Carlos Castro: From Illegal Immigrant to Community Leader

MoonHowler

Today’s edition of the Washington Post features an article on FOA (Friends of Anti-bvbl) Carlos Castro. Carlos is known to many of us and is one of those community leaders we meet in the film 9500 Liberty. Originally from El Salvadore, Carlos left his war-torn country at age 24. He paid a coyote $800 to smuggle him to the USA over 30 years ago. He got caught, detained and deported crossing the border but soon snuck back over.

Now a citizen of the United States, Mr. Castro tells of his journey from illegal immigrant to president of Todos Supermarket, which specializes in foods and services to immigrants from Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa at stores in the eastern end of the county.

Carlos Castro explains what has motivated him:

“We were very poor, and I had this great desire to break the cycle of poverty . . . I love to read, and as a teenager, I purchased a book by Dr. Robert Schuller called ‘You Can Become the Person You Want to Be.’ I got really inspired by that in my early years. I programmed myself to succeed by understanding that success does not come that easy, that you have to go the extra mile with that goal in mind of breaking that poverty cycle.”

He gives further advise to those who aspire to break the cycle of poverty:

To succeed, people “need a strong work ethic . . . Many of our children have no idea how to go about getting things on their own, how much hard work it takes to accomplish the good things in life. I explain to them that inheriting wealth can actually work against you if you don’t know how to handle it. In order for them to succeed, they need to prepare themselves with a good education and work habits.”

Carlos can be found at most community meetings. He continually lends his quiet courteous leaderhip to others. Prince William County is fortunate that there has been a pathway to citizenship for Carlos Castro.

Full story at Washingtonpost.com

 

Dead Dog Golf Courses

MoonHowler

This is a dead dog,” said Chairman Corey Stewart, R-at large. “We need to put it out of its misery.”

Corey Stewart’s dead dog analogy describes how he feels about being in the golf course business. The Park Authority operates 3 public golf courses: Prince William Golf Course, Forest Greens and General’s Ridge. The courses lost a million dollars this year.

From insidenova.com:

Not one has ever turned a profit, Ellington said. The smallest reported loss was $25,000; the largest, which came this year, was $1 million.

“They’ve been an average $600,000 in the hole over three years,” he said.

It’s not the operations side of business to blame, Ellington said. Rather, debt service continuously eats into revenues.

“Operations has been on the green side,” Ellington said. “It’s been positive all these years. How much we took in for revenue and how much we spent, we’ve been healthy. But our ability to cover the debt is our problem.”

Just this month, the Park Authority took steps to recoup the losses and eliminated 12 full-time positions and cut operating costs by $150,000. Expected savings are $370,030 — but that’s a far cry from the $1.08 million needed to pay the debt balance on the three courses, Ellington admitted

.

It sounds like Corey Stewart might be on the right track here. Who wants to buy some golf courses?

Breaking News: Gerhart Resigns

MoonHowler

Breaking News: Craig Gerhart Resigns!

STAFF
Published: June 3, 2009

Longtime 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.

 

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OIT-gate Updated in Washington Post

MoonHowler

New information has been released on the PWC Office of Information Technology bid rigging scandal in today’s Washington Post. Apparently the story grows day by day.

The Washington Post quotes that 3 employees have been fired and that the amount of money involved in the embezzlement is $9 million. That is a huge amount of money at a time when we can least afford to lose a dime.

The FBI is involved because about $90,000 in funds tied to this wrong-doing is federal grant money. Corey Stewart reveals:

Investigators are looking into “massive false billings,” bid-rigging and collusion between county employees and outside vendors, said Corey A. Stewart (R), chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors. He said the FBI is involved because about $90,000 in federal grants were allegedly tied into the scheme.

Stewart further elaborated:

At least two local vendors are involved, Stewart said. A former county employee who left public service in January last year has been implicated with the three employees who were recently terminated, he said.

