At least some folks will be well-known out in AZ. Bill Goodykoontz of the Arizona Central tells a story he describes as chilling and provocative. Funny the names that pop out at us from the Grand Canyon State. Meanwhile, theaters in Tempe continue to be sold out.
In 2007, Prince William County in Virginia enacted a policy requiring police officers to question anyone they had probable cause to believe was in the country illegally
That has a familiar ring to it.
From insidenova.com:
What’s happening in Arizona is exactly what happened in Prince William, but board Chairman Corey Stewart says outcry and criticism shouldn’t dissuade the state from going forth with tough new immigration laws.
“Essentially, we were the test case for what’s going on in Arizona,” said Stewart, R-At-Large. “I can tell you the intensity they’re facing is exactly the intensity the board of county supervisors faced, and it came from several corridors … that essentially tried to threaten the county.”
In late April, Arizona’s Republican governor, Jan Brewer, signed into law new immigration policy giving local law enforcement the authority “to reasonably determine the immigration status of a person involved in a lawful contact [with officials],” according to the summary sheet of S.B. 1070 posted on the state’s website. The lawful contact clause in particular caused concern among civil rights activists who foresaw worst-case scenarios where police would engage in racial profiling and de-mand paperwork proving legal status from, say, pedestrians based on skin color.
Prince William County’s immigration policy, by contrast, states that police broach the issue of legal presence only after “physical custodial arrest,” according to a June 2008 press release from the police department on the main points of enforcement procedures.[bold mine]
Corey has issued a call to arms to his Tea Party base, or who he perceives to be his Tea Party base. Others have called it a call for anarchy.
Unfortunately, the Whereas remarks are mostly speculation. The law does not take effect until Jan 1, 2014. The rush to urgency is simply not there, regardless of how much Corey tries to make this a case of imminent impending doom.
We will post the actual meat of the resolution, items 1-4, individually in the next post. Even the most casual observer will note that Corey’s ‘Opt Out Resolution ‘ opts out of nothing and will only cost the county money it doesn’t have.
The other supervisors are wise to his tricks now. They realize that he is salivating to be elected Lt. governor in 2013 or elected to some other higher office at either state or national level. They also realize that he wants to climb up this ladder of success on their backs, not on what is good for the county. They know that pulling the Department of Social Services to do investigative work is bad business. This agency has recently regrouped and reorganized after the tragic death of Lexie Glover. They have a new director. To pull people off of their routine work load to go do investigative work is wrong and disruptive. When county people are pulled to work on other things, then the regular work load just doesn’t get done.
The power of 4 is going to be the power of a little bit more than 4, this time.
Below is a copy of the proposed “Opt Out” Resolution to be presented on May 4, 2010.
MOTION: May 4, 2010
Regular Meeting
SECOND: Res. No. 10-
RE: REALLOCATION OF COUNTY RESOURCES TO COMPLY WITH PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
ACTION: APPROVED
WHEREAS, Medicaid is an entitlement program authorized under Title XIX of the Social Security Act, financed by the state and federal governments and administered by the States. The Virginia Medicaid program is administered by the Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS); and
WHEREAS, the provision of eligibility workers to enroll beneficiaries and administer benefits has been imposed on Prince William County government with insufficient overhead funding from the Commonwealth of Virginia to cover all costs of administration; Prince William County citizens fund 53% of the administrative costs of administration through their local taxes; and
WHEREAS, the Commonwealth of Virginia currently covers eligible children, parents or caretakers of children, pregnant women, elderly persons, and persons who are blind or disabled, and the Virginia Medicaid population for Fiscal Year 2008 was 487,929 children, 142,180 parents or caretakers of children and pregnant women, 81,541 elderly persons, 182,636 persons who are blind or who have disabilities; and
WHEREAS, due to the provisions of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act signed into law by President Obama on March 22, 2010, Virginia will add an estimated 400,000 residents to its Medicaid rolls, and by 2022, will spend an additional $1.1 billion, according to a projection from Virginia’s DMAS cited publically by Governor Robert F. McDonnell.
