THYME Magazine

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume V, Issue VII

Rising Independents, A New Voice

In the last issue of THYME, we looked at The Art of Leadership [click to read], specifically as it relates to the diversity of representation in Israel's Knesset. The American two-party system seems to dictate sort of an all-in or all-out rolling possession. Yet Augusta County's Independent Supervisors might just have set a precedent for how we might govern in a way that better represents the people.

Independent Thinking in Augusta County

"What's your guy, Karaffa, up to?" my neighbor asked me, "he's talking about RAISING taxes!" He was referring to the recent debate over a personal property tax increase as opposed to 'borrowing' from the capital fund? Conventional wisdom has it that the Conservative will NEVER raise taxes, but conventional wisdom often fails to dig deeper and examine the nuance and complexities of actual problems.

My response was that a little background was in order. First of all, the new Board of Supervisors came into a situation where everyone knew tough choices were in order. Then candidates Karaffa, Pattie, Michaels and Pyles devoted much of the campaign to informing the electorate. They held town hall meetings and laid out the needs of educators and public safety people. They referenced the last botched reappraisal but offered solutions.

The debate over providing essential services/tax increases was held in the open. The skewed appraisals had resulted in a decrease in funding returned from Richmond. Now it was time for the hard choices. Debate over whether or not to use capital fund money occured at a reasonable point in the debate (and in the open), then the tax debate was again held in public view. In the end, none of us likes paying more car tax, we would like Richmond to pony up, but unlike Washington, Augusta has to pass a real budget.

If you were listening, no promises were broken. Hard decisions were weighed and made. In 2011, in the wake of a flawed assessment process and a host of other concerns, David Karaffa, Kurt Michael and Marshall Pattie, along with sitting supervisor Tracy Pyles had begun their respective campaigns as independents promising just such open debate.

Boots on the Ground -- Door to Door

Tommy Kelly, Karaffa's campaign manager, recalls how they laid out a strategy to personally knock on as many doors as they could, taking their message directly to the voters. Capitalizing on the feeling of disenfranchisement many had after the assessment debacle, the independent candidates laid out a comprehensive overview of the issues they promised to address. In the end, three of the four candidates Won Seats [click to read]. The campaign showed that, at least on a local level, a richer representation of the people could be achieved.

Though painted as in 'lockstep' by the Media [click to read], the candidates themselves brought a new depth of diverse ideas to the board. Hearty open debate makes for good governance when the parties involved come with a commitment to serve their constituents and address their concerns.

Conventional wisdom has it that this works on a local level but is much more difficult at the State level. As Lt. Governor Bill Bolling contemplates an independent run for Governor, he faces the hard truth that he's polling in the mid-teens. He would need to be hitting thirty per-cent to have a real chance of winning.

Chris Graham of the Augusta Free Press [click to read] says: "There is a silver lining in the numbers, which have Bolling viewed significantly more favorably than either of the presumptive major-party nominees. The survey from Public Policy Polling had Bolling with a roughly 2-to-1 favorable/unfavorable rating among voters with an opinion of his job performance."

So with McAuliffe and Cuccinelli, the Democrat and Republican presumptive nominees both enjoying much more limited support, here's one analyst who thinks Bolling might be able to pull it off. The trick will be reaching the voters directly in a much larger arena.

This week the 'other' weekly news magazine features: The Rise of the Drones [click to read].

THYME Magazine

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume IV, Issue XLIII

The Tradition of Public Service

Bill Bolling, Virginia's Lieutenant Governor, was in Waynesboro [click to read]  Saturday. He spoke candidly about the challenges facing Virginia and the nation. Bill Bolling was first elected to serve as the 40th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia in 2005 after campaigning throughout the state and in Augusta County. Re-elected in 2009, he was appointed as Virginia’s Chief Jobs Creation Officer to serve in Governor Bob McDonnell’s cabinet where he has worked with the Governor on getting the Commonwealth’s economy going again and creating jobs. Certainly Mr. Bolling is responsible for much of the health of Virginia's economy today.

