Wednesday, June 10, 2009
From Hopeful to Humble at the Appreciation Parties
Early last evening at Miles Grant’s post-campaign party, when campaign volunteer Christopher Gill was “hopeful, but realistically so,” he said, “This is the local McGovern campaign.”
He meant that they may have lost, but they, especially the volunteers, will continue.
“The mere fact of trying creates a positive effect,” Mr. Gill said. He and other volunteers met for one last campaign party at Union Jack’s English pub in the Ballston Commons Mall.
Although their candidate took fourth place in the five-way Democratic primary in the House of Delegates race, many of the volunteers who stopped to mingle over hors d'oeuvre and drinks said the experience was a good one and that they would continue with other activities, maybe even try for office themselves. “We had a great campaign,” running on important issues like environmental action and equal rights for all Mr. Grant said in a brief interview at the pub. “I’m just happy to be drinking my first beer since being a candidate.” At his campaign party, Andres Tobar told a few gathered in a north Arlington living room, “I didn’t make it...I just wanted to thank you so much.” He said Patrick Hope would take the fight for the House of Delegate’s 47th seat to the November election. “I’m very delighted with his victory.” Mr. Tobar, who came in fifth place, left his own party to go to congratulate Mr. Hope at his. The scene at the home of Mr. Hope's campaign chair was decidedly more upbeat as party-goers, some of the elite from the Arlington political scene, including Al Eisenberg, the incumbent who is stepping down after six years in the House of Delegates. 
“You have supported so many great people over the years,” Mr. Eisenberg said. “Including you, Al!” another person yelled. Mr. Eisenberg’s wife, Sharon Davis, picked up the speech from there, “We’ll work with Patrick to make a smooth transition next year.”
Ted Bilich, a donor to Mr. Hope’s campaign and a supporter from Ashton Heights, said, “This is exciting. I think he’ll be good for our district.” For his part, Mr. Hope, looking tired, and hot, and a little overwhelmed, said, “It’s still such a shock.” “I’m looking forward to a lot of work,” he said, and was thankful for all the support. “I’m relieved, but I’m also very humble.” Labels: 47th, election, house of delegates, primary
8,000 Vote in Primary; Hope and Deeds Win
Despite a thunderstorm in the morning and another in the afternoon, Arlingtonian Kasara Williams turned out to vote in yesterday’s Democratic primary. Why?
“Guilt,” she said, laughing. She said she works in politics.
“If I don’t vote, then everything I’ve worked for is useless,” she said on the front porch of the K.W. Barrett Elementary School, the Buckingham precinct polling location. Her picks did not win the day, however.
A campaign worker in Wisconsin during John Kerry’s 2004 bid for the presidency, she had met Terry McAuliffe when he was chair of the Democratic National Committee.
“I enjoyed talking with him,” and she liked his message, she said, so she voted for him. She also said she voted for Adam Parkhomenko in the House of Delegates race because one of his staffers handed her a flyer at the last minute.
Neither Mr. McAuliffe nor Parkhomenko won their races last night, as Creigh Deeds took the gubernatorial nomination from (some would say out from under) Brian Moran and Mr. McAuliffe. Patrick Hope won a shot at the House of Delegates seat in the 47th District. Mr. Hope will face Green Party candidate Josh Reubner in the fall. Arlington Republicans released the name of Eric Brescia as their candidate, but that has not yet been confirmed with the Arlington electoral board.
Slightly more than 8,000 votes were cast in yesterday’s election.
Mr. Hope took 36 percent of the 8047 votes cast; Alan Howze won 19, Adam Parkhomenko won 17, Miles Grant won 14, and Andres Tobar won 12. In Mr. Hope’s home precinct of Buckingham, he took 220 of the 374 votes cast. Mr. Grant took second place there with 47 votes. In Arlington Forest Mr. Hope took 201 of 449 votes cast, while Alan Howze, 76 votes, edged Adam Parkhomenko, 74 votes, for second place. In Ashton Heights, Mr. Hope won 236 of the 609 total votes, with Mr. Howze receiving 126 votes. Echoing what others interviewed said throughout the day, Kate Hughes said, “They’re all good candidates,” in the House of Delegates race. For governor, she voted for Mr. Deeds who will face Republican Bob McConnell in November. “It’s a tight race,” she said of the gubernatorial run, adding later, “I think we’re going to have a tough fight.” The sense of civic duty drew Keith Eishcheid to his Ashton Heights polling station at the Clarendon United Methodist Church where he met with Mr. Hope, Mr. Tobar and Mike Signer, who lost to Judy Wagner in the primary race for Lt. Governor. The three candidates stood ready to speak with last-minute voters at a poll that hit over 20 percent voting, high for a rainy primary. In the 2007 Democratic primary about 6,600 votes were cast in the race for Arlington County treasurer, the only race on the docket. In 2006, when now Sen. Jim Webb ran in the primary against Harris Miller, about 11,000 votes were cast. Even that number is less than 10 percent of the registered voters. The granddaddy of them all, of course, was last year’s race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on the Democratic side, and Mike Huckabee, John McCain, and Ron Paul on the Republican side. A total of about 54,000 people voted, about 45 percent of the total registered, according to Arlignton County records. “I like to vote,” Mr. Eishcheid said, umbrella in hand. He made a point of thanking each candidate for coming. Labels: election, house of delegates, primary
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Letter: No Lines Today
No line at all to vote today. Was there around 8:15. I parked in the parking lot at Culpeper Gardens, so I avoided all the campaign people stationed on the sidewalk on N. Henderson Road.
Dan Felsenheld
Arlington Forest
Labels: 47th, election, house of delegates, primary
Turnout Looks Brisk, Despite Weather
At 9:15 this morning, about 112 people had voted at the Buckingham precinct and 166 had voted at Arlington Forest. The primaries last year--the one which John McCain and Barack Obama won--had a turnout of about 1100 voters on the day (Democrat and Republican) at the Buckingham precinct, or just shy of 100 an hour on average, compared to about 60 an hour above. Voters of any party can vote in Virginia primaries, so there is no way to tell if the voters are only Democrats. Neither the Republican nor the Green parties are holding primaries in Arlington this year. No clear winner is stepping forward in the 47th seat in the House of Delegates race if a handful of interviews at the Buckingham and Arlington Forest precincts are any indication. Patrick Hope and Miles Grant seem to be the favorites in these neighborhoods, but Andres Tobar also was mentioned. No one spoken with mentioned Alan Howze. Adam Parkhomenko was often cast as the person chosen not to vote for because of his age and inexperience. At the same time people were quick to say that Mr. Parkhomenko was a hard worker. Generally, people said they found all five candidates in the House race to be OK and had a hard time picking the one to vote for. Sara Ellen Swatt, of Buckingham said she would have liked to have seen a woman run for the House of Delegates and blamed the party for not having a strong feeder system to get women into the position to run.
