On Equal Pay Day, Virginia Democrats have been clear that equal pay is a top priority. When women earn less than men for equal work, it’s harmful to our economy. From bills introduced in the General Assembly to the larger movement nationwide, Democrats have consistently been the party of inclusion, empowerment, and equal opportunity.
During the 2015 legislative session, Republicans in the General Assembly had the opportunity to pass several bills that would help level the playing field for Virginian women. Sadly, rather than support these economic boosters, Republicans stuck to partisan politics and killed several important bills. Here's some of the economic opportunities that Republicans blocked this year:
Equal Pay for Equal Work — Virginia women earn just eighty-three cents for every dollar their male colleagues receive. Democrats supported a bill that would have raised the penalty for pay discrimination and required full equality in benefits and privileges. It died in a House committee thanks to 14 Republican votes, including Bob Marshall and Jackson Miller.
Equal Rights Amendment — Senate Democrats fought to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. constitution, which provides that “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied […] on account of sex.” Upon reaching the House floor, Republicans chose to put ideology ahead of women’s needs, opposing this common-sense protection despite abundant evidence that women still face discrimination every day.
Employee Protections — Senate Democrats supported a bill prohibiting employers from retaliation against employees for sharing salary information, because women deserve to know if they're being paid equally for equal work. Ten Republicans, including Frank Wagner and Tommy Norment, killed that key safeguard in committee.
When women are treated unfairly, Virginia's economy suffers. On this Equal Pay Day, remember who voted to hold equality back.
That’s right, according to Ken Cuccinelli, who Virginia Republicans nominated at the top of the 2013 “Extreme Team” of Cooch/E.W. Jackson/Mark Obenshain for the top three statewide elective offices in Virginia, John McCain – a conservative by any sane person’s measure – is actually someone who…
“…takes a baseball bat to conservatives and conservative principles all the time. And then he turns around and kisses and hugs with the Democrats,” said Cuccinelli, the former attorney general of Virginia.
“He is vicious, vicious, anti-conservative Republican, and you can see what he’s done in Arizona.
“He has been purging the Republican Party in Arizona for a long time as best he can of conservatives, of people who actually have principles and expect their elected officials to stick to them.”
As Cooch himself always likes to say, “you can’t make this stuff up!”
*Marco Rubio Used to Believe in Climate Science. Now He’s Running for President. (As I said, climate science denial or “skepticism” should be an automatic disqualifier for president, for two reasons: 1) it shows a fatal flaw in the candidate’s “thinking;” 2) climate change is by far the biggest threat to America in coming years, and we require a president who understands that and will act aggressively.)
A hard-hiting press release, clearly aimed directly at Dominion Power employee and fellow Mt. Vernon District Supervisor candidate Tim Sargeant, from the Jack Dobbyn for Mt. Vernon District Supervisor campaign. This is getting interesting…
As a firm believer in Government transparency, I think that it is only right that the citizens of Mount Vernon know how diligent and honest their public servants are while serving them. It is imperative that they chose someone as their next Supervisor who will work tirelessly and openly to capitalize upon our past successes, while building for the future. We as citizens need a Supervisor that will be fully committed to the job and can invest the time to ensure our voices are heard. That’s why it is so vitally important that the constituents of Mount Vernon have answers to the questions below.
1. As a member of the board of supervisors would you maintain a full time position with another employer?
o If yes, who?
o How would you manage having a full time job knowing the tremendous responsibility to diligently represent the citizens of Mount Vernon?
2. Do you anticipate having to recuse yourself from any meetings or votes because of a conflict of interest?
o If so, what is the scope of your conflict of interest?
3. Have you ever had to recuse yourself from any vote pertaining to Fairfax County business?
o If so, please explain.
My answers are as follows:
1. No. I learned from my friend Supervisor Jeff McKay that this job is more than a full time job. Being the owner of my own company, I have wide latitude to set my schedule, allowing me to make Supervisor my full time job. As citizens, we deserve someone that will fully commit themselves to bringing greater prosperity to the Mount Vernon District.
