Showing posts with label Gloucester County Virginia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gloucester County Virginia. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 2, 2021

“GLOUCESTER COUNTY SECOND AMENDMENT PRESERVATION ACT” PASSES WITH 6 to 1 VOTE

On Tuesday, June 1, 2021, the Gloucester County, Virginia Board of Supervisors approved the “GLOUCESTER COUNTY SECOND AMENDMENT PRESERVATION ACT”. York District Supervisor Phillip Bazzani sponsored the Act which was ratified by a 6 to 1 vote. Abingdon District Supervisor and Chairman of the Board, Robert Orth, cast the only dissenting vote.

Below you will find the link to the 2nd Amendment portion of the Board of Supervisors meeting. It is well worth watching. Below you will also find a SlideShare Presentation of the proposed resolution. The approved resolution will not contain any mention of Installed President Joe Biden for reason explained in the video.

Please Share using the Facebook Icon located below the SlideShare Presentation.

Written By: Kenny Hogge, Sr. 

Link To Meeting Video: https://gloucester.granicus.com/player/clip/2468?meta_id=144684

 SlideShare Presentation Of Proposed Resolution:


Monday, April 12, 2021

Gloucester County, Va. Supervisor Leading Charge to Protect 2nd Amendment Rights



York District Supervisor Phillip Bazzani asked fellow Gloucester Supervisors to consider opening a discussion on following Newton County, Missouri’s lead in opposing Un-Constitutional and tyrannical gun laws the federal government is attempting to shove down the American People’s throats.

Supervisor Bazzani, who describes himself as “a fierce defender of 2nd Amendment rights”, read Newton County’s "Second Amendment Preservation Act", after which he acknowledged some parts may not be able to be done legally in the Commonwealth of Virginia and asked that those aspects be investigated by the County Attorney.

On December 3, 2019, Gloucester County joined many other localities in Virginia by declaring Gloucester a 2nd Amendment Sanctuary as our tyrannical Commonwealth government prepared to enact several Un-Constitutional “gun control” laws and mandates. Supervisor Bazzani’s current motivation is pushing back on the Un-Constitutional “gun control” laws and mandates that are now coming from the federal government.

I encourage the other members of the Board of Supervisors, our Sheriff’s Department, and every pro-2nd Amendment person in the County to support Supervisor Bazzani’s request and join with him in establishing every 2nd Amendment protection possible. I also encourage other Counties, Cities and Towns across the Commonwealth and Nation to do the same.

Below is a SlideShare presentation of Newton County, Missouri’s "Second Amendment Preservation Act", and a link to Supervisor Bazzani’s comments during the April 6th Board of Supervisors meeting.

Spread the word, and remember, United We Stand, Divided We Fall.

Written By: Kenny Hogge, Sr.


Link to Supervisor Bazzani’s comments during the April 6th Board of Supervisors meeting. https://gloucester.granicus.com/player/clip/2407?meta_id=142217


SlideShare presentation of Newton County, Missouri’s "Second Amendment Preservation Act"

Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Concerned Citizens Of Gloucester Offer Planning Commission Solar Farm Discussion Suggestions


Greetings,

On behalf of, Concerned Citizens of Gloucester, we present the following suggestions and information pertaining to the Solar discussion for your consideration.

·       A Virginia County made a requirement in one of their CUP’s, for the inclusion of an educational kiosk with a platform that overlooks the solar fields so school kids can be bussed there for class. Suggest requiring the same where practical. Suggest kiosk “factually represent” the pros and cons of such solar energy facilities, including energy storage and path of energy transmission aspects.

·       Suggest adding requirement that all materials used in the construction of commercial solar facilities must be manufactured in the USA. It may or may not be relevant, but Rapidan Service Authority has required USA manufactured materials in the construction and repair of their jurisdiction’s water and wastewater systems for years. Not sure if this is possible with solar facilities, but it sure would help the Country.

·       Suggest sustained soils testing requirements for the life of the facility and as a requirement of the decommissioning process. Suggest testing for every potentially harmful element contained in any and all facility materials at least biannually. Including testing of all associated storm water facilities and outfalls to rivers, creeks, lakes, ponds and streams if a testing trail of contamination dictates such. Suggest including a provision requiring testing after any cataclysmic event that causes breakage of panels and other components containing potentially hazardous elements. Suggest including provision for abatement and replacement of soils found to be contaminated and for the removal of damaged and otherwise unserviceable components within a reasonable time (maybe 30 days). Suggest requiring the County be notified immediately in the event of damage to components containing toxic or otherwise harmful elements.