Stephen Goldman was 15 minutes into his commute when he saw a person holding an campaign sign and remembered that he had to vote, so he turned around to get back to his Arlington Forest precinct. He said that during the campaign he asked three House candidates--the three who stopped at his door--to explain how they were different from each other, and was a little disappointed to find their answers "evasive," he said. "But I voted anyway." The number of people interviewed was much too small to make any of this accurate beyond anecdote. Zelmira McCann at the Buckingham Precinct, said she came out to vote to “keep the ball rolling with Democrats” who have had major victories in statewide elections in recent years. She chose Terry McAuliffe for governor and Miles Grant for the House of Delegates, she said. “He’s the ‘Green Party’ type,” she said of Mr. Grant, adding that she’s trying to go green herself. Khyati Desai, also at Buckingham, said she went with Brian Moran for governor and Patrick Hope for House of Delegates saying that Mr. Hope has made service in the community a career. She said its best to be engaged in the process early, so she made sure to vote in the primary. A couple blocks away at the Arlington Forest precinct, Anne Fullerton said if she were a “single-issue voter” that issue would be immigration, so she cast a ballot for Andres Tobar, who is also a friend of hers from church. Jackie Kramer, at Buckingham, voted for Patrick Hope in the House race; she had helped Mr. Hope campaign, and has been active in other campaigns in past years. She voted for Creigh Deeds in the three-way primary for governor. “He’s in the best position to win,” she said. Much of her decision to vote for Mr. Deeds was based on the idea that Mr. Moran is too liberal to beat Bob McDonnell, the Republican candidate for governor. Republicans will not be able to paint Mr. Deeds as a liberal--"He's not a liberal," she said. “We love Brian, personally, he’s our guy. But it’s really a question of who can win.” Labels: 47th, election, house of delegates, primary
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Candidate Interviews: House of Delegates, 47
I hadn’t planned on doing these interviews since I am a friend of candidate Patrick Hope, and I did not want to conduct what might be seen as biased interviews.
But when Alan Howze came to my door and said to me, “Let’s get coffee” in a way that said, “I can change your mind,” I thought if I got coffee with him, why not with everyone? I called and emailed all five candidates and four agreed to sit and talk with me on tape (or, actually, digital recorder). I was up front with all about my leanings toward Mr. Hope, and have always listed my friendship with him at the bottom of articles about the race.
The interviews (see below) with Miles Grant, Patrick Hope, Alan Howze and Adres Tobar took place at various restaurants and coffee shops in the 47th, and lasted 30 to 45 minutes. Adam Parkhomenko’s campaign said he did not have time in his busy schedule to have coffee, despite being the only candidate who has made campaigning a full-time job. Make of that what you will, but to add context, I should say that I pretty much excoriated him after the Arlington County Democratic Committee debate; I was hoping he would want the interview, just to set me straight.
I had a great time conducting these interviews, and I want to take a moment to thank the four candidates for taking time from a very busy campaign season to sit and speak with me. I found the interviews to be a lot of fun and very informative. It’s nice to know that the 47th has strong candidates in this race. In the interest of full disclosure: I bought the coffee, muffins, eggs, toast or whatever else we consumed while chatting.
The full transcripts which I typed ran about 2,500 to 6,000 words. I tried to get these interviews to similar lengths, lengths which I thought would be informative and readable. They each run about 2,000 to 2,300 words, which is long (but don’t worry, the real test isn’t until next Tuesday, June 9. You have week to study-up!). I like the long-form of the responses as I think they show the candidates’ personalities as well as their ideas and policy goals. You’ll find, too, that the candidates work through answers, showing nuance and complete ideas that might not make it into shorter interviews. It makes for convoluted sentences at times, but that’s the nature of a discussion-based interview, rather than something that approximates an interrogation.
Obviously, I cut a lot from each of the interviews, and occasionally I added words to clarify what was left. I edited my questions often to shorten them, and to clarify them.
I often, but not always, cut the word “and” or “but” from the speakers’ words and started a new sentence if the speaker’s sentence was just getting too long, a common problem in these sorts of interviews.
If I took out more than a word or two (or if the words I erased were more substantial than “and” or “but”), I inserted a three-dot ellipsis (…); this was particularly the case when we got off topic, or when the speaker started and then stopped to restart the sentence.
If I inserted anything the speaker did not actually say, I used square brackets [like these] to show my insertion.
Otherwise, the words a wholly theirs, full quotes. Despite having to remove a lot of content from each of the interviews, I try to make sure the quotes still make sense and are in context. I will happily run corrections or clarifications if the candidate or his campaign can show that it is merited.
Click on the names of the candidates below to read each of the interviews. They are listed randomly (the list chosen by coin-flip).
Please review my policy on emails-to-the-editor and comments: emails sent to me, I assume, are meant for publication and will be published so long they come with a name and a neighborhood at the end of them. (Email me here: heraldtrib@gmail.com). Comments can be added to the end of any of the interviews. They may be anonymous (though I encourage everyone to use their names). Libelous, potentially libelous, or overly mean comments will be erased; emails with similar content will not be published.
Related campaign web sites…
Labels: 47th, campaign, election, house of delegates, primary
Interview: Miles Grant
To get this interview, as well as the others that I conducted, to a similar, readable size, I had to cut quite a bit of material. If I took out more than a word or two (or if the words I erased were more substantial than “and” or “but”), I inserted a three-dot ellipsis (…). If I inserted anything the speaker did not actually say, I used square brackets [like these] to show my insertion.
Otherwise, the words are full quotes. Despite having to remove a lot of content from each of the interviews, I try to make sure the quotes still make sense and are in context. I will happily run corrections or clarifications if the candidate or his campaign can show that it is merited.
My own questions were edited, at times, for clarity and length.--ST
Buckingham HeraldTrib (Steve Thurston): Pre-school for all Virginia’s kids, Universal Pre-K, is supported by all the candidates in the race. It lost during the last legislative session. Assuming we don’t have the money again in the upcoming year for this, what’s your second-best idea for this?
Miles Grant: How that gets dealt with next year, is going to depend on the outcomes of the elections in November, that it depends on who has control of the House of Delegates. It depends on who has control of the governor’s mansion.
That’s why, as a Democrat, I think it’s so critical that whoever gets the [gubernatorial] nomination, be it Terry [McAuliffe], be it Brian [Moran], be it Creigh [Deeds], we campaign our butts off for them, and that we try to pick up those six seats in the House of Delegates…Then I think you’re going to look for some new sources of revenue to try to pay for education, and try to prevent us from having to make too many draconian cuts in the budget…
When I talk about Universal Pre-K, I see it as more of a long-term goal, along the lines of the clean energy goals that I talk about, along with marriage rights for all. But it’s something we’re going to have to fight for and strive towards, but in the short term, we have to play a little defense with the budget, just because of the economic climate that we’re in. BHT: But do you see a short-term win? MG: If anything what we’re looking at is trying to provide a higher level of funding state-wide so that communities don’t have to rely so much on things like property taxes for their education budget because we are talking about the two Virginias…We have northern Virginia which certainly provides for the needs of its children, for the needs of its special-needs kids, for the needs of its bi-lingual kids. In the rest of the state, I think there’s a real question of whether we’re providing that minimal level of education in the rest of the state. We have places where the drop-out rate is approaching 40 percent. In places like that, forget about things like universal Pre-K, which we’re talking about achieving at a high level. We’re talking about failing at a bare minimum of getting our kids a high school diploma. BHT: At the Arlington County Democratic Committee debate Andres Tobar said, I thought rightly, that if we think we’re getting off coal quickly to move to clean energy, we’re fooling ourselves. MG: …I wish he wouldn’t say things like that because who’s talking about getting rid of coal tomorrow? Nobody. No environmentalist is talking about getting rid of coal tomorrow, and stuff like that is really playing into the Republican talking points that, ‘Oh, we can never get off fossil fuels, so why should we try?’ When we talk about our goals for clean energy, look at President [Barack] Obama’s goal: 25 percent renewable energy by 2025. That’s something that’s long-term, that’s achievable. And when we talk about these things, we’re really talking about starting the transformation now because Americans go into this shock-and-trance thing when it comes to fossil fuels. We get shocked by the $4-a-gallon gas prices. Then they come back down and we go into this trance where, well maybe if we don’t do anything, everything will stay the same, and you know, we’ll be fine. But now is the time that we need to start moving away from some of these things. I mean, you know energy bills went up 18 percent in September, 1.5 percent in January, and now Dominion [Dominion Virginia Power Co.] wants to raise them another seven percent. That’s due to the rising cost of coal. 
