Joes. Also, it’s not the size of the electorate that matters. It’s all about the quality of leadership they’ve received after the election.