2. No, but if any arose I certainly would. It is my duty and obligation to you to do so.
3. At no time in my service to Fairfax County as Supervisor Gerry Hyland’s appointee to the Human Services Council, or in my role as the Co-Chair of the Fairfax County Successful Child and Youth Policy Team have I had to recuse myself.
I challenge my opponents in the race for the Democratic Party Nomination for the Mount Vernon Supervisor position to be transparent about how they would answer these questions to the constituents of Mount Vernon.
Great work by Del. Scott Surovell, who hopefully will soon be State SENATOR Scott Surovell. Clearly, though, as Surovell understands, we need a lot more education, enforcement, and stronger laws to stop our streams, rivers, etc. from being polluted in the first place!
Mt. Vernon, Virginia. This past weekend, Delegate Scott Surovell held his seventh annual Little Hunting Creek Cleanup in the Hybla Valley section of Fairfax County. The cleanup, in coordination with the Friends of Little Hunting Creek and the Alice Ferguson’s Foundations Annual Potomac Watershed Cleanup, was led by Delegate Surovell at three different sites:
Janna Lee Avenue Bridge
Mount Vernon Shopping Plaza behind the Shoppers and Post Office
Creekside Village
Eighty volunteers helped remove the trash from the creek over eight hours. Volunteers included students from Fort Hunt Elementary School, Carl Sandburg Middle School, West Potomac High School and Mount Vernon High School. Additionally, residents of the surrounding neighborhood assisted with the event.
The cleanup netted around 8,500 pounds of trash including:
– 3 scooters – Beer cans and liquor bottles – 40 sports balls – 1 bathtub – 1 bounce house
Shopping carts were from Costco, Wal-Mart, Shoppers Food Warehouse and Rite Aid. There were also other large obstructions including furniture deeply embedded in the creek that caused major buildups, which impaired water flow.
Many of the shopping carts were deeply embedded in the creek and pinned under trees or entangled in roots. Thanks to the help of Robert O’Hanlon’s tree service, Delegate Surovell and volunteers with were able to extract 5 shopping carts, removing over 186 shopping carts total over the past three years.
“Little Hunting Creek continues to be the trashiest creek in Fairfax County and perhaps in Northern Virginia,” said Delegate Scott Surovell. “I hope that these cleanups will help to raise awareness of this problem in the surrounding community, but long term, Little Hunting Creek is in desperate need of litter enforcement and community education.”
The Friends of Little Hunting Creek President, Betsy Martin said, "Thank goodness Scott is helping us remove the trash and calling attention to the litter problem. Little Hunting Creek looks better every year, but unfortunately the trash just keeps on coming. After doing this every year for the past 13 years, I wish the litterers would stop littering, and put me out of the job of organizing cleanups."
“I want to thank Betsy Martin and the Friends of Little Hunting Creek for organizing the Little Hunting Creek Cleanup, providing supplies, and logistics to help keep our community clean,” said Delegate Scott Surovell.
Over at the Mount Vernon News Facebook page, they are doing an excellent job asking Democratic candidates for Fairfax County Board of Supervisors a series of relevant/important questions. I thought the Qs and As deserved broader exposure, so I’m posting them here. Note that I am neutral in this race, although obviously that could change as I follow these campaign.
UPDATE 4/25: The latest, from April 20.
This week we asked the candidates for Supervisor if they would give up their full time jobs if they were elected. Candidates Jack Dobbyn (lawyer) and Tim Sargeant (Dominion Power) did not submit an answer. Below are the responses, however, of the other two candidates:
Candice Bennett: As your Supervisor, I will have the time, energy and resources to listen to your concerns and fight to improve the quality of life for all residents of the Mount Vernon district. While I intend to maintain my marketing research firm, Candice Bennett & Associates (CBA), my schedule is flexible and will allow me to manage the increasingly full-time duties of Supervisor. I also believe that by continuing to work at CBA, it will be easier for me to understand, firsthand, how county and state policies are directly impacting our residents and businesses. As a small business employer, I also feel an obligation to my employees whose livelihood comes from CBA.
