When the news broke Friday that Virginia First Lady Maureen McDonnell had purchased stock in Start Scientific - not once, but twice - without Governor Bob McDonnell's knowledge, the accountant in me went straight to the tax implications. Bill Burck, an attorney for the first lady, said she purchased 6,000 shares of Star stock on … Continue reading Maureen (& Bob) McDonnell’s stock purchases
My latest op-ed, title above, appeared in The Virginian-Pilot Thursday. As I was hauling trash to the curb yesterday, one of my neighbors stopped me to talk about the column. His first question: who is the third candidate for governor? I doubt if he's the only one who is unaware of Robert Sarvis. It seems … Continue reading ICYMI: Change begins with us
I've been following the saga of the removal of park benches in some areas of Ghent. The reason given by the city is that they need to combat crime; it appears, though, the real problem is homelessness in the city. More than 30 years ago, I was involved with an organization that worked on behalf … Continue reading Norfolk removes park benches
Generally, Cathy Lewis' HearSay is live on WHRO at noon Mondays through Thursdays. However, Tuesday's show was taped - and no doubt it was the ungodly 9am taping Monday morning that made me forget about it 😦 It wasn't until I got a tweet from somebody during Tuesday's airing that I remembered - and by … Continue reading On the radio talking Virginia politics
The Women's Strike Force has so far endorsed 22 candidates for this fall's House of Delegates elections. Nineteen of them are challengers and three are running for open seats. All of them are, as the endorsement page says, "pro-choice and adamantly opposed to the mandatory ultrasound and personhood bills supported by the current or previous … Continue reading Women’s Strike Force endorsements, distributions
All 100 seats in the House of Delegates are up for election this fall, although not all seats are contested. According to The Virginia Public Access Project, 56 of the 100 seats have at least two candidates. In an article last week, Geoffrey Skelley of Sabato's Crystal Ball, comes to the conclusion that only 19 … Continue reading Competitive contests in the House of Delegates
My latest op-ed, title above, appeared in The Virginian-Pilot Thursday. Prompting the column was yet another special election, this one held this past Tuesday, in which there was but one candidate (officially) on the ballot. It's bad enough that we hold elections with only one name - and I get that there is always the … Continue reading ICYMI: Special elections that aren’t so special
State Sen. Mark Herring, Democratic candidate for Attorney General, released an ethics reform proposal yesterday. The entire proposal can be viewed here (pdf). The plan includes: A state ethics commission, made up of several appointed public officials. Limiting gifts (to $100) and enhancing disclosure requirements, to include gifts to immediate family members and disclosure of … Continue reading Herring ethics reform proposal
AG Ken Cuccinelli has called for a special session on ethics reform but support for it is lacking. Perhaps it is because of this https://twitter.com/LarrySabato/status/364921041803419649 And this cartoon, from today's paper, may also be part of the problem (click to enlarge). The folks in charge really aren't interested in doing anything about this. They think … Continue reading VA Ethics reform
Norfolk is planning to join Richmond, Portsmouth, Newport News and other localities across the country to "ban the box" on job applications, whereby the question "Have you ever been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor?" is removed from job applications. The daunting question that gave Clayton pause more than two years ago will soon disappear … Continue reading Opinion, please: ban the box
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 