Anti-BVBL

NotGregLetiecq, 16. September 2008, 18:33:

Okay. So. Is anyone else watching this? The Supervisors voted 5 to 3 in favor of a motion by Frank Principi to add a discussion of Stirrup’s Duecaster appointment to the topics to discuss for closed session.

Those in favor: Principi, Caddigan, May, Jenkens, and Nohe.

Those opposed: Greg Letiecq’s Errand Boys, Covington

There had been a discussion about a DVD submitted into the record by Eric Byler, of the 9500Liberty You Tube channel, but I am unclear about whether or not they agreed at the time to watch it in closed session.

When the Board reconvened about 90 minutes later, the other appointments all passed unanimously except for Supervisor Nohe abstaining on the vote to confirm Supervisor May’s appointment, Kris Nohe (his wife) to the same Human Services committee for which Robert Duecaster was about to see a vote. When Chairman Stewart introduced the Duecaster appointment, there was a long discussion. Jenkins said he hadn’t had the opportunity to view the video embedded above.

So, he asked that the vote be delayed until the Board could see it privately.

Supervisor Stirrup responded that there was prejudice in the video (I believe he meant prejudice AGAINST Duecaster, ironically enough).

Supervisor Principi said, “I’m in the same boat” with Supervisor Jenkins, and that he was torn between following the usual procedure (my phrasing) and using his vote to express his concern about a man whose “reputation precedes him.”

Chairman Stewart said they should not watch the video before voting because 9500Liberty was “against the Board’s Resolution” (not exactly true but okay).

Supervisor Principi said we don’t need to watch someone else’s interpretation, we have our own footage from Channel 23’s coverage of Citizens’ Time. He said we can ask our communications department to edit the same three speeches together from their own footage. He repeated the request that the vote be delayed until such time as a Channel 23 version of the same events could be produced for the Board’s edification.

Supervisor Caddigan said she planned to vote against the appointment. She said she had not heard about any of this beforehand, and felt uncomfortable voting in the affirmative if she was being denied the opportunity to see the video. She said she was disturbed by some of the Duecaster quotes that were read to her at Citizens’ Time.

Supervisor Nohe said that while he was disturbed by the comments of Mr. Duecaster, which he called “deeply offensive to me,” he was going to vote yes out of respect to Supervisor Stirrup, not out of respect toward his appointment.

Chairman Stewart said that he doubted whether the Duecaster quotes were accurate. It seemed to me that it was in Stewart’s power to deny the Board an opportunity to see the DVD, and it was in his power to force a vote.

They then voted, as RobbPearson reported on the previous thread:

FOR Duecaster’s appointment:
Stewart
Nohe
Stirrup
Covington
May

AGAINST Duecaster’s appointment:
Principi
Jenkins
Caddigan

After the vote, Supervisor Jenkins said this is the first time he had ever been denied the opportunity to see information pertinent to a vote. Because he had been contacted by so many concerned citizens, he asked County Attorney Horton if, now that the DVD was in the public record, would it be made available to citizens. The answer was yes.

9500Liberty Special Screening
Thursday August 7th • 6:30 PM
James J. McCoart Administration Building • Occoquan Room
1 County Complex Court • Woodbridge, VA

6:30 PM
Immigration Policy Change in Prince William County (6 minutes)
Followed by a 20 minute Q/A about PWC’s current immigration policy

7:00 PM
9500Liberty Special Screening August Update (80 minutes)
Followed by a one hour discussion and Q/A

Added scenes will include Chris Pannell, a former Help Save Manassas Executive Board Member, explaining why she left Help Save Manassas, the first "Save Prince William County’s Economy " Party, and Chief Deane’s official response to the Letiecq/Stewart charges of treason before the Board of Supervisors April 1, 2008.

Stewart claims $3 million in an $850 million budget is not significant. Excuse me, wasn’t that the initial costs that the County identified as being attributable to illegal aliens? How could it be significant in one instance but insignificant in the other?

And what is it with Stirrup and this point of order?

An article in the Gainesville Times today provides an intelligent, in-depth review of the 9500Liberty special screening to explain the April 29th roll-back of the Immigration Resolution.