·       Suggest prohibiting the disposal of any and all solar facility components, including contaminated soils, within the boundaries of Gloucester County. Such disposal may very well upset the projected lifespan of the landfill if left unchecked. Requiring recycling of materials as the only option may cause issues if such recycling facilities are not available for damaged or otherwise unusable components or when it is time to decommission the facility. What will happen then? Suggest requiring a detailed disposal plan.

·       Several localities require seeding and planting with pollinator friendly grasses and plants as part of landscaping. Suggest requiring the same in Gloucester.

·       Suggest fully exploring energy revenue share options provided in the Code of Virginia, with significant focus on the long-term revenue picture. Machines and Tools taxes will provide little revenue and Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery Depreciation (if applicable) will quickly decrease that revenue to nothing. Suggest clarifying how the facility’s real estate will be taxed, i.e., commercial, agriculture, etc. Suggest a requirement to review revenue sharing and other potential revenue avenues every five or so years.

·       Suggest requiring data supported water usage estimates for construction and post construction operations. A lot of residents rely on well water. If well drilling is necessary during construction, the impact on nearby wells may need to be considered. If public water is used, it may be prudent to know what long- and short-term impacts there may be on the system.

·       Suggest requiring applicants to coordinate with local emergency management staff and first responders to provide annual materials, education and/or training on hazardous elements contained in the facility and how to safely respond to and mitigate on-site emergencies.

·       Suggest spelling out the acceptable forms of surety for decommissioning, etc. and what happens to sureties when ownership changes through sale, bankruptcy, etc. In other words, a way to ensure the existence and availability of those funds throughout the life of the facility?

·       Suggest a requirement for power generated by solar facilities in Gloucester to be used only in Gloucester in the event of extended power outages.

·       Suggest including below ground fixtures, apparatuses and other components to those items that must be removed during decommissioning.

·       Suggest creating initiative to raise landowner awareness of the benefits and potential pit falls of entering into an agreement with solar companies. Maybe even requiring the landowner to acknowledge their awareness as part of the application process. In many instances throughout the country, landowners have been taken advantage of in various ways. See presentation on this topic at this link: http://wiseenergy.org/Energy/Solar/Leaseholder_Solar.pdf

We have included links to various Counties’ solar ordinances, to the Alliance for the Shenandoah Valley, Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation’s Utility-Scale Solar Ordinance Recommendations, and other informative information. We hope information found at these links and our suggestions will be helpful in the process of developing comprehensive rules for solar development in our County.

Respectfully,

Kenny Hogge, Sr.

Gloucester Point

Alliance for the Shenandoah Valley, Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation’s Utility-Scale Solar Ordinance Recommendations

https://shenandoahalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Alliance-Solar-Recommendations-FINAL-3_28_19.pdf

Page County Solar Regulation (Draft) 11-17-2020

https://drive.google.com/file/d/14kLkoiN3nP5n3JpmZUY_2yAYT8_SBcGt/view

Culpeper County Solar Policy

https://web.culpepercounty.gov/Portals/0/Departments/Planning_and_Zoning/2019%20Amended%20Solar%20Policy%20(signed).pdf?ver=2019-10-08-112446-437

Halifax County Solar Ordinance

https://library.municode.com/va/halifax_county/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=COOR_CH53ZO_ARTV.IISOENFA_S53-153PUIN

The Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS), established in 1986.

https://rethinkelectric.com/macrs-for-businesses/

New York Solar Law Model

http://wiseenergy.org/Energy/Solar/NY_Model_Solar_Law.pdf

Toxic Chemicals In Solar Panels

https://sciencing.com/toxic-chemicals-solar-panels-18393.html 

Monday, October 5, 2020

How Gloucester County, Virginia Taxpayers' Money Is Spent/Wasted. This can't go on.............


Not long ago I published an article demonstrating how some of our local tax dollars are spent/wasted. (Click here for article.) Even before publishing that article, we began looking at the County’s and School System’s use of Purchase Cards. Purchase Cards are commonly referred to as Credit Cards and in the instance of our local government, they are known as P-Cards.

