Archive for the ‘Hampton Roads Politics’ Category

Purkey

VIRGINIA BEACH (August 16, 2010) – - On Saturday, in a display of candor (and stupidity?) senior Virginia Beach Del. Bob Purkey acknowledged what many conservative Republicans and others have been saying all along:

There is no difference between Republicans and Democrats.  They are all peas in the same political pod.  That’s why government is corrupt, inefficient, and doesn’t work for the benefit of the people.

Purkey, long described as arrogant, hot-tempered, self-important, told the GOP weekly breakfast that a dollar is a dollar:  Not Republican dollars.  Not Democrat dollars.  Just a bottom-line political dollar$$$.

The wrong message for the intelligent young minds of 2 tables of students from Princess Anne High School who were attending.

While admitting no credibility as a Republican and admitting he plays political footsie, financed, and even voted for Democrats, just to ‘get along,’ Purkey did score points for candor.

But no points for valor or integrity or honor.  Some say it is senility catching up. That while he made a little speech supporting GOP contributions, support, and compromise with Democrats at the expense of integrity and morale values of the party, he simply displayed the falsehoods he’s wrapped himself in over the decades as a Republican.

Rigell

He fell on his sword trying to defend GOP 2nd District Congressional candidate Scott Rigell who donated $1,000 to Obama, said he was impressed by Obama’s rhetoric, his campaign language, and to keep Queen Hillary Clinton from getting the Democrat nomination.  Rigell has also supported other lesser, state level Democrats.

Purkey said people in business and politics have to do that for their survival – not the people’s survival.

For the most part Rigell’s contribution to Obama and other Democrats had been off the radar screen.  If Purkey thought he was the ‘Lone Ranger’ helping Rigell out by stepping out front on this issue again, he was terribly wrong.

This is the last thing the Rigell campaign wanted brought back to the forefront, where staunch, conservative core Republicans have already abandoned him and middle of the roaders in the party are having second thoughts.

Independent Congressional Candidate Kenny Golden was head of the Virginia Beach GOP before resigning to run for Congress, first as a Republican.

When he determined the GOP national machine was covertly backing Rigell to the detriment of the other 8 in the GOP primary race, Golden dropped out as a Republican candidate and filed as an independent, refusing to be part of the GOP’s candidate fodder for appearance sake.

At neighborhood affairs and ‘town halls,’ Golden is attracting more and more supporters with his plain talking message directed at  conservatives, disgruntled Republicans and Democrats.

So far neither Rigell nor the incumbent, Democrat Rep. Glenn Nye are giving him any help.  Rigell claiming Golden is a fleeting ‘outside candidate’ who doesn’t deserve recognition by being elevated to a debate platform, has refused to debate Nye if Golden is included.

Nye is using the opposite argument to avoid confrontation with Rigell and Golden by saying he won’t participate in a debate unless GOLDEN IS INCLUDED.

Using these tactics to dodge debate among major party candidates sets both of them up as weaklings, cowards who would both be ‘demolished,’ as some say, if there was a 3-way debate with Golden in the middle.

Nye is hoping to win on his ‘conservative’ Democrat record – voting for most GOP-approved issues, except the election of Nancy Pelosi for House Speaker.

Rigell has hitched his campaign wagon behind the GOP national professional machinery, great monied ad campaign, and staying below the public radar by not engaging in any potentially dangerous confrontation situation.

A 3-way debate is scheduled Aug. 19 from 7-8:30 p.m. in the Princess Anne High Auditorium, sponsored by the Citizens Advisory Committee for the 3rd Police Precinct.  No evidence anyone except Golden will show.

The Virginia Beach Taxpayer Alliance, which has traditionally hosted candidate forums in congressional races is also planning for a joint event.  Any candidate who doesn’t show will be represented by name tag and empty chair.

Questions will be addressed to the empty chairs and answers will be ‘candidate so-and-so refused to answer.’

We are still a long way from the November election.

VIRGINIA BEACH (August 10, 2010) – - Just pondering:   Who’s yo daddy?  Did Obama’s daddy (a part time sex toy for his white mama for a short while) really serve in World War II as the president claimed?  Is oral sex cheaper than a haircut?  Can a Christian-educated at religious entertainer Pat Robertson’s Regent University be the largest booze seller in the state? Can government really run a railroad?

