Fewer Illegals, More Crime

Alanna

In 2007, Prince William County Supervisors passed the “Immigration Resolution” which stated in part that “illegal immigration has been determined to cause economic hardship and lawlessness.” Has our outcome supported the assertion that ‘more illegals cause more crime and worse economic conditions’ with the converse being ‘less illegals therefore less crime and a better economy’?

According to the Prince William County Crime Report for 2008, crime now, one year after the resolution’s passage crime is slightly increased. This effectively ends our 5 year decreasing crime rate trend which obviously must have existed during our “influx of illegals.”

In financial terms, can we state that our economic hardships have lessened since the introduction of the resolution? Prince William County now leads the state and ranks top in the nation in foreclosures, and our home values have dropped 32%. The neighborhood issues that existed prior to the passage of the resolution are resurfacing as foreclosed homes bought by real estate investors are turned into rental properties. And our County budget is facing deep cuts this year with an equally dismal prospect for next.

Many predicted dire consequences but Supervisors refused to heed their warnings. Probably nobody said it better than Oklahoma Republican State Representative Shane Jett, who opposed similar legislation in his state, when he stated:

“[the passage of these types of legislations] will be the single most destructive economic disaster since the Dust Bowl,”

Now with almost one full year of crime figures, foreclosure numbers, home values, and tax revenue numbers compiled can we definitively state that the assertions in the resolution were completely unfounded?  Strictly speaking, we had lower crime rates and a better economy when the ‘illegals’ were here.  Will the status quo remain, as Stewart continues to assert that the resolution is working well?

Obviously this issue has been the single most divisive issue to happen here.  Will Supervisors heed Dr. Fuller’s advice, and change course?  Or, are they content with allowing Chairman Stewart to continue down this path hoping that voters will only hold him responsible?

Corey Stewart Gives State of the County Address, Disseminates Misinformation

MoonHowler

Rod Stewart tells us that the ‘First Cut is the Deepest.’ Corey Stewart tells us that cuts will be ‘deep’ and ‘painful’.

The News and Messenger highlighted part of yesterday’s BOCS meeting but concentrated on Chairman Stewart’s State of the County Address. Excerpts include:

As part of his “state of the county address,” Stewart talked of Prince William’s unusual circumstances in comparison with surrounding jurisdictions.
“Last year, when other major localities in the region hoped for the best, we prepared for the worst,” he said.

And as a result, Prince William differs from other communities in that budget shortfalls were not felt in this current fiscal year, and taxes are not planned to increase in the coming fiscal year. Still, he said, challenges are coming.

“[Our] work has just begun,” Stewart said, “[and] 2009 will present the toughest fiscal challenge this board or this county has ever faced. Declining home values and
shrinking sales tax and other revenues means a projected shortfall in the next fiscal year of $190 million. This problem is compounded by the substantial cuts expected from the General Assembly.”

The work for the upcoming budget season will focus mainly on cuts: “The cuts will be deep. The cuts will be painful. But the cuts mean that … this board shall deliver a tax cut to all of you at home,” he said.

Stewart touted some of the county’s perceived successes of the past year — deporting more than 1,300 illegal aliens; implementing an illegal immigration policy that’s being copied by other communities; building roads in the face of transportation budget shortfalls and cuts; creating a housing assistance program for government employees that “helps reduce the oversupply of unsold homes” and foreclosures.

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BOCS Chairman Stewart Not Too Happy With McCain Rally

MoonHowler

According to the Gainesville-Times, Corey Stewart is not too happy with the McCain Campaign because Senator McCain did not address the immigration issue. McCain supports a pathway to citizenship and co-sponsored an Immigration Reform bill in 2007 which went down in defeat.

Apparently, Corey Stewart felt that the McCain Campaign dissed him and his fellow Republican leaders at the October 18 rally at the County Complex:

…Stewart resented what he perceived as the McCain camp’s attempt to distance itself from the county’s crackdown.
“We had no real place other than getting introduced through a long line of people,” Stewart said of his fellow Republican county supervisors, referring to an honorees list read by Clerk of the Circuit Court Michele McQuigg.
Though she had asked the audience to hold their applause until the end, Stewart’s name was the only one cheered after she read it.
“I don’t feel that proper protocol was respected, and I think that’s going to hurt him, frankly. The local Republicans know how to win elections here,” said Stewart.
“I’m very, very disappointed in McCain’s campaign here,” he added.

Earlier in the week Stewart bragged that he has practically begged the McCain campaign to come to Prince William County. The Gainesville-Times further elaborates on the immigration issue in Prince William County and how it relates to Stewart.

