Putting that aside (for now) I am beyond pleased to report that every one of my own picks came out on top. A cursory review of the numbers involved versus the unique page views on my stats program indicate that it’s unlikely I made a difference in the outcome of the races but that my readers and I helped contribute as many as a several hundred votes to the margins of victory. You can read  the results here and the reported numbers here. They make me happy.

What makes me even happier is reading the Red Apple Mom’s concession post now that all but two of her anointed teabaggers have gone down in flames. To be fair, five of the twelve people she endorsed got elected but three of them were running unopposed and one of them is a Democrat. Total teabagger score: 1 out of 12.

This leaves our new School Board with ten Democrats and two Northern Virginia Republicans. I predict Fairfax County Public Schools won’t be teaching Creationism and/or the works of Ayn Rand in the foreseeable future.

I also predict the R.A.M. (Catherine Lorenze) won’t be in much demand as a campaign “consultant” anytime soon. Perhaps some aspiring office-holder will hire her if Charles Manson isn’t available. Election losses like yesterday’s tend to change one’s public image from “Red Apple” to “Bruised Fruit.” Such is karma…

(BTW, I briefly considered changing this blog’s name to “Bad Apple Dad” but then figured the reference would be kinda dated by…. I dunno, today?)

Anyway, thanks and good job to all the local voters who stopped by and shared their questions and civic enthusiasm here. It was nice meeting you and I look forward to touching base in 2012.

Yeah, this was just warming up.

USA!

They have a website and if you click enough links at some point there will be a place to enter your address and then a few clicks later you get a list of people and things you will most likely be allowed to vote on someday if your paperwork is in order and they have enough properly trained volunteer staff and there’s no earthquake.

Say what you will about our time in LA, but for every election California made sure all its registered voters got magazine-sized booklets listing candidates, bond measures, referendums with endorsements, candidate statements and arguments for and against everything along with official retorts to same. In civic terms these were things of beauty.

You still had to be on your toes but it gave you an excellent foundation on which to work.

In contrast, Virginia in 2011 projects a sense that maybe we’d all be better off if voters just stayed in their homes. Perhaps it’s a result of George Allen’s governorship.

Did I mention George Allen wants to be a United States Senator next year?

Again?

This is why we have to get out of bed in the morning and do stuff like post our own sample ballots on our blogs. If we don’t people like George Allen and Eric Cantor get jobs where we have to pay them to embarrass us.

Anyway, I live near Gallows Road and the beltway and the following is what the Virginia Board of Elections says I can vote for. I hope you will too.

Click the accompanying links and they’ll take you to the more detailed reasons for my picks. (Short-form: None of these guys are teabaggers.)

1. Member Senate of Virginia, Jurisdiction 037. Vote for Dave W. Marsden. Here’s why.

2. Member House of Delegates, Jurisdiction 053. Vote for James M. “Jim” Scott. Here’s why.

3. Commonwealth’s Attorney, Fairfax County and City. Vote for Raymond F. Morrogh. Here’s why.

4. Sheriff, Fairfax County and City. Vote for Stan G. Barry. Here’s why.

5. Soil and Water Conservation Director Northern Virginia, Fairfax County. Vote for Johna Good Gagnon, George W. Lamb and John W. Peterson. No one else. This is important. Here’s why. Seriously read this.

6. Chairman, Board of Supervisors, Fairfax County. Vote for Sharon Bulova. Here’s why.

7. Member, Board of Supervisors, Providence District, Fairfax County. Vote for Lynda Q. Smyth. Here’s why.

8. Member, School Board at Large, Fairfax County. Vote for Ryan L. McElveen, Ilryong Moon, and Theodore J. “Ted” Velkoff. This is very important. The teabaggers are going all out to take over the school board. These three guys will prevent that. More details here.

9. Member, School Board Providence District, Fairfax County. Vote for Patty Reed. Or don’t. She’s running unopposed so it won’t matter either way. Details here.

10. Referendum on School Bonds Fairfax County. Vote YES. Here’s why.

No matter where you live, in Virginia or elsewhere, I hope you’ll take a few hours and do your diligence on these off-year local races. These are the seeds being sown for a later harvest. Or the cigarettes being thrown into political dry brush if you’re more cynical.