Those are just some questions people ask.  They come from the Internet, the barber and the news media.  Some of them stick around for a few hours each day, some longer, but not all for real long.

President Obama, in talking about veteran services and need to support them, told the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials on June 28, 2008 that his father served in World War II and when he came home he got the veteran services he needed, including treatment for PSTD.  (See YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv4jnlkxOaw).

His father born in 1936 would have only been 5 years old when WW II started and less than 10 years old when it ended.  Obama lied?  Or simply ‘mis-spoke?’

Most of us believe he probably lied.  Snopes, an Obama apologist organization, chalks it up to he mis-spoke.  You can listen to the his speech on YouTube and make up your own mind.

Oral sex cheaper than a haircut?  My barber said it was!

I went the cheap route and decided to try a ‘regular’ barber shop instead of a fancy-smancy stylist I usually went to, a couple months back.  Hadn’t been in such a place since I was a child when it was 2-bits for a shave and a haircut (and I was too young for the shave).

There was foreign female barber, possibly Filipino, open and I was her next victim. Being noted for big mouth and no forethought, I flippantly quipped, “Hair cut $5?”

Without missing a beat, she said, “Oral Sex, $5.  Haircut $15.”  “Lets proceed with the haircut,” I replied.

Big Mac, our GOP governor, who once had a problem of trying to determine if  he had ever experienced oral sex, came out of Regent University – a devout Christian lawyer.

Like down in the Bible belt where the Southern Baptists were in a conspiracy with bootleggers and ’shine runners’ that kept us good ole hillbillies ‘dry,’ it’s hard to believe that Big Mac has to tour the state to dump its liquor industry.

Cretins fear it is going to cause liquor stores to be ’seeded’ on every  corner of every city, county, and town.  Who cares?  If they can’t make money, they’ll shut down on their own.  For the rest us, it’ll offer competitive prices.

And no!  No government in the U.S. can run a railroad.

In Norfolk, the executive black director who was trying to build a ‘light rail’ monument to himself was so incompetent that he allowed the project to go over budget $108 MILLION in 1-year and get a year behind completion schedule because he was ‘black’ and everybody was afraid to challenge him.

They finally gave him a wealthy ‘black’ parachute to go away.  It was cheaper than a prolonged discrimination court fight they were sure he’d launch against Hampton Roads Transit if they’d didn’t buy him off.

So now, new management is swamped with trying to correct everything from engineering mistakes to personnel matters.

And Washington’s Metro which has had numerous problems, has asked the National Transportation Board to tell it how it can prevent fatal accidents.  I have an idea:  Turn it over to private industry or park the trains.

Ain’t it fun to ponder stuff?

Nye at Democrat breakfast

VIRGINIA BEACH – - 2nd District Rep. Glenn Nye is running for re-election.  And he appears to be running scared.

At a Democrat breakfast appearance Saturday, his campaign handlers were totally unprofessional and the appearance, while it didn’t come unglued, it was certainly rusty around the edges.

The red meat attack on his opponent, promised in a city committee email announcing Nye’s appearance, failed to materialize.

The announcement said, “Also come learn more about millionaire car salesman Scott Rigell’s pro-Cuccinelli agenda and why we must win in November.”

To begin the meeting two staffers sought to stifle media coverage of by asking the city Democrat chairwoman Susan Mariner, a very nice, attractive woman, to ban media recording of Nye’s remarks.

Ms. Mariner said, “The request was made by his press staffer because she is very nervous and this is her first campaign.”

Informed that VNS would leave the meeting or would force the Democrats to throw us out before we would refrain from recording the event.

Mariner said, “The Republicans don’t allow you to record.”  The editor replied, “I have been in the media since 1960 and I have never been banned or asked to not record a meeting.

“In fact,”  he replied, “the Republicans encourage the media’s participation.”

Mariner said she didn’t know what to do as the deadline for starting Nye’s presentation passed.

VNS sought out Nye’s handlers, press girl Jennifer Koch, and Eric Anderson, identified as political advisor.