One issue noticeably absent from Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain’s speech to supporters in Prince William on Saturday was illegal immigration.
Unlike the majority of the Republican base, McCain has supported a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
So for him to stop in the county that was the national hotbed for illegal immigration controversy just last year and not talk about the issue troubled of Board of County Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart (R).

Stewart complained :

“But I think that clearly McCain’s campaign has tried to distance itself on Prince William County’s local crackdown on illegal immigration,” he said. “And I think that’s a blunder. And I use that word very strongly and I mean it.”

In order to connect with the crowd on illegal immigration, “All he had to say was ‘Protect the borders’ and unlike [Democratic president nominee Sen.] Barack Obama, he does not favor workforce rights and giving driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. That’s all he had to say,”

Does this mean that Corey is going to just get angry and support Obama? Somehow I can’t see that happening. What I do see here is a sore loser. I wonder what he thinks about the campaign choosing Tito the Builder over him?

Did Corey think the McCain Rally was his very own little pep rally, just for him and his buds? Let’s hope Corey doesn’t trip over his lip.

PWCA: Silver Lake – Opportunity Lost

Alanna

This is a real disappointment. Back in April we hoped that the Prince William Park Authority and Bull Run Mountain Conservancy could reach an amicable agreement with respect to the Silver Lake parcel, apparently those discussions have failed.

The following is an email from the Prince William Conservation Alliance:

Silver Lake: Opportunities Lost

October 21 2008 — The Bull Run Mountain Conservancy (BRMC) today announced the withdrawal of their proposal to partner with Prince William County to open Silver Lake as a park for public use.

That means:

* County taxpayers will now pay all costs to develop and maintain the 233-acre Silver Lake – $1.6 million + $215,000 each year, according to the Prince William County Park Authority (PWCPA) plans;

* An additional 270 acres next to Silver Lake will NOT be opened to horse trails, hiking, and other public uses (BRMC had a commitment from an adjacent landowner to make an additional 270 acres available for public recreational use).

The Silver Lake property was donated (as a “proffer” for County approval of 420 additional houses in Dominion Valley) to Prince William citizens, through the Board of Supervisors, to provide much needed land for public recreation and open space.

The County has kept Silver Lake closed while debating who should manage it. The core issue was land ownership, with some insisting that PWCPA ownership of the entire site was non-negotiable.

The BRMC proposal required transfer – with deed restrictions that pre-determined recreational uses, guaranteed public access and prohibited any resale or transfer – of the land they would manage in order to raise the matching funds required by their $500,000 grant for Silver Lake.

Non-profit organizations like BRMC are unable to attract donations for building a visitor center or other improvements on property that is owned by a government agency. Transferring County land to non-profits is not a new concept. For example, Prince William County donated 135 acres for the Marine Corps Heritage Center.

In the most recent negotiations, the PWCPA would have received the southern portion of the property, including Silver Lake itself. The northern portion would have been transferred to BRMC, with restrictions that guaranteed public access for recreational use. The northern portion would have reverted back to the Board of Supervisors, should BRMC not honor their commitments.

However, after two years of discussion, Prince William Supervisors appear hopelessly deadlocked and, on September 17, the PWCPA Board adopted a resolution by a 6-2 vote rejecting all compromise proposals at Silver Lake.

By rejecting such a compromise, the County will lose the opportunity to develop a 500-acre park with equestrian and hiking trails. Instead, County taxpayers will have to pay 100% of the cost to open up a 233-acre Silver Lake park.

The PWCPA has been struggling to maintain existing recreation amenities, even before the coming budget cuts. In a worst case scenario, Silver Lake could be locked up tight like Dove’s Landing, with signs saying ” Public Land – Keep Out.”

The 270 acres and $1 million in private funding to develop and operate Silver Lake for public use is now lost. The property that could have been added to Silver Lake won’t be developed into townhouses; it is permanently preserved in an open space easement. However, that private land will stay private, closed to the public.

With only 9 acres of parkland/1,000 residents, Prince William is facing an uphill battle to acquire enough new parkland to meet community needs. By rejecting the BRMC partnership, county officials will not acquire new parkland to meet the standards set in the newly revised Parks & Open Space Chapter of the Comprehensive Plan.

In fact, since that plan was adopted, the county has acquired no property for public parkland…. and now has rejected 270 acres of free land.

The Prince William County Park Authority has promised to open Silver Lake to the public in less than a year, with some areas open within six months – so long as the Board of Supervisors provides additional funding.

Will the County find the additional funding needed to open and operate a park at Silver Lake? Or will we see yet another “Public Land – Keep Out” sign?