In 2010 the teabaggers churned up enough crazies that they took over half the legislative branch and perpetuated a recession that continues to this day. They did it for fun and profit and they got away with it because not enough of the rest of us put our shoulders to the wheel.

Next week we need to lean in and push ‘em back.

What could go wrong?

One of the candidates whom I liked for certain things but not for others took the trouble to write me back admonishing me for what she perceived as certain errors on my part, like not endorsing her. She provided a link for my benefit which I dutifully clicked and found happily free of porn.

Because I value civil give and take in politics and because it’s an easy blog entry I am cut and pasting our exchange in the comments section of the original post below.

Enjoy. Learn. Grow.

1. brownkaplan says:

   October 28, 2011 at 11:34 pm (Edit)

   Sorry, John. I don’t really believe you ever considered voting for me. You’re voting the straight Democrat-endorsed slate. Not that there’s anything wrong with that (a large number of my supporters are Democrats), but the reasons you give are both inconsistent and insincere. Maybe you should read my comments in the Connection and do better:http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp.
2. brownkaplan says:

   October 28, 2011 at 11:36 pm (Edit)

   Let’s try that again: http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=355204&paper=73&cat=109.
3. John Judy says:

   October 30, 2011 at 10:14 pm (Edit)

   Hi, Sheree, if I may call you that.

   First of all, thanks for stopping by.

   Second, thanks for coming back with what I hope was the link you intended. For anyone joining us here who doesn’t feel like clicking, I pulled Sheree’s quotes below:

   “Sheree Brown-Kaplan, a GOP-endorsed candidate running for one of the three at-large seats, acknowledged the Republicans are emphasizing a message of reform, which she defines as “accounting for decision-making and valuing community input.”

   “I haven’t heard any overarching message from the Democratic-endorsed candidates,” Brown-Kaplan said. “It does seem as if they are more supportive of the status quo and will continue a School Board leadership that works against parents and teachers, not with them.”

   …Brown-Kaplan said that those who vote straight-party tickets have not done their homework.

   “There are important concerns that parents and teachers have been addressing. Look at the endorsements of teacher organizations and parent groups like the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers and FairfaxCAPS. They have studied the issues and endorsed candidates based on their stands on the issues. It’s these organizations that should guide voters’ decisions,” she said.”

   Anyone still reading should feel free to click onto the full article. I did and have yet to be inundated with porn. It’s safe, is my point.

   As to your critiques that I, specifically, was insincere and inconsistent and never considered voting for you and, more broadly that people voting a straight party ticket haven’t done their homework?

   Well, let’s begin at the beginning:

   I considered voting for you or I wouldn’t have bothered checking you out. As I noted above and will repeat, I admired your work and commitment to advocating for students with challenges. What worried me was your endorsement by the local teabaggers. As we have painfully learned over the past two years they are a group that does not work and play well with others. They are a destructive force and need to be kept away from positions of influence and sharp objects.
   Ditto, the notorious Red Apple Mom, who’s been taken down hard by better than the likes of me.
   Now if you’d like to take this opportunity to disavow these endorsements and distance yourself from their sources I’d be happy to reconsider your candidacy. The election is still eight days away.

   However there’s still the matter of my sincerity and consistency. I’m not inclined to argue over either since I think it’s self-evident that I sincerely loath the teabaggers and the R.A.M. and I’m pretty consistent on that point. Read some of my other election posts if you doubt.

   Finally, moving away from me (at last!), let’s see if I can “do better” by addressing the points you make in the article you sent.

   1. You say you haven’t heard an overarching message from your Democratic opponents. I have. Sure, it’s similar to the Republicans in terms of campaign season rah-rah: Making Fairfax schools even better, keeping classes smaller, paying teachers better. It would be strange indeed to hear anyone on either side come out against these things.
   Where it differs, in terms of the candidates I most favor is that my guys take a stand against the shifting of resources away from lower-income students and students with special needs and putting the cash back into the schools of the “haves.”
   I’ve already stated my opposition to this either/or mentality and would advise anyone unclear on this to go back and read the original post. Frankly, I think this is a point on which you and I might agree.