Dan Storck: I am a co-owner and managing director of a healthcare company, where I manage the staff, payroll, and all financial and business operations. My partner understands that should the voters of Mount Vernon elect me as their Supervisor, I will hire an administrator to take over my day-to-day duties at the business so that I may be a full-time supervisor. Currently I work both at my business and as a school board member. I leave my home before 7am every morning and regularly am still responding to constituents until well after midnight. That is the same kind of work ethic our community can expect from me as Supervisor. As a School Board Member, I voluntarily hold regular office hours around the community. As Supervisor, I’ll be able to expand that tradition by holding daily office hours for community members to have direct access to me. I will hold hours at the Mount Vernon government center, and regularly in satellite locations in the South County area.
Anyway, here are the latest Qs and As, posted Sunday evening.
This week we asked the candidates for Mount Vernon Supervisor if they would support imposing a meals tax with the money being dedicated to education. As you will see, there are varied responses.
Jack Dobbyn: The question really should be: Would you support putting a voter referendum creating a meals tax on the ballot in November 2016? To which I answer yes. The Board does not currently have the authority to administratively impose a Meals Tax. In Virginia, only cities and towns have the authority to bypass a voter referendum. And, towns and cities in and around Fairfax County all have a meals tax. They have the authority to determine how to address their needs with the meals tax as a tool. We do not. I don’t believe people stay away from Alexandria, Arlington, Herndon, Vienna, Leesburg, or Washington, DC because those places have a meals tax. Giving all of the revenue to FCPS doesn’t address the fact that Fairfax County still has growing operational and programmatic needs each year. If FCPS received the revenue from a meals tax, the county’s needs would still exist, and we would still be left without revenue diversification to lessen the reliance on the Real Estate Tax. Thus, property taxes would continually rise to address the growing need for services throughout the county. If we were to put the additional money in the General Fund, we would be able to address a variety of needs as they arose each year, including lowering the tax rate. Some have proposed putting dollars toward the county’s debt service, which would, in turn, free up those dollars in the General Fund. Some have proposed splitting the meals tax revenue into different categories, including FCPS, public safety, and human services. The point is that individuals recognize that FCPS and the county both have needs, and that we need revenue diversification to ensure that our high quality of life maintains into the future. At the same time, we must address the tax burden for our property owners. Now, we must figure out how to get there together.
Candace Bennett: I strongly believe that Richmond has deferred its responsibility to fully fund education for too long and our local schools and governments have been paying the price. According to the Virginia Education Association, while Virginia is the 9th wealthiest state, we rank 39th in state per-pupil funding, pre-K-12 and teacher salaries rank 37th, with the average teacher salary almost $7,500 below the national average. And yet, our state ranks 13th in state corrections expenditures per offender, clearly not reflecting the true priorities of our state. Historically, Fairfax has only seen 40 cents returned for every dollar it sends to Richmond. The funding gap for our schools is made up at the county level with additional funds raised by students and parents on a school-by-school basis, which shortchanges everyonethe schools with less active fundraising efforts receive less money for these other programs and the students and parents who are active spend precious time on fundraising rather than learning. Because of the Dillon Rule, Fairfax County is extremely limited in its options to raise additional revenues for education or anything else. Our county executive has done a great job to try and manage county priorities which are reflected in the budget, and I sincerely appreciate Supervisor Hyland¹s leadership on the issue. However, I respectfully disagree that a meals tax is the solution to our educational budget shortfall. As an additional sales tax, it¹s a regressive tax on lower-income and middle-class families, who proportionately will pay more of their income toward this tax than others. I disagree that our restaurants would see a drop in business as a result as that hasn¹t happened in neighboring localities, but I simply don¹t think this burden should be borne only by diners and the restaurant industry. I believe a smart program would share the cost of generating additional revenue needed to make this effort a success. As such, as Supervisor, I would direct efforts on growing our business community for the long-term, where the costs for services are fairly and equitably shared and from which all in our county will benefit. Our county has been disproportionately hurt by sequestration and legislative squabbles on Capitol Hill. Attracting and growing businesses of all sizes and across industries is the best chance Fairfax has for increasing our revenue base in a sustainable manner.
Tim Sargeant: I support initiatives that can create opportunities for new sources of revenue, including a meals tax. The question is how to make sure these opportunities create the benefits we want and need for education and other priorities. For more information about a meals tax and other revenue opportunities, please visit my web site.
