(UPDATE: The Grand Jury report is here. – promoted by lowkell)
From the Loudoun County Democratic Committee, the question is when this corrupt, homophobic hatemonger (why do those traits so often seem to go together?) will be ousted from office by the voters of his district. It can’t happen too quickly.
The Loudoun County Democratic Committee issued the following statement in reaction to the report released today by the Special Grand Jury that spent the previous 5 months investigating Sterling Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio:
The lack of an indictment by the Special Prosecutor is by no means a vindication of Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio. The Special Grand Jury investigating Supervisor Delgaudio was so disturbed by what it learned that it took the unprecedented step of issuing a report. The Court and the Prosecutor both agreed to, and facilitated, the report. And the report is damning.
The Grand Jury made clear that, despite the lack of criminal indictments, it found repeated instances of wrongdoing by Delgaudio. They found that he created a hostile work environment, including repeated instances of verbal abuse. They found that he repeatedly violated the Board of Supervisors Code of Conduct.
They found that Delgaudio “specifically instructed his aides not to answer the phones or address constituent concerns” in favor of fundraising and other projects. On at least one occasion he reprimanded an aide for trying to resolve a constituent matter instead of fundraising. They found it was general knowledge throughout the Board of Supervisors staff that Delgaudio’s office was unresponsive to the people of Sterling.
The Grand Jury found Delgaudio engaged in repeated instances of improper fundraising. They found Delgaudio failed to report significant campaign contributions. They implied that Delgaudio may have embezzled some campaign donations. They implied that Delgaudio changed his vote on a land use decision in response to receiving a large campaign donation, raising disturbing questions of possible influence peddling or potential bribery.
Lastly, the Grand Jury found an improper mixing of Delgaudio’s County staff and that of his personal business, an anti-gay hate group that specializes in raising money.
All told, the Special Grand Jury had a visceral reaction to what they found about Delgaudio. By issuing this report, the Grand Jurors made their disgust public, and made clear that the failure to indict was not due to any innocence or doubt, but rather to lax laws and loopholes. At the conclusion of the investigation, the Special Grand Jury was never asked — or allowed — to consider whether it would indict Delgaudio or others. But they were so concerned by what they found — and the inability to issue an indictment under existing laws — that they issued recommendations for changes to the laws and to County policies.
The Loudoun Democrats hope that every voter in Sterling — every citizen of Loudoun County – reads this report, and takes action to oust Eugene Delgaudio from office.
We also strongly urge Chairman York and the rest of the Board of Supervisors to make reform of the ethics laws questioned by this Special Grand Jury the core action of the next Board meeting.
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