Several folks have asked about the status of the War Museum. Need to Know, a regular contributor at Moonhowlings.net has been following this initiative and has kindly offered his findings for a thread:
[Disclaimer: All guest posts are the opinion of the poster and do not necessarily represent the views of moonhowlings.net administration. M-H]
Regarding the proposed War Museum:
The land belongs currently to the Hyltons. They are “donating” it but the package the BOCS will consider October 5 includes new development rights that will benefit the Hyltons. They, Stewart and their proponents are waving the flag for a museum to honor veterans to garner support but it’s nothing more than a land deal to benefit special interests and campaign contributors. The “donation” of land will not go through unless the BOCS approves the entire package.
The staff report can be found at:
http://www.pwcgov.org/planning/documents/PLN2010-00379.pdf
Note that this staff report reads like a promotional brochure for the project, lacking any semblance of due diligence and analysis as to whether the project is in the interests of PWC taxpayers or not.
A few more details:
The supporters state that the project will need $50 million and that they will raise all of that from private sources. Note, however, that after allegedly working on development of the project for nearly a decade they have, as of the last Form 990 filing, less than $1 million in real assets. Form 990 is the annual tax filing required by the IRS for non-profit organizations. You can see them by clicking on this link:
http://nccsdataweb.urban.org/PubApps/showVals.php?ft=bmf&ein=200008915
The 2009 Form 990 shows total assets of a little over $4 million, but over $3 million of that is in the form of pledges and grants receivable that their statements have carried for at least two years. It’s not real money.
There’s not a chance in h*** they are going to be able to raise enough money, especially in an economy such as we have now, to build this thing without extensive taxpayer support.
The CEO of the Wartime Museum, Craig Stewart, has been taking about one-quarter of a million dollars ANNUALLY in salary and other compensation despite having no experience with museums. He was some sort of assistant director at a private school prior to talking this job. He is, however, well-connected in the same circles in which Corey Stewart travels. According to employment web sites, the average salary of a museum director in the DC area is less than $100,000.
Corey Stewart claims this museum is not going to cost PWC taxpayers a cent. However, under pressure from citizens, County staff acknowledged in an addendum to the staff report that PWC taxpayers have already provided $721,565. That’s almost enough to pay Craig Stewart’s compensation for the approximately three years he has been employed with the Wartime Museum.
Bottom line – PWC taxpayers will NEVER see a museum of the quality being promised by Corey Stewart, County staff and other museum supporters. If this project is approved on October 5, the Hyltons win big-time because they get rid of some useless land at the expense of PWC taxpayers and obtain some valuable new development rights elsewhere in PWC. Corey Stewart wins with a bundle of campaign contributions. Local big-wigs get a taxpayer-supported park to play out their fantasies of being soldiers, and Craig Stewart makes more than he could dream of in a real job. Losers – PWC taxpayers who will never see anything close to what’s being promised and will inevitably be asked to cough up more money to avoid having a junk tank lot next to I-95 much like the junk car lots along Route 1.
The Wartime Museum is another Corey Stewart scam.
There is some irony in the fact that the head of the non-profit museum whose mission is honoring Americans at war made more than $20k a month in 2009 while the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest ranking American actually at war, had his pay capped at $19.3k a month.
Thanks for that tidbit Moe.
Despite all the evidence uncovered by the ‘Researchers’ that the War Museum deal wasn’t in the best interest of Prince William County and its citizens, the BOCS passed the rezoning amendment. This iniative soars ahead.
http://www2.insidenova.com/news/2010/oct/05/wartime-museum-gets-green-light-ar-544824/?sc_cid=ISN-BNEWS-Breaking
Did I leave out the words unanimously passed?
We are not surprised.
Disappointing but certainly not surprising. The Wartime Museum, as Avendale and other Stewart schemes, was a foregone conclusion. The expected rogues’ gallery of people who will benefit from the project paraded through Citizens Time.
Funny how the BOCS can find nearly a million taxpayer dollars for a special interest project but is laying off police officers (see the other thread).
Corey Stewart’s fiscal pattern is emerging clearly. At budget time, he pushes laying off teachers, police officers, transportation for the elderly, etc. and claims to be a fiscal conservative. During the year, however, he bullies through the costly projects for his friends and campaign supporters.
The biggest disappointment to me was that all of the other Supervisors rubber stamped this boondoggle for Stewart and Jenkins.
More Corey Stewart Wartime Museum campaign finance shenanigans.
VPAP reports that A&R Foods, Inc. in Springfield, Virginia has given Corey Stewart $6,000 since 2009:
http://www.vpap.org/candidates/profile/money_in_details/61061?donor_id=109891&end_year=2010&filter_schedule=all&lookup_type=year&order=date&start_year=2002
A&R Foods, Inc. is an operator of Burger King franchises. I had been wondering why Burger King was so enthusiastic about Corey Stewart. Mystery solved.
Ronald C. Devine, the President of A&R Foods, Inc. is on the National Steering Committee of the Wartime Museum:
http://www.nmaw.org/leadership/leadership-team/
I am surprised he didn’t trot out the Gainesville Grizzlies or Beville Bobcats to make his case for the War Museum.