The Republican state committee has elected to hold a convention in order to select the candidate to vie for Warner’s seat. Many reasons are given from various and sundry sources about why conventions are superior and some are valid: ensure that only republicans are voting, or to have a more orderly proceeding. Heck, I could even live with an outright admission of building an advantage for those in the majority.
However, the one that always makes me laugh out loud is “it is a party-building exercise”. I’ve only met a handful of people who, having been a delegate to a convention, still say “I can’t wait until the next one!!”. The most common reaction I get from people is that they would rather saw their arm off with a butter knife than attend a convention. I would also point out that this is in Manassas where we have very well-run conventions. I can not imagine what people say who have been trapped in a convention that involved a floor fight or voting problems. Those things can go on all day.
This isn’t really an argument against conventions, just an observation.
October 14, 2007 at 10:47 pm
Whoa there, nelly. I’m sure you meant to say ” select the candidate to ‘vie for ‘ Warner’s seat.” Convention, primary, I’m afraid it won’t matter this time. The filling of Warner’s seat is going to be done by someone outside the party of Lincoln. You can do all the party building excercises you can find, but the old dominion’s GOP is on the ropes this round. Of course you’ll have a candidate, maybe Davis, maybe Gilmore, who will trumpet ‘ cut taxes, war on terror,illegal immigrants are ruining the country, ignore the debt we’re hosing future generations with, what costs of war, I’m Republican WITH the capital R, watch out for the tax and spend Democrat, ( as opposed to just spend and spend ) and on and on.
In the end, we’re losing one wise Warner, but I believe we’ll gain another. This is best for Virginia and best for the United States.
October 15, 2007 at 6:45 am
good point spe. However, you should examine Davis somewhat closer. He represents big parts of ffx and is quite moderate. Gilmore is a pretty staunch conservative.
October 15, 2007 at 7:32 am
ANdy,
The term “Party Building Exercise” refers to the opportunity to get people excited and active about the party. Take our local convention. We’ll get a couple hundred people to come out to be delegates. This is a couple hundred people who are not current members of the Manassas GOP. We have a great opportunity to engage them and get them active.
I won’t say Warner is a shoe-in, but he will be tough to beat. He may have left with high approval ratings, but he left before we found out that the largest tax increase in VA history was for a budget shortfall that didn’t exist, resulting in a hge budget surplus. Folks don’t like being robbed, and they certainly don’t like being lied to.
October 15, 2007 at 1:50 pm
asdf
October 20, 2007 at 9:48 pm
Steve… Do you believe that government should exist at all? Pray tell, at the local level, what would you have us do away with? We know you are hostile to any expenditure that contributes to quality of life. Please give us your list of things to defund, so that we may understand you a little better.
October 22, 2007 at 2:54 pm
TH,
Weak try. If you think those are my views or that I’d allow myself to be baited like that, then you must not know me at all.
October 24, 2007 at 8:00 pm
Steve…
Without characterizing you or your positions in any way. What is the position of the Manassas Republican Party with respect to maintaining a revenue neutral fiscal position for the City of Manassas for the next fiscal year relative to the current fiscal year? Would an increase in revenue equal to the increase in inflation be acceptable? How about an increase in revenue equal to the increase in cost of living? How about an increase equal to average wage or income growth?
I will state my position openly… that the local tax rate ought to reflect the value that a community places on basic community services (even “nice to have” services, like crossing guards and the library, or even, shockingly, the the Candy Factory and the Manassas Museum — oooh, scary…. Scooby Doo style scary for the shriveled “new” republicans).
Community services should not be at the mercy of an ideological slavishness to a predetermined tax rate, or the notion that paying local taxes is like selling your daughter as a prostitute.
Reality and prudence, and a desire to protect our shared basic community values, should come first.
The Manassas republican party needs to take a stand. Where will you tell them to stand, Steve?
October 25, 2007 at 5:14 pm
TH,
What is the official position of the Manassas GOP? Easy. We don’t have one. The party doesn’t take official positions on matters of governance. I think you may be confusing the Manassas GOP, with the PWC GOP. We leave that to the candidates and elected officials. Our job is to provide a legitimate nomination process, and once nominated, get those nominees elected. We don’t get into ideological fights. We are a true big tent party. There’s even room for you TH. Come to a meeting. You would be surprised.