We Deserve to Know

Elena

Please sign this online petition by clicking here. Your address and email will be not published. You have the option of signing your name without it being publicly displayed. It will get sent to all the supervisors. I know it is intimidating to sign a petition or even write a letter to your supervisor knowing that it may get FOIAed by Help Save Manassas and end up on Greg’s blog. We must all stand together to confront their bullying tactics. We can’t give up our rights to representation out of fear. Once you are done signing, please forward to your neighbors, friends and family in Prince William County. Thank you.

To Chairman Stewart and Supervisors Stirrup, May, Nohe, Caddigan, Jenkins, Principi and Covington:

We, the people of Prince William County, express deep disappointment at your appointment of Robert Duecaster to the county’s Strategic Goals Task Force, Human Resources Committee confirmed on September 16, 2008 with a 5-3 vote.

We commend Supervisors Jenkins, Principi and Caddigan for voting against it.

You have the right to vote however you wish as a supervisor, and we respect that is part of the process. However, it light the of fact that Mr. Duecaster has made anti-Hispanic, xenophobic, and anti-Catholic statements both addressing the Board during Citizens’ Time and writing on blogs,

And, in light of the fact that the appointment was confirmed on the inaugural day of Hispanic Heritage Month, we ask you for the following,

1. Please make a statement as individuals, not as the Board, explaining why you voted the way you did. Tell us how you feel about Mr. Duecaster’s anti-Hispanic, xenophobic and anti-Catholic comments. For example:

This really is not about immigration, it’s not about legality or illegality, it’s not about economics, I’m going to tell right what it’s about; it’s about and invasion of this country. This country is being invaded no less than if hordes of armed people came across its borders. This invasion is not armed, but they’ve got weapons. The weapons that they use are their anchor babies…This invasion is being funded by foreign governments…We’re going to repel this invasion, one way or another, it will be repelled. You can either be part of the repulsion or you can be part of the other side. (Robert Duecaster during Citizens’ Time, October 16, 2007)

What’s even more ironic is the fact that el Pape will be here bemoaning how some jurisdictions have ‘treated’ the illegals. He’ll disregard the facts that we’ve educated their anchor babies, provided social services, indulged their vulgarities, cleaned up their trash, and provided them with a higher standard of living and more freedoms than their own countries used to give them. He’ll berate us for not embracing them wholeheartedly, for not allowing them access to our universities at the expense of our own children, and for not rewarding them for violating the sanctity of our borders. He’ll be pandering to them to gather members to replace those who left the Church due to the institutionalized approval of his priests’ penchant for little boys’ behinds. (Robert Duecaster comment written as “Advocator” on bvbl.net, April 14, 2008. He admitted to being “Advocator” to the DC Examiner. Click here for the article.)

Please click here and review this collection of his written comments.

Please click here to review a video documenting his statements to the Board or ask Channel 23 to assemble the county’s own video documentation of his statements.

2. To mark the occasion of Prince William County’s declaration of Hispanic Heritage Month, please make a statement, and take meaningful action as an individual citizen and as a District Supervisor to express your appreciation of people of Hispanic heritage in this community.

We recognize that you have not always voted in accordance with your moral beliefs or your best judgment. We ask that you take this occasion to come forward and make a statement based on your personal beliefs instead of obscuring them behind such protocols as courtesy votes and unanimous votes.

You are our elected representatives in government. We need and deserve to hear you express how you really feel and what you believe.

People of Prince William County, Virginia

CHZorro Strikes Again…

Alanna


Dark Ages of PWC_Page01 by *CHZorro on deviantART

Artist’s Comments
“The Dark Ages of Prince William County” Episode 1, Page 1

Let the wild pilgrimage begin into the madness that has engulfed Prince William County, VA. In this episode, the Black Abbot Greg is asked for advice by lord Stewart, the ruler of Prince William County. Lord Stewart seeks to exile the foreigners, or Gypsies as he calls them, from the lands. The Black Abbot Greg devises a scheme drive away the Gypsies and gain total reign over Prince William County, but little does he know, his treacherous actions are being watched…

County Police Staff Reduced?

Alanna

According to the County’s Agenda item 9-J-1, which mysteriously has disappeared from the latest version, the County will not be able to add the 4 new Officers nor the support staff that was to accompany them for ’09 Budget. My question is why the description of the cuts removed? Was it a simple oversight, or was done intentionally by the person who determines the agenda?

Funny letter to the editor in the MJM by Corey Stewart

Alanna

Funny letter to the editor today from Chairman Stewart accusing Fairfax Supervisor Connolly of attacking 11th Congressional District candidate Keith Fimian over his religious beliefs. In part it says,

As a devout Catholic, I am troubled to see this. As an American, and a constituent of the 11th District, I am incensed. It was almost half a century ago that the same bigoted attacks were made on President John F. Kennedy.