The editor explained and Ms. Koch said they would arrange an after the event interview or anything if the media didn’t record the meeting.

VNS stated that it had never honored such a request at a public meeting.  Ms. Koch lamely said, “This isn’t  a public meeting.”  It was quickly pointed out that it was a public meeting, the public had been invited, and Nye is a big boy and public figure capable to operating in a media environment.

It was also pointed out that as X-2nd District Rep. Owen Pickett’s press representative that the editor had ‘written’ the PR game book that Nye is trying to follow except in trying to censor the media.  Nye thanked the editor for that.
At that point, 15 minutes past starting time, the editor asked Nye, “Do you have any objection to our recording the meeting?”  Nye tossed it back to Ms. Mariner.  “It’s Susan’s call,” he said and when pressed refused to change his position.

At that point the editor again talked with Mariner.  “What would you do if this was WAVY or WTKR television?”  “We’d do the same thing,” Mariner said.

VNS then told Ms. Mariner, since she continued to waffle, “We are going to record the meeting and to stop us, you’ll have to throw us out.”

The whole media debacle was just rough, unprofessional, amateurish and Ms. Mariner admitted that she had no policy.

Nye obviously modified his planned remarks with a slight display of annoyance and made no controversial comments about his opponents nor about substantiative issues.

He abruptly ended his remarks and departed.  An attempt to talk with him was refused by his staff on the grounds ‘he’s in a hurry to leave.’

Armpit shows Nye's stress

The editor got the distinct impression that without his people having total control, Nye was unsure of himself and ill at ease.

The building was well air-conditioned, but Nye was sweating profusely, soiling the armpits of his shirt.

VNS’ impression?  Nye will try to avoid all confrontation with any opponents by rejecting debates; will only appear before soft, supportive audiences, where his staff can have control.

He doesn’t appear to have the confidence to expose himself, his comments, or his positions to a mixed party or objective audience where he can’t control the environment or questions.

He seems like a really nice guy, but unwilling to debate his opponents.  Watch and lets see.

VIRGINIA BEACH – - Virginia News Source (VNS) has learned that only two members of the city council had enough knowledge to vote against giving Norfolk $250,000 for its light rail study.

Only 2 members had read any of the documents governing the resort city’s obligation to Norfolk’s light rail project.

Councilman Jim Wood, who is also chairman of the Hampton Roads Transit board, had never been able to get a copy of HRT’s original grant application until VNS requested it.

Councilman Bill DeSteph had read that and other documents before the issue was bought before council.

That is unconscionable: Councilman John Uhrin, Mayor Will(ing) Sessoms, Councilwoman Barbara Henley – who admittedly knew nothing about the contents and obligations outlined in the documents – were going to ‘blow $250,000′ tax dollars because Norfolk ‘asked.’ Because Sessoms and City Mgr. Jim Spore wanted them to.

Had they done this they would have been guilty of malfeasance in office – but they were stupidly blissful in trying to help solve Norfolk’s financial problems with our tax dollars.

Wrong grasshoppers! Next election you are going down. Future campaigns won’t be like past campaigns. There’s the Internet. There are citizen activists to challenge your every statement and position.

There’s a ‘New Day Dawning’ in politics here and across the nation.

No longer will your money alone be able to put your sorry asses in office.

Integrity. Responsibility. Honesty. Serving the public first. Transparency. Those are the qualities that most lying, currently serving politicians will have to square off against.

Try putting your records, statements, actions, and lies against that standard now and let us know where you think you stand. We may add out 2-cents worth.

Politicians who stick their heads up in public can expect to be held accountable or embarrassed for their arrogance and stupidity.

In the current flap over the funding of the Norfolk study, only DeSteph and Vice Mayor Louis Jones stood up for the taxpayers.

After meeting with the HRT chief the day before Sessoms was going to try to ram the issue through council, DeSteph and Jones alone got Phil Shucet, HRT’s top exec, to withdraw the request.

Oh, we almost forgot: There was a council transcript quoting the previous manager of the corrupt agency as promising the study would “not cost Virginia Beach” a penny.

Despite all the evidence, the council refused so signal in advance how it’d vote, except for DeSteph, Jones, Wilson, Dyer, and Diezel.

