County Scrambles to Preserve Jobs

 The News and Messenger is reporting tough times in PWC this morning as County Executive Craig Gerhart tries to figure out ways to preserve jobs and meet county budget all at the same time. Some of the options county employees face are working a day without pay, cutting back on holidays or facing a general salary cut or being sent home and taking a day off without pay. None of the options are pleasant to face.

 In his presentation to the BOCS yesterday, Gerhart outlined ways to retain current county personnel and meet the budget constraints. Even with an increased tax rate of $1.13, up from $.98 homeowners are expected to pay less in taxes because of decreased home values. Less in taxes translates into more budget shortfall. PWC has been the hardest hit jurisdiction in the area with foreclosures.

 Neabsco Supervisor John Jenkins asked about the feasibility of freezing salaries of the higher paid county employees. That too will be examined. It appears that public safety departments are the only places there will not be drastic budget reductions.

 Things certainly have a different look than say a year ago, when we had citizens directing the county to raise their taxes to enforce the Immigration Resolution. But, in the words of that immortal wise sage Bob Dylan, we were so much older then…….

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUo0nam_QwQ

 Lyrics:

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“The High Cost of Harsh Words” a NYTimes editorial

Recently, a tragic story, has come to epitomize the need to find common ground and solutions for comprehensive immigration reform. There has been talk on AntiBVBL, round and round, about what constitutes hate, how racism is defined, and how words contribute to hate and a growing sense of anger and resentment toward Latinos as an immigrant population. This editorial from the New York Times sheds some light on a community, enveloped by fear and anger until the final culmination, an innocent man’s death, requires us all to acknowledge the truth.  There is a dangerous outcome that lurks beneath the surface of misleading people believe that Hispanics are somehow deserving of punishment.

I am sad to say the description below of Suffolk County executive Steve Levy reminds me of our own Corey Stewart and his rhetoric — rhetoric I urged him numerous times to alter, and bring some healing to our community. He ignored me, as he ignored many others during the most volatile times in Prince William County.

Words have consequences. Steve Levy, the Suffolk County executive, is learning that the hard way during a horrible week. Seven teenagers were arrested and charged in the fatal stabbing last Saturday of Marcello Lucero, an Ecuadorean immigrant, on a street in the Long Island village of Patchogue.

Mr. Levy’s past harsh words and actions against undocumented workers have now left him cornered with a tragically limited ability to lead the county in confronting a brutal act that surely pains him as much as anyone.

Local lawmakers often complain about immigration, but Mr. Levy went much farther than most. He founded a national organization to lobby for crackdowns. He went on “Lou Dobbs.” He tried to deputize county police to make immigration arrests and to rid the county work force of employees without papers. He sought to drive day laborers from local streets, yet rigidly opposed efforts to create hiring sites. Even as tensions simmered in places like Farmingville, a hot spot for anti-immigrant resentment, Mr. Levy would not budge.

He parroted extremist talking points, going so far as to raise the alarm, utterly false, that illegal immigrants’ “anchor babies” were forcing Southampton Hospital to close its maternity ward. He denounces racist hatred, yet his words have made him a hero in pockets of Long Island where veins of racism run deep.

All that came back to haunt Mr. Levy this week, when an evil act underscored the need to draw together. Immigrant advocates assailed him for having poisoned the atmosphere. Some called for his resignation. With tactless self-pity, Mr. Levy complained to Newsday that the killing would have been a one-day story anywhere but his home turf. He laments that people overlook his recent, far more measured tone on the issue. He insists that people have a distorted picture of him. Mr. Levy needs to realize that distortions cut both ways.

All Eyes are on the PWC Budget

The BOCS Halloween Financial Retreat begins today. Instead of going to some swanky place to convene, to their credit, the PWC BOCS are staying put and doing their work right at County Complex.

Their task is daunting. Running a county on a $190 million dollar shortfall is not for the faint of heart nor for one with a personal agenda. Pre-released agenda documents pretty much spelled out how dire the situation is.

At root of the financial problem is the huge, disproportionate amount of foreclosures in PWC. Each foreclosure lowers the property values of the houses around it. Many people have seen an almost 50% drop in the value of their home in the past 2 years.

The loss of value of the homes naturally changes the property tax assessments. As if things weren’t bad enough, sales tax receipts have dropped for 5 months in a row. The county is hurting.

Each county department was directed to create a budget with 10%, 20%, and 30% cuts. Looking through the documents, there were some extremely severe cuts. All eyes will be on the public safety departments first.