WHEREAS, private practice providers, general hospitals, children’s hospitals, and other health care providers have expressed grave concern that an open ended surge in Medicaid beneficiaries, and an anticipated decrease in reimbursement rates by States, will force providers out of business or force them to turn away currently served Medicaid populations; and
WHEREAS, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors strongly believes that there should be affordable access to high quality health care in Prince William County, and is gravely concerned that the changes to Medicaid will reduce the amount of affordable care available and reduce the Medicaid population’s access to health care as well; and
WHEREAS, Prince William County funds the administration of Medicaid benefits through their general fund, and the general fund is the primary source of funding for education, police protection, transportation, and all other critical county functions as identified in the strategic plan; and
WHEREAS, Prince William County currently provides local taxpayer funding totaling $6,526,214 within the Department of Social Services in FY 2010 administering benefits including Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Food Stamps, Medicaid, Refugee Resettlement, Auxiliary Grants for the elderly and disabled, general relief, and financial assistance to eligible families for the purchase of child care services; and
WHEREAS, according to testimony provided to the Board of County Supervisors on March 23, 2010 there is already a shortage of benefits administration staff and therefore insufficient capacity to handle the increase in the Medicaid eligible population created by the federal PPAC; and
WHEREAS, the PPAC constitutes an indirect unfunded mandate which completely ignores the cost of administration to local jurisdictions, forcing them to reallocate their scarce human services resources to less critical populations;
WHEREAS, Prince William County will honor state and federal law but is concerned that the PPAC will place a significant new financial burden on localities in the near future;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Prince William Board of County Supervisors requests that the Department of Social Services, assisted by County staff:
1. Estimate the additional population eligible for Medicaid in Prince William County as of January 1, 2014 according to the provisions of the PPAC and the regulations which will probably be promulgated by the federal government to implement the PPAC; and
2. Estimate the additional financial burden to the County taxpayers for additional administration of benefits for the newly expanded, less-sensitive population; and
3. Work with private health care providers to estimate the magnitude of the reduction of available health care options for the Medicaid population in Prince William County; and
4. Advise the Commonwealth and the federal government that unless additional resources are found at the federal and state levels of government to fund the administration of the expansion of Medicaid, that Prince William County will be forced to raise taxes on County residents or slash strategic services in order to fund eligibility workers to administer the massive expansion in the eligible population which will become effective on January 1, 2014 enrollment of newly covered beneficiaries.
AND, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Prince William BOCS directs the County Executive to:
- Estimate the increased cost burden the PPAC will have on the County’s provision of health insurance to its employees; and
- Provide comment to the Federal government as regulations and procedures are written which implement the Health Reform legislation in order to ensure that the impacts on local governments both from the significant expansion of Medicaid and from the implementation of other sections of the legislation are fully articulated.
Votes:
Ayes:
Nays:
Absent from Vote:
Absent from Meeting:
For Information:
None
CERTIFIED COPY___________________________________________________________
Clerk to the Board
Original Proclamation made by Corey over the weekend of April 10, 2010
Our weekly update on sewing the seeds of intolerance. I guess Corey is going to put his money where his mouth is when it comes to promoting war over peace in PWC.
The video recording of the Stafford TEA party rally shows Corey announcing that on May 4th, he will call for a resolution directing county staff NOT to implement the new Medicaid requirements under the new FEDERAL law. He concededs this directive “may be illegal” but he feels quite confident that that the “Cooch” will have his back.
Can the “Cooch” send up the National Guard to ensure PWC can withstand the new Federal Law just as some localites tried to do in the 60’s to avoid desegregation?
Will the rest of the Board “have his back” too, or are some Supervisors prepared to represent ALL the people in PWC, even those that are poor and vulnerable.
How dare they!
Yesterday, during Supervisor’s time, (# 8 at 5:06) John Stirrup asked for a directive to send the AG a letter thanking him for protecting their rights because he has filed suit against the federal government. John Jenkins apparently was the only one with stones enough to object. The directive was voted on and passed along party lines. There no citizen input.
Mr. Jenkins called the move political and said it should not be part of the governance of that body. Mr. Jenkins should be commended for speaking out and both he and Mr. Principi should be praised for going on record in opposition to this incredible outlandish show of partisanship. The BOCS has absolutely nothing to with the HCR law that just passed. They are a local governing body. If they want to individually write to the AG and kiss up to him, that is their business. Do it on their own time. They do not have the right to do it for the entire county and they do not speak for me.
They have pulled an end run. Those 6 Republican supervisors do not speak for me. They do not speak for all the citizens of Prince William County. They did not poll the citizens. There was no warning. Now my name goes to an attorney general whom I did not vote for praising him for wasting my money on something I disapprove of doing.
Didn’t they learn a lesson from the initial immigration resolution of July 10, 2007? John Stirrup must have that tingle going down his leg over this one. He seemed almost as giddy introducing the directive as he did that night we all saw him on TV at the Republican convention.
Stirrup, Stewart. May, Nohe, Caddigan, and Covington: You do not speak for me. Write your own suck up letter but do not do it in MY name.