For example Councilwoman Henley, admitting she’d never seen any of the documents, said she hadn’t made up her mind before the request was withdrawn.

But sources tell VNS that she’d do anything City Manager Jim Spore wanted and Spore wanted her vote for giving away the tax dollars.

There is no evidence that anybody other than DeSteph might present information about the documents and there is no evidence that those who hadn’t ‘made up their minds’ wouldn’t have voted for the giveaway in total stupidity.

Only Jones, DeSteph, and VNS, stood in the way.

There are six GOP candidates running for the party’s nomination to Congress to oppose incumbent Democrat Glenn Nye.

Virginia News Source has been talking with most of the candidates and today we have conducted a 9 minute interview with GOP candidate Ben Loyola.

Loyola, a native of Cuba, came to the U.S. after his parents fled when Fidel Castro took Cuba communist. Ben tells part of his story in this podcast interview with VNS.

Townes

Michael Townes was protected in the operation of corrupt Hampton Roads Transit Authority by his black ‘posse’ of supporters who knew of his incompetence.  Knew he was incapable of running HRT and the light rail project.

The posse knew months before the HRT board found out that Townes had overspent his budget by $108 MILLION.  They knew it was behind schedule

They said nothing in circling the light rail project to protect the man because ‘he was a black brother,” inside sources have said.

“…the makeup of the board was heavily in favor of Michael despite the evidence.  I will leave it to you to guess why… facts unimportant to them and they had enough votes to keep him on,” VNS learned.

As we have always said about Townes, he rallies the posse at the least hint of a threat to him or of any criticism of his mis-management style.  The black posse’s role was to support his yelps of ‘racism’ as the excuse to cover his problems and inadequate ability to handle the job.

It wasn’t until after the $108 MILLION overrun was made public and officials began to take heat through the media that they were able to override the black posse who stood with Townes to the end.

Sources told VNS that Norfolk Mayor Fraim, Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms and the city manager of Norfolk threatened to pull the plug on the entire project that the HRT board was able to force Townes out.

Why did he get his ‘black’ parachute of about $180,000 for a year?   Because he had a tightly written clause in his contract.

The HRT board was afraid to fire him because it felt that he would go public with his racism charge and take them to court.

He’d keep ‘good blackmail book’ on what he considered racist slights and the board felt it would cost more to fight him in court for the rights of citizens than it would to pay him off for a year.

Other officials said he should have been fired for malfeasance, misfeasance or investigated for criminal activity.  Under this scenario, the contract and ‘black’ parachute clause would have been null and void.

One official said, for the above reasons, “We were very fortunate to strike the deal we did.”

It was said, “Unfortunately, he had a severance clause that was air tight.  Although it may sink in the throat, sometimes just paying the severance is cheaper than a court case. He will never again have credibility, I fear.”

While no one disputes his value in turning HRT into a professionally managed agency, X-VDOT chief Phil Shucet took Townes’ job at $336,000 a year, adding to the already costly venture.

Here we are paying an incompetent $180,000 to get out, Shucet $336,000 to come in, and the project is sitting on a $108 MILLION cost overrun.  If this is good government policy, we’d hate to see what bad government would cost and bring us!

The original documents whereby HRT applied for and got grants of $25 and $50 MILLION, respectively from the state and federal government – leaves Norfolk responsible for all cost overruns:  One reason why it is trying to suck Virginia Beach into to project – to help minimize its loss exposure due to the mismanagement of the corrupt agency.

The original documents whereby HRT applied for and got grants of $25 and $50 MILLION, respectively, from the state and federal government – leaves Norfolk responsible for all cost overruns:  One reason why it is trying to suck Virginia Beach into to project – to help minimize its loss exposure due to the mismanagement of the corrupt agency.

Crying ‘racist’ is a familiar tactic.

Townes yelled like a harpooned sea lion in Nov. 2002, after VNS reported he’d spent $50,000 in tax funds to provide free bus rides to the polls for a transportation referendum.  (See:  http://www.veritas-solus.com/VNS/Archive/axtax_hrt.htm )

He plastered the buses with illegal campaign signs promoting the referendum which would have resulted in a 22% tax hike.

