Monthly Archive for May, 2011

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Ken Boyd Running for Reelection

Published by Waldo Jaquith on May 12, 2011 in Government and Politics. 4 Comments

Ken Boyd is running for a third term on the Board of Supervisors, he announced today. Boyd represents the Rivanna District, which is basically comprised of northeast Albemarle. His announcement comes as a bit of surprise, since it was one year ago that he told Will Goldsmith: “I’ve all but come to the conclusion that this is going to be my last term on the Board of Supervisors.” The “all but” is enough wiggle room for some mind-changing, apparently.

This announcement helps to explain Boyd’s bizarre support of a Tea Party talking point, calling for an end to Albemarle’s reduction in pollution emissions, declaring that the county has been “infiltrated” by agents of the United Nations, and that this “cancer” must be removed from county government. Boyd hasn’t historically been prone to conspiracy theories, and presumably is talking this up to establish his bona fides with the far right, whether to avoid a primary challenge or just to get their support.

Dugger Challenging Garrett for Clerk

Published by Waldo Jaquith on May 9, 2011 in Government and Politics. 12 Comments

Democratic Clerk of Court incumbent Paul Garrett has a second challenger—Charlottesville School Board member Llezelle Dugger is running for the nomination. (County circuit court deputy clerk Pam Melampy declared last month, and Garrett has declared for reelection.) Dugger is an assistant public defender. Garrett had just one challenger last time around—his history of chicanery surely has something to do with the surge of interest in opposing him.

Law Student Lied About Police Misconduct

Published by Waldo Jaquith on May 6, 2011 in Law and Justice and UVa. 10 Comments

A couple of weeks ago, the Virginia Law Weekly published a letter from a UVA law student alleging that he was a victim of police misconduct and racial profiling. Johnathan Perkins—who is black—provided a detailed story about how he was stopped by two white university police officers, questioned and searched, and when he asked for their badge numbers, they refused to tell him. Now he admits that he made it all up, Sharon Fitzgerald writes in the Daily Progress. The 25-year-old says that he “wrote the article to bring attention to the topic of police misconduct,” but that “the events in the article did not occur.” UVA police had opened an investigation in the matter, but as they looked into dispatch records and tapes of radio calls, they found that his story didn’t add up. Perkins will not be charged with filing a false police report, says Chief Michael Gibson, because the department doesn’t want to inhibit people from coming forward with legitimate claims of misconduct.

Boyd Calls Sustainability Initiative “a Cancer”

Published by Waldo Jaquith on May 6, 2011 in Government and Politics. 5 Comments

Supervisor Ken Boyd wants the county to sever ties with the Local Governments for Sustainability—a non-profit group that helps local governments reduce carbon emissions—because he believes that the county is “being infiltrated” by the group, which is apparently bad because they have “an agenda that is set by an international organization,” making them “a cancer that is infiltrating our local government.” The county spends $1,200/year to be a member of the organization—one of 1,220 local governments across the country who do the same—in exchange for which they receive software to track the county’s reduction in carbon emissions, working towards the goal of an 80% reduction by 2050. Boyd’s opposition apparently has nothing to do with the money, but rather the organization’s goal of reducing carbon emissions within the United Nations’ framework of global reductions in output of the greenhouse gas. Which is apparently bad. Sean Tubbs explains all of this for Charlottesville Tomorrow—or at least recounts it. There’s really no explaining it. The matter is due to be taken up in a work session next month.

My best guess is that this is a bit of dog-whistle politics for local Tea Party members. As a group, they’re fundamentally opposed to government—the United Nations is public enemy #1 to them—and they likewise believe that climate change is some sort of an elaborate hoax. But that only makes sense if Boyd is seeking reelection. He’s up for reelection this year, but it was just a year ago when he said that “this is going to be [his] last term on the Board of Supervisors.” Which leaves the possibility that he actually believes what he’s saying.

Albemarle Adjusts District Boundaries

Published by Waldo Jaquith on May 4, 2011 in Government and Politics. Closed

The Albemarle Board of Supervisors signed off on some shifts of the magisterial district boundaries, Brandon Shulleeta writes for the Progress, moving thousands of people into new districts. Though there are some small changes just north and south of Charlottesville, the big changes are down around Scottsville and towards Crozet. The changes are based on new census data, intended to balance the populations of the county’s Board of Supervisors districts. What with the entire history of Virginia up until around 1965, this plan has to by OKd by the Department of Justice before it can become official. That should happen in time for November’s election to be based on the new boundaries.

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