Perhaps Bill Bolling's best lesson of the morning was what he didn't say. While candidly adressing issues that should concern every voter this November, Bolling avioded personal attacks and hearsay. He spoke as a statesman and a public servant, looking to build consensus and solve problems.

Indeed, he was in a place where people wanted to hear constructive dialogue. Augusta County's three Independent supervisors were on hand. These candidates ran on the promise of doing the people's business in plain view of the people. They have done so. Media pundits and cartoonists may have painted them as in lockstep, but the recent discussion of tax issues should have put that notion to rest. "What's happening with your guy Karaffa?", a friend recently asked; "he's talking about RAISING taxes!" I assured my friend that he was now being made party to a necessary discussion of funding LOCAL responsibilities, such as schools.

In the discussion of how to deal with a shortfall in revenues necessary to fund essentials, the Supervisors debated using money from the Capital Fund or increasing the car tax. In the end, the discussion was a healthy excercise in public servanthood. The discussion was not in some closed meeting, but in plain view.

Bill Bolling has been able to work with a diverse group of people and agencies to make economic progress possible. He is a shining example of someone with deeply held convictions who can find areas of agreement and forge real solutions to problems.


Passing the torch: North River Supervisor Marshall Pattie introduces his Son to Lt. Governor Bill Bolling at the SWAC Breakfast on Saturday.

Lynn Has More Photos [click to read] of the SWAC Breakfast in Waynesboro.

The People Have Spoken in Augusta County

Historic Vote for a New Board of Supervisors


David Karaffa's distinctive blue signs were seen at polling places such as this one at Victory Worship Center. Photo by Dr. David Karaffa.

History was made on November 8th 2011 as three of four independent contenders for seats on the Augusta County Board of Supervisors won their respective elections.

Lynn Remembers How it Began [click to read]. David Karaffa has stepped up to offer new energy and fresh perspective to our board.

"It was a long journey for 28-year-old David Karaffa to his victory Tuesday night for the Beverley Manor District supervisor position in Augusta County. Fourteen months earlier he had decided to run for the position. He spent months learning the business of local government as he visited with workers in the Government Center, soaking in the new-found knowledge about water pipes and fire services and infrastructure and the budget process." -- Lynn Mitchell

For all of us who know David and share his vision, yesterday's victory marks an important beginning. We, the voters, have placed the future fiscal and institutional health of our county in good hands.

Augusta Co. BOS-Beverly Manor Dist.
100% OF PRECINCTS REPORTING
> David Karaffa 602 51%
Jeremy Shifflett 564 48%

Augusta Co. BOS-N. River Dist.
100% OF PRECINCTS REPORTING
> Marshall Pattie 1,498 64%
Larry Roller 555 24%
Stephen Morris 272 12%

Augusta Co. BOS-Pastures Dist.
100% OF PRECINCTS REPORTING
> Tracy Pyles 1,086 65%
James Warren 580 35%

Augusta Co. BOS-Wayne Dist.
100% OF PRECINCTS REPORTING
> Jeffrey Moore 1,014 53%
Kurt Michael 888 47%
___________________________________________________

School Board Race [click to read] decided by one vote. Chris Foschini began his write-in campaign on the Thursday before the election. With almost no press coverage and volunteers passing out sample ballots on election day, Mr. Foschini lost to write -in candidate Lee Godfrey by One Vote! Think your vote doesn't matter? Think again!
___________________________________________________

The Rise of the Independents [click to read] by Lynn Mitchell is a good piece of analysis of what happened Tuesday. She comments on a prediction by former Delegate Chris Saxman:

"There are several heavily contested races here in Augusta County for the Board of Supervisors. Two former chairmen of their respective parties – Kurt Michael and Marshall Pattie are running as Independents along with other Independents like David Karaffa. The primary issue goes back to a botched tax assessment and turnout is expected to be high. This is a very interesting case study in the growing trend towards independents running outside of the party structures. I expect several if not all of them to win."

Thinking Independently in Augusta County

Four Contenders for Board Offer Fresh Vision


Supervisor Tracy Pyles led the drive to respond to citizen concerns about property assessments, often acting alone as the 'conscience' of the BOS...

