realloudoun

Scott York and friend

The all-Republican Loudoun Board of Supervisors, which bows to no one when it comes to ethics, at last had something to say about fellow supervisor Eugene Delgaudio’s repeatedly proven peccadillos.

As we recall, it has been a mere 16 months since two of Delgaudio’s aides told Chairman Scott York (R) about Delgaudio’s misuse of office for personal gain and provided solid documentary evidence of the same, nine months since the Washington Post broke the story after York did his best to squelch the evidence, eight months since the Board abruptly canceled its own hastily-ordered “investigation” of the matter, and two full weeks since the special grand jury investigating Delgaudio issued an almost unprecedented report concluding that Delgaudio committed a “direct violation” the county’s code of conduct, repeatedly used his county-paid staff to engage in political fundraising which would have been an indictable felony but for a bizarre loophole in Virginia law that exempts county supervisors, and quite probably accepted large unreported cash campaign contributions.

So after months of saying nothing the Board finally spoke! The occasion was the very end of the Board’s July 3 business meeting; vice chairman Shawn Williams (R-Broad Run), with rich humor and originality, brought the subject up by referring to “the elephant in the room.”

They all then proceeded to make sanctimonious speeches in which they referred to everything but elephants: Continue reading →

And on this 4th of July, let us remember as Americans that the Founding Fathers 237 years ago never foresaw the day when two-bit local elected politicians would spend taxpayer money and inordinate amounts of their time sending out identical e-mail newsletters plugging  local businesses (who also just happen to have been major campaign contributors — e.g. Loudoun Hounds, One Loudoun), promoting quack medical testing, sanctimoniously taking credit for community activities and charitable good works in which they have no responsibility or involvement whatsoever, and condescendingly informing us that the 4th of July is very important because it is about Freedom and History and the Founding Fathers.

As Supervisor Suznne Volpe (R-Algonkian) tells us today, in words that will no doubt be immortalized alongside those of Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, and Washington:

“Freedom is not something that was given to us. It is a God-given right.”

Which was not given to us, remember.

Unlike normal mortals, our all-Republican Loudoun Board of Supervisors has never made a mistake.

Several times recently they have planned to do incredibly stupid things, motivated by the worst political pandering, only to have it blow up in their faces when word leaked out to the citizens at large (who do not share the wacko political agendas of the fringe GOP voting blocs the Board was trying to curry favor with). When that happens, does our Board acknowledge it made a mistake, apologize for trying to do something incredibly idiotic, apologize for trying to slip it past an unsuspecting public, and vow to do better next time?

When pigs fly.

The most recent example of this MO in action was with the Board’s remarkably obtuse plan to spray dangerous pesticides in several county parks, including the Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve, Continue reading →

Back in October, when the all-Republican Loudoun Board of Supervisors voted to conduct an internal “investigation” of fellow supervisor Eugene “The Teflon Defendant” Delgaudio (R-Sterling), Chairman Scott York (R) declared that if Delgaudio had done anything wrong, “I’ll be the harshest one to come down on him.”

York also indignantly denied that the Board’s own investigation was “a sham,” and to prove it, York had the Board call off its investigation a few weeks later, and also pulled off the agenda a proposal by Supervisor Shawn Williams (who obviously went off the reservation on that one) to censure Delgaudio for ethical violations.

The special grand jury conducting its separate criminal probe has now found that Delgaudio engaged in a “direct violation” of county policies by abusing his staff and creating a hostile work environment, and found convincing evidence that Delgaudio misused public assets by having his staff, on county time at county expense in county offices, engage in political fundraising — noting that it would have returned an indictment against Delgaudio based on the evidence presented but for the incredible legal loophole that appears to exempt county elected officials from Virginia’s law against stealing stuff from the government.

It’s admittedly hard for us to judge whether York’s reaction to these findings by the grand jury is “the harshest” of anyone’s, since so far he has offered no reaction at all.

Orange cap in hand, Eugene “The Teflon Defendant” Delgaudio poses with fellow GOP ethics champion Bob McDonnell last week (credit: Loudoun Times-Mirror)

When presented a year ago with evidence that fellow GOP Supervisor Eugene “The Teflon Defendant” Delgaudio (R-Sterling) had violated county policy and probably the law by ordering his county-paid staff to engage in political fundraising, Chairman Scott York (R) tried to hide the evidence for six months, clearly hoping that if he said nothing and did nothing it would just go away.

Now that the special grand jury investigating Delgaudio has issued a highly unusual report concluding that Delgaudio’s action was a “direct violation” (that’s a direct quote from their report, folks) of the county’s code of conduct, York is adopting the same strategy. Continue reading →