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Cathy Marshall
Published: July 3, 2008
The Prince William Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to shut down the Manassas Senior Day Program effective June 20, due to the “budget crisis.” It cost the county roughly $150,000 a year. Four
days later the board approved $100,000 to study charging an ambulance fee. Something is very wrong with this picture.
CATHY MARSHALL
Manassas
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Reader Reactions
Posted by ( JOhn S GRay CPA ) on July 14, 2008 at 3:36 pm
As you may know, VA doesn’t register by party so there is not a listing per se of who is with which Party, so affliation is a matter of public record as to which party one runs for office under. As far as “doing the right thing”, I could not agree with you more. The trouble is the vast majority of politicians are too busy running for their next office rather then doing the job they were elected to. The MSDP was not a “Republican” or “Democratic” issue in and of itself. My “decision” if I were a Supervisor would not have centered on the profitibility of the program, which is the reason cited by all the Supervisors for killing it. The question was where could these services be replicated in the private sector. The answer that “Hearts & Homes” could, was an incorrect answer. The underlying problem THERE, is once again the Supervisors made an erroneous decision based on erroneous underying data and advice. I am not making excuses for the decision. My point is one cannot make a correct decision based on incorrect underlying data. And yes, when you have a few Supervisors (you choose which ones) who have either a clue, care or concern what they are doing, well, the result is the MESS & continuing downward spiral PWC is in. We have a few Supervisors with little to no “real world” - meaning life, experiences and these same few haven’t lived in PWC long enough to accrue institutional history of where PWC was and where it’s going (right now, it’s down the toilet) but those Supervisors of whom I write knew how to say “If you ain’t white, blue-eyed and blond in PWC, we hate you”. Bad politicians are elected by good people who don’t vote. When 7 out of 10 voters don’t show up on Election Day, the result is what we have and “ya gotta dance with the one who brung ya”. Pretty sad commentary for us to look forward to for the next three and a half years, huh?
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Posted by ( RonCharest ) on July 14, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Thank you, JOhn S GRay CPA. Could you tell us where we can find the party affliations of supervisors?
Do the right thing;
While I’m not going to make excuses for the two lonely Democrats on the board who supported this measure (see, I’m a Liberal!) the six Republicans had the ability to not vote down the Senior Citizen Program. The fact that the program even came up for a vote was a reflection of the Republican Chair, who largely controls the agenda.
I re-state my case made earlier in this thread. Vote for Republicans and we get the Republican agenda of cutting public services for the poor, the elderly, and non-White skinned people while directing tax money to the wealthy, big business, and those well-connected (Republican) people whom the elected supervisors owe big favors to.
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Posted by ( JOhn S GRay CPA ) on July 14, 2008 at 9:59 am
A reader requested the vote breakdown by Republican vs Democrat. The vote to close the MSDP was unanimous. John Jenkins and Frank Principi are the only Democrats on the Board. The other six are Republicans. The Republicans have had super-majority control of the BoCS since Jan 1, 2000 meaning since then the Board has been comprised of six Republicans and two Democrats. Prior to 2000, Kathleen Seefeldt was a Democrat on the Board as both Occoquan or the At-Large seat created in 1992. Since 1992 Republicans have controlled the Board 5-3, when Maureen Caddigan won the Dumfries seat from Democrat Ed King but Michelle McQUigg won Occoquan as a Republican to replace Mrs. Seefeldt, the Democrat when Mrs. Seefeldt was elected as the first at-Large Supervisor.
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Posted by ( WarriorMonk ) on July 13, 2008 at 11:07 pm
Yes, please present the data showing us the voting record broken down as per Democrat vs. Republican(although I believe Ms. Marshall said that it was unanimous).
Also, if someone could tell me where to find information regarding each BOCS party affiliate. I have looked on the PWC website and cannot determine. I know it was in the papers but Im not remembering. I do know that Chairman Corey is the “R” word.
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Posted by ( RonCharest ) on July 13, 2008 at 6:28 am
Do the right thing;
Please show us the voting record, broken down by Democrat/Republican, for this measure.
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Posted by ( do the right thing ) on July 11, 2008 at 10:00 pm
RonCharest,
The Democrats on the Board were the most outspoken about closing the Senior Day Center
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Posted by ( WarriorMonk ) on July 04, 2008 at 11:52 pm
And what is so amazing is one day Chairman Corey and his cronies will one day get old. But, of course, that does not matter to them as, while in their twilight years, they will not need the services provided by a Senior Day Program. By then their purses will be fat and happy. I agree, elections have consequences. I did not vote for Chairman Corey but, obviously, there are those who did. I sure hope THEY dont have family affected by the shutting down of the Senior Day Program. If they do, oh well.
Thank you for reading.
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Posted by ( RonCharest ) on July 03, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Elections have consequences. In the last election, the majority of good citizen voters in PWC chose Republicans to control the Country Board of Supervisors.
So now we get the Republican agenda; cut public services for the poor, the elderly, and non-White skinned people. Direct tax money to the wealthy, big business, and those well-connected (Republican) people whom the elected supervisors owe big favors to.
Why did anyone expect anything different from Republicans?
Question: Who is getting the money for that ambulance study? If I had to bet, I’d bet it was a business with ties to the local Republican party.
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Posted by ( raywilliams ) on July 03, 2008 at 10:14 am
Illegals don’t use the Senior Day Program but might take a “free ride” in an ambulance. So Chairman Corey would rather spend $100,000 chasing illegals than spend money to help our PWC citizens. What’s wrong with the picture may be the leadership of Chairman Corey.
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Posted by ( JOhn S GRay CPA ) on July 03, 2008 at 9:17 am
I concur with Mrs. Marshall’s letter however last week when I inquired of a Supervisor how this could be, I was informed the Board was told they would get back the $100,000 fee. The only way I can see that happening is if the County Bills the insurance company an administrative fee. I also suggested to that Supervisor I could save the County $75,000 right there and then by telling him the answer: if the individuals insurance company provides coverage of this sort, then of course the County should bill the insurance company. If there is no coverage, it IS within the primary responsibility of local government to provide this service and the taxpayer, who is already paying taxes for the service, should not be billed for the right to USE the service they are ALREADY paying for! This is obviously nothing but another tax increase called a fee. I asked where I could send my $25,000 invoice, for professional services rendered, but that part was ignored.
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