Most of HRT’s ridership is black, but Townes joined Norfolk councilman Randy (I should have had an abortion instead of giving birth to Light Rail) Wright.

VNS reported that normally politicians, primarily Democrats, give blacks a half pint of whiskey and a $5 bill to sell their votes.

Townes didn’t confront VNS personally (in fact no HRT employee would speak for the record), but he called a now-deceased, but at the time rabid black legislator to attack VNS as being racist.

But after it was pointed out that the VNS editor had worked for a congressman and knew of what he spoke, the vocal squealers shut up.  Didn’t want to expose many of the political control tactics they used to control lesser educated black voters.

VIRGINIA BEACH (July 11, 2009) – - Lets be completely clear about our traffic problems: (1). They are caused by years of ineptness in VDOT; (2). More than 40 years of political abuse and neglect; (3). The masses of ignorant drivers.

None of these problems can be solved by any amount of money or any hike in taxes. Both would only feed the problem, the ineptness already built into the system.

HR3202 (the so-call regional taxpoortation bill): Would have done absolutely nothing to prevent the problem that developed at the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel starting the July 4 holiday. NOTHING.

The traffic nightmare would have been just as great with HR3202 as it was without it.

Don’t you people get it? THE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM IS CORRUPT: Read the rest of this entry »

VIRGINIA BEACH (June 8, 2009) -- - Light rail supporters, under the guise of involving the public in the light rail decision will ‘Delphi’ the opinion to be what government leaders want -- not what the people wants.

In a May 23 detailed, highly documented presentation on the fraudulent economies of Norfolk’s proposed light rail project to the

Oceanfront, Part 1 and Part 2 have dealt with the facts.

The fraud is how officials ‘low-balled’ the projected costs and ‘hi-balled’ usage to obtain federal and state money — a crime most places. Once the funds were obtained, the projected skyrocketed over budget by $56 MILLION; and the first car hasn’t been put on the tracks.

If a member of the public had pulled that kind of shell game involving government funds,  they would have been charged with fraud or other crimes.

Reid Greenmun, chairman of the Virginia Beach Taxpayer Alliance’s Transportation Committee, is undeniably the most expert citizen transportation not on the public payroll.

Greenmun made the dramatic presentation (on YouTube) based on the facts supplied from the public record by the agencies involved in the area’s transportation projects.  Anywhere documentation didn’t exist, Greenmun pointed that out by saying it was his opinion based on ‘the best available facts.’

Read the rest of this entry »

VIRGINIA BEACH (June 7, 2009) -- - X-Marine JAG officer Chuck Smith, seeking the GOP nomination for the 2nd Congressional District seat, told supporters  Friday afternoon:

• The GOP has had problems with infighting that helped make it its own worst enemy.
• Must now unite as one party.
• Return to conservative party principles.

He opposed the stimulus bail out plans and said he’d continue to do so. But despite his high hopes and genuine conservative credentials, Smith has a hard row to hoe.

Other candidates, who have or are capable of raising much more money, include Freedom Ford owner Scott Rigell and Kenny Golden, chairman of the Virginia Beach Republican Party.  Others, yet unnamed are flocking to join in.

Read the rest of this entry »

VIRGINIA BEACH (May 30, 2009) -- - Light rail:  Traffic congestion panacea or another government boondoggle wasting taxpayer dollars to pay off special interest political campaign debts?

A project that promoters admit will serve no more than 12,000 commuters a day -- a drop in the bucket if you look at the number of cards on our roads today.

WATCH THE VIDEO PRESENTATION:  JUST THE FACTS, MA’AM!

This is Part 2 of a presentation by Reid Greenmum, chairman of the Virginia Beach Taxpayer Alliance Transportation Committee.  Greenmun is undisputedly  one of the most knowledgeable experts on transportation in Tidewater.

Greenmun noted that the federal government was told the project in Norfolk would cost $232 MILLION, but like everything done by bureaucrats and politicians in a little over a year, it is already $56 MILLION OVER budget and it hasn’t left the station yet.

Did HRT deliberately lie to the feds by underestimating the costs and overestimating ridership and benefits just to get federal, state monies with the strategy being:  Get it started and SOMEBODY will have to finance keeping it going.

Read the rest of this entry »