By now, everyone knows about the Coffee Party. There were meet-ups all over the United States last Saturday. People got together to discuss the direction they wanted their local, state and national governments to go.
A reporter with the Gainesville Times, Dan Roem, covered the meet-up out in Haymarket last Saturday. He reported that our BOCS chairman had the following to say about his constituents who gathered to discuss a more productive government:
Despite its call for civility in political discourse, not everyone is buying into the movement, particularly Stewart.
“The Coffee Partiers are a bunch of fruitcakes,” Stewart told the Times on Sunday. “Yeah, they’re a bunch of nuts. If they’re going to be a coffee party, they’ll be a hazelnut party.”
Stewart elaborated, saying the Coffee Party is “just a phase; it’ll disappear.”
He derided Byler, whose 2007 films portrayed Stewart as being a right-wing ideologue, asking at one point, “Does (Byler) have a job?”
Byler said he does not have a full-time job but has earned income from college speaking engagements during the last couple years after striking it rich in Los Angeles making romantic dramas from 2002 to 2006.
Stewart described the Tea Partiers as patriots “concerned about the direction of the country and about the vast amount of spending that happening.” He called the Tea Party a “legitimate movement” while saying the Coffee Party is “just a load of crap.”
When asked to respond to the inevitable accusation that his comments are the type of discourse Coffee Party participants are fighting against, Stewart replied, “It’s more important to be honest than polite.”
Corey must be looking for this year’s scare tactic so he can get elected. More ‘honest than polite?’ Not really. Some people would say or do anything to get elected, or re-elected.
Nothing else needs to be said. Corey has said it all. Is he speaking for the entire BOCS?
The content in the following thread is purely the opinion of the author..
Some of our contributors want a thread on the sins of Frank Principi, Supervisor, Woodbridge Magisterial District, regarding the homeless. The story is in the News and Messenger. You will have to read it there. It is far too convoluted to summarize here. Basically, Supervisor Principi supposedly met with community leaders when he heard that a homeless shelter was way over capacity in hopes of finding solutions. The Chair, Corey Stewart moved into executive session at the last BOCS meeting and the problem was discussed. What has surfaced is a newspaper article that has more holes in it than a slice of Swiss cheese, rumor and innuendo about sex offenders being placed in schools with school children and Mr. Principi’s fiefdom.
For starters, Virginia Law is rather specific about what executive session can and cannot be used for. Mr. Principi is not an errant employee being taken to task for misdeeds. What was the justification for going in to executive session? (MoM might fill us in here on this one…calling on MoM!) Secondly, if a situation is discussed in executive session, why is it now in the newspaper? By definition, if a situation warrants executive session, isn’t there some responsibility to keep the content of the session private?
Thirdly, if the matter didn’t belong in executive session, where is the sunshine? A full disclosure with all the facts needs to be given to the residents of Prince William County. Right now, the issue is a whisper campaign on steroids and good people get hurt when this sort of story takes on a life of its own.
I certainly hope the supervisors were as ‘aghast’ when the Chairman ordered the Chief of Police back to his office rather than going to a scheduled town hall meeting to educate the immigrant community on changes in the county law. The Chairman also demanded that a laundry list of questions be answered in an hour’s time and acted on his own accord. Additionally, I hope that the supervisors were equally ‘aghast’ when they saw their private email to the chairman appear on a local blog (not this one I might add) without their permission, hours after it had been sent. There had not been sufficient time for a FOIA request to be made. The directive and list of questions to the chief was also on that same blog. Did any of them question the appropriateness of that behavior?
I smell a big election rat behind this story. Someone wants to get re-elected (best Jon Stewart voice). Whether Mr. Principi violated protocol or not, it sounds like his heart was in the right place and that he sought solutions to a very real problem involving real human beings. He looked outside of government fixing every problem and sought the resources of the community, the churches and the private sector. For that, he is to be commended. A simple discussion of protcol handles the other stuff.
Press release:
Manassas Gets First Look at “9500 Liberty”
Award-winning Documentary Recounts 2007-2008 Immigration Culture War
MANASSAS, VA — Jan. 22, 2010
Mid-way through a national tour that has netted two film festival awards and two city proclamations, “9500 Liberty” returns to the place where it began when George Mason University’s Verizon Auditorium hosts a Tuesday 6:30 PM screening on Jan. 26.This is the first time the feature length documentary has screened in Manassas, home to several of the film’s primary figures, including Greg Letiecq, a blogger and political activist who helped engineer the passage the nation’s most aggressive local ordinance designed to “crack down” on illegal immigration, and Gaudencio Fernandez, a building contractor who protested the law by erecting a series of banners on his property near the Old Town Manassas train station. The film reveals in dramatic detail how and why the controversial “probable cause” mandate for immigration status checks was repealed in April, 2008 by the Prince William County Board of County Supervisors.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
6:30 PM
Verizon Auditorium, Occoquan Building
George Mason University, Prince William Campus
10900 University Boulevard
Manassas, VA 20110-2203
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLICDirectors Eric Byler of Gainesville, VA and Annabel Park of Silver Spring, MD have traveled with the film to ten states in recent months, with a host of upcoming screenings that include Hampden-Sydney, VA, Ohio, Montana, and Nebraska. In February, “9500 Liberty” will be presented to Members of Congress at the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.