According to the Washington Post:

Read More

Foreclosure Phenomenon in Prince William County

Prince William County Supervisors need to account for this phenomenon. What is the difference between the Counties? What accounts for this horrific occurrence of foreclosures which will most likely have lingering effects for a decade? Plain and simple, it’s the immigration resolution. The sooner Supervisors recognize this fact the faster we could turn this thing around. They have the power to stop the hemorrhaging but will they act on it? Do they prefer to see property values decline, real estate assessments plummet and the County’s budget completely destroyed? Perhaps so.

In my opinion, a more prudent course of action would be to not give anybody further reason to abandon a home. There’s never been a complete cost benefit analysis and it’s becoming pretty evident that any perceived savings from drops in ESoL enrollment have been more than off-set by devastating losses in our residential real estate market. These losses are causing extreme economic hardship among home owners who planned to use their home equity to finance their kid’s education, retirement or financing for business operations. Eventually, we will hit rock bottom but at what cost?

Witch-Hunt in Prince William

Nativist Letiecq Attempts to Intimidate Numerous Members of PWC Community

Just days after Help Save Manassas was classified as “an extremist organization that employs hateful rhetoric” by the Anti-Defamation League, the man responsible for earning this classification for his followers has sunk to a new low.

A private email I wrote eleven days ago found its way to Greg Letiecq, who has posted a new thread on his blog intending to intimidate and persecute, not only me, but everyone who was on the email list.

In it, I questioned the judgment of Gainesville District Supervisor John Stirrup, who tomorrow will ask his fellow Supervisors to vote to approve his appointment of Robert Duecaster to the Prince William County Strategic Goals Task Force. I have made no secret of my feelings about Duecaster’s racist writings, or his infamous outbursts before our Board of Supervisors (see previous thread). But now Letiecq is trying to intimidate and defame those who received the email (many of whom did not respond).

Supervisor Stirrup’s apparent trust in Duecaster — the only man in this county who has personally threatened the Board of Supervisors with more hatred and rage than Letiecq himself — is just one symptom of the toxicification of Prince William County at the hands of Letiecq, his blog, and his extremist organization. The Center for American Progress has documented how intimidation and incitement of racial conflict are common methods of attack for anti-immigrant organizations.

The persecution began last year, targeting the Hispanic community, though often worded to focus on “illegal” immigrants rather than the Hispanic community in general. But it did not stop when many members of the Hispanic community left the county. It did not stop when our county’s Citizen Satisfaction Survey revealed that both the Hispanic and the African American communities have lost trust in county government and the police force.

For more than a year, Letiecq has been targeting anyone who dares to oppose his relentless attempts to dominate our county government by exploiting his influence over Supervisor Stirrup and Chairman Corey Stewart. Now, he is not only targeting those who criticize him, he is targeting anyone who associates with his critics, or thinks about joining them.

Letiecq has made a habit of attacking me. But he knows I am not intimidated. He knows I will stand up to him.

Many of the those who received my personal email have not criticized Letiecq or taken any action to challenge his greed for power. By publishing their names without permission and “identifying” them, he has violated their privacy in a despicable attempt to make them appear guilty of some infraction, and bully them into silence.

I for one am not afraid of Greg Letiecq’s Neo-McCarthyism. And I am not afraid to say I oppose the appointment of Robert Duecaster to our county’s Strategic Goals Task Force. But more importantly, I oppose the persecution tactics Letiecq has employed to unduly influence this county government, its leaders, and its citizens.

P.S. Question for Greg Letiecq: Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?

Aug. 5th Board of Supervisors Vote : Questions Asked and Answered

Just finished watching the board meeting and there was some confusion about whether the ICE reimbursement budget item required a public hearing or not. Caddigan didn’t believe this was a hearing item but according to Craig Gerhart it exceeded a budgetary threshold and therefore it was required. Then on the tail of this confusion, Supervisor Jenkins commented about the lack of public participation in the process which he believes demonstrates a general lack of interest.

This money is a reimbursement from the federal government that goes back into the jail fund to support any additional expenses that they might have. This is not the total cost of the program 287(g). My question is what additional costs have we outlayed that are non-refundable? My presumption is that this would be better use of our tax money than restricting services.

Secondly, according to Pete there have been 860 detainers issued by ICE and 747 transfers with 154 currently doing time. Anybody else have questions about the math?

Additionally, it sounds as if they are still not at 100% for checking the status of foreign born inmates dispite being mandated to do so? Or is the proclaimation that they are checking 99% of the time just a CYA in case something goes wrong later on?

