Scott Bradford: Off on a Tangent

Virginia Statewide Offices (Lt. Governor, Atty. General), 2009

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Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia

In the race for Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, incumbent Bill Bolling (R) is challenged by former Virginia Secretary of Finance Jody Wagner (D). Lieutenant Governors serve four year terms, act as president of the Virginia Senate, and are first in the line of succession if the governor leaves office or is incapacitated.

Bolling’s campaign in 2005 merited only a tepid endorsement from Off on a Tangent, and because of the relatively limited authority granted to the lieutenant governor it is very difficult to judge his four year term. Serving with Governor Tim Kaine (D), a member of the opposing party, Bolling has been limited to presiding over the state Senate in a largely ceremonial role.

Wagner has spent much of the last eight years serving under Governor Mark Warner (D) and Governor Tim Kaine (D) so, once again, it is very difficult to judge her record as an individual. Her responsibilities were primarily to support the policies of Warner and Kaine, not to pursue her own initiatives.

Read more . . .

Virginia House of Delegates, 86th District, 2009

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Incumbent Del. Tom Rust (R-86th) is challenged by Loudoun County Supervisor Stevens Miller (D-Dulles) in the race for the 86th District seat in the Virginia House of Delegates. The 86th District includes Herndon and Oak Hill in Fairfax County and the Sterling area of Loudoun County. Members serve two-year terms and Rust is seeking his fifth term representing the 86th District.

Unfortunately, both candidates’ campaigns skimp on providing us with any details about . . . anything. Rust presents a total of four 1-paragraph blurbs on his website to explain his views on ‘the issues’: jobs, education, transportation, and the environment. Miller manages to disappoint even more with a total of only three 1-paragraph blurbs about his ‘issues’: education, taxation, and transportation.

It is clear to me that neither candidate particularly wants anybody’s vote.

Read more . . .

Fairfax County Bond Referendum, 2009

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Introduction

Virginia county governments are required to put bond issuance to a voter referendum in order to borrow money on behalf of the county. Bond issuance is usually used by governments to raise money for large capital expenditures, and those bonds are repaid to their purchasers at a later date with interest. Bond referendums in Fairfax County historically pass by a large margin, in large part because people think they are voting in favor of the agencies that will benefit. After all, who wants to vote ‘against’ schools, parks, or transportation? Many voters do not realize that bond issuance contributes to government debt and should be used sparingly.

Fairfax County School Bonds

Citizens of Fairfax County will be asked through a bond referendum to authorize the Board of Supervisors to borrow up to $232.6 million to fund Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS). This money, in addition to bonds previously issued and other funding, will be used for building new schools and improving existing ones.

Read more . . .

More Animal Pictures

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Haven’t had much time for writing (and what little I have is going into my 2009 endorsements), so here are some more random pictures of animals. Today I have two of our cats cuddling and/or cleaning each other, one of a small frog, and one of a leaf with legs.

The frog is my favorite. Unfortunately the picture doesn’t show it very well, but that’s actually a vertical column at our church with the frog sitting on it. He’s about six or seven feet up, which is why the shot is from below :-).

Time for Metro Board Accountability (Updated)

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It is time for the Metro Board of Directors to be held accountable.

Currently, the unelected Board apparently answers to nobody. It is unclear exactly how its members are selected and how they can be removed. The public has no impact on their decisions and, because it’s not clear who picks the members, the public doesn’t really know who to complain to when the Board does something that we disagree with.

For example, the Metro Board today extended General Manager John Catoe’s contract for another three years. Catoe took over in 2006 and, as far as I can tell, has done absolutely nothing to stop the system’s precipitous slide. During his tenure, he continued his predecessor’s policy of ignoring NTSB recommendations and putting passenger safety at risk. Even though he came to Washington from the Los Angeles transit system, southern neighbor of San Francisco’s BART system (which has had a real fail-safe train detection system for decades), Catoe never thought of putting one in place here. He even had the audacity to claim that no such system existed.

In my humble opinion, Catoe and the Metro Board have blood on their hands because of their failure to take basic, common sense steps to protect riders before the deadly MetroRail collision in June. Don’t think it’s all that bad? Read up on what’s been going on.

Bottom line: Catoe and the Metro Board are completely out of touch with the taxpayers and Metro riders. It is time for new leadership.

CORRECTION 9/30/2009: This piece originally stated that John Catoe came to Washington from the San Francisco BART system. Catoe, however, came to Washington from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. I have corrected the error. Thank you to Brett Tyler of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority for calling this error to my attention.

Scott Bradford is a writer and technologist who has been putting his opinions online since 1995. He believes in three inviolable human rights: life, liberty, and property. He is a Catholic Christian who worships the trinitarian God described in the Nicene Creed. Scott is a husband, nerd, pet lover, and AMC/Jeep enthusiast with a B.S. degree in public administration from George Mason University.