There is already much press about the 'Tea Party' and its effect on the way things are done in government. Some see it as a negative force, but they need to take a close look at what's happening in Augusta County.

Augusta County provides a wonderful example of just such a scenario. A while back the sitting board of supervisors pretty much rubber-stamped a skewed appraisal of property values. They accepted the new, higher valuations without much question. Tax rates, they said, could be adjusted after the fact.

The problem came when the 'suddenly' more prosperous county saw the formula for allocating State revenues now worked against them. Schools and public safety functions were suddenly strapped for funds as the return of collected tax revenues dropped based on the county's 'jump' in prosperity -- at least on paper.

One lone supervisor, Tracy Pyles of Pastures District, did the math BEFORE the vote. He became the 'conscience' of the board as he attempted to bring the realities of the situation to light. He proposed a motion to return to the more realistic valuations that were in place before the mass appraisals. Only one other supervisor joined him in voting for the rollback.

This November County residents will have the opportunity to elect three more candidates who share Pyles' vision of honest representative government. David Karaffa, Dr. Kurt Michael and Dr. Marshall Pattie are all running in separate districts, and they all want to talk about substantive issues. Together with Pyles they are hosting a townhall meeting this Wednesday, June 15, 7:00pm at the Verona Government Center. The meeting is the first of a series designed to inform citizens and bring them into the process of responsible government.

Citizens are encouraged to come out and hear the candidates' vision for themselves. My feeling is that the mainstream media will largely miss the historic nature of this gathering. You will need to be there in person.


...he is joined this election cycle by a bipartisan group of candidates who share his vision.

SWAC Girl Reports on the Meeting [click to read].
The News Leader Reports on the Meeting [click to read].
WHSV TV Reports on the Meeting [click to read].
NBC 29 Reports on the Meeting [click to read].

Putting America Back to Work [click to read].
Here's some historical perspective that supports the vision put forth by Tracy Pyles for economic development. Says Pyles: "We're not competing against Staunton and Waynesboro... we're competing with the world."

Econonic Development: "As the DuPont Plant continued to grow, so did Waynesboro... Waynesboro grew by 27 percent in the 1950's to reach a population of 15,694 by 1960. Medium income in 1959 was $6154 and 17 percent had incomes over $10,000. Waynesboro was a manufacturing town with 5,817 people directly employed in manufacturing. Over half of those jobs were at DuPont." [1.]

Tracy Pyles referenced the interest by Toyota in building a plant in Augusta County. The plant would have most likely created the same sort of opportunty that DuPont did in the 1960's.

1. A Short History of the Waynesboro DuPont Plant [click to read] by Ashley E. Stanley

A New Vision for Board of Supervisors

Four Candidates who Matter Make a Statement


Dr. Marshall Pattie is running for the seat in the North River District.

Four candidates for the Augusta County Board of Supervisors will host a townhall meeting on June 15, 2011, the first of a series of such meetings hosted by the candidates to be held at the Government Center in Verona at 7:00 p.m. Their message is refreshing and straightforward, as evidenced by this joint statement:

"We believe in an open, responsive government that is smart enough to understand that hearing from our bosses, the voters, more often than every 4 years makes us a better government.

We believe that economic development needs to be more professionally driven than politically and bureaucratically driven.

We believe that Fire and Rescue needs to be more professionally driven and less politically and bureaucratically driven.

We believe that the Board of Supervisors has stumbled and failed to secure and provide the fair funding historically due the Augusta School Board.

We believe that delaying relief from land values done during the best of times hurts us now in these worst of times.

We hope to show that when people work together, putting aside party and personal interests, consensus can be reached with the people being the beneficiaries rather than those making the decisions. We hope to demonstrate the individual knowledge and principles of each of us such that the public will have confidence both in our corporate vision and our individual resolve."

--David Karaffa, Dr. Kurt Michael, Dr. Marshall Pattie, Supervisor Tracy Pyles

Lynn Has More [click to read]. If you have felt frustrated that your vote might not make a difference, Tuesday, November 8th, 2011 will be your day!

