Republican convention coming up soon: Jan 28th! Filing deadline is January 20th. So far we have the following folks announced:
Council:
Sheryl Bass
Mark Wolfe
Jon Way
Ian Lovejoy
Mayor: Hal Parrish
I’ve heard rumors that there’s a social conservative guy out there but that’s about it. Nobody has announced to challenge Hal. There’s an announced independent running for Council and I’ve heard that there’s a Democrat out there but nobody has chimed in yet. Seperate from the convention, I have heard absolutely zero about the School Board elections. I hope we have a robust contest there, it’s time there were more folks involved!
In all seriousness, this is going to be a very important election. If you’re interested in the direction your city is going to take, you need to be at this meeting.
December 22, 2011 at 4:54 pm
I met the lady who is planning to announce her run as the Democrat at the Independence Empowerment Center Holiday Open House this past Tuesday. She will be doing the announcing after the first of the New Year or so.
For those interested in attending the Republican Convention, the “Call” with all the rules can be found at: http://www.manassasgop.com/2012-CityConventionCallfinal.pdf
The Application that MUST BE RECEIVED by 5:oo p.m. on January 20th (not postmarked but in the Committee’s hot little hands by that time and date). Can be found at: http://www.manassasgop.com/2012-delegate_pre-filing_form-final.pdf
December 25, 2011 at 8:17 am
Interesting article about Romney–
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/25/us/politics/how-harvard-shaped-mitt-romney.html?pagewanted=3&_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2
December 26, 2011 at 12:43 pm
Apologies for being off somewhat topic. Consistent with what I’ve been saying re the schools, a few minutes ago I sent the “open letter” below to the Journal Messenger, Manassas Patch, the Council and the School Board/Superintendant. Of course, feel free to chime in if you wish–
An Open Letter to Mayor Parrish, the Manassas City Council, the School Board and Superintendant Pope Regarding Our Schools
I have had the pleasure of attending Manassas Education Forward Committee meetings and related citizen discussions concerning alternatives offered to the Committee by the Superintendent relating to the future direction of Manassas City public schools. I write with the admitted naivety of a Manassas citizen who cares deeply about our schools but who is not a professional educator.
It does not surprise me that some alternatives are seen as unaffordable while others are seen as disconnected to the challenges facing us. I have nevertheless sought to identify a thread of interrelated recommendations that could be effective but would not break the bank.
First, uniformly and firmly enforce tardiness and attendance requirements. No matter how good a school may be, students cannot learn up to their potential if they are not there. Medical situations aside, if parents cannot ensure that their child gets to school daily and on time, then perhaps they should be required to formally explain themselves in person to school officials or even to a local judge. If they believe this is too much of a hassle then maybe they should live elsewhere. If there are better ways of enforcing tardiness and attendance requirements, it is fine with me if another method is chosen.
Second, uniformly and firmly enforce behavior requirements. Unruly and disruptive students interfere with the learning of others and are themselves unable to learn while being disruptive. As with the first recommendation above, formal pressure needs to be applied for increased parental involvement — parents need to know that this is what is expected of them if they have a child enrolled in a Manassas City school. In addition, our teachers need to know they will be backed up by the administration when dealing with disruptive students.
Third, implement much smaller classes — eighteen students max — for English and math. English and math are the building blocks for all other subjects for all students. This will likely cost money to implement but will be worth it when SOL scores increase and maybe even soar.
I hope that you will each move forward with these core issues in mind, or at least a variation of their themes, as you seek to navigate the waters ahead of you during the coming months.
Respectfully,
Rich Meyer
Old Town Manassas
December 27, 2011 at 10:58 am
Thank you for the reminder and for the forms 🙂
December 28, 2011 at 7:24 pm
“I have heard absolutely zero about the School Board elections. I hope we have a robust contest there, it’s time there were more folks involved!”
Mr. Harrover,
It seems to me it the council that runs without competition. SB always seems to have 5 or 6 folks running. Looks to me we need a robust contest for council.
December 28, 2011 at 10:37 pm
Jimmie: Saddle up and run for office!
December 31, 2011 at 1:44 pm
FYI — A few bills filed in the Va. House of Delegates for action in 2012.
– HB 19 – Calls for the commonwealth to offer an income-tax deduction
of up to $8,000 to anyone contracting to have their cremated remains
blasted into outer space from a Virginia launch site .
(Del. Terry Kilgore, R-Scott).
– HB 109 – Allows state residents to opt out of receiving emergency
text messages from the president under a Federal Emergency
Management Agency text-alert system that will be rolled out
this spring. (Del. Robert Marshall, R-Prince William)
– HB 7 – Frees bicyclists to treat traffic red lights like stop signs
instead of having to wait before pedaling on.
(Del. James Edmunds, R-South Boston)
December 31, 2011 at 2:44 pm
– The GA bill filing info above is from an article in tomorrow’s WaPo.
It observes “Some of the stranger bills bear the tag ‘by request’,
a lawmaker’s way of signaling , ‘This wasn’t my idea’.”
Hummm.
– Remember us anxiously waiting, flashlights in hand, for
the ball to drop in Times Square at midnight on Dec. 31,1999.
The city had been focused on preparations for Y2K for months,
but the “unknown unknowns” of the date change were still out there,
especially, we thought, in the national electrical grid.
It, of course, turned out OK – thank goodness. The lights stayed on.
January 3, 2012 at 4:58 pm
City of Manassas May General Elections
2004 – 3721 of 18,589 registered voters voted, 20%
2006 – 2511 0f 18,466 registered voters voted, 13.6%
2008 – 1650 of 18,338 registered voters voted, 9.0%
2010 -1695 of 19,546 registered voters voted, 8.7%
Any thoughts on why the voter percent is dropping?
January 5, 2012 at 10:30 pm
Steve, thank you for illustrating the point I always make about a steady decline in the number of people voting. It really is not something that can be dismissed simply because one election may or may not be uncontested – something else is at the root cause.
And if you take that data and split it out between numbers voting for Mayor & Council, and for School Board…well, it really reinforces my other stand as to why do we need to keep an elected board?
One root cause might be (with the exception of our wise Senior Councilman of a quarter century of service) that people know this is a “one party town” and whomever comes out of the Republican Convention is it. So a dedicated view who enjoy their voting power show up to either confirm the canditates, or write-in or just skip them all together. The “skipping” part comes when you compare who votes for Mayor/Council and who votes for School Board.
As to others, well, as Sherlock Holmes often said – “that is a three pipe problem”. Have to stew on it a mite to figure out what else it could be.
January 6, 2012 at 2:32 pm
Add one more to run for Council: Charles Patullo.
January 8, 2012 at 10:08 am
Notes:
– In 2008, close to 400 people attended the GOP Convention.
-In 2010 there wasn’t a Convention. (Nobody filed except the incumbents)
– If you plan to attend the Convention and aren’t up on GOP inside baseball,
read the rules stated in the official “Call” before you go.
(Ray B. gives the website in an earlier post on this thread)