I think when somebody goes around saying, oh, well we can’t get off coal tomorrow, well when are we going to get off coal? When is it OK for us to get off coal? If not tomorrow, what about next week? What about next month? What about next year? BHT: So what do you want to do in Richmond in January, along those lines? MG: I think the first thing we need to do is frame this as an economic issue. Republicans aren’t going to get on board with us because we’re trying to save the planet, or anything like that. But if we can, say, Look, let’s do an efficiency bill where we’re trying to save consumers money on their energy bills, that we’re trying to weatherize people’s homes. We’re trying to make Dominion [Virginia Power Company] more of a partner…Dominion currently makes their profit by selling us as much energy as possible. If our home isn’t so energy efficient, that’s no skin off their back. So I think an efficiency bill is first step toward that. It’s businesses here in Virginia that are starting to say, there’s opportunities here for clean energy. You see the commercials that are on TV now that single windmill needs 250 tons of steel. Well, where are those windmills going to get built? Are we going to let them get built in Pennsylvania, are we going to let them get built in Germany? Or are we going to build them here?… Look at the last few elections. In 2004, this was not talked about on a national level. In the governor’s race with Governor [Tim] Kaine and [Terry] Kilgore, this wasn’t talked about. But for the first time, you’ve seen President Obama talk about it. Now you’re seeing McAuliffe and Moran talk about it.
And I think the more voters hear about it, the more they’re going to expect not a Democratic or Republican solution, but a solution. The party of “No” is not going to be the right answer anymore. And if you see people like [Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob] McDonnell just saying, oh, “Drill, baby, drill,” voters are going to realize that that’s not a real answer, and Republicans are going to have to get on board with something. BHT: You stepped out with a campaign pledge not to take contributions from Dominion Power or their employees. Now you’re saying we’ve got to make Dominion a partner. Was that pledge a statement you felt you needed to say to get elected, but something else is how I really feel, or what? MG: There’s a difference between working with somebody and taking their giant checks…There’s a difference between having fund-raisers at Dominion executives’ houses, and saying, ‘Look, I’m not interested in your check, but I do want you to be a partner with us.’ I think there has to be a happy medium in there somewhere, and Virginia politicians tend not to find that when it comes to large checks and contributions. I’m just saying, look, I want to have an objective relationship with you, where we’re working together for consumers, and it’s not about, quid-pro-quo, or anything like that. I’ve talked to some delegates from Richmond who’ve said ‘It’s easy for you to talk tough on Dominion when you’re not down here.’ I say, look, I’ll talk tough, but when it comes time to sit down at the negotiating table, let’s cut a deal. BHT: You have gotten support from the gay and lesbian community. The way I’ve heard it, is that you’re tending toward getting the younger people from that community while the older people are tending toward Pat Hope. MG: Sure. Well, I think the question is, do you want somebody who’s going to be, you know, more of the bolder person who’s going to be stepping out and saying marriage rights for all, you know, like we were talking about, you know, marriage rights for all sooner, or marriage rights for all later? Patrick at the Arlington Gay and Lesbian Alliance was saying, I don’t think we can do this right now. I would disagree with that. I think we’ve got to start fighting now, or else when is it OK to start fighting? Next year? Next decade? I don’t know. BHT: At the ACDC debate you listed gas taxes as a way to fund transportation. (Currently they’re about $0.38 a gallon, $0.19 federal, $0.18, state.) Where do you think it should be and why that level? MG: Gov. Kaine had proposed in the past year raising it 30 cents. I think that’s a very sensible first step. I think long term we need to give drivers a pricing that will say, look when you’re going to buy that next car, gas prices are going to be a bit higher than they are now. So that hybrid that you’re thinking about buying is going to be a good investment. Drivers right now have absolutely no idea where gas prices is going be, and if you buy a [Toyota] Prius right now, you’re sort of making that leap of faith that gas prices are going to stay high or even if they go lower, well it’s going to make me feel good. Feeling good is not going to get us out of the climate crisis and our energy crisis. We need to give people a cost certainty and I feel the gas tax is one way to do that. The added benefit of the gas tax is that we can then take that revenue and spend it either on the funding that Metro needs or on the funding for our road maintenance that it needs. I think the one thing that we’ve done poorly lately is focus on expanding our existing roads. And that’s not a solution. Those beltway HOT [High Occupancy Toll] lanes they’re putting in…a month after they’re done, they’re going to be full. Drivers are going to be complaining that they’re not really helping them get anywhere faster because the people who right now are taking [Route] 123 or Glebe Road or something like that are going to be trying to get on these HOT lanes. Same with expanding [Interstate] 66. People who take back roads now, or who take Route 50 now, or who take public transportation now, will think, ‘Oh, 66 is wider, it will take me there in two minutes.’ Well, it won’t. BHT: You first entered the race before Al Eisenberg, the incumbent, got out of the race. I was curious about your strategy there. MG: I’ve been very open…I’m not going to be the guy with the most money in this race. I’m not going to be the guy who gets the most [Democratic Party] establishment support. But I do think I have the strongest message when it comes to the progressive issues that we care about: clean energy and climate action, civil liberties for all Virginians, and community engagement and civic activism. Getting into the race early allowed me to build that volunteer base. Now I get 10 people for every volunteer event that I have. And that’s really going to be my edge in this race… I’m 31 now. I’ll be 32 in November…I’ve got enough of a resume to run on. Chair of Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment. Chair of Community Volunteer Network. [I’ve worked on] Arlington Young Democrats and helping out with the [President Barack] Obama campaign. I’ve been here. I’ve been fighting for these issues. It’s not like I’m just popping out of the weeds and saying, “OK everybody, here I am.” Click here to return to the main interview site. --ST Labels: 47th, campaign, election, Grant, house of delegates, primary
Interview: Patrick Hope
To get this interview, as well as the others that I conducted, to a similar, readable size, I had to cut quite a bit of material. If I took out more than a word or two (or if the words I erased were more substantial than “and” or “but”), I inserted a three-dot ellipsis (…). If I inserted anything the speaker did not actually say, I used square brackets [like these] to show my insertion.
Otherwise, the words are full quotes. Despite having to remove a lot of content from each of the interviews, I try to make sure the quotes still make sense and are in context. I will happily run corrections or clarifications if the candidate or his campaign can show that it is merited.
My own questions were edited, at times, for clarity and length.--ST
Buckingham HeraldTrib (Steve Thurston): You really can’t be sure who’s going to come out and vote. I don’t get a sense that people are motivated to vote.