Currently we are in possession of copies of P-Card statements from June 2019 thru June 2020 that the County charged me over $200 to obtain through a very deceptive, time-consuming, and frustrating Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process. Nevertheless, we have been able to conduct a general review of the statements and are well on our way to building spreadsheets that will enable us to take a much closer look at how our tax dollars are being spent. We also intend to ask our local government to allow us to review and copy some of the supporting document files for some of the charges. I say some of the supporting document files because it would literally take us weeks if not months and several hundred dollars or more in FOIA fees to the County to scrutinize such a magnitude of files. Transparency is expensive in Gloucester County.

What do we know about Gloucester’s P-Cards in general? We know a P-Card was used by the person convicted of stealing from the School System’s bus garage. (To read two related stories, Click here and click here.) We know thousands of purchases are made every month. We know some of the charges are payments for goods and services procured through a competitive bidding process. An example of such procurements is pizza from Domino’s for school lunches once a month. We know P-Cards are used to make purchases in other countries like Germany, Canada, The United Kingdom and Ireland. We know P-Cards are used to travel all over Virginia and to Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Arizona, California, Pennsylvania and other states. We know there are employees who use the P-Cards appropriately and we know there are ones who abuse them. We know we have more to learn and we are doing so.

I guess it’s time to tell you how much money we are talking about. From June 1, 2019 until June 30, 2020, they charged and paid off $4,437,897.19. Thus far, we have determined those charges were made by over 100 different P-Card holders but will not know the exact total until more work is done. Let’s look at some other things we have learned so far.

The following are the amounts spent per month for three consecutive months and the total spent each month on just a few Merchant Categories (MCC) of goods and services. (Purchases rounded to nearest $100)

$442,337.33 was charged during June 2019.

Airlines – $1,300

Lodging – $10,500

Meals – $1,500

Cox Communications – $40,300

Verizon – $11,800

Amazon – $21,500

Local Walmart, Food Lion & Kroger – $2,600

Organization Memberships – $955.10

Coffee Service – $300

Computer Software - $11,500

$695,379.49 was charged during July 2019.

Airlines – $2,400

Lodging – $10,700

Meals – $3,100

Cox Communications – $38,200

Verizon – $2,500

Amazon – $22,400

Local Walmart, Food Lion & Harris Teeter – $3,400

Organization Memberships – $4,900

Mulch and Lawncare – $700

Coffee Service - $200

Computer Software - $5,700

$293,198.46 was charged during August 2019.

Airlines – $4,900

Lodging – $3,700

Meals – $2,000

Cox Communications – $38,100

Verizon – $4,500

Amazon – $23,300

Local Walmart and Food Lion – $4,200

Organization Memberships – $10,000

Mulch and Lawn Care - $33,000

Coffee Services - $200

Computer Software - $600

There was a heck of a lot of money spent each month on air travel, lodging and meals. The examples above do not include reimbursements for cash receipts and do not reflect parking fees, tolls, fuel costs, car rentals, taxi fares, bus rentals, etc. related to travel. There were multiple people traveling every month throughout the 13-month period we are studying.

We pay Cox Communications a lot every month as well. The amount does not seem justified considering the number of people in the County who get no benefit from their service. I believe the same can be said about Verizon.

As for Amazon, Walmart, Food Lion, Kroger, Harris Teeter and a huge number of other suppliers, we will have no idea what all of that money was spent on until we get a look at the supporting document files for the charges. Rest assured, I will share whatever we find, good and bad. You can see more suppliers in the copies of P-Card statements I have provided in the SlideShare presentations below.

Organizations and memberships is another tax dollar eating category. Most of these organizations bring no direct benefit to Gloucester taxpayers and in some instances, they work against the citizenry and are downright Socialist and or divisive in nature. Examples of such entities are: Virginia School Board Association, Virginia Association of School Superintendents, Society For Human Resources,  National Alliance of Black Educators, National School Board Association, Virginia Association of Elementary School Teachers, Virginia Parks and Recreation Association, Realtor Association, Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, Virginia Association of Governmental Purchasing and too many more to list here. You can click on each organization listed to visit their website. I encourage you to take a look at each of them.

