Senator Colgan has announced that he will seek a 10th term. Politics aside (if that’s possible anymore), having the chair of the Senate Finance committee and a budget conferree as your Senator is a good thing. It has brought Manassas demonstrable benefits – Route 28 overpass and Dam improvements (a $10 million unfunded mandate from the state that was funded only because he was on the scene). Having met with the Senator that past 5 years on the City’s legislative agenda I can tell you he still remembers his time in local government quite well and understands what we’re looking for.
I stand by my earlier prediction – the good Senator is the “cap on the stack” and nothing’s going to change. I just don’t see any Manassas electeds taking him on (if I’m wrong on that, this will be a real mashup). Also, I think Del. Miller will run again for his seat. It’s a republican seat and Jackson has been around long enough that he’s starting to gain some seniority. I’d be surprised if Jackson drew a serious challenger from the republican side but you never know.
The local scene could be quite a melee’. There are 3 school board seats up, 3 Council seats and the Mayor’s seat. I think there will be a lot of action here. I continue to get emails about the schools (many of which I agree with) and when that happens, my guess is that you’ll see challengers for the School Board. The tea party folks still insist that the City budget is too big and there are some other folks with other issues who might run as independents. Indeed, the independent scene could be the most interesting this time around. I’ve heard from some moderates who feel as though there isn’t a home for them in an local organized party so they don’t join or have departed same. I’ve also heard from some folks who a bit outside the normal band (for here) that might have a go at it as an (I). Haven’t heard any rumblings from any democrats (other than Sen. Colgan of course) on any level.
Don’t know if anyone is interested in the Mayor’s job. The last democrat that ran for local elected office was for the Mayor’s job. It’s kinda early yet for all the local positions. The republican convention won’t be until January so the state-level contests will go forward and then we’ll see local contests take off in a meaningful way in late November-December-January.
June 1, 2011 at 8:41 am
http://hamptonroads.com/2011/05/senior-dem-sen-colgan-running-reelection
I’m glad to see Senator Colgan running again. He has been a great friend
of the City of Manassas in Richmond.
June 1, 2011 at 2:09 pm
I would still like to see the TEA Party “Short List” of what can be cut…an honest, factual, verifiable list. Otherwise, they need to quit blowing smoke out their external smokestack located on the dorsal side of their body.
June 1, 2011 at 7:42 pm
Raymond,
The school budget can be cut. That’s one of the largest costs we have, with very little in return value. It’s too bad we can’t get out of the waste of money we are sending to the “arts” Center, because that’s another cost we could do without. The funding of the police officer for Lake Manassas also needs to go. Money for Council retreats.
Colgan just needs to go away. He’s done nothing for the illegal alien issue. He’s always seems to be in favor of rising the gas tax. And, the final insult is that he is not staying on to help us, but only his political party.
June 1, 2011 at 10:34 pm
COM, in the TEA Party flyer, there was no reference to MCPS – that said, you and I have common ground in the days of just them getting a majority percentage needs to go away. No wonder they only release a consolidated budget statement – a line item one like the City Manager’s would be torn apart!
The Police at the Lake – this is going to be a bone of contention with two sides: one who say go away as serves no purpose (I think the popular one is to keep people from dipping their toes in the lake) to the opposite that says there is a mandate to ensure protection of public drinking water sources. I am on the side for public safety.
Ya know, you bring up the retreats and that is an interesting point….where is the minutes or work product of such (aside from Budget and Legislative since they produce work products)? Hmmmmm…..
June 2, 2011 at 6:45 am
Raymond,
I’ve not seen the flyer, so I can’t comment on it. I just threw some items out there. What public safety? Do any other local Government have specific officers to patrol their water supplies? I do not think so. So why does the City Council believe our public water is that much more important as to need a “watch man”? Besides at over 800 acres, the lake is too large and has way too many access points to keep safe by just having one officer.
This is not about public safety it’s about keeping us from being able to enjoy the lake. I’ve asked a number of times on here and my blog, for people who are against opening the lake to provide specific examples of other Cities who have completely closed off access to public water lakes and have kept them closed for fear of a terror attack. I’ve asked for people to provide examples of where public water lakes/rivers, etc have been ruined and or tainted by boats and or fishermen to the point of no longer being viable sources of drinking water. I’m still waiting for examples.