Also, Maureen asked long ago what this was going to cost and Corey bashed her over the head for asking. Is that on video somewhere? Today she commented that ‘we’ knew this was going to be expensive. I distinctly recall some Supervisors suggesting it would not be costly.

Lastly, what has been the true cost of this initiative, not the reimbursed portion but what is the County taxpayer responsible for?

WP Editorial: Prince William, a Year Later

According to the Washington Post,

Prince William, a Year Later
A crackdown’s toxic effects

ONE YEAR after Prince William County launched its drive to hound, harass and humiliate illegal immigrants, the toxic effects of the policy — on the county’s reputation, social cohesion, political discourse and neighbors — are increasingly clear.

Across the nation, Prince William has become synonymous with an ugly strain of nativist intolerance that has deep roots in American history but which is a slander on the county’s generally well-educated and diverse population. In this region, almost every other major jurisdiction has spurned Prince William’s approach.

Minorities account for almost half of Prince William’s 370,000 people, and a large slice of that population — around 20 percent — is Hispanic. Most of them are legal residents, but many also have ties of kinship, friendship or employment with others who are undocumented. Many say they have been made to feel unwelcome in Prince William. This year, several dozen religious leaders in the county wrote to local elected officials, warning them of the divisive consequences of the county’s venomous campaign.

Predictably, they got the brushoff from Corey A. Stewart (R-At Large), chairman of the Board of County Supervisors, who has done more than anyone else to plant seeds of discord and hatred in the county. Mr. Stewart is an avid opportunist and manipulator who has an arm’s-length relationship with public candor. Not long ago, he said that a plan to install cameras in police cars — a precondition for his preferred policy of allowing officers to ask suspects about their immigration status almost at will before arrest — would be dropped “over my dead body”; then he dropped it. Lately, he has tried to link a decline in crime to the harsh policies he has advocated. Trouble is, much of the drop is attributable to a fall in robberies that predates the crackdown on illegal immigrants and that probably stemmed from an aggressive anti-robbery campaign by the police.

So what has the county achieved with its effort to intimidate undocumented newcomers by ordering checks on the immigration status of all detainees after arrest and by denying certain social services to illegal immigrants? Without doubt, it has prompted hundreds of Hispanics — legal and illegal — to depart the county. Many of them have moved to surrounding jurisdictions, where they are enrolling in public schools and turning to local government services or nonprofits for help. To Mr. Stewart and his allies, this beggar-thy-neighbor policy is a success. In fact, it has simply branded Prince William as the one locality in the Washington area where demagoguery by elected officials has gotten the better of coolheaded public deliberation.

MJM: A Sarcastic Thanks for Clearing Our Community

A letter to the editor from a local teen appeared yesterday in the Manassas Journal Messenger.

Suzie Eskelund
Published: July 20, 2008

I am a 17-year-old caucasian girl who has lived in Manassas my whole life. I just want to say thank you for allowing the white, self-righteous and supremacist legal citizens of this fine, upstanding county
to once again have the important jobs back, like fast food and construction. I know it has always been my dream to work the drive through at my neighborhood McDonald’s and now you have made that
dream more possible. I am so proud to be a part of a city that is taking a stand against those pesky brown people. I was riding in the car with my Hawaiian friend when we got pulled over so the nice
policeman could make sure she wasn’t an illegal Latina. I know that in my heart I couldn’t be more thankful for those new laws that you helped pass to racially profile everyone with dark skin. Gee, I don’t even know why I’m friends with her.

I know that no one who eats tacos and burritos can be a good person. I mean hey, I don’t want that new Chipotle on Liberia Avenue! These people just need to go back to Mexico and take their children.
They deserve to starve, be in constant danger, and have a poor education.

After all, they were born in an inferior country! I don’t want any new customs in my life.

I want to be closed-minded and be surrounded by my pasty friends forever. Please get that diversity away from me!

Now people say that all Americans immigrated here. Well that may be true, but at least all of mine spoke English when they came here! Oh wait… except for my Danish, French, and German relatives.
But no matter, at least it wasn’t Spanish. When I was in high school and I was trying to learn another language, I had the hardest time and struggled through all three years. I hardly remember any of that
language, but who cares? Learning a second language may be really hard for anyone, but it doesn’t matter if your first language was English.

Now I look around my upper middle-class neighborhood and see that there are far fewer children for my neighbors to play with. But I rest assured knowing that when they play tag, they won’t get tagged by Latino cooties anymore.

Next, we should give them disease-infested blankets; it worked when we wanted to get rid of Native Americans.