For those who were not there last Friday, there is another screening in the works for next week, probably Thursday. In the mean time, here is the more popular of two clips on the 9500Liberty channel, even though the other one is more interesting:

I feel like this was a much more inquisitive piece of writing. The MJM article focused on varying reactions while this article focused on the content of the film:

The film had its share of suspense and drama, even for those who were familiar with the outcomes of each board vote.

Nohe is presented at some points in a fashion similar to a reality television show star who sits in front of a camera and talks about what was going through his mind in between clips of a particular situation.

His most prominent role comes during the climax when the board was trying to decide on a tax rate. At the centerpiece of the funding issue was the $3.1 million price tag to put video cameras in police cars. Deane has asked for the cameras to allow officers to fight the inevitable lawsuits based on charges of racial profiling.

“The whole program’s getting unbelievably expensive,” said Nohe.

Part of the problem was that the resolution had changed several times since its inception.

Originally, it called for police to check the immigration status of every person stopped for a violation. It was later changed to allow police to check the immigration status if the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect is an illegal immigrant. That variation is the one that prompted the chief to ask for cameras in the police cars.

In order to pay for the cameras, the real estate tax rate would have had to be set at 98.7 cents per $100 of assessed value. After the 98.7 rate failed on a 4-4 vote, Principi asked for a 97-cent rate on a motion to eliminate the cameras and require all immigration checks to be done post-arrest.

That failed 7-1.

Viewers find out here that during a behind-the-scenes meeting between Stewart and Principi, the Republican chairman asked the Democrat to go back on his resolution.

“There’s not a hell’s worth of chance that I would oppose it,” the Woodbridge supervisor said he responded, later adding that since their break, he had the five votes needed to get a similar version of his motion passed with fewer cameras and all immigration checks moved to post-arrest.

It passed unanimously, leading Principi, who once said the illegal immigration resolution was “essentially failing,” to tell the filmmakers on camera, “I’m going to declare victory and go home.”

The post-arrest scenario, which is what was finally adopted, means that after a person has been charged with a crime, police will investigate their immigration status. Since every person charged will be checked, there is less concern about racial-profiling complaints.

The Manassas Journal Messenger reports on the Friday night screening of the latest version of the 9500 Liberty screening.

According to the article,

The reaction to the film ran the gamut, after its showing Friday night at Trinity Episcopal Church in Manassas.

Chris Pannell, who left Help Save Manassas this spring, praised the video. Woodbridge Workers Committee Nancy Lyall enjoyed the film, but expressed her outrage at the resolution.

City Councilman Jonathan Way said the presentation was interesting but that he learned nothing new.

“It was far less contentious and argumentative than I thought it might have been,” Way said.

Conversely, Help Save Manassas member Maureen Wood said the video was one-sided, made Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey A. Stewart look like a fool and the filmmakers and she would never “see eye to eye on this issue.”

Part I

Part II

It’s that time again! 9500Liberty, AntiBVBL.net & Unity in the Community invite you to a party next Friday to support business owners in Prince William County.

When: Friday, May 23rd, 7 to 10pm
Where: El Rinconcito Latino Restaurant
4112 Dale Blvd.
Dale City, VA 22193

If there’s rules then I’d like to see them changed so that the next time a citizen makes a racist comment they get called out. In my opinion, Bob’s talk was uncomfortable and made me cringe a couple times, but in comparison to some of the other things that I’ve heard from people standing at that podium, I’m not quite sure it rises to the standard of a public reprimand. As far as I know, this is the third instance of this happening since October.

1. The Hispanic lady that tells the board to kiss her a$$ to which John wants her deleted from future broadcasts.
2. Maureen Caddigan says ‘Can someone stop that woman from coming here?’ in response to Donna Widawski’s.
3. And now Bob Wills

Again, none of these incidents bother me more than these incidents which stand out in my mind.

1. The woman who said she doesn’t like it when a Hispanic can own homes and she can’t.[I mean what is that about? Let's do an exercise, re-read the previous sentence and substitute Black for Hispanic. Obviously offensive. Do people not get it?
2. Mattes' statement - It is scary, and she wouldn't be surprised, if these guys [daylaborers] came across the road & jumped a car and hijacked it.[Okay, worse case scenario, you have a group of men(Hispanic) loitering, looking for work, most likely in a state of mixed immigration status.]
3. Another lady who said she felt uncomfortable when the daylaborers nodded their heads at her.[Reminds me of Obama's grandmother admitting she felt uncomfortable with Black men.]