If you are a Charlottesville Democrat, please remember to vote on Saturday. Dave Norris, Julian Taliaferro and Kristin Szakos are all running for the nomination for two available Council seats, while Mike Baird, James Brown III, and Phillip U. Brown are all running for the nomination for Sheriff. Those nominees will go on to run in the general election against whatever Republicans or independents decide to run. Charlottesville Tomorrow has a recording of last night’s Council candidate forum for those who need more information to make up their minds in that race.
At any time between 9:00 AM and 7:00 PM on Saturday, any registered Charlottesville voter can go to Burley Middle School (on Rose Hill), sign a pledge not to support anybody running against the Democratic nominees, and cast a ballot for their choice for Council. Details are available on the Charlottesville Democrats’ website.
For all y’all Democrats who are supporting specific candidates here, this is your chance to make a pitch for your guy. I know that a lot of people are undecided, and I know that cvillenewsers are an engaged bunch. Who do you support, and why should others back your candidate of choice?
Vote for Julian and Dave for council if you want representatives who will look out for neighborhoods, reach out to the people, and stand up to the county to make sure the dredging surveys are done in a way that the costs can be compared to the current concept.
Phil Brown for Sheriff! His ideas to connect with city youth, safer transport of inmates and transparency with the public was evident at the meeting the other night.
As a Sargent in the City already, he understands the special needs our community has.
He would be a great Sheriff for our city.
Mike Baird has the experience in the department to be sheriff. Why do we always have to go outside the department for our Sheriff. Can’t we promote from within like the private sector? I’m pulling for Mike!
Baird was a disaster at the Forum the other evening. If he had any experience you sure couldn’t detect it by speaking with him. During the Forum, he was more reactive than proactive, complained a lot about the Sheriff Dept workload. Definitely not as thoughtful or eloquent as the other candidates. I find it very telling that he was the choice of the Democratic Old Guard (the “bidness as usual” folks…). That’s all I need to know to run swiftly in the direction of either of the other candidates, who were both extremely impressive.
I happen to know Phil slightly, so might lean in his direction, but am thrilled to have two awesome people to choose from!
I’ll be casting my Council ballots for Norris and Szakos. Both believe in government transparency and accountability, and an increased role for citizens in the decision-making process. Both also believe in getting accurate data before moving forward on the Water Plan. Mr Norris’s views are well known, but some say that Ms Szakos has not addressed this issue. To put those claims to rest, here is some of what she had to say at the first forum in response to the question about the 50 Year Water Plan:
Kristin Szakos (D): Yes I do support a 50 year plan. I’m supportive in a lot of areas of having long term plans so we’re not constantly responding to emergencies, so that we’re actually proactive in our decision making. But I think that any long-year plan has to be based on good data and I share some of Mr. Norris’s concern about some of the data in this 50 year plan and I think we do need to be very careful because it’s a major commitment. I think that because an infrastructure plan by its very nature involves so much outlay up front, outlay in land, outlay in money, outlay in impact, that we really need to be right before we start building. We need to know exactly what 50 years could look like. We need to know that the City has been very committed to conservation, to water use reduction, and we need to have that reflected in the plan. I think that we have to be very careful that any plan doesn’t overly burden the City residents in the cost of their water. I think we need to be very careful that it doesn’t result in people who can’t afford paying high water rates.
Unlike the flip-flop Mr Taliaferro did with the Meadowcreek Parkway recently, I don’t believe Ms Szakos will change her beliefs on this issue once elected. I also know that as an experienced community organizer, she will give more than lip service to the idea of active neighborhood involvement in the issues that impact them. She will, in fact, make sure this happens.
There’s more breaking news on Baird…. he’s not getting my vote.
http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/05/08/settled-candidate-would-be-sheriff-part-of-06-suit/
City Resident, you are correct. I think Phil Brown will do a much better job. We’ll all be safer with Phil in office.
At the forum the other night Baird said he has money to hire more staff, has one vacant position, but still blamed the most recent escape in the Charlottesville Circuit Court on lack of manpower. We’re talking about a drug addicted felon who escaped into the streets. A drug addict is a very serious threat to public safety.
And the entire time this escapee was roaming the streets, the public was not informed of it. Think about it, four hours after the person escaped, he could have been down on the mall mugging somebody to obtain money to purchase more drugs. He could have been hijacking a car by force and violence to get out of town quickly.