The amount of tax dollars spent on Mulch and Lawncare services is, in my humble opinion, absolutely ludicrous. There seems to be plenty money to spend on luxury and unbeneficial things, but not enough to keep our schools maintained.

The County and School System have initiated an all out campaign to entice Gloucester residents to vote in favor of raising the local retail sales and use tax. They are disseminating flyers on social media that are full of deception. The words “may”, “potentially” and “probably” are words of uncertainty and lack of commitment and are used throughout their flier. If this tax increase is enacted it will not only provide the School System with a blank check for as much as $100 Million, it will also pave the way for a meals tax increase. Did you know Gloucester has already increased the lodging tax to raise more tax dollars for Recreation and Tourism? It’s true.

It is time for our School System and County to be forced into becoming fiscally responsible. We The People of Gloucester were ignored during the recent Public Hearing on the School System borrowing nearly $6 Million. This can never be allowed to happen again. The whole Public Hearing was nothing more than a sham and is not how government in the USA is supposed to work. Not one Public Comment speaker spoke in favor of the borrowing, yet every Supervisor except Mr. Winebarger and Mr. Bazzani voted yes to approve it. Mr. Winebarger and Mr. Bazzani voted no. This time they cannot ignore our voice. Let’s send them a clear message this year by voting “NO” on the tax increase and send another message next year by voting several School Board and Board of Supervisors members out of office.

Written By: Kenny Hogge Sr

Gloucester Point, Virginia


A few interesting transactions that we intend to look at further.

06/06   74208474X00072Q9D      JIMDO HAMBURG                                $240.00

06/06   74208474X00072Q9D      FOREIGN TRANSACTION FEE              $2.40

JIMDO Hamburg     Website and webstore hosting from Hamburg, Germany.   https://www.jimdo.com/

07/22   24755426O3HM5N9Y2     FERG CENTER FOR THE ARTS           $600.50

07/23   24040836QS66JG33B        SWIFT CREEK MILL THEATER           $442.00

Ferguson Center for The Arts https://www.fergusoncenter.org/

Swift Creek Mill Theater http://siteline.vendini.com/site/swiftcreekmill.com/

08/27   24692167F2XDZV3Z6         SAN DIEGO ZOO WEB STORE           $725.00

San Diego Zoo We Store https://shopzoo.com/

 






Thursday, August 20, 2020

$6 MILLION DOLLAR LOAN AND A NEW TAX? Is Gloucester, Va. Heading In The Right Direction?

The Gloucester County public school system, county administration, the School Board and the Board of Supervisors are pushing for a new 1% retail sales and use tax. The final decision about this tax will be made when the citizens of Gloucester vote on November 3rd. Many Gloucester citizens have been led to believe this tax is needed to prevent future real estate tax increases related to renovating and or constructing new Gloucester public school buildings. The same real estate tax insinuation was also used when the powers in control entered the landfill contract with Waste Management and when the Commonwealth started the lottery. They are also expecting to get our consent to borrow nearly $6 Million on September 1st. Remember, Silence is Consent.

Before deciding whether to consent to more borrowing or voting for or against the new tax, everyone should ask themselves; are those people really being responsible with the money they already get from us? It is my hope that I can open more citizens’ eyes to some, not all, of what they use our tax dollars for.

As you know, we have two public libraries. Some years back the powers in control decided to abandon our two libraries and began to rent spaces for them. It now costs us over $270,000 per year in rent payments alone. This has been going on for more than 20 years. That $5 million could have gone a long way towards building two libraries on land the County/School system already own.

Several years ago, we began renting our Public Health Department space after the powers in control vacated a building we already owned. Now we are paying over $86,000 per year in rent alone. The state reimburses us for that expenditure, making it appear like a good deal on the surface. But remember, federal money, state money, County money, it’s all the People’s tax money; right? What most people don’t realize is, when we previously owned our own space, the state was renting it from us, not from the Main Street Preservation Trust through us. Owning our own space again would generate enough long term revenue to maintain the space and offset some of the 45% Health Department cost share the County pays to the state or offset the cost of the department’s phone service; which annually are more than $450,000 and more than $10,000 respectively.