June 2, 2011 at 8:14 am
COM: I would invite you to contact Mike Moon for your explanation. He is the director of Utilities. For my part, I defer to staff and the Utilities Commision that have spent more time and know far more than me on this. Do know that the Utilities Commission is chaired by Mayor Weber and he’s a very serious man. He wouldn’t support these things for the fun of it. Please contact our experts. I promise you Mike will take your call – he’s been around a long time and is wide open to citizen inquiries.
RB: the proceedings of all of our retreats are public. Indeed, they are public meetings and are announced as such. Being 5-8 hour meetings there aren’t minutes taken but “proceedings” are published. I think I linked in the proceedings from the last one at some point. The proceedings of the Education Forward meeting will be published soon. I just recieved a draft copy myself so look for it in a few days.
June 2, 2011 at 9:29 am
As I’ve noted here and elsewhere:
Assuming Colgan and Jackson are reelected, their political differences and those of their bases will remain. But I believe that each of them is sufficiently Manassas-centric such that they can search for and find some common ground where such common ground exists and work together for the benefit of Manassas.
There will still be plenty of opportunities to fight about those issues upon which they and their respective bases disagree. But Colgan has significant seniority and I hope that he and Jackson can successfully work together to leverage that seniority and power for the benefit of our fair City, at least on those issues where they can agree. It would demonstrate good statesmanship by Jackson who is quite capable of doing so, even if a few would prefer that he not agree with Colgan on anything. Even where there is significant disagreement there is nearly always some low hanging fruit to be picked and shared.
June 2, 2011 at 10:28 am
Andy,
I’ll give him a call. But, unless he has some inside information that he is keeping from you and the rest of the Council, and us for that matter,I’m not sure what new insight will be gained. It simply comes down to putting up very weak excuses for why the lake has been closed. Of course the lawsuit for the time being trumps anything else.
June 2, 2011 at 11:58 am
Andy, my comment on information was not a shot at you or our great City Clerk Staff or City Staff – just one more statement in support of a City PR person who would maintain a news section on the City website 🙂 This way, when things happen, short details can come out quicker than waiting days or a couple of weeks for the stuff.
June 2, 2011 at 12:06 pm
COM, on the lake…yeah, its big. But like Andy says, call Mike…and he can rattle off the Fed Mandate Clean Water Act, and the State Mandates out of Virgina Code 15 and 62. Our lake as a public water source and the rules is no different than the mandates over the Chesapeake Bay or Potomac River. Or just cruise the Virgina Department of Enviromental Quality website. I would NEVER defend the dollars for the security of the lake if there was not a logical, valid, quantiable reason.
It’s like the battle over the dam and “100 year storm” – there are just some mandates you cannot win against.
June 2, 2011 at 3:27 pm
Raymond,
Boats and fishing are still allowed on the Bay, the Potomac and just about every other water way in our area, public or not. How do other Cities deal with the same rules yet have their waters open to the public?
June 2, 2011 at 4:54 pm
Evidently we residents are busy trashing our own creeks, ponds and stormwater systems right here in the City. This is what was pulled out of the creek between Cannon Ridge and Point of Woods on May 14: a pile of tires, a shopping cart, a car door and enough trash to help fill an entire dumpster. And that’s light compared to previous years, thanks to ongoing efforts of Michael Sensale and other neighborhood volunteers. The creek is part of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
You can also call Tony Dawood, he’s the city’s Deputy Director of Water and Sewer, 703-257-8380.
June 2, 2011 at 4:57 pm
Andy, set the record straight with the moderate crowd about the local party being ‘too conservative’. I really dont think thats the real case here.
I am always trying to get some of the ‘right wing’ to also join the local party. They seem to think that the local party is controlled by the moderate and mainstream republicans. Hence, the creation of the local Tea Party.
I for one try to get all of them to join the local party.
June 2, 2011 at 7:38 pm
http://manassas.patch.com/articles/hair-raising-beach-bash-event-at-old-towne-sports-pub-to-benefit-pediatric-cancer-research
A lot going on this weekend with the Railroad Festival in Old Town Manassas,
but The Old Towne Sports Pub is only a short walk up Center St. . Sounds
like a very worth-while event. Hopefully Jackson and Marc can tell us when
they will be there.
