As predicted (it wasn’t much of a feat of prognostication), Loudoun Board of Supervisors Chairman Scott York (R-At Large) yesterday disavowed any responsibility whatsoever for having officially nominated and secured the unanimous approval of the all-Republican Board for Supervisors for Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio’s (R-Sterling) wacko choice of an anti-gay, anti-Muslim obscenity-and-violent-threat-spewing extremist to the Loudoun Library Board.
Asked about the laughable “resume” that Delgaudio forwarded to the supervisors from Andrew Beacham (it listed no work or education experience whatsoever), York told Leesburg Today that it was “not unusual” for the Board to receive such “sparse” credentials from nominees for county boards and commissions. “We’ve gotten everything from short synopsis to full blown resumes in the past from people,” York said; he added that it has been “the unofficial practice” of the Board to automatically approve whoever a supervisor selects to fill the position for his district.
Okay, two things.
First: isn’t it within the realm of man’s intellect and capabilities that even the all-Republican Loudoun Board of Supervisors, instead of being a hapless bystander to the process of selecting citizens to serve on boards and commissions and just passively accept whatever “sparse” credentials come in, just might establish a rule requiring applicants to provide something in order to be considered for an appointment to official office? Like, oh, say, a minimal statement of their work and education and qualifications?
York has a way whenever something hits the fan of acting like things just happen that he has no authority or control over. This all-Republican Board is also always honking about their “businesslike” approach to government. Anyone ever heard of any business hiring someone who sent in a resume listing no work or education background and stating only that he is interested in the job because his parents worked in the same field???
Second: Maybe it’s fine as a matter of political congeniality to let each supervisor pick whoever he wants to represent his district, but wouldn’t you think given the little late unpleasantness concerning Delgaudio’s misuse of office for private political purposes, abuse of staff, neglect of constituent service, and other assorted malfeasance, you might make an exception in his case and give his nominees just a wee bit of scrutiny? I.e., like any scrutiny? Delgaudio’s fellow supervisors voted to take away his office staff and oversee his budget because of his irresponsibility and ethical violations — yet they turn around and trust him to select appointees to boards and commissions that in some cases have considerable power and responsibility? Under Virginia state law, it is actually an affirmative duty of the appointing body to select candidates for library boards “with reference to their fitness for such office.” That means the entire appointing body, not just one-ninth of it, and especially not the one-ninth that has proven itself to be irresponsible in the past in misusing its public trust for political activity.
Or perhaps York’s willingness to play patty-cake with Delgaudio has something to do with those shadowy allegations Delgaudio made last summer, but then mysteriously went silent on, that York, too, had received large bags of unreported cash campaign contributions?
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