Several years ago, the powers in control of our County and Schools began to focus on building a new transportation facility for our School System. (Well, if the truth be known, they were factually focusing on vacating the bus garage and old Page properties to satisfy an adjacent landowner, but that is another story.) When an analysis was done of the County’s and the School’s existing transportation facilities, the County’s repair garage that was located at the intersection of Providence Road and Route 17, was finally publicly exposed to be in extremely poor and non-OSHA compliant condition. Instead of consolidating our County and School System transportation and repair facilities by renovating and expanding the existing bus facilities, the powers in control have decided to build a new School System transportation facility next to the new Page Middle School and the County now rents garage space from Bay Transit.

We currently pay for two finance directors: one in the School System and one in County administration. Their combined base salaries alone cost us over $235,000 in 2020.(See SlideShare below) The school system does not write checks or pay bills and all our tax money flows through the County finance office and the Treasurer’s office. Wouldn’t it be more economical if the School System and the County combined financial services at the County level instead of paying for two directors? The same type of consolidation could occur with information technology, facilities maintenance, grounds maintenance and transportation.  Consolidation of County and School System services would save well over a million tax dollars annually.

To some, Animal Control is a wonderful department, to others it is an overreaching arm of our local government. No matter what side you are on, I hope we can all agree that we do not need Animal Control employees patrolling our roads and streets looking for infractions or unreported loose animals. It should be a reactionary department, not a policing agency. We certainly do not need an Animal Control employee driving a taxpayer vehicle to Gloucester Point Beach twice a day to walk out on the pier far enough to view the people laying out and then driving around the swimming pool at the Gloucester Point Yacht Haven on his way back to Route 17. This has been going on for at least four years that I have witnessed. Wouldn’t we save tax dollars if the County Administrator reined in such wasteful behaviors?

We currently have a County department called “Community Engagement and Public Information”. (It was previously titled “Community Education”). This department’s budget is currently $575,591; $530,381 of that is nothing but salaries and benefits. This department performs functions normally performed by the School System, County administration, social services and I.T. They produce the Beehive printed newsletter and the Gloucester County Town Crier online newsletter. This department also acts as the Freedom of Information Act facilitator. Seven employees from this department facilitate community use of seven of our nine school facilities. The department also facilitates connecting the community with various nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations. Close to a half million dollars could be saved annually if this department were dismantled and the functions they perform returned to where they belong; the School System, County administration, social services and I.T. As for a Freedom of Information Act facilitator, there is no state or other code requiring such. Department heads and County administration could receive and respond to such requests.

Between 2018 and 2020, the budgets for the following County departments increased by the amounts shown. (See SlideShare below)

County Administration, $210,000.

Human Resources, $213,000.

Real Estate Assessment, $79,000.

Financial Services, $185,000.

Planning and Zoning, $128,000

Community Engagement, $41,000.

Engineering, $96,000.

Building Inspections, $109,000

From 2017 to 2021 the Gloucester Schools Superintendent’s salary increased by nearly $55,000. (See link below to 2017 news article referencing the Super’s pay and the SlideShare below)

There were other, less significant increases and a few decreases. The most significant decreases are as follows.

Geographic Information System (GIS), $18,000.

Animal Control, $8,000

Economic Development, $75,000

Information Technology (I.T.), $75,000

As we see, our local government keeps getting bigger and bigger and costing more and more of our hard-earned dollars. Now the powers in control want us to a submit to paying for a $6 Million loan and another 1% increase in our local retail sales and use tax: all for our School System. We must not forget, former Governor Terry McAuliffe made Gloucester part of the future Historic Circle (Currently known as the Historic Triangle). Once that transformation is complete, Gloucester will be added to the Tommy Tax localities. That will be at least another 1% tax added to our local retail sales and use tax. When will it stop? Not until we say enough is enough.

They are telling us part of the $6 Million loan is to build a new bus loop at Abingdon Elementary School. What they are not telling us is the contract for the bus loop was awarded back in February for $541,599.08 and is almost finished. (See SlideShare below.) In the loan information they are saying it will cost $790,000. (See SlideShare below) Why are they borrowing money for something that is nearly finished and why are they saying it will cost more than the contract price? At-Large Supervisor Ashley Chriscoe had this to say:

“The Achilles bus loop was started with the intent we would Need to do this borrowing to pay for it.”