Tuesday’s screening, presented with Spanish subtitles, is the opening night for the Immigration and Human Rights Cinema series, hosted by George Mason University and the local interfaith group Unity in the Community. It will be followed by a Q & A discussion with the filmmakers and representatives of the Prince William County Police Department, including a Spanish speaking Officer.
“9500 Liberty” won Best Documentary at the Charlotte Film Festival last September, and the Audience Award at the St. Louis International Film Festival in November. The Mayor of Austin, Texas and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors both issued proclamations commending the film prior to public screenings. The filmmakers expect to announce a cable television premiere and a DVD release date in coming weeks.
####
During the Tuesday BOCS yesterday, many citizens came forward during Citizens Time to urge the supervisors to restore a transportation system for the seniors of Prince William County. Last July 1 the county ended a bus program that transported senior citizens between Woodbridge and Manassas senior citizen centers, to doctors and hospitals , and to other spots around town. Economic downturn and shortage of revenue was given as the reason.
The senior centers provide a hot lunch and companionship for those who participate. Many seniors go to the centers to see friends, do activities and to be with people their own age. Replacement vouchers have been allocated for those seniors who don’t drive and who make less than $30,000 a year. Unfortunately, the vouchers only cover about 6 outings. According to News and Messenger:
As county revenue continues to decline, the county’s staff slashed more than $150,000 from its $254,116 senior center and adult day care transportation budget. The move forced officials to eliminate four positions, as well as sell a small fleet of 15-passenger vans used to transport seniors.
With the remaining funds, the county created a pilot voucher system that allows seniors to use taxi cabs or local transit buses to do routine tasks, such as go to the doctor, get prescriptions filled or go grocery shopping.
The board allocated $30,000 in additional funding to the new program, for a total of $130,000. Officials limited voucher recipients to those over age 55 who cannot drive, and to those who make less than $30,000 per year, or couples that make less than $40,000 annually.
The vouchers, ranging in value from $1 to $5, are few, many said. And once they are gone, there is no way for them to get to the senior center.
Congratulations to Eric and Anabel for winning the Best Documentary Award at the Charlotte Film Festival last night! The award is the Indy Truth Award for Best Documentary and is a very prestigious award.
The film will show again at 3:30 on Sunday. Eric and Anabel were featured on two Charlotte NPR radio programs. Check them out at the 9500 Liberty website.
Here are the upcoming plans for these talented film makers:
Next stop, we will be premiering in DC on October 1st at the DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival as the opening night film. You can buy tickets here for the screening and reception.
http://www.apafilm.org/festival-2009/9500-liberty/
This is our big hometown premiere screening with the “stars” from the film and a big after party so it is not to be missed if you are in the DC area.This is the list of scheduled screenings including Prince William County, Honolulu, St. Louis, San Diego, Charlottesville, etc. We are adding more screenings including in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles in the coming weeks. http://9500liberty.com/screenings.html
Thank you for supporting us throughout these months. Some of you have been with us for nearly two years. In fact, the second-year anniversary of the creation of the 9500 Liberty YouTube Channel will be celebrated on October 9th with the residents of Prince William County with a special community screening of the film at St. Paul’s Church in Woodbridge.
Please plan on seeing the film. According the the website:
9500 Liberty reveals the startling vulnerability of a local government, targeted by national anti-immigration networks using the Internet to frighten and intimidate lawmakers and citizens. Alarmed by a climate of fear and racial division, residents form a resistance using YouTube videos and virtual townhalls, setting up a real-life showdown in the seat of county government
.
10 Prince William County schools will get 35 trailers. Trailers absorb student overflow when there aren’t enough classrooms for the given amount of kids. This practice has gone on for years in Prince William County.
Prince William County will soon have 400,000 residents so the need for additional school space comes as no surprise. What does cause surprise is the fact that several members of the planning commission of Prince William County took it upon themselves to admonish the school system for not holding public hearings over putting in classroom trailers.