June 2, 2011 at 8:31 pm
You want spending cuts? Well here’s one:
The City appropriated $76,000 in the last budget to the Candy Factory. I like the place and agree it deserves public support, but a locality providing funding to a charity, except under some specified circumstances, is against the Code of Virginia Section 15.2-953. The City is appropriating taxpayer money to non-state entities in violation of the Virginia Code, despite just having gotten an “extensive briefing” by the City Attorney on this very subject two weeks before the budget was passed.
Perhaps the city can recoup the money they shouldn’t have spent from Bendall’s O&M insurance coverage. Poof, there’s five figures right there.
On another note, it’s always nice to see Manassas Republicans endorsing Democrats who ceaselessly advocate for raising our taxes while tirelessly working to shield illegal aliens from the consequences of their unlawful behavior. Did Russ Potts move to Manassas and I missed it?
June 2, 2011 at 8:39 pm
It’s too bad we have a litter problem. I suspect many who engage in such activities are either too young to remember the 70’s era PSA featuring the Indian, or are from Countries where littering is not considered that big of a deal. As somone who enjoys fishing and other outdoor activities it really bugs me to see such disrespect for our Natural resources.
June 2, 2011 at 9:16 pm
@Greg: The Candy Factory is part of the Manassas Musuem System…and therefore a government entity/activity. Governed by the Council-appointed Historic Resources Board. Check the website: http://www.manassascity.org/index.aspx?nid=211
Do not confuse the Musuem System with the IRC 501(c)(3) “Manassas Musuem Associates”. They are the public charity; albeit integrated into the System in the same way the County has the various “Friends of…” The Associates do not receive ANY direct government funding (as reported on their IRS Form 990 available either at the Musuem Office since this is their sponsor; or at Guidestar).
No violation of the Virgina Code exists once the veriable facts are known.
June 2, 2011 at 9:25 pm
Andy, going to have to agree about the Independents showing up…and more in the case of the respect/trust for the man or woman running for an office, than really the traditional label of Republican. I would venture, if the 10K+ registered voters where surveyed in the City, more Independents would be found than the traditional Party affilitiation. Of course, it will be interesting to see how many turn out at election time given the last local election for Council only had about 1,200 with only about half of them casting votes for School Board.
I know of three voters who are thinking of attending, and as with the last Republican Convention, went with the canditates who had the best donuts 🙂
Agree also with Jackson…having met a several of the Republican Party, I don’t believe it is “too conservative”. But then again, as I said at the Budget Public Hearing, the word “conservative” is getting skewed anyway as to what it really means in terms of politics or fiscal approach.
June 2, 2011 at 10:30 pm
I still think the Candy Factory should sell candy to help pay the bills. It’s a natural.
Work out a deal with See’s Candies.
And getting more people to vote goes back to that TED video I shared with you, Andy. There has to be a better way to inform and engage people to get the vote out. One of the things I really liked was Jackson Miller’s town hall by phone, or all the politicians who post on Facebook. That type of stuff meets people where they are.
June 3, 2011 at 6:53 am
Why should there be any outreach to get people to vote? Either people want to vote or they do not want to vote. If some are willing to forego that right, that’s on them. Of course it could also have something to do with how American Civics is taught, or not taught these days. How some are not aware of the right to vote is puzzling to me. Also, let’s not also discount the large number of illegals and or non Citizens who live in our City, that have no right to vote.
June 3, 2011 at 8:52 am
The Candy Factory is a Virginia corporation recognized under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service Code. If it were a government entity, it would not require tax-exempt status nor would it exist as a legal person under state and federal law.
It would be interesting to see if for the purposes of VAC 15.2-953 putting it into a museum system can transform it from a non-state to a governmental entity. I expect it would not, since the code section specifically speaks to 501(c)(3) status and ignores any conditions where the corporation would be somehow affiliated with a government established entity. I’ll bet there’s some case law about that somewhere.