   2. You say people voting a straight-party ticket haven’t done their homework.
   Sheree, the reason I am voting a straight party ticket is precisely because I have done my homework. I have looked at the candidates’ own words on their own websites. I have read their endorsements on other sites. I have sat in the audience for live candidate Q&As. I can say without blushing that I am one of the more informed voters going to the polls next week. The reason I am not voting for you, despite my agreement with some of your stated goals, is that you are backed by people I deeply distrust with the quality of my own kids’ educations.

   The GOP has done great harm to my country in my lifetime and the teabaggers have done and would like to do even more. If you want to tell me where you differ from them and what parts of their hard-right, anti-science, anti-union, anti-womens health agenda you would NOT work to advance I will give you all the space you care to use, unedited, on my modest corner of the Virginia blogosphere.

   If you make a compelling case I may even vote for you.

   In the meantime, with all due respect to the various organizations you say should guide my vote, I will continue to do my own research and let that, balanced with my values be my guide.

   Hope I’ve done better.

   One last thing while I have you: Your bio says “After leaving a position in the Office of Management and Budget, she worked in government affairs for a Fortune 500 company and, later, advocated for the interests of a trade association.”

   Could you elaborate under which administration you worked for OMB and for which companies you lobbied?

   They don’t appear in your bio.

   Thanks.

   

   Can't we all just get along? Yes we can.

There was some vigorous discussion over the issue on one of the local chat boards. I’ll link to that here and quote the line that convinced me to do the right thing. (Be aware the site has some NSFW language because it’s infested with teabaggers.)

“I wasnt even going to vote but I will vote yes now just cuz of all the tards telling me to vote no” – Bobbafeet, 09-15-2011

Voting “YES” on money for schools even though the county keeps squandering it on making our schools the best in the nation.

Today, we are all Bobbafeet.

"Tards!!!!"

In Fairfax County if a Republican is running unopposed it is reasonable to make a few assumptions:

1. She must be doing a bang-up job.

2. No Democrat wants the job.

3. She must be sufficiently not-crazy that no Democrat has been forced to run just to get her crazy ass off the board. My god, she could even be a Republican Moderate! I thought they were extinct! Quick, teabaggers! Git yore guns!

Regardless, because of her unopposed status the only things that could prevent her from winning are if  she is discovered to be running dog-fights in her basement or if she comes out as an atheist. I have no first-hand knowledge that either of these things are true.

I’ve looked her over and found nothing I object to other than the endorsements of our current GOP Governor and Pat Robertson protege Bob McDonnell and some offhand non-condemnations by the local teabaggers. I’m guessing if you’re a Republican candidate those are hard to avoid.

I’m not going to draw any lines in the sand on this since it’s inevitable. I may even vote for her myself just to exercise my bi-partisan muscles. I say, vote for Ms. Reed, leave that portion of your ballot unmarked or write in “Professor X.” The result will be the same.

Hell, if you’ve enjoyed these blogs write me in!

“If elected I will not serve…”

To me, my X-Men! We must fight the Brotherhood of Evil Teabaggers!

This came out of sympathy for one of the candidates whose campaign is driven by a horrible personal tragedy, the suicide of his son, due to the arbitrary implementation of an incredibly misguided school discipline policy which I hope will be changed soon before it ruins any more lives.

Further anger came from reading of the despicable woman behind the campaigns of the three GOP-backed candidates, who seems to think the best way to insure her own kids’ success in school is to work for the deprivation of other kids who evidently weren’t sufficiently motivated to be born to well-off parents. Yeah, “Red Apple Mom”, I’m talking about you, you shameful, self-centered shrew. Red Apple Mom’s real name is Catherine Lorenze and she was the subject of a Washington Post article that should serve as a litmus test for whether or not the reader has any brains or empathy. (Cheat-Sheet: If you buy her argument, you don’t.)

It turned out there was one candidate she backed for whom I had considered voting, but upon learning that she was a Red Apple darling I did the sane thing and wrote her off. Sorry, Sheree A. Brown-Kaplan. You are known by the company you keep.

BTW, the candidates are all listed by the Virgina Board of Elections as “Independents” and the race is described as “non-partisan.”

