Below, we have provided a SlideShare presentation of the Plaintiffs' recent "Election Fraud" filing in the Great State of Georgia. Share it far and wide because mainstream and social media are hiding this from the People.
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/
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:
Link to Online Public Hearing Comment Form:
Link to Gloucester's Adopted 2020 Budget:
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