THYME Magazine

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume III, Issue XVII

THYME's Guide to the Most Influential

If, as Jefferson states, "the most important level of politics is local," then it follows that the most important political figures are those who represent your own community.

While the 'other' weekly news magazine looks for its 100 most influential people, THYME went looking for the heroes of hometown politics. We didn't have far to go.

Augusta County, Virginia is situated at the junction of two major US interstates but is still a fine mix of rural and urban elements. Manufacturing, Agriculture and Transportation exist in a balance that makes the area desirable as home or as a potential business location.

The mix that makes Augusta rich in potential also creates unique challenges for local government. Old paradigms are not adequate for addressing these challenges.

Fortunately Augusta is seeing a renaissance in citizen involvement in the process that should inspire people across the fruited plain.

Every Election Matters Now

Typically 'off-year' elections were uninspiring events with low turnout and predictable outcomes. That was before Augusta's current board of supervisors rubber stamped a fatally flawed assessment and set in motion a citizen protest directed at their lack of having a voice in Verona [the seat of the Government Center].

The unrealistic assessment numbers resulted in reduced distribution of state revenues. Public safety and education resources were understandably stretched. Pastures supervisor Tracy Pyles is already in the fight, having previously introduced a motion to discard the new assessment. This election cycle sees some new candidates stepping forward to seek seats in other districts. David Karaffa is running for the position in the Beverley Manor District and Dr. Kurt Michael in adjoining Wayne.

Here are candidates who are stepping up to create solutions in such areas as fire protection. They are putting together real proposals for real problems. They deserve a hearing and your vote on November 8th.

Look for another important hat being thrown into the ring on April 30th. Augusta County will become a model for other localities to follow. Jason Bibeau invites all concerned citizens to come out to the Government Center at 9:00am this coming Saturday. THYME will have more on this important story as it unfolds.

Update:

Jason Bibeau, 38, a resident of Fishersville, will announce his candidacy for Augusta County Treasurer Saturday, April 30, 2011, at 9:00 a.m. at the Augusta County Government Center, 16 Government Center Ln., Verona, VA, 24482

"Dutch Treat" Breakfast to follow announcement at Staunton Shoney's in front private dining room.

Fiscal Health and Local Government

Visible Debate by Visible Lawmakers... A Healthy Sign


The Augusta County Government Center.

Nichole Gelinas in City Journal writes about the indicators of health in local and state finances. Her article: Hidden in Plain Sight [click to read] says that disclosure requirements are a step in the right direction, but they alone will not fix the situation.

Think of our own local government and the recent property assessment battle. The historical pattern had always been one where assessments were performed in a rather casual way to follow the then predictable rise in real estate values. Governments planned expenditures based on this pattern and boards of supervisors rubber stamped the whole process.

In a steadily growing economy there was no need for questioning reality, after all. The can kicked down the road was highly unlikely to roll back on you.

After 2006, reality changed. The appraisal and budget process that followed underscored the need for lively and open debate. Tracy Pyles, supervisor from the Pastures District, took the bold and necessary step of addressing flaws in the process that would eventually come back to bite us. The assessors were using values derived from a real estate bubble that had already burst. There was no reality in letting tax rates be driven by these numbers. Furthermore, the inflated numbers created a false report to state revenue agencies, resulting in reduced payments to the county from state taxes collected.

The inability of other local elected officials to throw themselves into this debate is telling. In low-crime Mayberry, Barney Fife can keep his service revolver empty and his bullet in his pocket. If revenues can be counted on to rise 'safely,' we can afford to let the supervisors kick the can down the road, or so it might seem. Actually the need for open and honest debate is even more important when we might plan honestly for a range of contingiencies. The best reforms happen quietly and in a timely manner. They may never show up in print.

The 2011 campaign for supervisor's seats in Augusta County should create no less than a mandate for the kind of debate that will monitor county vital signs BEFORE a fiscal disaster occurs.

Note: The Author of this post actively serves in the campaign of David Karaffa for Supervisor.


Taking a different path. Governor McDonnell in support of Governor Walker.

