Yesterday I had a strange phone call from a county employee who identified themselves as an “ex-birdie.” I almost hung up on them except his voice sounded very familiar to me. Once we got the identity established, the fun began. It seems that loyalty to staff counts a great deal at Complex 1 and at Independent Hill.
There are about 4,000 county staff and about 10,000 school board staff. The caller then asked me (like I would know) why Pete Candland thinks that they would all vote for him rather than Corey Stewart. I just listened, assuming that was a rhetorical question. He went on to say that Candland has subjected their bosses to public embarrassment and humiliated them with supposed gotcha questions. Additionally, there has been a great deal of public criticism over staff work projects over the past two years that we keep hearing about during BOCS meetings. Now that is getting fairly personal. He also told the budget director her numbers were wrong when in fact, they weren’t wrong.
This employee was on a rant. He then told me that Melissa Peacor was far more popular with staff than Candland realizes and that she had been attacked relentlessly (THAT part I know, the popular point I didn’t.) Chris Martino was also called out by Candland’s BFF, the Sheriff, as being a financially illiterate nincompoop. Martino’s sound investment choices kept the county on an even keel for the past 5 years and Fairfax County routinely called him for advice, very often too late. (I knew that Chris Martino was much sought after by other municipalities from some of my chick friends at Complex 1.) (Too bad Fairfax, you snooze you lose, he’s ours!)
I was getting an earful and was desperately taking notes with my carpel tunnel screaming in the background. I got the impression that the worst and dumbest thing the esteemed supervisor could have done was calling out the police chief and the fire chief and taking them to task publicly and nastily over unfilled secretarial positions and crossing guard posts. (Even volunteer workers need to go through extensive background checks I am told.)
The caller convinced me that there are a lot more furious birdies than ones calling the BFF Sheriff and giving out bad information. The caller reiterated that he hopes Candland isn’t counting on a lot of votes from fire and rescue or other county employees, such finance and school finance folks. Many of those 4,000 Complex workers are from fire and rescue or law enforcement and there are a whole lot of teachers out there who aren’t fooled by weasel words. I didn’t get the impression there were going to be any warm fuzzies there once the conversation drew to a close.
I guess the grass is always greener on the other side. It seems that the current supervisors, for the most part, are fairly well-liked by the county workers. In particular, the caller praised Corey Stewart for standing up for the employees. (as well he should!) Everyone needs public acknowledgement of a job well-done. Corey is good about doing that. Now, what he does behind closed doors is another thing. The public doesn’t need to know if someone needs chewing out. Isn’t that how all of us would like to be treated at work?
I got a real eye-opener with that phone call. I was told most county employees are saying Run, Corey Run. I was asked to please tell the other side of the story, so here it is.
It will be interesting to see what the Sheriff has to say! Am sure he will go on a rant very shortly. I still have worries about loose money laying around at the end of the year-it seems like it is another slush fund for the BOCS to do with as they please.
Left over money at the end of the year doesn’t bother me at all. Too many variables. The bottom line is, I would be upset if they were off partying on taxpayer money. It usually goes to unfunded projects.
Yes, I have disapproved of how it was spent in the past. I didn’t like Rainbow Riding getting a big chunk of the pie year before last. Some you win, some you lose. In a county this size, its pretty near impossible to land right on the money each and every time.
I wonder how many birdies really exist. The problem with Candland is that he is married at his hip to a very nasty advisor. I also wonder to the validity of that other web site blog – how many anonymous posters are there?
You will never know.
Its difficult to take anything serious from there because of the anonymity.
There is a link to all of it. I am simply not ready to publish the link–yet.
Moon, I don’t think you can say anonymity is a reason to not accept something posted on a blog. Duh! That aside, I agree that the whole “birdie” thing is hogwash.
“There is a link to all of it. I’m simply not ready to publish the link-yet.” For the life of me,
I will never understand your refusal to call out the Sheriff or any of his so called “birdies”. While I understand, “honor among thieves”, this kind of false “honor” makes no sense at all.
@George
All in good time. All in good time.
Meanwhile….
To everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)
There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)
And a time to every purpose, under Heaven
A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep
@George
One more thing. Information is never free. Any revelation outs someone, cuts off information, and tips someone’s hand.
If the duh was for me, and the fact I use a pseudonym, I should remind you that anyone who wants my name would have no trouble getting it whatsoever. In fact, I have said, all anyone has to do is email me and ask me. If I think they have a need to know, that person will get their answer. I am not going to hand it out willy-nilly to strangers, however.
I believe in good old fashioned suburban paranoia. There are some sick you-know-what’s out there in the blogosphere.
Birdies birdies…..don’t buy any of it – except for you Moon. @george I think the perception of buckets of money laying around has been crafted. Last best explanation I heard was debt service….also, don’t we want some funds to carry over for longer projects?
Squawwwwwk!!!
I know who several of them are and I plan on singing like a bird (but not that kinda bird) at some point. I sure wouldn’t risk my job to be a birdie, that’s for sure. Telling lies on your boss sounds like a dangerous job to me.
For instance, what moron told a local blogger that Melissa Peacor had an azurite semi-precious stone vanity in her bathroom? People that do that are simply liars and trouble-makers. Following that logic, Gerhart had pearl lined bathroom stalls.
Just a comment…
My brother is an avid hiker. We often discuss bear encounters. Now eastern bears are treated differently than western bears. Eastern bears are easily fooled by “looking large.” In other words, if a hiker encounters a bear on the trail, the hiker puffs himself up, raises his arms in an attempt to deceive the bear. Hikers and outdoors enthusiasts also make a lot of noise with canned noise or bells. Again, the bear is deceived and tricked into thinking he/she is encountering a much larger human.
Birds do something similar when facing a perceived enemy. Birds puff their feathers to look larger. Some birds can appear to double in size when, in essence, it’s all feathers.
Apparently that is what is happening now and has been since Candland took office.
We saw a similar trait with Gainesville Truth Squad which was also the Pete Channel.
@Moon-howler
Two hikers, armed with bear spray and bells, were walking through the forest.
One says to the other, “Look! Bear scat. We have to be careful. But we can scare the black bear away.”
The second hiker asked, “How can you tell what kind of bear it is merely by seeing its scat?”
“Oh, that’s easy,” came the reply. Grizzly bear scat is filled with bells and smells like pepper.”