Well, §15.2-1238 of the Code of Virginia states:

Except in emergency, no order for delivery on a contract or open market order for supplies or contractual services for any county department or agency shall be awarded until the chief financial officer has certified that the unencumbered balance in the appropriation concerned, in excess of all unpaid obligations, is sufficient to defray the cost of such order.

If they knew they were going to have to borrow money to pay for it, how could they award the contract seven months before having a Public Hearing to get our consent to borrow the money? Something stinks here and may very well be the reason our County Chief Financial Officer abruptly resigned. The Public Hearing is scheduled for September 1st. Comments can be submitted at the following link and will be read into the record during the Public Comment part of the hearing. ClickHere to submit your comments.

On November 28, 2016, I and less than 70 people attended an open house and viewed a film at Gloucester High School. It was our School System’s kickoff of their promotion to renovate GHS or build a new one. It was also the unveiling of a new education platform that is being implemented in our and many other school systems where the communities gave consent by silence. A platform where communism indoctrination is portrayed as a positive education experience. Where everyone gets a participation trophy and other collectivism traits are instilled. Page Middle School was designed to facilitate the platform and so are many of the construction related changes planned for GHS. A lot of the money they are asking for is to fund the ongoing transformation of our public schools and to fulfill the desires of a handful of greedy people who want the old Page and bus garage properties vacated.

Do we really want to give our School System a blank check for $100 Million in construction money from a new tax, on top of the $6 Million they want us to consent to borrowing on September 1st?  The time to voice your opinion on the loan is during the Board of Supervisors’ Public Hearing on September 1st and the new tax will be decided at the ballot box on November 3rd. Most of all remember, Silence Is Consent. Please don’t be silent……………….

Written By: Kenny Hogge, Sr., Gloucester Point, Va.


Link to article about School Superintendent pay:

https://www.dailypress.com/news/isle-of-wight/dp-nws-iw-superintendent-thornton-requesting-raise-20170516-story.html

Link to Online Public Hearing Comment Form:

https://www.gloucesterva.info/FormCenter/Virtual-Meetings-27/Virtual-Meetings-Citizen-Comment-Submiss-94

Link to Gloucester's Adopted 2020 Budget:

https://www.gloucesterva.info/DocumentCenter/View/7551/FY20-Approved-Budget-Book-Final-for-Posting-and-Printing-secured?bidId=

Link to Gloucester County Board of Supervisors' contact information:

https://www.gloucesterva.info/1091/Board-of-Supervisors

Link to Gloucester County School Board's contact information:

https://gets.gc.k12.va.us/school-board








Wednesday, July 3, 2019

Gloucester, Virginia Public Schools’ Administration Attempts to Coverup Felony Theft

In May 2017 we brought you a story about rumors of theft from Gloucester County Public Schools’ (GCPS) bus garage. The rumor described an employee stealing a welding machine (welder) and when the theft was brought to the attention of GCPS administration, they allowed the thief to return the welder and retire. Almost two years later we reported Larry Clark Lawson had been indicted by a Grand Jury and as part of a plea deal, had pled guilty to one of two counts of theft greater than $200.00. We have now uncovered some very disturbing facts about the theft and what actions GCPS took and didn’t take once it was reported to administration.

Mr. Lawson was the Foreman of the GCPS bus garage. Part of his duties included purchasing repair parts, tools, etc. related to maintaining GCPS’ fleet of vehicles. Mr. Lawson purchased a welder valued at over $2,000 using GCPS funds. He knew he had to have his supervisor’s permission to make such a purchase and did not tell her. He knew he could not purchase anything over $1,500 on the County credit card and talked the salesperson into breaking the cost into two separate purchases to hide what he was doing. He even talked the salesperson into submitting the two bills several days apart to make it harder to be discovered. One of the purchases was listed as being the welder and the other was for some sort of accessory kit that was not carried by or sold by the vendor; in fact, the accessory kit did not exist at all.

To further conceal his crimes, Mr. Lawson arranged for the welder to be delivered to the bus garage to his attention and during a period when he would likely be the only person there. Unfortunately for Mr. Lawson, the welder was delivered on Thursday, March 30, 2017 instead of during the following week when everyone would have been off for spring break. Because of this, numerous other employees saw the new welder when it was delivered and began to talk about it. Mr. Lawson had the delivery driver unload the welder in the “tire barn” which is typically used to store tires and old equipment. Later that day an employee of the garage noticed the welder had been covered with black trash bags. By the morning shift the next day the welder had disappeared from the “tire barn” and remained missing until April 19, 2017.