Patrick Hope: We’re to the point now where we’re starting to really [make] distinct the differences between the five of us. The main thing that we talk about a lot is first my community experience. You know, I’ve been active in the community for the last 10 years. Whether it’s civic association things, or Special Olympics or it’s human services, affordable housing, all those things I’ve been involved in over the years. That’s one thing that distinguishes me from the other candidates…
I’m responsible for bringing in several million dollars into Arlington. And by working together with people, and bringing together interest groups at the local level…As chair of the community services board, we oversaw, mental health, substance abuse, and intellectual disabilities. All three of those different disability groups have three different interests, and they’re not always the same. They all have their groups. Their parents are out there. They’re very single [issue] focused. And it’s a challenge to bring even those groups together into one…
So, at the local level, we’ve been able to all of us get together on the same page. It means, though, that we leave stuff off the table. Everyone comes to the table with their interests, but they also leave that meeting, meaning that some of their high priorities are not going to be dealt with. So, we all come together on a single, common message, whatever that may be for the year… Compromise is hard. But the stakes are just so high. So many people are suffering that, you know, if it means that thousands of more people are being served today than weren’t before, it’s worth it. You always have an end goal,…you always have this ideal where Virginia should be in caring for the most vulnerable populations… Virginia ranks seventh in the nation in income per capita but yet we rank 48th in the nation in Medicaid funding. So, think about it, our funding, our safety net program for the sickest, the poorest people…those people get the short end of the stick every time. Every time. So many people are not even covered. If they want these services—whether it’s health care, they end up going to the emergency room when it’s frequently too late, and it’s so expensive, we’ll cover them there. I mean, we’ll pay for a $40,000 foot amputation, but we won’t pay for a $140 visit to the podiatrist… [We need to] focus on preventive care… BHT: What are we talking about in an economy like this? Where’s the money going to come from? PH: We spend the money in the system. We don’t have to spend a dime. And I wouldn’t even propose that we spend more money, more tax dollars. We have enough money in the system, we just spend it in the wrong places… I mean, think of it this way: when someone comes into the jail, that’s an addict, they get out of jail still an addict. Someone who has a serious mental illness, they come in with mental illness, they go out still mentally ill…It’s a merry-go-round… One thing I’ve been active in creating in Arlington is a drug court. Someone that is presented with a misdemeanor, not a felony, but I’m talking about a misdemeanor, maybe it’s possession. We’re tending to see that their rates of recidivism are very high. So they’ll be back in jail for another reason once we let them off with this misdemeanor, but the next crime it won’t be a misdemeanor, it’ll be a felony. It’ll be burglary. They’ve got to support their habit. And so if we can get to them early and start getting them treatment—and we’ve seen efforts with drug courts that are very rigorous and the rates of recidivism are extremely low. BHT: But that can’t be cheap, either. It seems to me what it takes is an intense will of the person to want to get dry and sober, and an intense will of the system to sort of continually chip at this person to keep him or her dry and sober. It seems to me that we’ve used the prison model because, though possibly expensive, it’s fast and doable. PH: It doesn’t work, though…and there’s a real incentive for the individual to get into this [drug court] program. It’s very rigorous,…almost daily drug tests, you have to be actively searching for a job, and you appear before the court on a weekly basis…If you fail, then the punishment is more stricter than it would have been originally. But the incentive to do it is that the crime will be stricken from your record…
BHT: Your ideas for preventative health care is basically the HMO model, right? Get people care regularly before they need it. PH: It is, but you have to make sure that it’s run correctly. First of all, you’ve got to be in the system. Right now people aren’t in the system. So there’s no incentive for you to even get care… What they’ve done in North Carolina is first they’ve expanded coverage…to bring more people into the system. And for those most expensive chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, asthma, hypertension, the most expensive and the most common ones, for the rural areas—this works very well in the rural areas—is you make sure you have case managers and nurses. Once you identify the diabetic, you go to their home, literally [a case worker] goes to their home and makes sure the patient know how to check their blood, makes sure that they are eating right; they’re taking their medications, they get them filled. If they need an appointment with a podiatrist, not only is the appointment set, but they actually have transportation to get there. They actually make sure that they show up to do it. That way, you’re managing their disease… BHT: I can hear conservatives, and even the conservative part of myself, saying that we’re too involved. Are you sure this is revenue neutral? PH: It is. North Carolina did a study on it, and they spent $10 million on their case managers. And just to be clear, the case managers and the nurses are in the rural areas. In the urban areas, like northern Virginia, you put the money in the practice. North Carolina pays $2.50 per month per patient…So, let’s say I have 500 patients under Medicaid with heart disease…I would get paid $2.50 per month per patient to manage their care. So I would hire the nurse. BHT: Wait. $2.50 times 500—what is that, at most $1,500 a month for a nurse? PH: Think of it this way, you probably can already absorb that in your practice, anyway. BHT: Oh, please. How many doctors are lining up to absorb this? PH: Many of them are because they get together, and so the practices will sort of team-up, and they’ll share a nurse between several different practices. The model works very well because you get paid whether or not someone comes in your practice or not…So you have an incentive to keep them out of the office, to keep them well. BHT: Or to not know what’s going on with them. PH: That’s a problem because Medicaid will know. They’ll wind up in the emergency room and there’ll be a cost. The data they’ve had since 2006 in North Carolina, they’ve spent $10 million on all of this. And they save $260 million every year in a reduction in their Medicaid expenditures. So North Carolina’s doing this; Pennsylvania’s doing it; Wisconsin is doing it… BHT: What happens when a patient disappears? These people are on the edge, so they might just disappear. And if they end up in the hospital, what teeth does Medicaid have to censure the doctor since a doctor could say, “Hey, I was here, it’s not my fault they didn’t come in.” PH: There’s an [annual] accreditation process, where you have to make sure that you have the staff and that people actually are communicating. If you fail these things, then you’re out of the program. It’s not just $2.50, just to be clear. You still get paid for the visit. You’re still getting Medicaid reimbursement… All that to my point was that I think we already spend enough money in the system. I think if we were just to spend it differently we could spend it in different ways, we could save a lot of money and expand services, expand care to people. Another area is homelessness…I was very instrumental in starting [Arlington’s] Housing First program, permanent supportive housing…a ten-year plan to end homelessness. Since 2006, we have placed over a hundred people in our permanent supportive housing program. We’re taking people that are homeless off the streets and give them a home… They’re [the homeless are] not thinking about getting a job. They’re not thinking about seeing a psychiatrist. They’re thinking about where [they’re] going to sleep tonight… We’ve found that when you give someone an affordable housing unit that they start to think about getting a job. They start thinking about trying to see a psychiatrist, getting clean and sober. And then they do do that next step… It costs over $100,000 to keep someone homeless…but to give them a home, it costs $40,000 a year…So it’s a different way to spend money. BHT: Everybody at the Arlington County Democratic Committee debate said they supported universal Pre-school. Assuming the budget is still tight, what would be the second best program or alternate idea that you would fight for? PH: The compromise is at-risk kids. We can identify who those kids are. They’re kids at low-income, many kids are from minority families. There’s been data out there, studies out there, that show that there really is no difference between the kids that are from wealthy families and how they perform in later years, whether they get Pre-K or not, but there is a significant gap and a significant distinction for those kids that are at-risk who get Pre-K and those who do not. So the evidence clearly shows that if you’re going to target any population it ought to be those at-risk kids, so that would be my fall-back position on expanding Pre-K. I know it’s a cost…but it’s an investment, too. BHT: About the environment and energy policy. What can we really do in the next year or two in reducing coal emissions and that kind of thing? PH: You know, I don’t think we’re going to be able to flip the switch and cut ourselves off of coal. I’ve said before, I think coal is our past and its present, but it doesn’t have to be our future. We’re not going to be able to flip that switch…I do think if coal represents about 45 percent of our energy right now, there’s no reason to say…we can reduce this by five percent a year, about every five years. BHT: But how? PH: I think we start looking to renewables, wind and solar. I think everything should be on this table, natural gas. I mean I saw a picture of [gubenatorial candidate Terry] McAuliffe wading in algae, you know, seeing if you could use that, and he talks about chicken waste. Look at all the different options, put them all on the table, and let’s slowly reduce the amount of our consumption of using coal… And let’s set a standard, a mandatory standard, of saying let’s reduce our consumption by 2025, let’s reduce it by 20 percent. And that 20 percent, we replace it with renewables. You go down to the coal country, and you ask those workers what they know about black lung disease, what they know about their average life-span of ending at 55-years-old, or what they know about asthma, or not allowing their kids to play out in the front yard. They’d like a new life for themselves. They’d like a new job, a green job. And invest, invest in these coal areas, you know, put some of these facilities down there, so people can transition and get a new job… Let’s teach this [lower consumption] in the schools. Let’s teach [children] about consumption. And let’s teach them about…conserving. It’s the lightbulb, and it’s also turning off the light. Families can have responsibilities, too. Weatherizing your home. Let’s have a program where we can weatherize homes. Let’s reduce your consumption individually by 10 or 15 percent over the next few years… BHT: [Readers: this final question was one I had on my mind a lot, but never wrote down. Therefore, I forgot to ask it in the interview. I wrote it as an email, and Mr. Hope responded via email. ] As a long-serving member of the Arlington Democratic Party, you’re the "establishment" candidate. How do you (or do you at all) shake that moniker? PH: I'm proud of my endorsements in this race because I know how I received them: I earned them. I've established my credibility and reputation over the years not in the Party but in the community. These endorsements come from my associations, efforts, and years of working with community leaders to make Arlington a better place. The support I've received are not from IOU's or friendships, they are made out of mutual respect and appreciation for the results I've delivered. Arlington's State and County delegation is made up of some of the best policymakers and thought leaders in the country and I'm honored to have their support. I look forward to continuing to work with them as a member of the General Assembly. Click here to return to the main interview site. --ST Labels: 47th, campaign, election, house of delegates, patrick hope, primary
Interview: Andres Tobar
To get this interview, as well as the others that I conducted, to a similar, readable size, I had to cut quite a bit of material. If I took out more than a word or two (or if the words I erased were more substantial than “and” or “but”), I inserted a three-dot ellipsis (…). If I inserted anything the speaker did not actually say, I used square brackets [like these] to show my insertion.