June 3, 2011 at 9:02 am
Whatever one might think of the Candy Factory aside, I don’t agree that VA law prohibits localities from making these donations. I agree that it prohibits the GA from making them but the way I read that code section, it allows localities to do just that. Of course, I’m not a lawyer either.
June 3, 2011 at 11:29 am
Which of the specific authorizations in the Virginia Code do you think applies here? Is it the section about a 501(c)(3) promotes energy efficiency? Or does the Candy Factory constitute a volunteer fire & rescue squad? There are about 12 criteria in Section B so it shouldn’t be that hard to figure out which one of those applies.
Here’s the link to the code in case you haven’t had a chance to read it: http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+15.2-953
June 3, 2011 at 11:44 am
Any level of government can be donated to by an individual under Title 26 of the US Code (aka IRS Code) and if the donation (funds/property) are accepted by the government, the individual can take a deduction within the limits of the Code as what is donated as a percentage that is allowed.
The Candy Factory was donated to the City by the Merchant Family in 1998 and added to the Manassas Musuem System. A donation to an agency or instrumentality of the State or political subdivision thereof, or which is owned and operated by the State or political subdivision thereof, falls under the Title.
The Candy Factory, as an individual entity, is not listed within the State as a corporation on the SCC website. Nor is there it listed as a nonprofit entity in IRS Pub. 78. Since it is owned by the local government, it would not be expected to be in either unless there was a specific reason it would be seperately incorporated, then IRC would apply under specific provisions. The Musuem Associates, since the Factory is part of the System, do support it.
If localities are prohibited from maintaining their owned historic properties in this State, we would be wiping out most of the efforts to maintain/revitalize. Local governments have used Federal funding either through Historic Preservation Grants or CDBG to do such.
June 3, 2011 at 11:46 am
I don’t believe the criteria in section b restricts a localities choices. They are simply enumerations – examples if you like. Indeed, you can well imagine that when they wrote the code in section “A” that someone raised their hand and said, “does this mean local governments can’t donate money to the local volunteer fire dept”? So section “B” was added.
Nowhere does the language say “only these kinds of charities qualify”. Indeed, in section A, the grant of authority is sweeping:
“Any locality may make appropriations of public funds, of personal property or of any real estate and donations to the Virginia Indigent Health Care Trust Fund and to any charitable institution or association, located within their respective limits or outside their limits if such institution or association provides services to residents of the locality; however, such institution or association shall not be controlled in whole or in part by any church or sectarian society.”
June 3, 2011 at 1:12 pm
The issue that everyone seems to be so delicately dancing around is whether or not such appropriations should be made in the first place. Given the current economic and political climates in conjuction with payroll freezes and cuts to services, I would suggest that local politicians (city, county, state) strongly reconsider funding for such things as The Candy Factory, Hylton Center, Rainbow Riding, etc., etc., etc. (the list for PWC is nauseatingly long), lest those same politicians find themselves suddenly “unemployed” after their next election. Necessities before niceties Andy, Patrol Officers before the Hyltons.
June 3, 2011 at 1:14 pm
Amen – despite objections to the contrary, we added 4 new officers this year.
June 3, 2011 at 3:24 pm
Andy and all – the authority from Virginia Code Section for Local Governments to aquire and preserve places and things of historical nature (hence the Manassas Museum System and all its elements) and to answer the question on whether there is a legal basis to fund same by a local gov’t when the gov’t owns it. EMPHASIS on “owns it” versus the points raised by Greg of making “gifts to”.
§ 15.2-944. Authority to acquire and preserve places and things of historical interest.
Any locality may acquire, except by condemnation, sites, landmarks, structures and records of historical interest and value to the Commonwealth and may restore and preserve them, or may convey them to a nonstock corporation chartered under Virginia law for the purposes of acquiring and preserving such places and things. A locality may appropriate money to any such corporation.
Keep in mind the Manassas Musuem System is the integrated, government entity
and not any form of a nonstock, seperate corporation since we are the City “Rich in History”.
June 3, 2011 at 6:42 pm
Way too much is being argued here. The museum and the foundation are separate entities. Period. Arument to the contrary is silly and has no basis in fact or law.