If you believe that please allow me to introduce myself as “Rich and Handsome.”

Here on planet Earth there are three endorsed by the Dems, three by the GOP and one who is truly unaffiliated. I’m voting for the Dems and so should you. I’ll tell you why below.

The preamble out of the way, let’s dive in. There are seven candidates for the board and we are told to vote for no more than three. In alphabetical order they are:

1. Sheree A. Brown-Kaplan (Republican/teabagger). Her website is here. The thing that grabbed me about Ms. Brown-Kaplan immediately was that she was running hard as an advocate for students with special needs. I admire anyone sticking up for people who weren’t born with the advantages many of us have. I also have friends who have kids with various degrees of autism, Aspergers, and A.D.D. What I’ve learned from them is that too often such parents have to fight tooth and nail to get their kids the resources they’re guaranteed as citizens in a US public school system. Yeah, I get that budgets are tight all over, but I’m devout in my conviction that the cheapest money you can spend is on getting kids well educated as early as possible. Hell, it shouldn’t even be considered spending. It should be called what it is: Investing. Because it pays dividends down the road with healthier, happier, more informed citizens working and going to the polls. The 2010 elections and their aftermath should be all the convincing you need about what happens when people with next to no critical thinking skills show up en masse to vote. We all pay for it and it costs a lot more than a little extra help for kids who need it.

Unfortunately, Ms. Brown-Kaplan is endorsed by the very people who are most likely to slash spending on such programs: The teabaggers, the lowest hanging fruit in our shared civic lives. I feel bad about this because she has a record of service to run on. Sadly this is outweighed by her association with people to whom we can not allow even a pinky-toe in the door. The teabaggers must be the kiss of death politically or they will continue inflicting their damage. We can not afford any more of it, least of all in our schools.

If Ms. Brown-Kaplan wishes to renounce these people I would be willing to give her a shot in the future. Some of her intentions seem good. Some of her friends are anything but.

2. Lin-Dai Y. Kendall (Republican/Teabagger) Her website is here.  Ms. Kendall is a naturalized citizen from Honduras who’s worked a variety of jobs but shown no interest in public schools until recently. She seems to have gotten active over a school closing that affected her. Her inexperience combined with a teabagger endorsement makes her an easy one to dismiss.

3. Lolita I. Mancheno-Smoak (Republican/Teabagger) Her website was not listed by the Virginia Board of Elections but I found it here.  A self-described “change agent and business transformation leader” and someone who will “never stop innovating”, Ms. Mancheno-Smoak emigrated from Ecuador as a girl and has racked up a decent collection of letters after her name. Unfortunately none of them have anything to do with public education and she lists no experience volunteering or otherwise serving in that area. Once again, inexperience plus a teabagger endorsement equals a big “NO.”

4. Ryan L. McElveen (Democrat) His website is here. I must say of all the candidates Mr. McElveen is my favorite. He looks a bit like a young Lex Luthor and his on-camera delivery needs some polish, but his resume is extraordinary and his history of educational activism within Fairfax speaks well of him. He’s a product of Fairfax County schools and he’s very conscious of his obligation to give back. I could cut and paste several great quotes from his site but I’d rather you go there and see for yourself. He gets high marks for being a young man who could do (and has done) a lot of other things, but who chooses to apply his gifts to public service. Many kudos to him along with my vote.

And extra kudos for specifically going after Rotten Apple’s “Screw the Poor Some More” agenda. I love progressives who hit back. Hard.

5. Ilryong Moon (Democrat) His website is here. Mr. Moon is another great candidate. He’s a 12-year incumbent on the school board with a long record of service in other areas. A Harvard-educated attorney, he is a partner in a local firm who has managed somehow to do a wide range of community service over the years. I also like that he has skin in the game. His kids both graduated Fairfax schools and he’s married to a public school teacher. Re-electing Moon.

6. Steven M.F. Stuban (Independent) His website is here. This is the one that tore me up and I’ll advise you if you read further it will do the same to you.

Candidate Stuban and his wife are career Army veterans who had one child, Nick. Earlier this year Colonel and Mrs. Stuban lost their son to suicide as a result of one of the stupidest, most disproportionately harsh school disciplinary measures I have ever heard of.