Thank you once again for your efforts to cleanse our community,

SUZIE ESKELUND
Manassas

Illogical Stewart Strikes Again

Chairman Stewart is on the press circuit again ‘touting the benefits’ of the ‘Immigration Resolution’. And, this time instead of his usual anecdotal stories about shorter lines at emergency rooms, or drops in ESOL students, he suggests there is a connection between a lower crime rate and the Immigration Resolution. Frankly, it’s laughable.

According to the DC Examiner, Stewart’s theory is that crime rates drop when ‘illegals’ leave. The converse of this statement being that the crime rate increases when ‘illegals’ arrive. It’s a pretty simple hypothesis and easily verifiable. If this hypothesis is true, as we have this supposed influx of ‘illegals’ that purportedly necessitated some action on our part, we should see clear statistical evidence witnessed by higher crime rates in the years preceding the resolution.

So, let’s review, according to the article, in 2004 the crime rate per thousand is 24.5, then in 2005, as more ‘illegals’ are ‘flooding into the area bringing their lawlessness and economic hardship with them’, using Stewart’s logic a higher crime rate is excepted but that’s not what happens! Prince William County experiences a drop in crime equal to that of the drop between 2006 and 2007. Additionally, it’s not just a drop from 2004 to 2005 but AGAIN from 2005 to 2006, then the same from 2006 to 2007! Very simply, Stewart’s theory is proven incorrect. The resolution can not reasonably be referenced as the reason why the crime rate has once again decreased for the 4th year in a row.

PWC Foreclosure Meeting Update

Thanks to Cindy B. for attending the County’s foreclosure meeting and reporting back to us! Here is what her report:

There were only about 13 people there, most had only heard about it from the newspaper article. It was supposed to have been a meeting in their series of Neighborhood Leader Training sessions and the subject was supposed to be vehicles and parking, but because of the tall grass crisis, they changed the topic and got the word out as best they could. This information is also the same as what Michelle Casciato presented to the BOCS meeting last week (you can listen to the audio on the county website). She also showed a map of the county as part of her presentation that showed dots where the worst clusters of vacant houses are. There are almost 7000 “distressed properties” – or vacant houses in the county (doesn’t include occupied houses that are for sale). The county has, to date this year, received 400 tall grass complaints and 400 graffiti complaints. Because of the problem the county has suspended the popsicle sign program to put all inspectors’ time on the vacant house/tall grass issue. In fact, the TOP 5 priority code enforcement issues (putting health, safety and welfare first) are:

1. Unsafe/unfit properties (open to criminal activity)
2. Unsecured pools
3. Unsecured buildings (hazardous conditions)
4. Tall grass/weeds
5. Building maintenance (serious/extremely run down)

The county is looking into training volunteers to pull up popsicle signs

Legal action the county is pursuing:
1. Write ordinance to allow county agents to enter private property to abate graffiti
2. Amend Chapter 22 to allow public works to issue emergency notices for trash/debris at vacant properties and recover costs through tax lien
3. Pursue major property owners/lenders in court for noncompliance with county ordinance

Technically it is trespassing to remove trash on a property or mow the lawn. Call the agent/owner and ask permission.

County can’t afford to paint over all graffiti on private property. City of San Jose spends $2 million a year to clean up graffiti. PWC Clean Community Council uses a special formula to get rid of graffiti, but even they can’t go on private property without permission. County would like to get rid of graffiti within 3 days, but still dealing with obstacles.

County is working to streamline the process of an inspector going out to confirm tall grass, getting a contractor to do an estimate to mow, then mowing, then inspector following up.

If you see a lawn is mowed, call and let Neighborhood Services know.

County is disseminating this information to Neighborhood Watches, HOAs, etc.:

Neighborhood Network Activation

  • Vacant house check list for health, safety and welfare issues
  • Disseminate to groups such as established neighborhood groups, neighborhood watches, and other concerned citizen groups upon request
  • Solicit neighborhood volunteers to monitor vacant houses in neighborhoods to report unsafe conditions
  • Neighborhood Services to address reported unsafe conditions from volunteers
  • Go ahead and ask the realtor if you can mow the grass. Someone in audience (about 13 people attended) admitted to just mowing a vacant property. She said when she did, the neighbors came up and asked if she was moving in, and then once they saw It was okay for her to do it, they helped out.

    County calls realtors to explain to them how much it costs the county to mow a lawn and how that will go on a lien against the property and that may drive a buyer away.

