HOLD THE ELECTED OFFICIALS ACCOUNTABLE
The Mount Vernon neighborhood delivered Gerry Hyland
to the Board of Supervisors and if the ills of the police department can be placed
at the feet of one person, it’s Jerry Hyland, a man with a cop fetish who
bullied other members of the Board of Supervisors into giving the cops
everything and anything they needed.
Hyland won’t be back, thank God, and now the people
of Mt. Vernon have a chance to redeem themselves by electing an intelligent
representative to the Board.
On the Democratic side there are four candidates
Candice Bennett (electcandicebennett.com)
Jack Dobbyn (www.jackdobbyn.com)
Tim Sargeant (www.timsargeant.com)
Dan Storck
At a recent debate the candidates were asked if they
supported the creation of an independent citizen police oversight board.
Wrong question.
Like the media, the person asking the questions is
under assumption that the citizens should do the work that we pay our elected
officials to do……keep the cops in line….by having us run an independent citizen
police oversight board.
The question to the candidates should have been;
“What actions will you take to bring the Fairfax
County Police into line?”
“Where do you stand on the use of body cameras for
the Fairfax County Police?”
“How about the use of drones by the cops?”
“What will you do to address the cop’s epic budget
in light of education and road funding in county?”
“Will you demand manslaughter charges against cops
who willfully kill unarmed and otherwise innocent citizens?”
“What steps will you take to demilitarize the cops?”
“Where do you stand on bringing in a reform chief from
outside the Fairfax County Democratic machine?”
“What is you stance on residency requirements for
the cops?”
“Where do you stand on minimum education and IQ
standards for cops?”
Three of the candidates in Mt Vernon….Candice
Bennett (electcandicebennett.com)
Jack Dobbyn (www.jackdobbyn.com)
and Tim Sargeant (www.timsargeant.com)
support creating an oversight board. It’s the right
answer to the wrong question but at least it’s a start.
The fourth candidate Dan Storck, said he would await
the recommendations of the current ad hoc police practices commission before
deciding. In other words, he is willing
to be part of the fraud being carried off by Sharon “Show me money” Bulova.
Blaming the cops for idiot behavior is like shaming
your dog for urinating in public. The cops and the dog are just doing what
comes naturally.
We don’t need this problem handled and managed police
commission, created by cops and their dummies on the board of supervisors in
the spirit of damage control and not police reform. We don’t need it because we
shouldn’t even have to deal with the cops….it’s not our job. What we do need is
a panel to question the elected officials who are supposed to be watching over
the cop’s behavior but haven’t done that, ever.
They…the elected officials… pull this crap…and get
away with it, well, until recently anyway….because they know that at election
time the machine will get the Post’s endorsements and not one arm of the press
will ask them an embarrassing question. And they will get the Post’s
endorsements, a big boast for their reelection, because they are democrats and
self-professed liberals. But because their democrats it doesn’t mean they are
able administrators and because they say their liberals doesn’t make them
liberal.
On our end, we’ll do what we can to make sure Storck
loses the primary because he’s too stupid to serve in public office.
In the column, writer John Lovaas is right on target. It’s encouraging to see
some parts of the media understanding that problem isn’t within the ranks of
the police department but rather with our elected leadership.
Column: Looking
Ahead to the 2015 Elections in Fairfax County
By John Lovaas/Reston Impact Producer/Host
When we go to the
polls in November, the ballot will include not only our state legislators, but
also the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors (Chairman and 9 district
supervisors) and School Board (12 reps-9 district members and 3 at-large).
I’ve been
thinking. What if we rated, or graded, incumbents based on their actual
performance? In the case of the Board of Supervisors (BOS), what if we rated
them on how well they handled their most important functions. In the case of
the BOS, that would be leadership in public education and public safety. Not
only do those two functions impact us all, but they are also the two biggest
chunks of the Fairfax County budget—an estimated 65 percent of the total.
It is still a
little early. There are over five months until election day, Nov. 3. However,
at this stage it does not look good for the incumbents. In public education, it
is charitable to rank BOS collective performance any better than poor. Why?
Because they are at loggerheads with the Superintendent and the School Board,
and our schools are in decline. Fairfax teachers’ pay is no longer competitive
in the region after several years of freezes. Morale is down and the best
teachers are starting to leave. Class sizes are above optimal levels and
growing. Summer school is zeroed out. Meanwhile, the Board voted themselves a
fat $20,000 pay increase. If it weren’t for some blame for the School Board as
well, it in fact would be fair to say the Supervisors are failing our kids. The
BOS performance on the public safety side has been worse. The August 2013
police killing of unarmed John Geer was the latest example of the lack of
police accountability and was briefly a national scandal. The Fairfax County
Police kept the name of the killer and all facts of the case hidden from the
public for 18 months until a court ordered the information released. The
shooter is still on the job, has not even been charged. The Supervisors have
averted their eyes and remained silent the whole time. The Geer killing was the
most recent of several questionable killings by FCPD officers in recent years.
Only a national epidemic of police violence with race overtones kept Fairfax
County off the front pages.
In April, Chairman
Bulova acted to create a Commission to review “Police Practices.” The
Commission has broad representation and looks promising. But, it is oversized
(36), with a large police contingent, and is due to complete its work just a
month before the election. Thus, reforms, including independent investigation
and oversight of police, are unlikely until after the elections--when the
pressure is off. It may be that only change can bring reform.
The School Board
might receive an interim grade of C-, only because they made good progress in
setting later school start times for teens after a decade of foot dragging, and
recently broadened anti-discrimination protections for students. These
commendable actions only partially offset their dismal failure to recognize and
support teachers, and their absolute chutzpa in granting themselves a 65
percent pay increase for next year shortly after stiffing teachers once again!
If the election
were held today, this voter would have to pause before voting for incumbents on
the Board of Supervisors. For the School Board, I might flip a coin or leave
the block empty. If the incumbent is one of the five who voted for their pay
raise, the challenger likely gets my vote. Incumbents still have five months to
improve and maybe do some extra credit work before they can stand up to
credible challengers.
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