How Chairman Stewart is able to recongnize these as bigoted attacks when he’s been unable to recognize bigoted attacks in the past is beyond me.

Help Save Manassas Summer Edition Newsletter

Alanna

After a 4 month hiatus, a Summer edition of the Help Save Manassas – Frontline newsletter is now available, entitled – Prince William: An Oasis in the Desert. Obviously, the HSM camp suffers from hallucinations where the mantra about the ‘Rule of Law’ Resolution aka the Immigration Resolution abound and where the resolution is both working well but yet not working at all.

Interestingly, some of the regular names including Steve Thomas no longer appear and there’s no mention of his whereabouts. We do learn that both Greg Letiecq and Dan Arnold of the nightmarish – Cultural Chaos fiasco of the March edition have both been ‘re-elected’.

We also learn that after exhausting local businesses, the ‘Do the Right Thing’ pledge has now ‘expanded’ their reach to areas such as Stafford & Spottslyvannia. One needs to ask whether or not local businesses are being deceived into pledging their allegiance to HSM?

The zeros and heroes section seems to be repeated from past editions.

And then there’s the ‘Crime Prevention’ Team which perhaps has replaced the Special Ops group? According to the newsletter the police department believes the Crime Prevention Team is a ‘valuable resource’. Surely if the police felt such a ‘team’ of local citizens was needed they would have requested volunteers. Instead, Letiecq and cohorts have most likely put the police in the undesirable position of having to mediate any incidents that could result by having this antagonist force thrust themselves into this situation.

“Stewart’s Wife Strains Resources and Causes Sprawl” What?

Alanna

From FAIR’s website, where they once again accuse legal immigrants of causing economic hardship on localities. How did Corey allow himself to become a tool for this organization? So, if we believe Federation for American Immigration Reform(FAIR), then Corey’s own wife, who is a legal permanent resident is to blame for straining resources and causing sprawl!

Can you imagine these organizations like FAIR & Immigration Reform Law Institute(IRLI) claim to be for legal immigration but at the same time have their representatives write books like – “The Case Against Immigration” which is currently being hauked by Mark Krikorian from IRLI.

Listen, if you want to write a book like that fine, just don’t lie to me and tell me that you’re pro-immigrant!

Around the Country

Virginia

The northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. have become a hotbed of immigration reform activism in recent years. In 2006, the city of Herndon voted out of office all but one local official who had supported a day labor hiring site for illegal aliens. More recently, Prince William County has attracted national attention by instituting local immigration enforcement policies and cooperating closely with federal immigration authorities. A new report by the University of Virginia demonstrates why local residents are so concerned about mass immigration. The report finds that one in five northern Virginia residents is now foreign-born and statewide the immigrant population has doubled since 1980. This rapid influx of both government sanctioned and illegal immigrants has strained local resources and contributed to population driven sprawl in the region.

WP Editorial: Prince William, a Year Later

Alanna

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.

Illogical Stewart Strikes Again

Alanna

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.

Stewart Asks to Change Resolution Again!

Alanna

News Channel 4 reported yesterday that Corey wants to ‘strengthen’ the resolution and would like it done immediately, claiming that he already has the 7 votes required to alter the resolution. Doesn’t the County have any other business to address? Stewart & Stirrup just voted to strengthen the resolution and now they need to strengthen it again? This is one of the oddest displays of public governence that I have ever witnessed. This smells of desperation on their part and it will be interesting to see what happens.

Update: Looks like we should show up again for the 2:00pm session. If you can’t make it please consider sending an email to the following Supervisors:

[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Marty Nohe, Wally Covington, Maureen Caddigan, John Jenkins, Mike May, Frank Principi

Update #2:  Corey made a statement at the beginning of the meeting saying the resolution would not be voted upon today.  So, that’s that.  I don’t think it’s necessary to plan on speaking to the issue this evening.  I will keep you informed.

PWCBOS 05/20/08 Meeting

Alanna

The Board will have both a 2:oopm & 7:30pm session tomorrow. Tomorrow’s agenda has the regular hodge podge of quick take, rezoning, special use permits, public hearings, budget amendments etc…

However, the rumor mill has it that the dead horse will be beat again. Apparently, Corey and John want to continue the “probable cause” portion of the “Immigration Resolution”, so stay tuned. We should have more information after the 2:00pm session, so check back to see if you should plan to speak at the 7:30pm meeting.

Here’s the agenda for the meeting.