Mr. Lawson was finally confronted about the welder and several other items missing from the garage on April 19, 2017. Then Transportation Director, Anne Lanan; Human Resources Director, Gwyn Ciemniecki and Assistant Superintendent for Administrative Services, John Hutchinson were the confronters. When Mr. Lawson was first asked where the welder was, he said it was in the bus garage in the middle of the workstation; at that point the conversation ended, and Mr. Lawson was placed on administrative leave.

Ms. Lanan then went to the garage where she did not find the new welder. She informed Ms. Ciemniecki who then called Mr. Lawson and asked if there was anything else, he wanted to tell them. Mr. Lawson said he loaned the welder to Tabb Fox, a friend of his and owner of Fox’s Auto Repair. Ms. Ciemniecki told Mr. Lawson he needed to bring the welder back immediately and Mr. Lawson asked if he could have until 5:30 p.m. When he brought it back later that afternoon, he resigned from GCPS. No one ever saw the welder at Tabb Fox’s garage and its location was unknow for 19 days.

Well, all that sounds pretty cut and dry if you assume GCPS administration are the ones who contacted law enforcement. That is not what happened at all. They allowed Mr. Lawson to resign and walk away. If not for the due diligence of an anonymous source who reported the theft to the Sheriff, the Commonwealth’s Attorney and the State Police, Mr. Lawson would have been allowed to do just that, walk away. It must have been very disheartening for that anonymous citizen when they found out Mr. Lawson’s punishment was a conviction for only one of his crimes, no jail time, $500 in court costs and no way to verify Mr. Clemons or anyone else with GCPS submitted the required paperwork to revoke Mr. Lawsons Virginia Retirement System (VRS) benefits as required by Commonwealth law.

In late April the Sheriff, the anonymous source and the Commonwealth Attorney met, and it was decided to have the State Police investigate the anonymous source’s allegations. In a phone conversation after that meeting, the Sheriff informed Mr. Clemons of the complaint made by the anonymous source and let him know the State Police would be contacting him. Mr. Clemons “then” told the Sheriff about some returned stolen property and asked about filing a police report with the Sheriff’s Department. The Sheriff told him that based on a conflict of interest, he should notify the State Police instead. Imagine that, Mr. Clemons was ready to report returned stolen property after being told the State Police would be making contact. On May 17, 2017 a police investigator met with the Commonwealth Attorney to commence the State Police’s involvement.

Mr. Clemons and his administration appear to have closed the book on Mr. Lawson on April 19, 2017 when they let him resign and did not contact law enforcement; or so they thought until the anonymous source threw a wrench in their coverup. If you don’t believe it, ask Mr. Clemons to show the report filed with the Sheriff’s Department reflecting GCPS’ allegations of the theft. Ask him to show any report they filed with any law enforcement agency before the late April 2017 phone call from the Sheriff’s Department. He can’t because none exist. If Mr. Clemons and his staff intended to do the right thing, they would have called the Sheriff’s Department on April 19, 2017 when Mr. Lawson supposedly first lied to them about the welder’s whereabouts. At this point it is hard to trust anything coming from Mr. Clemons or the School Board.

Why were they covering for Mr. Lawson? What were the other items missing from the garage referenced in the Commonwealth’s Bill of Particulars? Why did it take 19 days after the welder went missing for GCPS Administration to confront Mr. Lawson? What other systemic accountability problems does GCPS have that have not yet come to light? Has Mr. Lawson’s VRS benefits been revoked through application by GCPS and in accordance with the Code of Virginia? Have corrective measures been taken to prevent this type of theft in the future? Are other areas within GCPS being looked at for signs of the same or similar weaknesses in accountability and control? Etc. etc. etc. We deserve answers to these questions and many more.

One thing is for certain out of what we know so far, Mr. Clemons is not the kind of public-school superintendent the citizens of Gloucester County need, want or deserve. If you do not align with his vision for GCPS, he has no use for you. He has lost accountability and control of the transportation division and who knows how many other areas within GCPS. He participated in covering up for a felon employee. He has created a work environment where employees are afraid to speak up, express an opinion or even speak about matters of concern during public comment at School Board meetings. It appears to be all about Mr. Clemons’ image and his vision for GCPS; whatever that truly is.