'Of the People'

A Representative's First Mandate is to Represent

Here is the big take-away from last night's board of supervisors meeting. At one point we were lectured that our distaste for following laws was why we have so many problems as a Nation. Wrong! Isn't our distaste for opressive mandates the reason we have a Nation in the first place? Not that I am advocating wanton civil disobedience here but it is clear that our founding fathers saw unchecked government as a major problem. In fact, it was seen as disobedience of a more basic set of laws, the rights and dignity asserted by our Creator.

Tracy Pyles and Jeremy Shifflett are following in the finest tradition of our representative government when they seek to give us a voice in the face of unclear State mandates that result in shoddy and unfair tax policy. They are to be commended for recognizing the higher law that binds us together as a free people.


A patriot from the past.

Massive Protest of Mass Appraisal

Augusta Supervisors Reject Motion to Scrap Assessment

Augusta residents filled two meeting rooms and a hallway as many more were turned away for lack of space. Over forty people spoke to the board asking how land values were being raised 30 to 100% at a time when Nationwide they have declined an average of 18%! Clearly few were comfortable with how the process had played out and the rush by the board to certify the results. Most people I talked to had gone for a hearing. None had heard back from Blue Ridge Mass Appraisals. Clearly the work was not finished and the hasty certification raised questions.

Frustration was in the air but the crowd was friendly. Strong sentiments were expressed and crowd reaction was strong enough to be gavelled down a few times but the large number of deputies on hand for the event ended up functioning as ushers for what turned out to be a very orderly group.

Francis Chester had 10,047 Signatures [click to read] to his petition and he brought up some clear conflicts of interest on the part of the Assessment company. The owner, David Hickey and his family do own considerable properties in Augusta. Hickey Defends the Reassessment [click to read] in a News-Leader editorial. He is quick to point out how the bubble grew but cannot seem to come to terms with the bubble's burst. Unfortunately the best comparables are the ones that have sat on the market for over a year even at greatly reduced prices. They don't become statistics on Mr. Hickey's computer model, as they have not been recorded as sales.

Supervisor Tracy Pyles motioned to set aside the 2008 assessment and was seconded by Beverly Manor Supervisor Jeremy Shifflett . Riverheads Supervisor Nancy Sorrells said she didn't think Virginia code allowed them to touch the assessment and spoke in opposition to Pyles' motion. In the end it was a 5 to 2 vote with Pyles and Shifflet standing alone.

Here is the News Virginian Story [click to read]


Every seat was filled. Another meeting room was filled and people sat in the hallways.

How big was the crowd? The Largest Ever for A BOS Meeting [click to read] as reported by SWAC Girl. A thousand or more! Francis Chester had asked the County to provide a larger venue and it was obvious that people were turned away in the end.

Supervisors Meeting March 11

7:00pm at the Augusta Government Center


In the days of Richard II the issue was taxation.

The Augusta County Tax Revolt will soon come to a climax when Francis Chester's petitions will actually be presented. Tracy Pyles will make a motion to roll back the assessment values to 2005 numbers and the citizens will be heard. In the days ahead I'll be putting up more information about the mass protest of the mass assessment. There should be plenty of parking and I understand there will be volunteers to help get everyone safely parked.

So plan on coming. Lynn at SWAC Girl [click to read] will have information for attendees posted. I plan to follow her lead with the same.

Craigsville is Booming!

At Least According to Blue Ridge Mass Appraisals

The News Virginian is Going District by District [click to read] and finding some interesting surges in real estate values. This morning's News Leader has a story where the assessor is caught on surveilance video visiting the property for "less than two minutes."

So far Tracy Pyles is the only supervisor who seems the least bit curious....

...this is getting interesting.

A Representative Who Represents

Tracy Pyles Shows the Way

A recent News Virginian article spells it out: Maverick on the Board of Supervisors. My question is "Why is this man standing alone?" Isnt this the kind of gumption our forfathers showed in giving us representative government in the first place?

Meanwhile Lynn Had Petitions Going at Tractor Supply yesterday. People are wanting to be heard.

On March 11 I suspect they will be.