HUH?
Either a school has enough classroom space or they don’t. If they don’t, and all closets and cubby holes have been filled with desks/kids/teachers, then trailers go in. Shouldn’t the planning commission be planning and not overstepping its bounds with the school system? Here is the first affrontery as printed in Manassas News and Messenger:
“
I think the schools would do itself a favor to solicit and encourage as much public input as possible, so those decisions are made with the highest level and highest degree of public information,” said chairman Gary Friedman, who was the lone dissenter on the 10-trailer request for Glenkirk Elementary School.
“Citizen input is an invaluable part of this process,” said Brentsville District commissioner Ronald K. Burgess. “I have seen this commission turn on a dime as a result of citizen input.
Breaking News: Craig Gerhart Resigns!
STAFF
Published: June 3, 2009Longtime county executive Craig Gerhart has resigned.
His announcement comes a day after indictments in a corruption scheme involving Prince William County’s Office of Information Technology. Gerhart has not indicated the bid-rigging case has anything to do with his decision.
Gerhart’s last day with the county government will be on Friday, July 3. Gerhart will start work for Amtrak on Monday, July 6.
Gerhart will work for Amtrak as a full-time independent contractor as the Organizational Strategist for Amtrak’s Policy and Development.
Stay with insidenova.com for a full story on the county executive’s resignation.
Washington Post, Tuesday, June 3, 2009
In one of the largest embezzlement cases in county history, prosecutors secured indictments Monday on 153 charges against Gupta, 45, of Woodbridge; Roessler, 50, of Woodbridge; Roessler’s brother Vernon, 42, of Dale City; and Richard Billingsley, 41, of Springfield. Charges include racketeering, bid rigging, forgery, obtaining money by false pretenses and money laundering over a five-year period.
Law enforcement sources close to the investigation said yesterday that Gupta and Roessler set up the company and arranged for it to win lucrative bids with the IT office. Two sources, both of whom spoke anonymously because of the ongoing probe, said the scheme involved submitting fake bids in the names of legitimate county contractors so that Praetorian could then compete with and undercut those bids.
Gupta was able to hide his actions because he was in charge of the process, authorities said. Officials said yesterday that there were 26 cases in which the men gave themselves contracts and made up bids from other companies.
Commonwealth Attorney Paul Ebert, Police Chief Charlie Deane, and County Executive Craig Gerhart discussed the 153 indictments handed down yesterday in a press release. The FBI is also involved because approximately $500,000 in federal grant money was tied to the scheme. This appears to be only the beginning.
This story seems to be the gift that keeps on giving. Phony companies, phony presidents of companies, fake company letterhead all are components of this tale of intrigue, graft and corruption.
Hot off the email press from Delegate Jackson Miller. I don’t see anything that howls at me for attention. At any rate, this is the lazy woman’s thread. I cut and pasted straight from Delegate Miller’s own email. I don’t see anything I object to. I hope he sends out email about how he voted on other people’s bills.
This year’s session is usually referred to as the “short session”. That’s because it only lasts 46 days as opposed to sessions in even years, which last sixty. Odd-year sessions are shorter because the General Assembly is only required to make amendments to the existing biennial budget. In long sessions, an entirely new budget must be constructed and approved.
Usually, amending the budget is a task that takes significantly less work than constructing one from scratch. But, the state’s budget shortfall makes amending the existing budget a lot more challenging than usual this year. Still, the General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn for this year on February 28.
As I noted last week, there will be many other issues before us during this session than the budget. Among the hundreds of bills that will be discussed are several that I am submitting.
Here are just a few of the bills that I am submitting or co-sponsoring this year:
Many of us were left confused and baffled by the recent events with the Gainesville Fire Department several weeks ago. Most of us, unfamiliar with the hierarchy involved with the Prince William County hybrid system of firefighter, were left scratching our respective heads over how a chief could move his family into the firehouse, set up his own fiefdom, use county funds to support the fiefdom, and basically have no accountability to the taxpayers via the county employees or BOCS.
Similarly, some of us wondered how the BOCS could not have known about the apparent violations of power and authority going on at Gainesville Fire Department. How accountable are they for this mess? How come the Gainesville Supervisor knew nothing about these rather unconventional practices, or did he?
Check out this precise and elucidating story filed by Dan Genz in The DC Examiner outlining the changes to the Immigration Resolution as they apply to real life. Dan also reports that we are now engaged in a new round of fighting, this time a “spin” war over who gets to declare victory.
Also, Channel 7 aired a story last night that communicates a lot despite its brevity.