Otherwise, the words are full quotes. Despite having to remove a lot of content from each of the interviews, I try to make sure the quotes still make sense and are in context. I will happily run corrections or clarifications if the candidate or his campaign can show that it is merited.
My own questions were edited, at times, for clarity and length.--ST
Buckingham HeraldTrib (Steve Thurston): What are some of the stories that you’ve heard when you’ve knocked on doors?
Andres Tobar: I’ve heard from one parent who commented that but for Medicaid his whole family would have been devastated, and thank God the state does have programs that are offering a helping hand for folks in crisis, or when some of their children have certain illnesses that they couldn’t cope by themselves with, so they get a helping hand…
In fact one of the questions that was asked in one of the debates was what would we cut in light of fiscal situations. What I indicated is, rather than saying what I would cut, I said what I would preserve. Number one is I would preserve our fund for education because I’m very firm that my first priority is education, to make sure that every child gets a shot. I’m a strong advocate for universal pre-school. So as children are ready to come to school, let’s make sure they’re ready to learn.
I did not learn how to speak English until I started the first grade. My parents were immigrants from Mexico. I hope you don’t think I’m playing the immigrant card too hard, but there’s stories at times, you know, that we bring. Our backgrounds are so different, and at times we see people speaking in English, and after awhile we can’t tell the difference of who’s doing what, and we assume everybody’s stories are the same, and they’re not…
BHT: Universal Pre-school died this year when Gov. Tim Kaine tried to get it passed through the legislature, yet it's something all the candidates in this race support. Assuming that the economy is in the same shape next year, what is the second best plan, less than Universal Pre-K, but something that would get at what you’re hoping for?
AT: …Once you get down there, it’s going to be the art of negotiation and compromise. I know that. I’m a very, very realist. But what I’d like to do is make sure that as many young people as possible are going to be having access to this, so they get ready to learn.
As I was pointing out to you, when I was a child, I didn’t know how to speak English until the first grade, and for the first four years, I was learning the language, not the content…You’re trying to figure out how to put those phrases together as opposed to trying to learn the history or all the other things in the content that you’re learning…
You know we have a nine percent drop-out rate for drop-outs in general,…for Latinos it’s a 20 percent rate…We need to take some initiative of how to engage these young people, provide a variety of things like tutoring and counseling and other things that are going to give them the assistance they need to catch-up….
Of course, with respect to teachers, I want teachers to be very competitive in terms of salaries. I would love to have teachers and our police and fire-fighters and our hard-working men and women in blue collar industries to also be able to afford to live in Arlington. I’m a strong proponent of affordable housing.
BHT: Another question in education. Tell me more about the federal DREAM Act that would allow kids who might not have all the documentation, but have been here for years to go to college paying in-state tuition.
AT: …That would be for our young people who are going through our schools and graduating from our schools and their parents are paying taxes, and they’re either on the way to become legal or as soon as they’re eligible, they will start in the program. But actually the DREAM Act goes further than that….[In Virginia] we’re trying to pass something that is somewhat comparable but somewhat palatable for the legislature that we’ve got down there.
The DREAM Act literally would allow for the young people that are graduating from schools that wanted to go to college to be allowed to go to college [with] in-state tuition….As they do that they… would be on a course to become legal residents. And so that would get away from all the challenges that we have right now with respect to immigration…
BHT: And so being a part of the DREAM Act would be a part of becoming a citizen?
AT: Yes, yeah. And it’s something that is very logical, because doesn’t it make sense that we’ve got young people that want to go to college and stay in this country, that we ought to give them a way of doing that? This is going to be the workforce of tomorrow…
BHT: I can hear the conservatives screaming at you right now. You’re either rewarding people who haven’t followed the rules by waiting in their own countries for the chance at immigration, and then you’re giving a spot in college at a lower tuition to them when it could have gone to someone here legally, either by birth or immigration. Does that make sense?
AT: You’re presenting the arguments correctly, but I’m not sure it makes sense….The way that the immigrant advocates have responded to that is the parents are the ones that broke the law. The children came here like any other child would do when their parents tell them to come….The ‘line issue’ is something that you can raise, in terms of getting in line and waiting your turn. You can impose that anywhere along the way.