What do we do about it all? I and many others believe the best thing that could happen at this point, would be for Mr. Clemons and everyone, including School Board members, who participated in the coverup to submit their resignations from GCPS effective immediately. They have irreparably broken the citizens’ trust. Maybe they can all get a job working for the welder thief who seems to mean more to them than the students and taxpayers of Gloucester County and the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Kenny Hogge, Sr.
Gloucester Point, Va.

Here is a link to GCPS web page with the School Board’s and other email addresses. Let them know this is not how we want any area in our public schools managed and do not appreciate their lack of control over how our tax dollars are spent. Tell them Mr. Clemons has worn out his welcome in Gloucester County.

Be sure to checkout the legal documents about the welder thief in the SlideShare presentation below and emails with Mr. Clemons and School Board member Robin Rice. More Later………………..




Saturday, March 31, 2018

The Villages of Gloucester Trying to Bilk Gloucester Taxpayers??


On April 3, 2018 the Gloucester County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing on changes to the previously approved high-end golf course, residential and commercial development known as The Villages of Gloucester. (Previously submitted under the project name, The Barrens)
The following is an email I sent to the Board of Supervisors. Take a few minutes to send the Board an email asking them to deny The Villages’ proposal. We have provided the Supervisors' email addresses and the link to the public hearing information at the end of this article. 
Kenny Hogge, Sr.

Greetings Board Members,

The proffer statement contained in The Villages of Gloucester’s proposal is lacking to say the least. Once again, we have a developer who boldly expects Gloucester taxpayers and utility customers to foot the bill for future infrastructure and services upgrades that will be a direct result of the proposed development. This road has already been traveled two times in the past.
When The Villages of Gloucester was first proposed it was called The Barrens.  That proposal was denied by the sitting board of that time for, among other reasons, not offering reasonable proffers to offset impacts on the community. One such example was the developers offer to build a 350,000 water tower instead of a one million gallon tower.  (A one million gallon tower that would be turned over to Utilities was later approved when the proposal was resubmitted under the new name.) The developers initial offer to build the smaller tower would have been acceptable if Utilities only provided metered water to the tower and the development retained possession of the tower and associated distribution systems within the development. That would mean the development would have to retrofit their tower to be compatible with Gloucester’s distribution system; not Gloucester retrofitting our system to be compatible with the development. They would also maintain, repair and replace their tower and distribution system, read meters and bill and accept payments for water usage within the development. Under such a scenario there would be little to no impact on Gloucester’s public water system. 
Unfortunately, the current proffer statement eliminates the construction of a water tower all together. A piece of land that must be claimed by the County within five years is all that is offered; therefore, when buildout of The Villages reaches a certain point, the burden of funding the construction of a new tower and associated piping will fall completely on Utilities’ water customers and Gloucester’s taxpayers, while the developer walks away with a fat profit. That is not how free enterprise is supposed to work.
There are several other items contained, or not contained, in the new proffer statement that will result in future costly impacts on Gloucester taxpayers. The developer claims the project will be cost prohibitive if the proffers contained in the previously approved proffer statement are required to gain approval of their current submissions. Then maybe Gloucester is not the right place for such a development or the developer is not the right fit for Gloucester. 
Just because the developer’s project did not come to fruition during the time since it was initially approved is no excuse for not providing reasonable proffers in their current proposals; nor is it a valid excuse for the developer to expect Gloucester taxpayers and utility customers to enhance their profit margin or reduce their losses, whichever may apply.
The Villages proposal should not be accepted as being reasonable on numerous levels. Please deny the proposal.
Kenneth E. Hogge, Sr.
Gloucester Point

Chris Hutson              chutson@gloucesterva.info 
Mike Winebarger       mwinebarger@gloucesterva.info  
Andy James               ajames@gloucesterva.info 
Robert Orth                rorth@gloucesterva.info  
Ashley Chriscoe        achriscoe@gloucesterva.info
Kevin Smith               ksmith@gloucesterva.info
Phillip Bazzani           pbazzani@gloucesterva.info