According to the Washington Post:

Maneesh Gupta, former assistant chief information officer, was one of the terminated employees and has been a target of the investigation, sources said. Gupta — who at times served as a contract manager — oversaw the office’s purchase orders, time sheets and invoices, all documents used to track the office’s expenses and services.

“I’m disgusted at the lack of oversight and mismanagement,” Stewart said. “If it is true that one person was in charge of all three oversight functions, then that is clearly mismanagement.”

So the finger-pointing by the county chair begins. It was only a matter of time. Instead of focusing on those who were greedy and embezzled, it appears that the ugly M word is surfacing: Mismanagement.

The Chairman’s insinuations at this point are very predictable. If one looks back at what was written on BVBL several weeks ago, we could all see this coming. If I were a bookie, I know who I would be placing my bets on as a scapegoat.

The Chairman is right to want to get to the bottom of this crime. Those who committed crime should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. However, when words like ‘mismanagement’ start to be thrown around, he points back to himself. Are he and the other supervisors not responsible ultimately for what happens in the county?

OIT-GATE: Who, What, When?

MoonHowler

 

 

 

The latest county scandal is grabbing some attention finally.  The short version is that a high level employ of the county in the Office of Information Technology has been busted for bid rigging.  A total of 3 people have been put on leave and one is no longer employed with the county.  Hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of dollars are involved.  The figures have not been released.  According to the Chairman of the BOCS, Corey Stewart, in the News and Messenger:

 

“Employees in the county Information Technology Department allegedly had a relationship with the vendor,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart, R-At-Large, on Wednesday. “The allegation is that one of these employees may have awarded a contract or multiple contracts to a vendor with whom he allegedly had a financial relationship or some sort of business relationship.”

 

 

This story was first alluded to on April 30, 2009 in the News and Messenger.     The story basically said nothing.  An unnamed supervisor got wind of (an) unnamed employee(s) who was awarding bids of an unnamed amount to unnamed companies.  The Office of Internal Auditor connected the dots to fiscal improprieties. 

 

Considering that the bid rigging was part of an on-going investigation, it makes sense that neither the county nor Mr. Stewart would comment on the particulars.  However, Greg Letiecq picked up the story.  Interestingly enough, some of his anonymous readers seemed to know quite a bit more than was released in the newspaper.   It makes one question what tales were being told out of school and by whom.  It is even stranger that so far, he has not commented further, even though more information is available.  Was he told he was under a gag order too?

 

Today’s story in the News and Messenger  adds considerably more information to this tale of intrigue.  The FBI has been brought in to further the investigation.  Their involvement suggests the enormity of the wrong-doing.  Additionally, more than one vendor is likely involved.  The vendors are as culpable as the county employees. 

 

 

One significant quote from the article bears highlighting:

 Because the investigation is ongoing, information released to the public has been minimal.

When I tried to find out information several weeks ago, everyone I talked to acted very much like the cat had their tongue.  One friend even said,” we are under a gag order.  I cannot discuss this.”  On the other hand, if one reads other blogs and newspaper comments closely, it appears that confidential information has been rather selectively released to certain individuals but not to the general public.

The more that I read of this malfeasance the more questions seem to be cropping up.  At a time when the county is scrambling for every penny it can find, malfeasance, greed, corruption and plain old theft just seem to not have a place in our government.  The auditors who uncovered the impropriety report to the board chair rather than to the county executive.  This reporting procedure was enacted about a year and half to 2 years ago.  Despite what one might read on other blogs, these auditors are county employees, rather than being outsiders.  Why do they only report to the board chair?

 

I would like to see a time line, a chronology, as it were, of this ongoing situation.  Who brought the situation to the forefront?  When did they do this?  When was the BOCS chair informed?  When did he contact the police or did the auditors contact the police since criminal activities were involved? 

 

How will all of this financial indiscretion affect our bond rating?  How will it affect the schools?  How will it affect future funding with grant money?  Who snooped out the information using a FOIA request?  Why did they want to know?

 

Why do some people with friends in elected positions seem to know more than the general population?

