Gloucester VA Links and News

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?

The Virginia Constitution: Article II - Section 7 - Oath or affirmation

“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?

Gloucester, VA Response To Brian McGovern Concerning School Board

Brian McGovern recited the following at the last School Board meeting. After Mr. McGovern's opinion you will find my response.

Local Government is Cause for Concern

Recent actions by the Gloucester Board of Supervisors regarding public education in the county are a cause of concern on a number of levels.

In the recent budget hearing, more than 100 citizens attended with many requesting that the board of supervisors increase its financial support for public education in an effort to maintain high quality schools. Most advocated fully funding the school board’s budget request. Most recognized the effects of underfunding public education in Gloucester : A reduced school calendar; neglect of capital improvement needs; deteriorating and outdated textbooks; an exodus of highly-qualified teachers and staff who can no longer afford to support families on annual salaries $10,000 below the national average. One teacher, who happens to hold a master’s degree, reported that his family is eligible for WIC benefits.

Conversely, fewer than a half dozen citizens spoke advocating no increase in school funding. That’s right, 100:6. Those in attendance that night witnessed this lopsided ratio, and noted that the vast majority demanded that those who control the purse strings appropriately fund public education in Gloucester . As this community is now aware, this vast majority was ignored by the board of supervisors when it came time to vote on the budget.

There are some who have argued that there would be more funding had Gloucester simply replaced a 1953 school with a 1953 school on a dangerous stretch of a four-lane highway. They will no doubt continue to lecture those who disagree with them. This was not an issue raised by those who asked for appropriate funding for schools this year. The majority of Gloucester citizens simply want good schools.

The BOS has also given itself license to attempt to make administrative decisions for the school board. In addition to ignoring the will of the citizenry, the BOS also voted unanimously to earmark excess funds for bonuses for “selected” school staff.

The board of supervisors is charged with simply providing “lump sum” funding for the school board. This latest move is tantamount to “line item” funding and is an inappropriate role for the board of supervisors, if not an abuse of power. It is interesting that the BOS now seems to be interested in helping education support staff after one member suggested outsourcing the same support staff, many of whom have dedicated years or decades to the school system.

Instead of these political shenanigans, what the county board should have done was to listen to the collective voice of the majority and fully fund the budget request of the school board, which would have provided modest increases for all school staff, not just those inappropriately selected by the board of supervisors.

The school board asked for funding for a 3 percent increase for support staff as well as a 2 percent increase for teachers. The role of the board of supervisors is to provide funding for schools, not to decide who gets an increase or bonus, and who does not. The board of supervisors should do its job and leave it to the school board to oversee the operations of the school system. This author does not speak for the school board, but on behalf of the interests of public education in Gloucester County and the men and women who provide services to more than 5,000 children and teens on a daily basis.

Brian McGovern, President

Gloucester Education Association

_________________________________________________________________

I am writing in response to Mr. McGovern’s opinion titled; “Local Government is Cause for Concern”.

It is understood that numerous citizens attended a recent budget hearing and requested the Board of Supervisors (BOS) to fully fund Mr. Kiser’s and the School Board’s (SB) proposed budget. The BOS and SB were directed by the people, through the results of the last election, to rein-in spending throughout all departments. The citizens of Gloucester have demonstrated their desires to have good stewards controlling the money and an effective, efficient and equal public education system. The BOS is charged with overseeing all of the County’s financial resources and the Code of Virginia allows them to either provide lump sum funding or categorical funding to the school system. If the mentality of the School Board does not change soon, the method of funding could very well change. The school system is not a sacred cow or privileged special interest group without financial boundaries.

Replacing Page with a 1953 school was not considered. Many citizens and supervisors requested that Page be repaired because insurance proceeds would have covered most of the construction costs; developed athletic fields, utilities infrastructure connections and VDOT school zone safety requirements were already established; Page would have re-opened in 18 to 24 months; busing and modular space for the displaced would have cost half of what it is now. The financial path Mr. Kiser and the SB created and chose to follow has now resulted in belt tightening in more areas than just the school system.

Let’s not forget that along with tornado damage to Page the SB was also faced with closing T.C. Walker, obtaining school admin space and the issue of pay increases. Now we learn through the budget process that the community is in need of large recreation spaces like the auditorium and regulation size gym that Mr. Kiser and the SB tore down. A few months before the tornado, tens of thousands of dollars was spent to determine the cost of converting Page into an Administration and Operations Center. This conversion could have been accomplished through the post tornado repair process for 4 to 5 million dollars. T.C. Walker could have been refurbished into the new Page for 8 to 10 million dollars. At least 8 million dollars of the 15 million would have come from insurance proceeds leaving only 7 for the County to pay. Now it will cost well over 30 million with the County paying it all except 8 million. Mr. Kiser and the SB do not seem to realize credit is not free money. They also fail to realize the citizen’s pockets are only so deep.

Mr. McGovern said, “Most recognized the effects of under funding public education in Gloucester: A reduced school calendar; neglect of capital improvement needs; deteriorating and outdated textbooks; an exodus of highly-qualified teachers and staff”. In reality, Mr. Kiser and the SB have failed to properly prioritize updating textbooks, infrastructure maintenance and capital improvements. Under funding is not the cause, mismanagement is. If there is an exodus of teachers and staff it certainly will not be the BOS fault.

We the people have decided enough is enough and intend to bring about some serious changes. I encourage Mr. McGovern to get his facts straight before rendering any more opinions and to join the rest of the citizens in attempting to re-focus the SB and school administration on providing an effective, efficient and equal public education program.

Kenneth E. Hogge, Sr.

Bitcoin 101 - What is Bitcoin? - A Beginning Video for Bitcoin New Comers

The bitcoin logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Having trouble understanding Bitcoin as a beginner? Well, even Bitcoin's anonymous developer, Satoshi Nakamoto, commented on how difficult it is to explain Bitcoin to a beginner.

But we've been teaching Bitcoin for over a year now and we're starting to figure it out. This video is the result of a talk we did at Harvard University in April 2014 for Bitcoin beginners. Many of them mentioned that this talk helped them to finally understood the basic idea and we hope it works for you too. Even better, it is a story, covering the failures and difficulties of creating a digital currency, so for non-techies it is more accessible as well.

Our Notes:

A new video but an old story for people on this site. The news of Bitcoin continues to grow and more people are becoming very interested in all of the potentials behind this digital currency, and all for good reason, so we take those new to the trend back to the very beginning.

EBay Asks Users to Change Password After Breach

Image representing eBay as depicted in CrunchBase

Image via CrunchBase

E-commerce site eBay is asking users to change their password after a cyberattack compromised a database containing encrypted passwords. (May 21).

From AP news.

Levi's CEO Says Don't Wash Your Denim

Closeup of a copper rivet on blue jeans.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Denim aficionados claim you should never wash your jeans, instead freeze them once a month.. ABC News.

Our Notes: Now here is one way to go green. Stop washing your cloths altogether. If you do not have to wash your jeans, why should you have to wash any other cloths? Don't play in the dirt and stay away from anything greasy or grimy. If your cloths smell, blame it on top fashion experts. In fact, it will probably become fashionable to not wash cloths or yourself as part of going green here in the future. If you can offend a skunk with your own body odor, then you have hit the peak of fashion.

I think we will stick to the orange philosophy and keep showering as if water were plentiful everywhere. Wait, it is. Now go wash your smelly jeans.