Now I have a personal position, as a tax-paying citizen of Manassas. I am a pragmatic fiscal conservative. I understand that core services cost money. I understand that there needs to be a certain level of “human services” as well, and we need a few nice-to-haves to attract people to the city. If it can be demonstrated that there is a tangible benefit to the City, I am generally not opposed to spending. I support the expenditure to build the police firing range. I support hiring additional zoning inspectors. I support ensuring that our Public Safety and Teachers pay is at least competative with surrounding jurisdictions. I opposed the GMU Opera House as I feel that it would have been built anyways, with or without the City’s input. I opposed the skate park, since the little goth punks keep vandalizing it, and they just skateboard around old-town anyways. I initially opposed the Harris pavillion, but after seeing the events that are held there, I think it does bring value to the City, and is deserving of city support. I don’t like the candy factory. I think it would be better to be privately owned.
October 25, 2007 at 5:26 pm
Oh, and for the record, if a nominated candidate has an “R” next to his name, I will support him or her to the fullest. As a member of the local party leadership, I feel I have given up the right to publically denounce a candidate or an elected offical for a position or individual vote. With that said, I will go to citizen’s time and speak for or against a particular resolution or issue, but I am doing so as a private citizen. If the vote doesn’t go my way, I don’t publically bash anyone, as this would directly conflict with my duties as Vice Chairman.
October 30, 2007 at 10:16 pm
Um… let’s look at the record of the GOP in Manassas over the last ten years…. Lower taxes: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!! What about every other objective measure of civic success? Improved test scores in our public schools (NO!). What about improved demographics, in terms of family income, educational levels, ESL spending (relative to our neighboring jurisdictions) (NO!). What about park space per capita, or library expenditures per capita, or cultural spending per capita, or public safety spending per capita, or capital improvement spending per capita? Well, Manassas is dead last in all of Northern Virginia. Ten years of ignoring real issues in the service of the ‘no new taxes’ pledge demanded by Steve Thomas and his L’il Steves has layed our town low. To Steve and his Rebublican buddies, I say… Thank you for saving each citizen of Manassas $1,000 in the last five years on our taxes, but, in so doing, costing us $30,000 on our property values. Who cares about what our homes are worth when you saved us a few bucks on our taxes. I mean, I don’t intend to sell my house, so the “Greg Tax” based on diminished value will fall on my kids (aka “Greg’s unwilling suckers”). All that really matters is that my taxes stay low. Thanks Greg!!! and Jackson Miller!!! Uh, not really.
November 1, 2007 at 1:51 pm
Old School,
You are an idiot, and worse, a coward. Let’s break it down for you:
Improved test scores: Huh? The school system gets 56.7% of total tax revenues. This budget is administered by the School Board, and ELECTED, NON-PARTISAN BODY!. The GOP does not endorse Schoolboard candidates.
Library spending per capita: You got me there. Last I checked, the library system was handled by the county, which Manassas residents have free access to. Wait, Manassas is getting something for free?
Park Spending? Are you serious? We have a huge museum system. We have the Candy factory. And, we have a couple of parks that everytime I drive by them are empty. The city spends plenty on the “nice to haves”.
For your last rant, I challenge you to produce a single document, a news story, or other tangible proof, beyond the dellusions that rattle around in your tin-foil-covered head, where I or the Manassas GOP have put out a “no new tax” statement.
And incase your meds do kick in, look around. The decline in property values is a function of the declining market, and this is happening across the region. Also, who wants to live next to an over-crowded house, full of illegals. Lastly, you values are being impacted by the foreclosures brought about by the subprime lending market. This has little to do with capital investment made by the city. If you think high tax rates are the answer, look at Manassas Park. They have the highest property tax rate in NoVA, and their housing market is in worse shape than ours.
Schmuk.
November 1, 2007 at 2:06 pm
Allow me to offer a few observations:
1. We pay for access to the library. I don’t recall the exact number but it ain’t cheap.
2. Manassas GOP normally doesn’t take policy stances. Every now and then we may pass a resolution on a state matter but that’s about it.
3. Steve and many other local GOP’ers supported my call for another zoning inspector which will cost $100k the first year (car, training, etc).
4. Nobody that I’ve talked to supports higher taxes w/o a plan for the allocation of those taxes. I generally support public investment when it will drive an outsized return (pavillion, etc) but this is not what is currently happening. The city could raise taxes by 50 cents and spend it all to rebuild old-town but if the larger market is not growing, it will not achieve anything. We can’t do this stuff in a vaccum.
November 1, 2007 at 9:13 pm
Andy,
Thanks for the input.