 

 

No More County Decals!

MoonHowler

Tuesday, the BOCS voted to do away with the county decal in a 7-1 vote. The dissenting vote belonged to Supervisor Marty Nohe. Before everyone starts clapping, residents will still have to pay the fee, they just won’t be putting the county emblem on the car signifying that they have paid the $24 fee.

From the News and Messenger Manassas:

Supervisor Martin Nohe, R-Coles, was the lone naysayer. He wasn’t satisfied finance officials had presented a workable plan to combat the dilemma now facing the landfill, which uses the decals as a wave-through acceptance of county residency to those trying to dump trash. Concerns are that traffic will back up as landfill visitors will now have to show drivers’ licenses to prove in-county residency — or even worse could occur, if landfill workers bypass these checks.

“If we eliminate the decal, we open the door to out-of-county landfill users,” said Joan Moon, with the Landfill Citizens Oversight Committee, during the public hearing on the issue.

Eliminating the decal saves the county $135,300 per year in production and mail costs, according to documents to the board. But that’s not the same as what the county collects from the motor vehicle tax, which contributes millions of dollars to the general fund, Supervisor Frank Principi, D-Woodbridge, clarified.

Had the supervisors not voted to discontinue the decal, they would have had to amend the fiscal 2010 budget. The budget approved April 28 did not include funding for the decals.

  

Most of the concern seems to be about the landfill: the dreaded landfill poacher. How will we ensure than only legal residents use the landfill? Perhaps a drivers’ license might just do the trick. Some folks have old decals on their windshield because they don’t come off without sandbasting.

Back in the old days, the county sticker used to be an indicator of who had paid their personal property tax. You didn’t pay your taxes, you didn’t get a county sticker. It was all pretty cut and dry. What about those who try to save a buck and avoid county taxes?

How will local police know who has and has not paid their county fee? I can remember getting pinched a few times for not having that sticker. Will police computer lines tie in to who has been naughty and who has been nice? How about running a line from our license plate to who has paid the sticker and who hasn’t? Will that be done?

How many people will not purchase a ticket and hope they just don’t get caught. I honestly don’t think the county should be relying on the honor system on this one.

2010 PW Budget Approved

MoonHowler

Yesterday the BOCS approved the Prince William County 2010 budget of $848.3 million dollars. This action cuts spending by about $194 million dollars and also cuts most tax bills on average over $400. This budget is based on a $1.212 tax rate which is a little over $.24 cents higher than the 2009 budget.

Even though most homeowners get a tax break, the passage of the budget leaves citizens wondering what service they will have for the 2010 fiscal year. The Washington Post quotes Corey Stewart:

“This budget is significantly smaller,” board Chairman Corey A. Stewart (R) said. “We’ve cut our costs, we’ve made our government more efficient, and by doing so, we are going to be able to reward our constituents with a sizable tax cut. That was my number one goal with this budget.”

This budget postpones capital improvements, freezes PW government workers salaries, forces neighborhood libraries to close one day a week, takes about $4.6 million from the ‘rain day fund,’ and cuts the staffing increases in half for the fire department and the police department.

The Washington Post also reports:

The budget uses $4.6 million from the county’s $26.2 million “rainy day” fund, gives $407.8 million to county schools, forces neighborhood libraries to close on Fridays and eliminates about 140 government positions — most of which are vacant.
The board did take steps, however, to restore funding to the Virginia Cooperative Extension’s 4-H and nutrition programs, the Flory Small Business Center and the At-Risk Youth Program’s parenting classes, which were all initially targeted for reductions.

The board also restored almost $162,000 to the Healthy Families program and $40,000 to Spinaweb — an Association for Retarded Citizens of Greater Prince William program that provides employment opportunities for the mentally disabled.

The budget also places nearly $3 million in reserve. Supervisors said they hope to have that money on hand in case federal stimulus funding becomes available and the county is asked to provide matching funds to qualify.