Dan Storck: Did Not Respond
Now, here are Qs and As posted April 5.
One of the most important issues facing our new Supervisor will be the North Hill development. The county is reviewing a proposal to construct 329 “affordable-workforce housing” apartments and 144 for sale townhomes on the site. We asked the four candidates for Supervisor for their opinion so you can make an educated vote on June 9. Next week we will ask them another question. Here are their responses on this issue:
Candice Bennett: “The North Hill Project represents an opportunity to increase options for affordable housing to the residents of Mount Vernon. This public-private partnership provides minimal risk, but maximum opportunities to our County. I have friends and family both here in Fairfax County and elsewhere in the country who struggle to make ends meet because housing costs stretch too much of an already tight budget. I welcome citizen feedback to any new project, especially when it may impact our schools and roads. I hope that projects like North Hill can move forward offering more permanent housing options to individuals, families and seniors who might otherwise find themselves priced out of Fairfax County.”
Jack Dobbyn: “I support the North Hill Development and it is a great step in the right direction in terms of addressing the dire need for affordable housing for our neighbors in the workforce. North Hill fills a need for housing for young teachers, public safety officers and other hard working citizens of Mount Vernon. Thank you to Supervisor Gerry Hyland and MV Housing Commissioner Matthew Bell for their leadership.”
Dan Storck: “One of my chief concerns as a candidate for the Board of Supervisors is that we develop and grow our community in such a way that the Mount Vernon District continues to be diverse and inclusive, while allowing for expansion and growth that leads to collective prosperity and enjoyment for all of our citizens. The County accepted proposal for the long discussed North Hill property, which was purchased with federal funds for affordable housing more than 30 years ago, appears to be an improvement over previous development plans. I understand that Supervisor Hyland anticipates that these development decisions will be completed during his term which ends in 2015. Should that not be possible, I look forward to working with the community and county officials to complete the mixed-use development of this important property.”
Last Wednesday (April 8), I sent Blue Virginia interview questions to all Democratic candidates running for the 45th House of Delegates district (Alexandria, south Arlington) seat being vacated by Del. Rob Krupicka. The candidates are Larry Altenburg, Craig Fifer, Julie Jakopic, Mark Levine and Clarence Tong. I told the candidates that I’d post their interviews in the order I received them. The first one I received back, this morning, was from Larry Altenburg. Thanks to Larry for his prompt response, and here are the Qs & As. Finally, please note that the primary for this nomination will take place on June 9.
1. Tell us a bit about yourself, and specifically, what in your background and/or temperament makes you the best qualified of the Democratic candidates to represent the 45th House of Delegates district in Richmond.
Answer: I wish to serve the people of the Commonwealth and the 45th District for two key reasons – my 9 year old daughter Abigail and my 6 year old son Avery. They, and all children, deserve to live, learn, grow, and play (and eventually work) in the best place in the world, and Virginia should be that place. By addressing three key focus areas – education, economic development, and transportation – their quality of life can be dramatically improved.
As a parent, I have a direct and vested interest in improving Virginia’s educational programs from the elementary school through Virginia’s public universities. I also have a keen interest in assuring the safety and security of our children’s schools.
As a business executive I am responsible for building cost-effective programs and delivering high quality products to my customers. I have years of experience supporting federal and state customers as a business leader in my field, and I can bring a keen sense of how the Commonwealth can bring best business practices into how our government operates, as well as help improve Virginia’s economic development to become more successful in the global economy.
As a community activist deeply involved in transportation and land use related issues, and my educational background in Urban Planning, I can lead the effort for smart investment in our infrastructure that enables better mobility in and around Virginia’s major cities.
With my experience in government and community activism, coupled with my years of business experience, I will bring a unique perspective to the General Assembly that enables coalition driven approaches and consensus built solutions.
2. What three issues are you most passionate about and why? What specifically have you done to further those issues? What would be the first bill you’d introduce in the House of Delegates?
Answer: As mentioned in the response to question 1, education, economic development, and transportation are my three key issues. I have been an active volunteer with the local PTA for 4 years, including supporting my wife who serves as the Mount Vernon Community School PTA President. I also am a Lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania, teaching leadership curricula to undergraduate students enabling them to bring business acumen to government programs.