Nick Stuban was 15 when he got caught buying artificial marijuana, a drug that is not illegal. For this he got run around the system and transferred to a different high school away from his friends and a support system he had grown up and thrived with. Not long afterwards he became depressed and took his life. This has inspired Colonel Stuban to run for School Board.

Just re-reading that bare bones account of what the Stuban family has so needlessly endured leaves me stunned. If you visit Colonel Stuban’s site you’ll see in addition a description of what a good kid Nick Stuban was and a mention of Mrs. Stuban’s activism since she took medical retirement in 1997 for Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS).

For any family to suffer such loss is horrible, but for a family that has served our country for so long and in as many ways as the Stubans it is beyond unjust. It makes a non-emotional response almost impossible, but after having sat with it for a few days I’m going to try.

Colonel Stuban is obviously a very capable and educated man. His resume is impressive in many ways. If elected I believe he would very likely rise to whatever tasks he was called to.

However, his resume does not include previous work or activism in education. He has been very involved in the past year with promoting changes in disciplinary policy to prevent more such incidents as the one that led to his son’s death. I agree with this goal and applaud him for working through unimaginable pain to prevent it for others.

And while he has not received an official County GOP endorsement he has been tainted with an endorsement from that other group that seeks shamelessly to appropriate the legacy of true historic American patriots. I see no sign that he courted that endorsement though, so I will cautiously give him a pass on what would normally be a deal-breaker.

As I said, the emotion factor is high on this candidate, especially because he seems to be a truly decent man.

My own considered opinion is that I would like to see some more time elapse between recent events and Colonel Stuban holding office. If he continues his engagement in Fairfax education issues and builds a further record of service there I could very easily see voting for him in the election after this one.

Regardless, he has my gratitude for his service and my condolences for his loss. I wish him peace.

7. Theodore J. “Ted” Velkoff (Democrat) His website is here. I’m casting my third vote for Mr. Velkoff based on his ten years experience volunteering and serving at the ground level of Fairfax public schools and beyond. His resume includes numerous service positions within the education system as well as a masters degree in computer science. His two daughters are Fairfax County graduates and I think it’s commendable that he still wishes to give back to the schools from which they benefited.

Summarizing:

I recommend voting for McElveen, Moon and Velkoff.

Don’t vote for the others as they are less qualified and have visible “tea” stains.

Finally, to any Red Apple/Lorenze voters out there who have read this far: Thanks, seriously. Good on you for taking it all in. Now here’s my constructive criticism.

We should not be engaged in either/or, win/lose games when it comes to educating kids.

I disagree with Lorenze’s worldview of “Give the poor kids larger class-sizes so my rich kids can have the small classes. I pay more in taxes! I should get the good stuff! Waaa!”

That is a stupid way to view the world and ignores the obvious, if more difficult third choice: Every kid, rich and poor, should get smaller class size. Every kid should get the resources they need to become all they’re capable of. We just need to suck it up and pay for it. It’s worth it in the long run for the benefits we get from educated kids. Pay for small classes now and you’re not paying for welfare and prison in 15 years.

Or maybe just look at a poor kid and look at your own and tell yourself “There, but for the grace of God…”

Eat the apple, my pretty! Eee-hee-hee-hee!

I think we can all vote for this.

I went here tonight for your sins.

1. Republican challenger Chris S. Grisafe. Although I won’t be voting for him I want to open by saying two nice things about the GOP challenger.

First he’s veteran of the Coast Guard and you have to respect that.

Second, he has a much better website than the incumbent. Its content is mostly fluff and GOP dog-whistle phrases but it looks better and has lots of stuff like his friends saying nice things about him and YouTube videos he shot of himself in his kitchen nook.

It’s all lightweight amateur hour stuff one would associate with an inexperienced first-time campaigner (or possibly Lonelygirl15), but the Dems would be well advised to upgrade their websites to be as visually inviting to visitors as the GOP’s.

In the meantime the Republicans might want to upgrade their candidates and policies to be as serious and capable to address the needs of their potential constituents as the Dems.

