"Tax Increase" or "Tax Revenue"?...

Supervisors Pyles and Pattie attended the public meeting over at the Churchville fire Dept regarding the potential need of paid staff for coverage there. Local medi covered it and I found several quotes interesting. Pyles was answering a persons question regarding additional funding for the safety services but in the following quote was there a typo or misquote when Pyles said "real estate taxes will increase" or did he mean "tax revenue" will increase?.... 

"Pyles said low taxes do not necessarily mean poor service. And Pyles assured Goings that when the county's reassessment is finished in the next couple of years, real estate taxes will increase."

    

"After Saturday's meeting, Pyles said he thinks those in attendance understood that the Churchville department performs well. Pattie said he was disappointed that more people who signed the petition presented at the Jan. 23 meeting did not turn out."

 

How many of those 400 signatures on the petition were actually "Real" citizens?....

Reality TV in the Shenandoah (Political) Valley...

In a bizarre twist, or maybe not since it is from the “SWAC-Nation” people, it seems the guy who crashed a Obama event at the Whitehouse is now running as an independent candidate in the upcoming Virginia gubernatorial race. Turns out Tareq Salahi will be coming to the Virginia Shenandoah Valley and attending a “Swac-Breakfast” forum which it appears will be used in his “Reality-TV” program describing his actions as a candidate in a gubernatorial race and his efforts to “Crash the Vote”….

It’s interesting that Tariq will be highlighted at a “SWAC-breakfast” which is coordinated by several who claim to have been once strong supporters of the VA Republican party in a event that that will only bring criticism to Virginia politics. Just what Virginia needs, a reality-TV program focusing on the “Swing State” of Virginia and the upcoming election cycle. Can’t wait until Jon Stewart gets ahold of this and I end up watching Virginia politics on the Comedy channel…

24/7 paid staff at what cost?....

Looks now that the Churchville Fire department is need of a full time paid fire staff after a recent fire and poor response time from the volunteer staff that was on duty. The BOS was presented with a 400+ petition calling for the staff and it will be interesting to see how the Supervisors respond. Will the community come together to provide the coverage or will they rely on the government to step in and provide 24\7 paid coverage and at what cost? The County ended up providing the paid staff at the Fishersville site after the local community was worked up into a frenzy by few who had a increase to their insurance and demanded such coverage but yet to see the real cost down the road. Will the BOS now provide the same coverage to Churchville and how will it be paid for and by who?


The Newsleader provided this in todays paper:

"Even without them, the money the county would have to spend to staff firefighters there would be a waste since volunteers already provide enough night and weekend coverage, she said. The department has been organizing shifts for volunteer officers and drivers to be available at all times during the week, which, McComas said, was an example of the changes under way over concerns about fire responses. “We are working toward changing some things internally that would help alleviate situations like (the Johnson fire) in the future,” she said"

Full story here

2013 Crystal Ball....

What will 2013 bring to Augusta County and all of Virginia?.......

 

There is already "Rumblings" that one of those who did not make the last "BOS-cut" will be making that run again...

 

And what about a "Special Appointment" for that somebody who has been praising a present BOS member whenever they get a chance but in the past had always been on the other side of the fence?.....

 

No doubt 2013 will be an interesting one as well as a continuation of the "political games"....

Tea Party "Thugs" vs. Union "Thugs"......

The NewsLeader Editorial staff came out with an "editorial" piece this week asking\hoping\declaring that the Tea Party is dead as apparent by the results of the last election and they are the reason that the Republican Party did so poorly. The EdStaff feels that the Tea Party came along as the result of "when the U.S. stumbled into the deep recession back in 2008 and "09" resulting in the organization of these angry and bitter conservatives but yet the NewsLead EdStaff ignores the poor economic performance since 2008-09 for that would reflect on President Obama and his administration and be against their agenda of promoting Obama and his team....

The NewsLead EdStaff says it was the evil Koch brothers that financed the Tea Party and Grover Norquist who spewed his "Venom spit" and rallied the Tea Party. Like their Mainstream media parent company they have been quick to criticize the Tea Party at every opportunity and portray them as an angry & bitter group out there to do anything possible to obstruct our President from moving the country "Forward"...

Today I searched the NewsLeader and its editorial page for info on the recent events that happened in Michigan as the law implementing the State as a "Right to Work" State and the violence by the Union thugs who were protesting this law. As with most of the Mainstream Media, the NewsLeader, and their Parent company, there was no mention of these violent acts. No mention of the attacks and physical beat down of a FoxNews contributor who stepped in while the Union Thugs tore down a Americans for Prosperity tent.

From IBD:

"Organized Labor: The assault on a Fox News contributor protecting women and seniors in a tent is but the latest example of the civil discourse and respect for democracy the president's union supporters really have.

Imagine the outrage and the mainstream media feeding frenzy had it been a Tea Party member punching an MSNBC contributor covering a protest over ObamaCare.

Or if Tea Party members had descended on a tent full of Occupy Wall Street supporters, flattening and tearing it apart with total disregard for the people inside.

Yet that is precisely what happened to conservative comedian and Fox News contributor Steven Crowder on Tuesday as he tried to get between union thugs and a tent put up by the group Americans for Prosperity, which reserved the space to support Michigan's right-to-work legislation.

When he was assaulted, Crowder was near the AFP tent, which in his words "was torn down with women and possibly children still (inside)."

White House spokesman Jay Carney declined to condemn the violence and threats by union members in Michigan the day after President Obama made an appearance there to offer his support, merely telling reporters Tuesday that "the president believes in debate that's civil."

This, of course, is the president who told supporters in 2008 regarding his opponents: "I want you to argue with them and get in their face." Well, they sure got in Crowder's face.