The reality check is that these are young people that came over here with their parents. They went to school here. They’ve educated in our schools. We’ve invested literally tens of thousands of dollars. We’ve educated them. They’re prepared to learn in our universities, and they want to. We’re not talking about the ones that drop out or the ones that don’t care…We’re talking about a very small number. I mean, we’re not talking hundreds of thousands of kids… Prior to 9/11, there was a process. It wasn’t perfect, but there was a process. If an employer had a job, needed a worker, he could put an ad in the paper,…identify that they have a particular need….But after 9/11, you had a major challenge. We had a full court press by the anti-immigrant lobby, and they shut down everything… BHT: Do you see that as something Virginia can do? Or is it only a federal issue? AT: The federal government is the only one that has authority over immigrant issues. BHT: But I mean, is there a role for Virginia to take an advocacy role for that policy idea? AT: The answer would be an advocacy role, but obviously right now we’re getting just the opposite. You know, clamoring and trying to make local ordinances that would penalize folks who are undocumented, getting the police departments to play a greater role in immigration, as opposed to dealing with the crimes…The legislature kept killing legislation that would allow for undocumented immigrants not to be asked their immigration status, if they were victims or witnesses of crimes. That failed. That was a cruel, cruel set-back… BHT: At the Arlington County Democratic Committee debate, you said a state law you’d like to see replicated here was Maryland’s driver’s license program. You see the idea that people, even undocumented people, should be allowed to get a driver’s license as a public safety issue, knowing that the people on the road have passed the tests and have insurance. How do you balance that with the greater Homeland Security-type public safety? AT: I’m not sure exactly how they’re doing it in Maryland…That opportunity is being sunsetted, as far as I know… There are people who may not be able to prove that they are here legally, so it would be a license that could be issued indicating that this is a license that the bearer will use for driving purposes only, and for no other purpose. There are ways…that you’d do it subtely, but yet everybody in any kind of official capacity would know…that this is only for driving purposes… [You] would know who they are when you stop them as opposed to having no license at all. They would need to learn our laws and get a driver’s license. Then they could get insurance for their car. And they’d comply with all the rest of the laws. Mainly people are working, whether you say legitimately or not, and they need to travel and they will travel… BHT: Well, that was about it. Is there anything I missed that you wanted to talk about? AT: …I’m the chair of the Arlington County Crime Solvers. The reason I got involved in that is literally to find ways of reducing crime, especially reaching out to the immigrant community…and they want to provide a tip, that’s one way of doing it without getting involved. I’m also on the chief-of-police advisory committee. We talk to him every couple of months….and I bring up issues that are happening in our community, concerns and suggestions. I’m very—I can’t say ‘pro-police’—I’m very pro-having-a-safe-environment, safe society….I know that the immigrant community, for the most part, is law-abiding… Where I work at Shirlington…some of them [the clients of the center] have a very good work ethic. For the most part, most of them do. But the ones that are the problem, are the ones that get all the notoriety, and makes it harder on everybody else. BHT: For us, in Buckingham, it’s public drunkenness and urination, and that kind of thing. You only have to see that once a week to be highly annoyed by it. AT: In all candor, I also am the coordinator of another group that has started in October of last year that we call Arlington Service providers to the poor….We’re having a meeting actually on the 20th….The issue this time is going to be alcoholism in Arlington…We’ve united folks from all the “A”s—[community providers:] ASPAN, AFAC, you know, AMEN, plus Doorways and the county to get together and talk about these issues, dealing with the poor that are going to impact us probably even moreso in the next few years while we’re going through this change in economic climate… The community and the churches and everybody has got to step up and say ‘Hey guys, this isn’t where you came from, where you could get away with [it]. Here, you will pay a price. You will be fined, and you will be jailed….If you’re going to drink, drink responsibly.’ That’s the message I want to send. Let’s bring some responsibility… [Latinos] and the African-Americans, and the poor whites, they have lost hope. We’ve got to instill in them the fact that they can make it, and that there is an opportunity…I am probably in the one percent, if not less, that made it through high school and college and a master’s degree and of immigrant parents who were both illiterate… The things that are going on in the immigrant community right now, with the immigrant-bashing…it’s devastating. What I’m very critical of is supervisors in Prince William [County, not the just the chairman] but the other guy who said that he’s going to submit an ordinance that would eliminate any services whatsoever to undocumented immigrants. He watered it down, but it got tremendous press, including the Latino media. And one of the things I point out is that the immigrant community does not know that the local supervisor does not have the authority to overturn the [United States] Supreme Court that says that every child, irrespective of status, is going to get an education. They do not know that there is a federal mandate that hospitals are required to take anybody who is sick. They don’t know that. So, many of the kids, or the families of the kids, were keeping the kids at home. They thought that that ordinance had passed. That is not fair. That’s part of what I want to do in Richmond…I want to go down there and make sure that we change a few things around this kind of way, on a one-to-one basis with a lot of folks. The upbringing that I have, the reason I think I can be effective across the aisle, my background in terms of standing on our feet and doing it on our own has been bred in me from youth. My dad was a farm worker in west Texas. From November to late February, there was no work whatsoever. My dad would buy 100 pounds of flour and corn meal and beans and rice and coffee, and the only thing he would go to the store to buy is perishables. And so we never took a dime from anybody else. No welfare, no unemployment, nothing… BHT: What neighborhood do you live in? AT: I live in Filmore Garden Apartments in Penrose [neighborhood]….Let me point out something: I lived in the 47th 23 years, not consistently, but I owned a condominium, and six years ago, I was invited to consider running for the House of Delegates in the 49th, which would be south of Columbia Pike, and I moved to be south of Columbia Pike. I received the endorsement of every major Democrat in Arlington, including the incumbent Karen Darner. So I moved there. I stayed there. Six months ago I moved across Columbia Pike. If I’m going to be nailed for crossing the street, I’ve got 23 years of living in the 47th which is more than one person…has lived, or equal to, his life. A lot more than some other people have…People who don’t want to vote for me for being a carpet-bagger, I’m sure they could find something else, find another reason. Click here to return to the main interview site. --ST Labels: 47th, campaign, election, house of delegates, primary, tobar
Interview: Alan Howze
To get this interview, as well as the others that I conducted, to a similar, readable size, I had to cut quite a bit of material. If I took out more than a word or two (or if the words I erased were more substantial than “and” or “but”), I inserted a three-dot ellipsis (…). If I inserted anything the speaker did not actually say, I used square brackets [like these] to show my insertion.
Otherwise, the words are full quotes. Despite having to remove a lot of content from each of the interviews, I try to make sure the quotes still make sense and are in context. I will happily run corrections or clarifications if the candidate or his campaign can show that it is merited.
My own questions were edited, at times, for clarity and length.--ST
Buckingham HeraldTrib (Steve Thurston): One question that I’ve been asking everybody, is that at the Arlington County Democratic Committee debate, everyone said they supported Universal Pre-school. That failed earlier this year, and assuming the economy is still rough next year, I was wondering if you have ideas for something that you would be happy with as a compromise.
Alan Howze: There are sort of two different ways of looking at universal Pre-K, and one of the purposes of that is to really help bridge the gap between the kids who are getting a lot of stimulation at home, that kind of thing, right? Versus kids who aren’t getting that same level of exposure to reading….
There are a couple of different ways, and I think different localities and different states have played with this a little bit is can you, for example, could you provide tax credits for childcare, or for, you know, daycare, Pre-K services. Arlington has an existing network of Pre-K services…There are dozens of pre-school programs within Arlington, and for families who can afford those, they provide tremendous learning opportunities for students.
In terms of a social policy goal, how do you make some of that more accessible and make those learning opportunities more accessible to students and families who may not be able to afford it? If we’re unable to do it all of universal Pre-K, are there ways that you could begin to improve the development opportunities that are available to the Spanish or lower-income students? I think there probably is.
BHT: So, are you thinking to expand what’s already there? Use what already exists?
AH: Yes. Again, the first preference would be to build out a true universal Pre-K system. That would mean both a build-out of facilities that are appropriate for kids of that age as well as the curriculum…
I think also the challenge is then how do you make sure you maintain popular support for it, for universal Pre-K…That’s where I think where the preference for a truly universal Pre-K program comes into play because that’s also part of the history of public education in the United States is you paid for it. Once you made it universal then you’re also pulling in support from middle-class families and other folks who are currently paying for it out of their pocket.
BHT: Your web site that you wanted to help make developers have to change their proportion of their development toward affordable housing. How so?
AH: Well, I think that Arlington actually has put that into some of their development and zoning packages, so I think that there’s some of that tools that currently exist for localities. I think Arlington has probably been at the forefront of this in terms of trying to put affordable housing into the development mix…
I think there are a couple of approaches when you’re talking about affordable housing. One is, I mean I think, part of what we saw in the inflation of housing prices not only in northern Virginia but all over was allowing bad actors in the lending marketplace to otherwise run rampant. Certainly I think this is an issue where there is some state involvement, state regulation that’s required, and needs to be cracking down on predatory lenders, that sort of thing… Then I think another area that’s playing a little bit around the margins in terms of the affordability of housing but property taxes are substantial for a lot of folks in Arlington, particularly seniors who are on fixed incomes and other folks. Part of the reason that Arlington has, and other localities have, to look to property taxes for more of their revenues is because the state share for education funding has decreased over time. The overall tax burden has shifted back down to localities to some degree. So, localities primarily make up that difference through property taxes. By increasing the overall state funding for things like education you do relieve some of that pressure on localities to turn to the property taxes… BHT: The one big question is sort of “What have you been doing the last four years?” You worked for Gov. Mark Warner, and you live in Arlington, but when I look at your information, I don’t see a whole lot in the 47th District. AH: I left the governor’s administration and went back to graduate school, went to Darden School of Business at [the University of Virginia]. Did two years up there and then came back to Arlington, and started working for IBM, up here, and really had focused my attention on, one, a new job in a new career area that I hadn’t worked in before. BHT: What is that?