I am a business executive currently responsible for over $250 million in business, with over $500 million led over my career. My focus has been in homeland security and national security issues, program, and products, and I have years of experience working with state and local governments to build cost-effective programs that work. I have created hundreds of jobs here in Northern Virginia and elsewhere in the country that have directly supported our economic growth and prosperity.
I am also a degreed urban planner, with specific focus on building sustainable and resilient communities. My career has included numerous efforts to ensure safe and secure transportation. My community involvement, specifically when I was on the board and President of the Del Ray Citizens Association, I focused specifically on enhancing all modes of mobility around the region.
Our students deserve to be safe and secure in their classrooms. While I support our 2nd Amendment rights, we must enact common sense gun laws that keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill. As Delegate, one of my first acts will be to introduce legislation to ban firearms from all Virginia schools except those carried by law enforcement officers. Additionally, I will seek to reinstate the “one handgun a month” law, close the gun show loophole, ban automatic weapons, and restrict gun ownership by convicted domestic abusers. Virginia needs common sense gun laws; the time to act is now.
3. How would you describe yourself ideologically – “progressive,” “moderate,” “liberal,” or something else? How does your record of votes, endorsements, employment, and other activities reflect your political ideology?
Answer: I would describe myself as a pragmatic Democrat. I recognize that the American people, and particularly many Virginians, have grown tired of the partisan bickering, and want to find common ground to move our nation and government forward and solve problems together. My career and volunteer history has been to build coalitions to create solutions.
Since I have been focused on non-partisan homeland and national security related issues throughout my professional life, coalition building regardless of political affiliations has been a hallmark of my career.
As I am seeking the Democratic nomination, I would highlight that I was a political appointee with the Clinton Administration, serving as a Special Assistant for National Security Programs at the US Department of Energy. I was also appointed as a senior staff member of the Presidential Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection. I was on the campaign staff for Clinton/Gore 92, Clinton/Gore 96, and Gore/Lieberman. I have supported Democratic campaigns in the 45th District since moving here on the late 1990s, having volunteered for Mark Sickles’ and Rob Krupicka’s campaigns for Delegate, numerous Democratic Alexandria City Council campaigns, and several Democratic mayoral campaigns. I also advised on a recent Democratic congressional campaign in the 8th District.
4. Who is your favorite and who is your least favorite current Virginia politician and why?
Answer: My favorite Virginia politicians are those willing to work together to solve problems. My least favorite are those entrenched in ideology who only wish to fight rather then come to a consensus agreement.
5. If you had been in the House of Delegates at the time, would you have voted for a) HB 2313, the comprehensive transportation package passed in 2013; b) repeal of Virginia’s estate tax, which is costing our state around $130 million a year in order to benefit a few hundred of the wealthiest Virginians; c) the 2011 redistricting bill HB 5001, which gerrymandered the state and helped to lock in a Republican majority in the House of Delegates for the rest of the decade; or d) the 2014 and 2015 ethics reform packages, which many (myself included) have criticized as extremely weak, possibly even a step backwards in the case of the most recent “reforms.”
Answer: a) yes – while imperfect, it was a strong step forward. We need to continue addressing the transportation needs of the Commonwealth, addressing the major shortfalls in funding compared to our needs as well as reconsidering the elimination of the gas tax that only shifted the taxation burden from the consumer in one area to several others (including wholesale fuels taxes and increased sales taxes).
b) no
c) no
d) yes – Frankly, I would rather some ethics reforms instead of no ethics reforms. We need to address government ethics head on to bring credibility and confidence of the people back to our government.
6. What is your vision for Virginia’s energy future? Do you support any of the following: offshore oil drilling, natural gas “fracking,” new natural gas pipelines (e.g., Mountain Valley Pipeline, Atlantic Coast Pipeline) uranium mining, new coal-fired power plants, mountaintop removal coal mining? If not, what will you do to fight against these things, and to fight for a healthy environment, energy efficiency, and renewable
power?