When asked by a reporter about a statement by Michigan state Democrat legislator Doug Geiss that "there will be blood" should Republicans pass a union-choice law in Michigan, Carney professed ignorance. "I haven't see those comments," he said, "and I'm not sure they mean what someone interprets them to mean."

We interpreted them to mean "there will be blood."

They also failed to mention that two school districts in Michigan had to be shut down for the day because of majority of Union teachers their called out of work to attend the union rally against the "Right to Work" law being signed. Interestingly it was also reported, (not in the Newseader its parent company or the mainstream media) that only 7% of the 8th grade students in Detroit Michigan can read at a proficient level...

Maybe the NewsLead EdStaff needs to attend one of the Tea Party meetings that are being held by several groups here in the Shenandoah Valley to see what is really happening here in the community they claim to represent?

The NewsLeader reported on the BOS vote on the Panhandling issue and once again we have interesting material. Looking at the comments in the NewsLeader comment section it seems many of the locals have seen the same people at the corners from day to day and in fact many of these "Panhandlers" are doing pretty good for themselves.......     Augusta County panhandling restrictions don't pass Written by Calvin Trice Nov. 15

newsleader.com

VERONA — People can panhandling pretty much as they have been in Augusta County after a proposed ordinance to limit aggressive solicitations went begging at the county Board of Supervisors Wednesday night.

The change would have prohibited aggressive solicitations and asking for money in most public places, near banks, ATMs and on private property without permission. Chairman Tracy Pyles Jr. thought the county would have gone against the flow of federal case law by adopting the restrictions. “All over the place, the federal courts are saying, you’re violating the Constitution by doing this,” Pyles said.

Supervisors rejected the proposal by a 3-4 vote, after a 15-minute public hearing. One citizen spoke in favor and two opposed. Supervisors David Beyeler, David Karaffa and Jeffrey Moore voted for the measure.

Supervisor Michael Shull said he couldn’t support the proposal because he was taught that people should be good Samaritans. Beverley Manor Supervisors David Karaffa supported the change for safety. The community provides many resources for those who are down and out, Karaffa said prior to the vote. “There are plenty of ways that our community embraces those who are in need,” he said.

“This is like using a canon to kill a cricket,” one said. People can always just say no. What about the Liberty tax guy in front of the . “He looks pretty aggressive to me,” the resident said. The proposed ordinance would have defined aggressive as touching someone, blocking their free movement, approaching them in a way that appears threatening.

Carwashes couldn’t have signs too close to the streets, but it wouldn’t have affect things like bake sales, which wouldn’t ask for funds in an aggressive manner, Morgan said

The "Gang-of-three" takes their show on the road....

Looks like Chairman Pyles has taken his show on the road with the help of his "Pocket Supervisors" Karraffa and Pattie in the form of a "Political Breakfast" in Waynesboro. Comments by the "Gang-O-Three" were dutifully reported by the News Virginian but once again failed to seek comment from the remaining members of the Board of Supervisors. It can only be questioned how many readers of the NewsVirginian who picked up their morning paper to read this piece thought it was reporting of a official meeting instead of a "Political Breakfast" gathering.

 

Supervisors focus on economic development

Expanding businesses have the best hope of improving county finances

By: Bob Stuart | News Virginian
Published: September 23, 2012 Updated: September 23, 2012 - 12:48 AM

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Waynesboro, Va. --

Whatever is financially ailing Augusta County can be cured or at least modified by more economic development, a trio of county supervisors said during the SWAC Political Breakfast on Saturday.

The breakfast was conducted at Waynesboro’s Golden Corral Restaurant.

 

The supervisors spoke of how 2012 has included some economic highlights that will pay dividends to the county, including Mary Baldwin College’s selection of a Fishersville location for a new campus and graduate programs, and the recent announcement of McKee Baking in Stuarts Draft adding 78 jobs.

 

They also spoke of how County Economic Development Director Dennis Burnett has been given a free hand to aggressively promote and create more jobs for the county’s economy.

“If we don’t have jobs, we deteriorate,’’ said Board of Supervisors Chairman Tracy Pyles.

Since a new board took office in January, Pyles said the seven members have worked to reestablish strong relations with state economic development officials in Richmond. And Pyles said Augusta County has embraced the idea of regionalism — working with both Staunton and Waynesboro — to create jobs that benefit the entire area.

 

“If we are putting our resources together it works better,’’ Pyles said. He said Burnett and other county officials offered a vision of Augusta County to Mary Baldwin that helped sell the Staunton women’s college on the county as a location for their new Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences.

 

Pyles said Fishersville is becoming a health center that already includes a burgeoning Augusta Health and Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center.

 

And of McKee’s expansion, Pyles said “what Dennis (Burnett) asked for we provided. If he gets them on the hook, we land them.” The Stuarts Draft plant was competing with two other McKee locations for the manufacturing of the company’s mini doughnuts product.

 

North River Supervisor Marshall Pattie said the early meetings of the new board last winter involved lengthy closed sessions about new economic opportunities.

Beverley Manor Supervisor David Karaffa called Burnett “a tireless worker’’ who labors late into the night looking for more jobs. And he said the infrastructure for future development is in place at the county’s Mill Place Commerce Park in Verona.

“We are marketing it aggressively. It is a beautiful place to put your business,’’ he said.

On a different front, Karaffa expressed great confidence in the Roanoke area business performing the county’s new reassessment.

He said Wingate and Associates is Virginia’s most experienced reassessment provider.

Supervisors are also expected to decide on a strategic fire/rescue plan for the county at Wednesday’s meeting that entails how to deploy 21 new fire/rescue positions obtained under a federal SAFER grant.

 

Pattie said the new strategy will assure that the county does not have the ISO rating problems it had two years ago with the Preston L. Yancey Volunteer Fire Company in Fishersville.