Showing posts with label Counties. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Counties. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Gloucester, VA Public Servants or Public Greed Gratification? The Test

Gloucester County Government
Open Letter to the Citizens of Gloucester County Virginia


What was the motivation for you to go into public service?

The Virginia Constitution was written for us to limit the government intrusion into our lives.  Have you ever read the Constitution of the United States?  How about the Constitution of Virginia?

“All officers elected or appointed under or pursuant to this Constitution shall, before they enter on the performance of their public duties, severally take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation:
‘I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge all the duties incumbent upon me as ________________, according to the best of my ability (so help me God).’"

To all of our elected county officials what was your motivation?  Was it for the public good or for personal gain?  Were you looking to game the system to get special treatment to help your business or possible personal gain?  Maybe you want your child to get special treatment in school?  Maybe you want special treatment for permits or inspections?  We can watch your actions and see who is in there for personal gain.  Maybe you want to serve the public and make everyone’s lives a little better?  We can watch your actions and see who is there for the public good also.

What is a public servant an elected or hired person that works for local, state, or federal government.  Servants by definition do not get rich performing their duties.

A person going into public service is there to serve the public.  If your motivation is to get rich go into private service.  There are two main reasons to go into public service: to serve the public and to avoid risk. Neither reason is bad.  Looking for a safe job, minimum layoffs, benefits that take care of your family’s basic needs and the ability to contribute to the good of society?  If you want to get rich you need to go into private service working for yourself or a company that will pay you for what you are worth to them.  Think of public service like a bank account – you will never get rich off of the interest that is paid but you can keep you head above water.  Private Service is like the stock market – you can get rich you also can get poor there are no guarantees.

During the budget process 100 people got up and said they wanted more money.  It is time for you to get out of public service and go into private service.  The public service will be much better without you.  How much of the general public supported your request for raises?  I think all 6 people not associated with the schools said no to raises your services do not justify raises during these tough economic times.

I am not a lawyer and cannot give legal advice.  Our founding fathers used common sense and Christian scripture when establishing our founding documents. 

“For the Common Good. “

Sincerely,
Alexander James Jay

P.S.  "It is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth -- and listen to the song of that syren, till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those, who having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it might cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it." --Patrick Henry, speech in the Virginia Convention, 1775
 

"He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself." --Thomas Paine, Dissertation on First Principles of Government, 1791

Our Notes:  It's not hard to create a test to show which ones pass the public servants designation and which ones pass the personal greed and gain designation test.  But maybe with a little magic, Ted can wave his left hand and it might all go away.   You can always dream now can't you?
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Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Gloucester, VA Readers Write In, The Missing R? April, 2014

The huge number of articles on your website about corruption of one form or another in Gloucester County inticed me to do a little looking myself.
 
While reasearching some of the players who appeaer to be involved in some of the questionable occurances within Gloucester government I ran across a development company named HARC,llc.  I have determined each letter in the name HARC stands for a specific person.  H is for Ellis Hall, A is for Walter Alford, C is for Harry Corr and R is for………HaHa!!  We will divulge who the R player is along with the other interesting info very soon.  Looks like we Gotcha silent R!!
 
More later, 

Our Notes:  We never know what is going to come in or to what level of interest information may be.  This has our curiosity.  This was the entire message as it was sent to us.  Based on our own work, the only name we can come up with to fill that R, in our own best guess is Charles Records.  It's not to say that this is who it is.  But why else would this have been sent to us?  No other name sticks out that ends with an R.  We know who the others are, but not the R.  Interesting.  We can't wait to find out the rest of the story here.
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Gloucester, VA Board of Supervisors Meeting, April, 2014




If you have missed the meeting and any subsequent re broadcasts and if you can not find these videos on the county website, here it is for you again.  We continue to see members of the local school come before the board of supervisors, just about demanding money, that is neither the property of the school board nor the board of supervisors.  It belongs to "WE THE TAXPAYERS", and the school board seems to fail to get that message.  Instead they continue to hound the Board of Supervisors to death hoping that our representatives will cave to their unfair pressures.  This is a very sickening tactic.