    If you get together as a group to take care of a vacant house (and get permission from the owner/real estate agent/bank), remember to greet the new neighbor when they move in and make sure they feel welcome, but also explain what the standards are for living in the neighborhood, such as regularly mowed lawns, etc.

    County wants you to do this:
    Citizen Action

    • Call police if you observe any illegal activity at a vacant property
    • Consider starting or joining a Neighborhood Watch
    • Volunteer to watch a home for a realtor. Establish a relationship, notify them when the grass is tall and notify them when the house has a structural problem (siding down, broken shutter or window, open doors, etc.)
    • Volunteer to mow (avoid trespassing – obtain permission from the owner or call the realtor on the For Sale sign. Use the county “Mapper” on the county website to ID who the owner is.
    • Report property code violations to Neighborhood Services (and call if the grass gets mowed)
    • Complete the “Eyes and Ears” Checklist (this is on the county website)

    Arizona Wants Labor – Not Laborers

    Again, if this wasn’t so sad it would be funny. Arizona is looking at ways to get workers from Mexico into the United States to aid their industries, agriculture, steel, travel/tourism etc… Radical idea here folks require those that are already here to become legal and offer them a path! Then we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot by damaging our commercial, residential real estate markets, protect businesses and productivity, and stop the non-sense of kicking them out before we have to invite them back.

    Criminal Element of Home Forclosures

    Could our reputation in the forecoming months get much worse?

    Last month, Prince William County had the most new filings of any Washington area jurisdiction, followed by Prince George’s, Fairfax, Montgomery, Loudoun and the District, according to RealtyTrac Inc., a California-based company that tracks real estate trends.

    When foreclosures rise, crime often follows, researchers said. A 2005 study by the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Woodstock Institute found that, holding other factors constant, each foreclosure in a 100-house neighborhood corresponded to a 2.4 percent jump in violent crime.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/26/AR2008042601288_2.html

    Admin is busy, so I (Elena), thought this would be a great topic to discuss today.  What I want to know is, how does the pro “fully fund the immigration resolution” side, reconcile this quandry:

    A) The resolution is working because we have seen an exodus of hispanics from neighborhoods, the ones that people complained about were responsible for overcrowding, chickens and roosters in their yards,  day laboreres at 7-11 ‘s, ESOL enrollment reduced, etc.     Where did these people live, well, they lived in homes, either as renters or has homeowners.  Were they ALL “illegal”, I would venture to say NO, but even if they were, their houses are empty now, and  forclosure consequences to these neighborhoods are the same, irregardless of the immigration status of the occupants who once lived there.

    OR

    B) The resolution is NOT responsible for the increased forclosure rate, ESOL dis-enrollment, or the multitude of empty shopping centers, or the mass exodus of hispanics from neighborhoods. Therefore, the resolution is not working and is a waste of money from the pro resolution perspective.

    Let me clarify one point,  I am not suggesting the resolution is responsible for the ENTIRE forclosure disaster, I AM suggesting that the reason PWC is DOUBLE that of our neighbors, and is number one in the region for forclosures, is the one variable that sets us apart……………the illegal immigration resolution.

    Dr. Fuller on Real Estate Market

    Pay close attention to the charts. We have double the foreclosure rates of surrounding jurisdictions and the homes are being sold so cheaply that it is bringing the value down for everyone’s home. It seems as if some are so desperate to put a ‘positive’ spin on what’s happening by calling us a ‘Jewel of Recovery’ which is particularly odd phrase.

    Dr. Fuller will be extremely useful over the next couple years as we attempt to map the recovery process. I would agree 100% with him about the shift from owners to rentals; this is going to further exacerbate problems in these older neighborhoods which is another reason why the County should invest in additional zoning enforcement officers.

    WAS IT THE RESOLUTION OR CITIZEN PARTICIPATION?

    Here it is folks, the most recent Washington Post article that a couple of posters have been clamoring about!

    What struck me about this article was that it sounds like a small group of citizens actively dealt with neighborhood issues.  What I am wondering is this….was it the resolution or their dedicated committment to their neighborhood that fixed the most egregious problems?  Is it a success that now many hispanics have left, were they “illegal” or simply too scared to stay in PWC?  Could these neighborhood issues have been dealt with through better means than HSM?  Could we have formed a community/government task force to promote positive solutions instead of the immigration resolution which has proved to be so divisive?  It sounds like there was an opportunity that was missed, and instead we have the serious repercussions of double the foreclosure rate of surrounding counties and businesses, once thriving,  now struggling under the threat of bankruptcy.