Baird has also never explained how somebody leaves the General District courtroom, obtains a can of mace, and sneaks back into the courthouse setting it off while attacking another person in the courtroom.
The Democratic Old Guard, (the “bidness as usual” folks…), don’t want the public to know that things are not running as well in the Sheriff’s Office as they should be. Personally, I think the Democrats want to take this position back from the African American community. It’s the first high ranking law eforcement position an African American has been allowed to hold locally in the city.
honest to god, demo, the way you’re constantly bringing up these same issues re: Baird is making me lean towards voting for him. it’s just so NOT subtle of you.
I know Democrats in this city, and I seriously doubt that racism is their motivation in this or any case.
Cecil, if you read the top of the page, Waldo clearly asks “Who do you support, and why should others back your candidate of choice?” I clearly answered the questions.
If I sway your vote to the former city sheriff Carlton Baird’s son, more power to him and you both. I never agreed with a sheriff hiring his own son and promoting his own son in the first place. I still don’t. Nepotism has no place at the public trough.
As a teacher who sees kids graduate from school on the way to wasted lives, I think that Phillip Brown, by even mentioning the need for more collaboration between juvenile justice and the schools, is getting my vote.
Also, after reading up on the Sheriff’s candidates, I am wondering why the Sheriff’s department is not fully accredited. Why didn’t Mike Baird take care of this already? Was it not important to him or the Sheriff? Is something wrong with how the Sheriff’s department is currently run?
Despite Demoshifflett’s ramblings, Mike Baird is the only one ever remotely qualified to be elected sheriff. Anything else would be a loss to the City and its citizens.
At the forum, Baird claimed he didn’t have the manpower to spare to devote to the accredidation process. What little progress had already been made was simply abandoned. In his next breathe though, he also claimed to have the money to hire additional staff but hasn’t done so yet. In other words, we need new blood in the Sheriff’s Office. New blood that’s interested in improving the Sheriff’s Office and offering more services to the citizens.
I never understood what direction Baird was going in during the forum question and answer period. He blamed all the ills within the Sheriff’s Office on lack of manpower, but has had a vacant position for months and months. Maybe he has a “friend” or “family” he wants to hire if he is elected sheriff? Won’t be the first time this has happened in that particular office. Why leave a deputy sheriff position vacant?
Baird was also asked if he felt the public has a right to know when an escapee is on the loose after escaping during his watch. He answered with details of recent escapes, defended the deputy sheriffs, whined about lack of manpower, but never really answered the question. All other departments notify the public when an escape takes place. All other departments also solicit the help of the community in spotting the escapee. You think an elected official wants the bad publicity of an escape on their watch? Heck no! We need a sheriff who places public safety ahead of receiving bad publicity. Phil Brown said he would notify the community when an escapee is out on the loose running around, and would solicit the help of the community in spotting said escapee.
Not for nothing, but “demopublican” and “sick of the local rambos” sure seem to be the same guy to me.
A forced agenda to sure, and the issue of transparency a lost byproduct.
Well, hello Stan! Your user name brings back fond memories. Sued in a false arrest as well, settled out of court, later terminated as a cop locally. I got a pretty good laugh out of your choice of a user name here!
Demo and Sick are the same people, methinks–it’s Sick on The Hook and other sites, and Demo here.
I know what the prompt for this post is, Demo; I’m talking about your general obsession with this small set of issues that is evident on nearly every local site, no matter what the topic.
Cecil, can you give me the list of these “local sites”? With the warmer weather here, I won’t have as much time on my hands, but I sure would like to know the sites I am missing in my daily travels. Or at the least the sites I am being accused of posting on.
(insert a confused smilie here)
Steve, it is so easy to get you on your crazy rants. When blogging as two people, do you sometimes have arguments with yourself or do you just agree with yourself all the time, hoping to prove some crazy point.
Yes.
Victoria, thank you for supplying the quote. I still have no idea how Mrs. Szakos stands on the current proposal. This statement “…I share some of Mr. Norris’s concern about some of the data in this 50 year plan and I think we do need to be very careful because it’s a major commitment.” is as close as she got, which is not close. Which of Mayor Norris’ concerns exactly does she share? The rest of her statement generally describes her ideas concerning plans in general and a particular concern for the cost of water in the future by stating “I think that we have to be very careful that any plan doesn’t overly burden the City residents in the cost of their water.” Since nobody will know the total cost of the project until it is finished, how will she be able to judge if the citizens will be able to afford it until they get the bill? Is she saying that the city and county customers will share the total cost equally or is she separating the city from the county and suggesting that the county should bear the brunt since its population growth is spurring this need for an increased water supply? I’m afraid she really hasn’t been paying much attention to this very important issue.
