Goodbye Stirrup/Goodbye Stewart

It appears Corey Stewart has put gotten himself into some really hot water.  Whether or not he is able to emerge unscathed is yet to be seen but it’s not looking good.  Stewart has used $31,000 from a board discretionary fund for what appears to be a campaign advertisement.  The wording on the mailer matches his singular campaign message ‘fighting/cracking down on illegal immigration’ and appears to be targeted because not all county residents have received it and it comes within 30 days of an election cycle.

Here is the text of the flyer.

[Update:  The flyer was originally suspected to be ‘targeted’ but upon further investigation it was found to have been sent to all Prince William County Residents’.]

Prince William County has released their budget forecast for the next 5 years.  According to a Potomac News article, ‘Real estate tumble could force tax increase‘, fiscal year 2009 is short $51.7 million, 2010 is short $79.5 million and in 2011 the shortage is estimated to be $108 million.  These deficits can be directly attributed to the decline in the real estate market which has been exacerbated by the immigration resolution.  According to a Washington Post article, ‘ Pr. William Immigration, Housing Ills Seen as Linked ‘:

“If I’m not welcome somewhere, I’m going to sell my house,” said Jose Luis Semidey, a real estate agent whose business in Prince William shut down in August when he laid off 40 employees and moved the company to Reston. The county’s anti-illegal immigrant measures, which he and a coalition of other Latino businessmen are fighting, “have accelerated the collapse of the real estate market in the minority community,” he said.

Yesterday the Woodbridge Worker’s Committee filed suit in Federal Eastern District Court against Prince William County.  Now’s the time to take Stewart up on his offer of setting up the privately funded legal defense account that he suggested.  Let’s see how many PWC citizens put up or shut up. 

Jay Ellington, the PWC park authority executive director reports a loss in fiscal year 2007 and blames it on an over saturation of golf courses in the Prince William area.  But the good news is the loss wasn’t as great as in fiscal year 2006.  So for at least the past two years the park authority has operated above its budget, in the past year it has postponed several building and improvement projects but still needed to dip into their reserve fund.

Additionally, the county has no money set aside in the 5 year budget plans for the 235 acre park off of Antioch Road in Haymarket.  It appears the county can ill afford to spend the necessary monies to prepare the parcel for opening and the longer the grounds are neglected the larger the initial investment will be.  As this plays out, the more favorable the Bull Run Mountain Conservancy’s option becomes.

Side-by-side comparisons of the various plans can be found at -

Silver Lake Proposal Comparison
     Bull Run Mountain Conservancy’s Proposal
Three Alternatives – Things to Consider
     Prince William Conservation Alliances Comparison Chart

Maureen Caddigan(Republican) is actively campaigning for Sharon Pandak(Democrat) in her bid for the at-large seat on the Prince William Board of County Supervisors.  Seems somewhat odd to me that this is occurring and it has me curious as to the behind the scenes happenings.  Why are Republicans campaigning for Democrats?

There was a short posting on the Potomac News bulletin board suggesting that Stewart had done something in Caddigan’s last election but no details were provided.

Posted on 09/25 at 09:44 PM

Stewart has demonstrated blatant incompetence from the budget situation to controlling growth. He has been politically divisive (remember him trying rig Caddigan’s last election) and hurt our Republican party. Irresponsible politics = Irresponsible leadership. Previous comment is correct, he should go back and serve his semi-gated community in Lake Ridge. He can’t grasp the wholesome of county politics or does not want to invest the time our county deserve.  –Publius

University of Virginia conducted their 15th Annual Citizen’s Satisfaction Survey just before the County’s Immigration Resolution and citizens ranked concerned about illegals at 3%.  The entire report can be found on the Prince William County’s Government website at -http://www.pwcgov.org/docLibrary/PDF/006710.pdf

There’s an interesting article concerning the results in the Washington Post, entitled, “Residents Rate Government High, Despite Traffic“, in which the director of the center that conducted the survey makes mention of how our current ‘hot button cause’ was a ‘non-factor’.

But the hot-button cause of the moment was a non-factor. Issues involving illegal immigration did not rate high among those surveyed, said Thomas M. Guterbock, the center’s director. Only 3 percent said they would like changes regarding illegal immigration in the next 20 to 25 years.

Here are some local editorials concerning Prince William County Politics that have appeared in either the Potomac News or the Washington Post over the past few months.

1. Stewart serves own interests, not county
2. County policy on illegal immigration disturbing
3. Police-Powers Resolution Is ‘Another Scare Tactic’
4. Put some sense back into the chairmanship, 10/06/07
5. Illegal immigrants come of necessity 7/31/07
6. There needs to be some changes in the county
7. Don’t Turn a Blind Eye To Immigration Backlash
8. Local solutions aren’t going to do the job
9. Long goes even lower than the Ku Klux Klan

According to today’s edition of the Potomac News, Battlefield High is at 125% capacity making it the second most overcrowded school in the county just behind Brentsville High.  And with no plans for another high school until 2011, overcrowding is bound to get worse.  This is a direct result of poor planning by the County Board of Supervisors.  Years of allowing developers to build without requiring the proper proffers for schools.  But now that it is election time the canidates are proclaiming that they are going to ‘get tough’ with developers.  Isn’t it a little late for this approach?  The housing boom has passed and we are now in a serious market correction process. 

 Today’s PWC Related News Articles

1. Brentsville still overcrowded
2. Group protests damaged sign
3. Latinos Unite Across Classes Against Curbs on Immigration