Answer: Virginia enjoys some of the most beautiful environmental resources in the world, and we should be proud and protective of our environment. The federal government’s standards need to meet the broader needs of the nation, and in some respects are less than what Virginia might need and in others more than Virginia might need. We should do our level best to ensure the sustained quality of Virginia’s environment and protect it for generations to come.
Virginia has tremendous opportunity to invest in clean and sustainable energy, creating new jobs in a growing economic sector. By investing in this area and redistributing the coal tax credit that costs Virginians millions of dollars each year for a negative return on our investment, we address multiple important issues – economic development, climate change, workforce retraining. We need to aggressively address climate change nationally and regionally, and by investing wisely in clean energy, we can lead the way.
I would support legislation that develops a consensus-based approach to addressing our carbon production and reducing the negative effects of emissions while also building our sustainable energy capabilities and jobs.
If offshore drilling could be done in an environmentally responsible manner with assurances that Virginia and our neighboring states would never suffer an environmental catastrophe, then I would support offshore drilling. However, until such assurances and accountability can be established, I would not want Virginia to run the risk that the Gulf States did with the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Since the negative environmental effects greatly outweigh the benefits achieved by hydraulic fracturing, I would support a full ban on fracking in the Commonwealth. I support the continued moratorium on uranium mining in Virginia. I support a ban on mountaintop removal coal mining, and I support a ban on new coal-fired power plants. Further, Virginia’s coal production tax credits have cost the Commonwealth more than it has brought in from taxes on these companies, with little trickle-down to the employees in Virginia’s coal-rich counties. I would eliminate the tax credit and divert the funds to invest in workforce retraining and educational programs that would enable continued growth in a broader global economy without bolstering an industry in decline with taxpayers’ dollars.
7. Yes or no answers. Do you support: a) a strongly progressive tax system, including a reasonable estate tax on the wealthy; b) a “Dream Act” for Virginia; c) allowing gay couples to adopt; d) closing the “gun show loophole” and taking other commonsense gun measures; e) raising the gas tax and/or instituting a carbon tax (revenue-neutral or
otherwise)?
Answers: a. We need to completely reassess and reform Virginia’s tax system, with particular focus on the state tax expenditures. I will support a bipartisan effort to address the needs of the Commonwealth with a much more simple and common sense tax regime.
b. Yes
c. Yes – gay couples should enjoy equal rights as heterosexual couples.
d. Yes – Our students deserve to be safe and secure in their classrooms. While I support our 2nd Amendment rights, we must enact common sense gun laws that keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill. As Delegate, one of my first acts will be to introduce legislation to ban firearms from all Virginia schools except those carried by law enforcement officers. Additionally, I will seek to reinstate the “one handgun a month” law, close the gun show loophole, ban automatic weapons, and restrict gun ownership by convicted domestic abusers.
e. 1- Yes – reinstating the gas tax that was eliminated in the 2013 transportation bill and only shifted the tax burden to higher wholesale fuel taxes and increased sales taxes); 2 – No – I would support legislation that develops a consensus based approach to addressing our carbon production and reducing the negative effects of emissions while also building our sustainable energy capabilities and jobs. Cap and Trade legislation is preferable to a Carbon Tax, especially since it would address climate change on a regional basis with our neighboring states in the mid-Atlantic region. The Carbon Tax would likely get directly passed down to consumers with little appreciable effect on climate change.
8. Given that the 45th House of Delegates district is a solid “blue” district, and thus a “safe seat,” it is crucial that whoever is elected has a plan to help elect Democrats – preferably progressives – across Virginia. That includes fundraising, organizing volunteers, and maximizing turnout in the 45th district for statewide and Congressional elections. Do you agree with this vision for the Delegate from the 45th district, and if so, what exactly is your plan to accomplish it?
Answer: I agree that all elected Democrats should help enable the election of other Democrats; however, I believe the first obligation of an elected official is to represent the interests of their constituents wholeheartedly. We should be enabling the election of Democratic candidates who can work across the aisle to solve problems together.
We must find areas of common ground to solve the problems of our nation and Commonwealth that know no party affiliation. I will fully support all efforts to build a collaborative House of Delegates, with Democratic candidates able to lead the way.