One stimulus grant the county has sought would enable it to move up funding for 25 additional sworn police officers from the fiscal 2012 to the fiscal 2010 budget.

Meanwhile, most of us are wondering exactly what services we will no longer have. We wonder how long it will take for police to respond. How long will it take the fire departments to answer a call? Will the lines for county services take longer than usual? Will people employees leave Prince William County and go work where they are less stressed, and have more colleagues to share the work load.

Somewhere along the line, have we become penny wise and pound foolish? Have we cut things too short? How will all of this budget affect our schools that have not yet set their budgets? Will we lose teachers? Will there be 40 students per classroom?

Time will tell. Right now many of us are holding our breath. How much can a suburban county the size of Prince William cut back without disturbing quality of life?

[Ed: Budget Information: The Board of County Supervisors will adopt the County’s FY2010 budget at its meeting on Tuesday, April 28 at 2 p.m. in the Board Chamber of the James J. McCoart Administration Building]

Ghost Busters Proclaim Evidence of Paranormal in PWC

MoonHowler

It seems that here in Prince William County, things can definitely go bump in the night. Every once in a while it’s good to set the politics aside and check out what else is going on in the world around us, or in the netherworld around us in this case. What better on a snowy Sunday than a good ghost story or two!

I have long heard people talk about apparitions and strange occurrences happening out in the battlefield. Stories have been featured on the History Channel and other cable spots about ghostly happenings at the Stone House which served as a hospital during the Civil War. It makes sense that war and death might create the perfect setting for specters and paranormal events.

However, today’s News and Messenger takes us to the other side of the county to the Weems-Botts Museum in Dumfries for our scare of the week. All sorts of tales from the dark side are supposedly happening over there—so much so that a team of ghost busters was brought in last fall to investigate and document some of the paranormal phenomena.
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Prince William County Home Help Winners Announced Tuesday

MoonHowler

More than 150 Prince William County employees had a lucky day on Tuesday. The county received 323 applications for 167 spots in the Home Help Program. Through this program, the county seeks to cut the number of vacant houses in the county by providing low interest loans and reduced mortgage rates to entry level county employees. These employees will become home owners in Prince William County in the very near future, which is seen as a desirable goal.

According to the DC Examiner:

The plan helps fulfill a long-time county goal to have more public employees living in the county. Martino [county finance director] hopes the program will help Prince William recruit and retain employees, many of whom live outside the county and face long commutes.

The county invested $50 million in certificates of deposit at SunTrust Bank to fund the first year of Home Help. County officials emphasized that the money comes from an investment portfolio and does not use taxpayer money.

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The Investors are Coming!

MoonHowler

Real Estate is booming in Prince William County. This is a good news/bad news situation. While houses are selling at dirt cheap prices, these sales are helping to set the assessment rate and therefore, the amount of money brought in by the county. The sales are also helping lock in our home value. Anyone who needs to sell their home in the near future is going to be giving away their house.

Another down side of the real estate boom in PWC is that investors are gobbling up properties. Some of our neighborhoods are about 15% rental. The county is considering a rental inspection program down the road. Currently, in order to do that, an area must be declared a blighted area. Very few homeowners would like their neighborhood declared a blighted area.

Neighborhoods that have too many rental units are often plagued with problems from home upkeep to overcrowding. Absentee landlordism has been responsible for the downfall of many local communities as owners moved onward and upward and kept their properties. Other folks sold out to investors. Several examples of rental properties gone bad can be seen in the county and in the city.

Cheaper isn’t always better. Homeowners will have to be vigilant to maintain their neighborhoods if a disproportionate number of homes become rental units. Ideally, the investors will be members of the community. Then there is a real interest in who rents your house.

Hopefully, the upturn in the real estate market is a sign of recovery and that soon good news will emerge.

VA Budget Woes Increase Financial Anxiety in PWC

MoonHowler

Yesterday Governor Tim Kaine and his financial advisors discussed a nearly $2.8 Billion dollar deficit for the state. He will present his budget revisions to the General Assembly December 17. The news is going to be grim. Yesterday Gov. Kaine met with Barack Obama in to discuss the economy. The FY 2010 budget begins July 1.