AH: It’s consulting services for public-sector agencies, primarily federal agencies around transformation initiatives, IT implementation, that kind of thing. One of the experiences, the reason I chose IBM to go work for was after spending over a decade of working in policy and politics at that sort of level of government, I really wanted to get an experience of, OK when we talk about transforming government services, when we talk about providing more accessibility to citizens, and we talk about making government more efficient, OK, how do you actually do that?… IBM was one of the places that provided an opportunity to really go in on and see and learn and understand how you really can go about transforming government services… And I also had young children, so my son was a year, about a year, I guess, when we moved back up to the area, and my wife, we had our second one who’s now 17 months old… So I spent over a decade working in politics and working on campaigns, working to elect Democrats, and so I said I’m going to turn my attention to focus on my family and my work. And that’s what I did for the first two years, and then began to get more involved in the community in terms of the civic associations. I actually live at the border of two, so I was the member of two civic associations, Highland Park and Overlee Knolls….So, began to get a little more involved with that. We worked on President [Barack] Obama’s campaign, we did some door knocking, we did some precinct work in Dominion Hills and Overlee Hills, helped raise money and that sort of thing. That was the community involvement, and had started to get more involved in the community in different ways. In politics, timing counts for a lot, and so if the seat had come open in five years, I might have a community resume that looks different than it does now… BHT: You had listed increasing the gas tax as a source of transportation funding. I was curious how much more you think it should be and why? AH: To be honest with you, it’s not that I’ve run the numbers to say we need to raise the gas tax by X number of cents on the gallon. What we need to look at is, what are the transportation requirements that we have? And then what are the funding mechanisms that are available to us? So is it that we just need to look at raising the gas tax? Is that the only solution? Maybe, but maybe not. You know, is it some combination of the gas tax and the sales tax increase, a half-penny or something like that…The [car] title and those sorts of fees as well contribute to the fund as well. So, what is the mix of revenue sources that gives you the funding that you need…
There are transportation requirements—the needs part—and then we have to look at, OK, what are the requirements for funding? And the requirements for funding are that it be broad-based and that it be stable. Because, if we’re going to make the sorts of investments in mass transit, you’re going to have to put out bonds to do that because these are large public works, infrastructure projects. It’s not $5 million to do an interchange, that kind of thing. It’s hundreds of millions of dollars to add capacity to metro, that sort of thing… BHT: Candidate Miles Grant went with the “I’m not taking Dominion Power money” and everyone jumped on you because you’ve taken money from executives there. But you’ve talked about “decoupling” the profits of the coal plant from the generation of the energy. You said you were against the new coal plant in Surry County. Is there a problem with taking the money and then turning around and telling those same people that you will be fighting them? AH: Well, I’m happy to have the support of Bob Blue [Robert Blue, a Dominion Power Vice President]who I’ve known for a long time. We worked together in Governor [Mark] Warner’s administration. I’m happy to have his support, and I’ve said, as I think all the candidates have said, that I’m not going to take Dominion Power’s PAC money in the primary. I’ve been consistent with that… Furthermore, I’ve got a long, long record of work in the environmental area. I’ll put that record up against anybody’s. I got into politics through environmental activism. When I was a student at James Madison University, I got involved with a campus environmental organization, was one of the leaders in that. I actually got JMU’s first comprehensive recycling program, solid-waste management program including setting-up a sorting facility, me and somebody else. Worked on that. Marched on Washington to stop the Disney theme park… When I worked for [Rep.] Rick Boucher [Va., D-9th] I worked on wilderness protection areas for Virginia. I’ve worked for an environmental non-profit, in Charlottesville when I was a graduate student down there. I was working on green chemicals and helping to find formulations for manufacturers that are less environmentally harmful… BHT: So what do you do, then, with something like the Surry County coal plant? What do you say to them? AH: I think this is where the notion of decoupling comes into play, and I think that the first place that we ought to be looking for, quote unquote, new capacity within the system is through conservation….It’s the cheapest source of energy that we have available to us. BHT: Using less. AH: Yeah, using less. You know, you look at some of the studies that are available and conservation is the low-hanging fruit in this energy debate. So I think that’s where we ought to be putting our first priority, our first focus. That’s the challenge for utility companies is they make more money the more power they sell, so the notion of decoupling is trying to fundamentally change that relationship so that they are able to recoup investments [even while people conserve]… BHT: So you see that as something that can go forward with the Surry County plant? More than trying to shut down the plant or change the plans for construction in some way, you’re looking to make it as environmentally friendly as we could? AH: No, no. That’s why I’m opposed to the Surry County facility. I think we need to be looking at conservation first. Before we’re adding additional generation capacity, we need to be saying, have we squeezed all the efficiencies out of the system that we can?… The first priority being conservation. The second priority being alternative energy sources. Are there other ways to get this energy through wind and solar and that sort of thing. I think Virginia has lagged behind considerably in helping to advance those sorts of investments… BHT: Did I forget to ask anything? Was there anything you were aching to tell me? AH: …[I was] talking to a guy who started a green roof company four years ago, and he lives right off the Custis Trail over in Dominion Hills…so this guy started this company, and you know he’s been chugging along, and he said, the state really needs to get with it. He said he’s actually moving his company out of Virginia over to Maryland, to Jessup Maryland, because Maryland set up a green building center out there. They’re offering classes. They’ve now got space, so he signed a lease to move his operations out there, so now we’ve got half-a-dozen or more jobs in a growing segment of the economy that’s going to go to Maryland. It’s like, how come Virginia isn’t providing those sorts of opportunities for folks here?…So, that’s an area where we can and should be doing more. Click here to return to the main interview site. --ST Labels: 47th, campaign, election, howze, primary
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Grant Takes the Fight Out-of-Turn
The crowd was a mix of Mr. Grant’s supporters and supporters of Raising Kaine, the left-leaning political blog that helped propel the election of Gov. Tim Kaine, Senator Jim Webb, and helped turn Virginia solidly Democratic in November. Lowell Feld and Eric Grim will stop the blog at year’s end. Mr. Grant, 31, may face an uphill battle for the 47th district seat currently held by Al Eisenberg, 62. Both men are Democrats, but Mr. Eisenberg has not said if he plans to run again. The primary fight for Mr. Grant this spring focused last night on the idea that Mr. Grant is not waiting his turn for the Arlington Democratic Party machinery to choose him, but to show the party that he should be chosen, especially if he can show good fund-raising numbers by year’s end. The official tally on the Act Blue web site where tickets for the event were sold shows that 39 people gave Mr. Grant nearly $2,900 for the event which included free pizza and some drinks. The campaign's official numbers came out after I posted this morning. The campaign says about 70 people gave $4,000. The numbers would include pre-paid registrations and receipts at the door. --ST
“This is a solidly blue district,” that does not have any chance of going to the Republicans, Mr. Feld said in his remarks. “It’s an opportunity to elect a strong candidate like Miles.” Ben Tribbett, the lightning-rod blogger of Not Larry Sabato, said, “This is a wake-up call for these elected officials.” Mr. Grant, the environmentally-focused “Green Miles” blogger, outlined his tri-planked platform of civic life, civil liberties, and the environment. He said that he would like Virginia to more closely study the economic effects of immigration on the economy as he is sure it would show that immigrants pay into many more services than they use. As well, he would like to see more people integrated into community life, starting by bringing them together for happy hours or other mixers and from there encouraging volunteerism and finally getting them active in state and local politics. And he said it’s time for Virginia to turn away from coal and look for alternate, cleaner sources of energy as fuel costs skyrocket. He lives in the Historic Ballston Park Apartments in the Ashton Heights neighborhood. Before the Democratic primary (or caucus) in June, the district might just be called “The Fighting 47th” as the rumor-mill is churning out names of possible contenders by the bucket. The district covers central and southern Arlington County. Piola Restaurant, at 1550 N. Wilson Blvd. is in the 48th district. (Disclaimer: Mr. Grant gave me a free-drink token, but I abstained for weight-related reasons. –ST) Labels: 47th, eisenberg, election, Grant, primary
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Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Buckinghamsters and Arlington Foresters Pick McCain and Obama
About 40 percent of registered voters in Arlington cast ballots yesterday, overwhelmingly supporting Barack Obama, (D), and John McCain, (R), as candidates for the presidency.