9. Do you agree or disagree that Richmond is broken – for instance, the tremendous influence of money, lobbyists and corporations (e.g., Dominion Virginia Power, car title/payday lenders) on legislation – and needs major ethics reform? More broadly, if elected to the House of Delegates, would your general attitude be more “go along, get along” with this system or to “shake things up?” Please be as specific as possible in your answer. For instance, would you support campaign finance reform that sharply curtails the power of corporations, lobbyists, and special interests?
Answer: Richmond is broken since Democrats and Republicans aren’t working together to find solutions to our most basic problems and I am committed to working with anyone and everyone who is committed to finding collaborative ways for Virginia to move forward. The people of Virginia have had enough of partisan bickering and need more Delegates who can work collaboratively to find common ground and identify solutions to our most important problems and issues facing the Commonwealth today.
The Delegate from the 45th District should be a strong advocate for bipartisan and collaborative leadership, and I will be that advocate and leader.
I fully support comprehensive ethics and campaign finance reform. As an Eagle Scout and a parent, I have a deeply seeded obligation to maintain strong ethical principles and moral values, and I will carry that commitment to Richmond.
10. Please tell us how you would stand up to party leadership, and even to a Democratic governor, if you believed that they were wrong about an issue and/or that it would hurt the 45th district.
Answer: I am not shy about speaking out against efforts I believe are misguided or harmful. For example, as President of the Del Ray Citizens Association, I led the efforts to prevent the closure of an historic fire station, and found a compromise solution with city officials that enables key rescue and emergency medical services to continue to operate from the facility, addressing the community’s greatest need. By working closely with city staff and elected officials who originally wanted the station closed, I was able to find common ground that benefitted all stakeholders involved. I will bring a similar collaborative leadership style to Richmond if elected as the Delegate from the 45th District.
*In video, Clinton gives a preview of her strategy (“The deliberately low-key announcement of Hillary Clinton’s White House run tries to avoid the pitfalls of her 2008 attempt and suggests her campaign will focus on economic opportunity.”)
*Hillary Clinton’s role model? Bush 41. (“Bush ran as Reagan-Plus. He promised that he would be both an “education president” and an “environmental president,” neatly stamping himself with the new and improved label.”)
*Paul Krugman: It Takes a Party (“Mr. Bush is saying crazy things about health care and climate change, but he doesn’t really mean it, and he’d be reasonable once in office. Just like his brother.”)
The “Southern Women’s Show” is coming to the RIR complex 17 – 19 April. Highlight of the show is the appearance of one of the Duggar daughters (along with several other unknowns).
Hillary Clinton hits an economic populist note as she kicks off what she hopes – and many Americans hope – will be a successful run for president in 2016. Of course, ANY Democrat would be better than hard-right wingers like Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Scott Walker, Donald Trump, Ben Carson, or Jeb Bush. Now, if Hillary Clinton can connect with Americans and explain why electing her president will be infinitely superior to electing any of the Republicans (which shouldn’t, frankly, be a difficult “sell”), in January 2017 we’ll have the first woman president — and more importantly, one of the best prepared, most qualified people ever to be president — in the history of the United States. By the way, I think this video is very well done, very positive and really highlights the diversity of America…again, unlike the all-angry-and-negative-all-the-time Teapublican Party.
I’m getting ready to do something too. I’m running for president. Americans have fought their way back from tough economic times, but the deck is still stacked in favor of those at the top. Every day Americans need a champion, and I want to be that champion. So you can do more than just get by, you can get ahead and stay ahead. Because when families are strong, America is strong. So I’m hitting the road to earn your vote. Because it’s your time. And I hope you’ll join me on this journey.
UPDATE Monday morning: According to Media Matters, “As Hillary Clinton announced she will run for president in 2016, right-wing media figures responded with predictable ire, from sexist comments to implications that Clinton is supported by Communists.” As for the Republican Party of Virginia, they laughably talk abouta nonexistent, mythical “positive Republican agenda to move the country forward,” and that the same party which brought us disaster in Iraq (which led to the turmoil in the region generally, including the growth of ISIS), enormous budget deficits and the Great Recession is actually the party of “fiscal responsibility, opportunity for all Americans and a strong foreign policy.” Hahahahahahahahahaha.
From DPVA:
Over at the 
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, April 13.