  But maybe it's one that should be used on the school board asking them when they are going to step up and actually start teaching the children of this county and stop failing the children of this county with policies that are meaningless at best.  We keep hearing that it's for the children yet we see that it's more like for the few at the top who seem to treat it all like a private country club for themselves.
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Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Gloucester, VA Board of Supervisors Plan On Recording Budget Sessions

Great news for everyone in Gloucester County.  The Board of Supervisors have decided to record the upcoming budget work sessions and make them available on their website.  We will port those videos onto this site so that the videos will be a bit easier to find.  Going through the county website can be rough as it is large and cumbersome.

  That is not a complaint as the county site is loaded with a goldmine of information once you know how to get around the site and find what you are looking for.

Now the budget work sessions are open to the public as we reported on earlier.  In an effort to create better transparency the board has also decided that moving forward in years to come, this will continue to be the case.  It is important that everyone in the county is able to see both how and where our tax dollars are  being utilized.  When you know and understand where the needs for the county are, you have a better appreciation for what the county is doing.  It also opens up areas of questions that may need addressing.  Maybe one person viewing the budget for the first time will be able to see ways to save the county a good deal of money by just making minor changes or maybe major changes need to be made and those changes could very well be justified.

  We won't know until we can see how everything is presented to the board and then take the time to properly analyze the information.  Maybe we can ask the right questions that the board or others never thought to ask.  Two heads are better than one.  But with more people getting involved, we have more chances of saving all of us money in preventing higher taxes and maybe even a chance at lowering our taxes.

  We want to thank the entire Board of Supervisors for making the right decision here and opening up these sessions for all of us to see.
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Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Gloucester, VA Board of Supervisors Budget Meetings Open To Public

We have been in contact with several members of the Gloucester County Board of Supervisors as well as county Administrator Brenda Garton.  We have been informed that the upcoming budget meetings are open to the public.

  We have also been told that the reason for the meetings not being televised is due in part to the costs associated with doing so.  We have also been informed that the meetings will not be recorded either.  

When one county resident found out about all of this, he submitted this response.

So one of the reasons to limit transparency to shut in and or disabled folks is cost?  I find that totally unacceptable.  Had previous work sessions been conducted with total transparency the County would likely not be in the shape it is in now.  The amount of money wasted on little things like wages and gas to drive County vehicles for private use could more than cover this transparency issue.
 
No, there is no law requiring that meetings be broadcast or recorded, but as Mr. Thompson's article points out, there is a law allowing "anyone" to record or broadcast the meetings.  The law also says the governing body cannot prohibit such.  If one Gloucester County tax payer asks for the meetings to be broadcast or recorded how can the governing body deny that request when the facilities, equipment and wages are being paid for by tax payers for the explicit purpose of government transparency.
 
I too ask for the County budget work session meetings to be broadcast and video recorded.
 
Kenneth E. Hogge, Sr.

We second that motion.  We are also looking into recording the sessions as well.
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Monday, March 3, 2014

Gloucester, VA County Employees At Hardees During Working Hours?


Today, Monday March 3rd, 2014.  Gloucester schools closed do to winter storm.  County employees are also given the day off.  Gloucester County school maintenance employees show up at Hardees for breakfast.


Only minutes later, another couple of Gloucester County employees show up at Hardees for breakfast.  On a day off, as winter weather is getting ready to break, driving a county vehicle and using it for personal use, increasing liability risks for everyone.

  You would think that after all of the posts we have shown of constant ongoing violations that all of this would stop.  Just because we have not shown any for the past 5 weeks does not mean we have not been catching these employees all over the place.  We have plenty of pictures where this just goes on and on and on.  With the budget for the county now coming up, you have to ask why we are paying so much.  Well, let's look at all the waste.









(Hand over face shaking head).  We still have more.  This is just embarrassing.   A lot of these folks are from the public schools.  They also want more money.  The same people who are now rumored to having their own kitchen at the TC Walker school where the staff there gets their lunches at a price of less than $2,50 per meal.  Is that subsidized by we the taxpayers?  And who is making this food?  And this building is locked from public entrance?  And these folks who are going to locations that have nothing to do with the business they need to conduct, using county vehicles for personal use, that have the ability to make meals at the TC Walker location, at taxpayer expense.........

  Ugh!  The land of the chosen few.
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