Thirty-two percent of Buckingham’s registered voters headed out to the polls, voting for Democrats 948 times and Republicans 161 times.
In the Buckingham Precinct, Obama won 573 votes to Hillary Clinton’s 370. Other Democrats who are no longer seeking the nomination also won a handful of votes. Dennis Kucinich and John Edwards each won 2 votes, Bill Richardson received 1. Joe Biden did not get any on the Democratic side.
For the Republicans who received votes in Buckingham, John McCain took 115 votes, while Mike Huckabee took 21; Ron Paul, the only other person still seeking the Republican nomination, won 10 votes. Other Republicans, who no longer are seeking the nomination, also won a handful of votes. Mitt Romney won 14; Rudy Giulianni received 1 vote. Fred Thompson did not receive any votes.
With 44 percent of registered voters casting ballots in Arlington Forest, the 784 votes cast for Democrats balanced a little more evenly between the rivals than they had in Buckingham, but Mr. Obama still came out on top, 445 to 325. Other candidates no longer running won votes, as well. Mr. Edwards took 6 votes, Mr. Richardson won 5, while Mr. Kucinich had 3. Mr. Biden did not receive any votes in Arlington Forest.
Voters opted for the Republican primary 172 times, and Mr. McCain won handily in Arlington Forest, taking 105 votes to Mr. Huckabee’s 32. Mr. Paul won 19 votes. Other candidates who won votes but are no longer in the race, included Mr. Romney, 11 votes; Mr. Thompson, 3 votes; and Mr. Giuliani, 2 votes.
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Labels: election, president, primary, vote
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Letter: iPods Not Allowed in Voting Places? Nope.
There was a bit of a line this morning at Culpeper Gardens where I cast my vote this morning, so I pulled out my ipod to pass the time in line. One of the poll workers told me it was "against the law" to listen to an iPod at the polls as I could be "getting outside instructions from someone." I failed to see how this was possible with a self contained mp3 player and asked if he was joking. He was not. Nevertheless, I put it away, but I and several others in line questioned whether this was really true. I looked the list of things you can't do posted outside the polling place, and all it says is that you can't try to influence anyone else's vote. Nothing prohibiting electronic devices inside the polling place. It would be one thing if I were talking on my cell phone inside the polling place but I wasn't.
I'm tempted to call the Arlington Board of Elections and ask them if I have time today. Have you ever heard of this? It sounds preposterous to me.
Dan Falsenheld
Dan, I called for you, and spoke with Jack Nickerson at the county's Office of Voter Registration. “You can’t have a cell phone or anyting once you’re inside the polling place," he said, adding that the election official probably did the right thing, shutting down all electronic devices since it is tough to tell which transmit information, and which are just players. Listening while standing in line outside would probably be fine, Mr. Nickerson said, but once you're inside, the head phones have to come off. --ST
Labels: election, president, primary
Monday, February 11, 2008
Letter: Endorsements Miss Real Story
You, (and everyone else), have missed the biggest story of this election cycle.
This season has brought out the worst in our countrymen. Voters in both parties have been willing to stand and support, (or oppose), candidates because of the candidates' Race, Religion, Age, and Gender.
The Democrats have an excuse.
In as much as the two leading Candidates are very close on the issues, choosing one over the other because you want someone who looks like you, is not so terribly bad. That said, Bill Richardson, (maybe the best of all the candidates), and John Edwards, were knocked out because neither of them had a block of voters who supported them because they were men.
(Richardson was Hispanic, I bet some folks voted against him for his National Origin.)
The Republicans have no excuse. Mitt Romney had the most impressive resume of anyone running.
Sadly, he lost not because of his beliefs, nor his experience. While almost all Mormons voted for him because he was a Mormon, many of the Christians voted against him purely out of their bigotry against Mormons.
McCain won not because he was well liked in the Republican party, but because he was neither a Mormon, nor a solid Christian. (Yes, non-believers quickly took the opportunity to vote against believers.)
Huckabee is winning states even though he has said some crazy things about Gay Marriage. This guy is a great speaker; however, he is not fit to win the Republican nomination.
The Republicans are about to nominate a guy they hate--because their religious bigotry did not allow them to vote for the guy who came most closely to supporting their views.
McCain has no chance to win in November. (That is, unless we can win the War, and get most of our troops back before November.)
If the economy goes as I expect it will, and if we are in deep economic trouble in October, (as I believe we will be), Romney's experience and superior, (to all the other candidates), business knowledge might have carried him over the top.
This is a time when we need a president who understands trade, and the economy.
Romney is the only candidate from either party who understands how the economy works.
Should he have been nominated? I do to know. Could he have won in November? Even if the economy was the major issue, it is very doubtful he could have won against either Democrat.
However, the fact that he lost because of religious bigotry, is disturbing--VERY DISTURBING!
Mick Pulliam
Labels: politics, president, primary
Presidential Campaign Donations for 2007, ZIP 22203
The most famous names that make their way onto the list include Ted Leonsis. He wrote checks at $2,300 each from the Washington Capitals’ world headquarters atop the Ballston Common Mall parking garage (it, not his house, is in 22203). The AOL Executive and Capitals owner seems to have been a good prognosticator, as well, donating only to Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain.
Also on the list: Richard A. Clarke, a long-time government bureaucrat who apologized in front of the 9/11 Commission to the families of the dead and was castigated by the Bush Administration for his testimony. He gave $2,300 to Barack Obama.
Feminist Majority Foundation President Eleanor “Elly” Smeal made the list, donating $3,200 to Ms. Clinton. Others include: Peter Singer of the Brookings Institution ($350 to Mr. Obama); Michael R. Nelson (IBM Executive and Georgetown University professor) gave $3,650 to Ms. Clinton, Mr. Obama and Bill Richardson; Paul Hazen, president/CEO of the National Cooperative Business Assoc. gave $4,600 to Ms. Clinton.
Each icon/person on the map--displayed in no particular order--represents one candidate. Click each one to get more information.
The numbers above represent donations to presidential candidates from the 22203 ZIP code (outlined on the map). Each icon of a person represents a candidate who received donations and filed Federal Election Committee returns during 2007. The number of “total donations” is less any donations that were returned to the donor. “Avg. Donation” is simply the total donated amount divided by the total number of donations. Although the maximum donation a person can give to a candidate in one election is $2,300, some of the donations are larger than that. It could be that they were donating from their corporation/group, or that the campaign had not gotten around to giving back the excess. To see the numbers yourself, click here. Once you get to the FEC's page, change "Donor Name" to "ZIP Code" in the drop-down menu, and you're off! If you would like my calculations or a nice pdf of all the info, email me: heraldtrib@gmail.com --ST Labels: election, politics, president, primary
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