The pain, however, is not being evenly felt. Arlington has a huge commercial tax base which will help keep it from total hard times. The huge decrease in home values in Prince William County has eviscerated county finances. PWC lacks the extensive commercial tax base that Arlington enjoys.

Less money will go to Richmond and in turn, that means less money for localities. Arlington County officials are considering an increase in 1.7 cents for next year, although that wouldn’t totally fix their budget deficit.

The PW BOCS is still playing around with the tax rate. At last glance it appears that $1.13.[correction from $1.16 to $1.13] was being considered. Currently the tax rate is at $.97. Even with the increase in rate, most residents will find their tax bill less because of the substantial drop in property value. The average home value in PWC has dropped about 30%. PWC has the most foreclosures in the state of Virginia.

The PWC BOCS is looking at a variety of ways to help keep the wolf away from the door, including enacting cigarette, admissions and meals taxes. Chairman Corey Stewart was quoted as saying “We ought to focus our guns on core issues and not get sidetracked by other things.”

According to an article in the Washington Post:

Prince William, which has the highest number of foreclosures in the state, wants additional authority to place liens on vacant property to help recover the cost of cleaning graffiti. It also wants to extend liability protection to neighboring property owners who mow grass or remove trash and debris from vacant properties.

What else does Stewart have in mind? Obviously his Immigration Resolution didn’t bring in the savings we were promised. Of course, no one believed that one. That was just a way to fool people and even at that, only a few bought in to that blarny.

The school system will be slammed by these cuts. Already there is talk of no cost of living increase for employees and larger sized classes. There is also talk of delaying capital improvements which would include delaying the building of a new, much needed high school.

Are there solutions to lessen the problems facing PWC? Would people be content having the 2010 tax rate even higher to maintain services? Would a higher tax rate drive out businesses?

Having the most foreclosures in the state of Virginia is sure a distinction I could do without.

All Eyes are on the PWC Budget

MoonHowler

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:

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PWC NEW Adult Detention Center Opens

MoonHowler

Thanks to Chris for this guest post and picture.

We have a new ADC for Prince William County, Manassas, and Manassas Park. It will begin to house inmates next month. The new ADC is long overdue, and finally complete.

One of the best things about having the new facility is that inmates who are currently “farmed out” out to other jurisdictions will be returning to the area. This will be a big savings to us the tax payers. We’ve been spending a fair amount of money on our inmates to be housed in other facilities. We aren’t able to farm out any person with an ICE detainer.

The new facility was also featured during yesterday’s Board of Supervisors meeting. It showed the project from start to finish. The presentation will re-air on Channel 23 or Channel 37 the next three nights at 7:30, and then on Saturday and Sunday at 10am.

One of the neatest features is the “video visitation.” PWC is the second jurisdiction in the Commonwealth to use this technology, Virginia Beach was the first. One of the big benefits of this new technology is there’s less possibility of contraband getting in the hands of the inmates.

PWC McCain Supporters Squelch Hate Propaganda

MoonHowler

“At a John McCain rally in Woodbridge, Virginia, three people handed out “Obama for Change” bumper stickers with the Communist sickle and hammer and the Islamic crescent, saying Obama was a socialist with ties to radical Islam. Several moderate McCain supporters, Muslim and Christian alike, struck back – relentlessly bombarding the group distributing the flyers until they left the premises.”

(ANP)

A huge thank you to Fontbonne for finding this video and for bringing it to my attention for posting.

Several video threads have been posted about outrageous speech coming from McCain supporters. Well, here we go again, you might be thinking.

Not so fast. You will get to see McCain supporters running off 3 someones who are peddling hate. It really made me proud, Prince William Proud, to see these moderate McCain supporters standing up for what is right.

Enjoy, This is a good one and thanks again Fontbonne.