I also support the police firing range. Beyond providing Manassas’ Finest (and I do think they are some of the best LEO’s in Virginia) a place to train and become proficient with their duty-arms, I think it could be a money-maker for the City. If there are days where the range is empty, say Saturday and Sunday, the range could be open to the public, and for a nominal fee, citizens could use the range.
Folks like Old School and TH love to pigeon-hole the local GOP (Elected and Party members) as rabid anit-tax fiscal/social/religous conservatives whose favortie word is “No”. They also like to think that people like me can cajole, bludgeon and bully the elected officals into voting only for our agenda. What they refuse to admit is that people like me are just involved citizens. I won’t speak for everyone, but as far as I am concerned, if the electeds need/want to do something, and there is a demonstrated need, and we can define the cost, and rationalize the return, I am generally in favor of it. When you want to spend money on parks, and the ones we have aren’t used…well, we have a problem.
Folks like Old School also don’t acknowledge that the democratic process works. Candidates come forward, are considered by the citizens, and the ones with the best workable ideas/positions are elected.
To Old School:
Attack me if you want. I am involved. It’s my right as a citizen to be involved. That I am involved, and I happen to support candidates that can and do get elected, should perhaps tell you that it is your views that are out of the mainstream, not mine. I will work to get our candidates elected, and thus far, have a pretty good record. If you don’t like it, how about meeting me in the arena of ideas. Present yourself as a candidate, or work for a candidate of your chosing.
November 2, 2007 at 12:23 pm
Not often, but every once in a while, I agree with Steve Thomas about
something and one of those is his suggestion – “Present yourself
as a candidate, or work for a candidate of your chosing.”
Yes, Republicans dominate elected offices in Manassas municipal
government, but is mainly by default. The ones who pay attention,
care, and work – win elections. Those who sit on the sidelines don’t.
It isn’t a closed shop. I know. (And as Emily Maroon once told her
late husband Lou, “If Randolph can do it, how hard can it be?”)
Get involved!
November 2, 2007 at 1:15 pm
Mr. Thomas wrote -“Manassas residents have free access to the
library?” PLEEZE, laughed so hard my ribs hurt.
You may want to check on this again – actually we spend around
1.5 M a year on this shared service -$43.65 – per capita. The
P.W.C. per capita is $32.61 for around 12M total on library services.
The library and other shared services – local courts, sheriff,
commonwealth’s attorney, etc. are often a source of concern
for the city council, because the bill arrives very late in our
budgeting process, is large, and we have limited control over it.
Wouldn’t be surprised if a proposal comes forward this spring
for us to restudy the pros and cons of building our own library/
media center.
November 2, 2007 at 5:10 pm
Ok, I was wrong about the library fees. I admit it. Building our own library is an interesting idea. If it looks like we can do it better keeping it “in-house” I would probably support it. I am sure we can do it for less than $1.5 Mill per year (averaged over time to include start-up costs). Lets build the shooting range first…and fund the zoning inspectors.
Maybe we could turn the candy factory into a library…just kidding.
Councilman Randolph, We agree, but “not often”? Is this a fair characterization of the many, many discussions we’ve had over the years about various issues? I would say more often than not…but then again, I’m not the politician am I? I wouldn’t want to think we agreed on something because you stated your position in less-than straight terms. You know me. I let you know where I stand. I have always thought I agreed with your votes more often than I have with certain present and past councilmembers, obviously members of my party.
November 2, 2007 at 6:00 pm
“Yes, Republicans dominate elected offices in Manassas municipal
government, but is mainly by default.”
I couldn’t disagree more. Democrats have run candiates for Mayor, Independents have run for council. We haven’t won every race (You Councilman Randolph are a testament to that). I frimly believe that in this City, the best candidates win. At least we in the GOP have a vetting process, either Mass Meeting or convention. Any independent can run. The Democrats, when they can find someone to run, have a closed nomination process.
We win, when we win, because we work harder than the other guys. Not by default.
November 2, 2007 at 6:19 pm
Come on Steve, I’m what passes for the “loyal opposition” on
the Manassas City Council. The “rules” say I have to be at odds
with the Vice-Chair of the Republican Party sometimes, right?
At least in a blog/public forum. Gosh darn.
November 2, 2007 at 6:45 pm
It is by “default” when the opposition doesn’t do the needed hard ground
work to become a viable alternative to the Republican Party. You
folks aren’t who I was writing about (“default” doesn’t hold every
elected office in municipal government – save one – for well over
a decade).