As a newbie to the local political scene, I wish she had employed the technique of issuing a position paper on this topic and provided an opportunity for the public to comment.
that someone is arrested two different times, several years, apart for impersonating a police officer. That just seems odd to me….
I don’t know why you would. What I find odd is that the dodos would arrest a 50-year greying amd probably portly white man when the description was a 25-year old Hispanic of small build without any collaborative evidence. Can we say “stupid?” Who’s got the money today? That’s all I need to know.
Cville Eye, we have to lead some people around and explain things to them. :)
They falsely arrested a 50 year old graying man 120 miles away because that’s all the Alexandria rookie put in the photo lineup laid out on the table in front of the so called victim. There were no 25 year old hispanic males in the photo lineup. God only knows what the investigating rookie told the so called victim when she laid the photo lineup out in front of him.
It was a comedy of errors by the dodos from minute 1 of the investigation. Some of the same dodos involved in and sued over the first false arrest were also involved in the second false arrest. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why this was.
The victim claimed it was a Maryland license plate on the suspect’s car. The rookie investigated it as if it was a Virginia license plate. That’s how the Alexandria rookie ended up calling Charlottesville and being fed so much false and misleading information.
What’s odd is how any of the dodos thought they could get by with this foolishness.
“What’s odd is how any of the dodos thought they could get by with this foolishness.” They used to get away with that kind of stupidity probably every week. If they got caught, then the charges would have been dropped because of some deal made between the judge, the sheriff and the victim’s lawyer and the victim’s lawyer insisted the victim kept his mouth shut. There was no talk of compensation. The victim’s lawyer made him feel is was lucky to get off without jail time. Why? Because the lawyer knew he didn’t want to be punished the next time he appeared in court.
I’m sure you’re right, Cville EYe.
Another injustice being exercised nowadays is the Alford plea. It pretty much intimidates an innocent person to offer a guilty plea in return for a much reduced sentence. It’s pretty hard for a defendant to risk 20 years in front of a judge or a jury trial when the commonwealth will offer 12 months, with 8 monnths of that time suspended on condition of good behavior upon release.
Geting back on topic now though since Stanley and Odd rudely interupted us, the topic being the Democratic nomination process….. I wonder how many votes the story published in The Hook the day before election cost Baird? I wonder how many votes Baird lost by giving the appearance that he was riding on Talioferro’s coattails? There’s been a lot of talk about town concerning recent incidents taking place in the local courtrooms. I wonder how many votes this cost Baird? In the Democratic Q&A forum on May 6, I wonder how many votes Baird lost by stumbling on the question as to whether the public has the right to know when there’s an escape on his watch in the local courts? His answer was pretty much “escapes happen”. That wasn’t the question. The question was whether the public had a right to know the escape took place and what the escapee looks like. Baird also played down the question by saying it was simply a drug addict that escaped. Hello, wake up American law enforcement officers, a drug addict is a pretty serious criminal to have roaming the street without people even knowing about it or what he looks like. He’s going to mug, rob and steal to get the money for his next fix!
I think a lot of people were taken by surprise when the results of the Democratic nomination process were announced. The good ole boys thought Baird and Talioferro were “shoo ins” for their positions. Rob Shilling said the Democrats had thrown Talioferro under the bus a long time ago. I guess Rob was right.
There is definitely a new guard in the party now. They’re going to have to have some fund raisers because I doubt if the old guard will continue to finance the campaigns out of their pockets.
They better! The Democratic voters have spoken, and the party is now obligated to support the voter’s choice. Let ’em drop the ball and some of the local Democratic party leaders might need replacing. Just because their “good ole white boy” didnt win the nomination is no reason to toss James Brown out with the bath water!
I’m not sure what happened with Phillip Brown, but I never aniticpated Baird winning the nomination. I think he and his girlfriend (or whatever she is) were overconfident and thought his being nominated was a done deal.
You gotta love polictics. A handful of party members with marching orders as to whom to vote for, drinking buddies, card playing buddies, friends and family, etc… never insures a victory to anybody in any race. James Brown certainly proved this. I viewed James Brown as the underdog in this election who would split the vote and help Baird win while helping Phillip Brown to lose. But, by gosh, james did something right! And I wish him the best of luck in his new Sheriff’s career.