June 3, 2011 at 10:57 pm
The “Center for the Arts of Greater Manassas Prince William County”, the entity operating as “Center for the Arts at the Candy Factory” is a 501(c)(3) corporation that files an annual Form 990 with the Internal Revenue Service. The EIN for the organization is 52-1338092.
It is not a state entity. It is not owned by the City of Manassas. It is a Virginia Corporation recognized by the Internal Revenue Service.
According to Legislative Services, Andy’s reading of the Virginia Code is incorrect, although they do admit that the code section is not well crafted and should be improved to make it more clear. I posed the question to them through Delegate Bob Marshall a few weeks ago and their guidance was that Section A establishes a context but Section B establishes the particulars, otherwise none of Section B would have any legal effect. The legislative history on this clearly indicates otherwise.
I would imagine this discussion is ripe for requesting an opinion of the Attorney General. Assuming there isn’t anyone else actually interested in what the answer would be here, I’ll take that task on myself.
June 3, 2011 at 11:19 pm
I suppose a lot of this discussion hinges on what the “Candy Factory Fund” actually is. If it is a transfer to the Center for the Arts at the Candy Factory, that would make it legally questionable. If the fund is used for some other purpose – for example to maintain a city owned building that the Center for the Arts uses if that is the case, that would probably be outside the scope of this discussion.
The City’s budget documents don’t explain what this fund is or how it is used, and there doesn’t seem to be any available documentation for this fund on the City’s website. The only thing listed is the appropriation to the fund, but beyond that there’s nothing.
Another opportunity to find the answer here is the Form 990 for the Center for the Arts. It is not available online, although it can be requested.
June 4, 2011 at 1:27 pm
Great Railfest & Civil War weekend in Old Town today. There’s a church service on the museum lawn at 11 am tomorrow led by reenactor Mark Stevens, a city resident and teacher.
BTW, I stopped at the Candy Factory and asked, “Do people come in and ask if you sell candy?” The answer: “Every day.” Can anyone explain why they can’t sell candy there? It just seems like a natural money-maker.
June 4, 2011 at 3:04 pm
@Greg, thank you for the specifics and your second comment, as your are right there is a difference between funding building maintenance/operation versus funding an entity using it. Of course, using the term “Center for the Arts” boggles the mind further since there are two such entities exist- one being the nonprofit you mention, and the other being the GMU one.
My points were on the building, which is how I first read your posting. The $76K is in the line item “Candy Factory Fund 560” which is for the building. That, as you noted, falls within the discussion as proper funding. Vote was 6-0 when it came time up on the “Short List” back in April.
The item to focus on in terms of funding local entities is under “Cultural Enrichment”. Center for the Arts received $35,000 in FY2011, and had requested $40,000 in FY2012. This was pulled in the “Short List” out of the rest of the Health & Welfare and other Cultural Enrichment entites and voted on seperate. That went for $35K with a vote 5Y/1N.
Again, thanks for clarifying!
June 7, 2011 at 5:08 pm
As always Andy, thanks for running this forum. Lots of ground covered here, from ‘is the local GOP too conservative or conservative enough’, littering, Sen. Colgan’s imminent reelection, Lake Manassas police, to ‘is the Candy Factory a big fat waste of money.’ So what the hell, here’s my two cents Sen Colgan good, littering bad, I’d like to be able to rent an electric boat at the lake like in the good old days, and if an officer is required to make sure that no wackos are casing the place, or even peeing into the lake, I’ll leave it up to the guys I elected and the chief to decide. Candy Factory? Once it was donated to the city, what were our options? Sell it and hope that some retail merchant could make a go of it? Physically maintain and pay the property tax on such a big old place?
Would it have sat and crumbled? Our city fathers at the time made a decision based on their view of what a useful purpose was, I’m sure (I hope) that there was some discussion with concerned citizens, and then some dollars later, we had a pretty cool space to use. Have to admit, I’ve only been inside for city volunteer appreciation receptions, and I liked what I saw. I guess now we have a ‘better’ place for these receptions, but that’s another matter. How conservative is the local GOP? Well, I guess that depends on where one starts out on the conservative/liberal spectrum, doesn’t it? I don’t think anyone needs my two cents on that one. But the center is always a good place to stake a claim. AMF