Another busy Saturday

I started the day off bright and early this morning (early for me, that is) with the second Town Hall meeting of the week on the issues facing EOV. That event kicked off at 8:30am and when I arrived about 10 minutes after the scheduled start time, it was already underway.

The room was full and a lot of the folks present were NOT from EOV. Many of the faces I saw were those who had been a part of the $1.08 in ’08 group. Like the meeting Wednesday evening, five of the eight members of council were present.

There was a certain tension in the air as it had been rumored that a call for the resignation of City Manager Regina Williams was on tap. This particular rumor has been circulating for a while and it was certainly fueled by the decision to reject the idea of allowing experienced deputies in the Sheriff’s office to help the understaffed police department. The topic of today’s editorial, there was a lot of conversation amongst those with whom I spoke about this. (Interestingly enough, I learned that this idea is not a new one and is in place in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake. They managed to figure out how to overcome the legal issues. Norfolk should as well.)

As it turns out, there was a call by a citizen for Williams’ resignation, but it was basically ignored by those present.

I headed from that meeting over to the office opening for Paula Miller and Ralph Northam. The place was overflowing with supporters of the campaigns. Both candidates gave brief speeches and, of course, asked for volunteers. (You can volunteer for Miller here and for Northam here. And be sure to check out my Volunteer Opportunities page for ongoing activities.) Northam had to leave shortly after the speeches for some events on the Eastern Shore. In his speech, he mentioned just how big the 6th District is: from Onancock to Matthews is about 150 miles! Lots of ground to cover, so help out as much as you can.

Next I headed to Chesapeake where Del. Lionell Spruill Sr. was kicking off the petition drive for Hillary Clinton. In case you are not aware, each presidential candidate has to get 10,000 signatures to be on the ballot in Virginia. The DPVA is heading up a signature drive – called “Sign & Date for Eight” – which will allow one signature to count for all eight candidates. However, these will only be half of the total that each of the candidates needs in order to get on the ballot. Those petitions are being disseminated by Susan Mariner.

If you want to help with the Clinton petitions, contact another Susan – Susan Rowland. If you are around here and want to sign a petition, let me know.

I did get an email from the Obama campaign regarding his petitions but I do not have any information on who is handling them. Once I get that info, I’ll pass it along. (Speaking of Obama – wassup with him dissing the debates?)

All in all, another interesting and busy Saturday. Now to get ready to play some golf with Tiger Woods – on my Wii, of course 🙂