(One final note to Mr. Grisafe: If you are a young, apparently unmarried male GOP political wannabe you may want to find some other community activity to list than “Counselor” to a local frat. I’m not judging or making assumptions, but the often burned Values Voters among the GOP base might not want to risk another incident. Just sayin’…)

Moving on to…

2. Democratic incumbent Supervisor Linda Q. Smyth. Unfortunately her campaign site is buried deep in the forests of Google and isn’t listed at all by the Virginia Board of Elections, but her official state site reveals an impressive record of service. She’s got a PhD in history from the University of Virginia. She was a Fairfax County teacher for 12 years, a County Planning Commissioner for four and she’s been elected to her current office twice. She’s been a proponent of “smart growth” in the county and has championed high density housing and business development in locations near easy access to public transportation. As someone who has to drive in this area I appreciate that.  She also has a history of bipartisanship, having voted for moderate Republican Senator John Warner in 1996, back when there were such things as moderate Republicans.

She’s received a strong endorsement from the Washington Post, which I’ll cut and paste here to save anyone the trouble of clicking:

“Washington Post, October 9, 2011

Providence District. Linda Q. Smyth, who was first elected to the board in 2003, is a fastidious, detail-oriented, nose-to-the-grindstone public servant, long on the substance of public policy if slightly short on rhetorical flash and sizzle. As the representative for the district that includes much of Tysons, the Democrat will play a key role in redeveloping an area that amounts to Fairfax’s downtown.

By contrast, her Republican opponent, Chris S. Grisafe, lacks any experience or qualification for the job. Mr. Grisafe’s grasp of policy and politics is so tissue-thin that he doesn’t even mention the word “Tysons” on his campaign Web site; that alone should disqualify him.”

Ouch.

Re-electing Linda Q. Smyth on November 8th.

Spelling errors plus madness equals bad headache. OW!

There are four candidates running for this office, two of whom appear to be serious, one of whom just seems to want to sell t-shirts and another who is quite possibly insane.

Welcome to the Great Commonwealth.

Candidates include:

1. Republican Mike J. “Spike” Williams. Williams is a real estate broker who has run for a seat on the Board of Supervisors once before in 2007 and got his ass badly kicked. He came in third place out of four registered candidates. The only people who did worse than Williams were another Independent and the “Write-In” category. Back then he ran as an Independent but he seems to have found Republican Jesus or something since. He’s a big fan of the GOP “cutting waste and abuse” meme that always seems to fall short of offering details other than suggesting that pensions and living wage union salaries might be what’s holding us back from Paradise. It’s understandable that a guy in the real estate biz might be looking for a better gig these days but nothing I’ve found on him suggests that a Chairmanship would be a good fit for him or Fairfax County.

Also, he’s a grown man calling himself “Spike.” Unless you’re a bleach-blonde vampire with a soul that simply won’t do. His website is here.

2. Incumbent Democrat Sharon S. Bulova. Chairman Bulova has held the post for two and a half years and has earned a lot of praise for her work. She managed to cut the cost of the Dulles rail line project despite a lot of resistance from the people overseeing it. Her experience as a district supervisor for 21 years prior to assuming her current duties has definitely prepared her for the herculean task of managing the county’s current financial challenges. She knows what she’s doing and has been able to reach across the aisle to get it done, to such a degree that when you search for her opponent’s name on Google an endorsement from the Washington Post for Sharon Bulova appears on page one.

Here, let me link that for you: Bulova for Fairfax Chairman – The Washington Post

Kinda says it all, huh?

In the interest of being Fair and Balanced I would note that her own campaign website needs some cleaning up in the design sense. There are blotches of yellow scattered randomly over some of the text and, like many candidates of both parties, she could do with a better picture on the homepage.

Still if that’s the worst I can say about you you’re doing worlds better than the next two guys on the ballot.

3. Independent Christopher F. DeCarlo has a terrible website stuck in a 2010 congressional race which I’m guessing he lost. He seems mostly in the business of selling t-shirts that say “Not For Sale” which must be very confusing unless they’re giveaways. He should sell his website instead. Honestyandethics.com could make a lot of money for some enterprising grifter.

4. Independent A. Will Radle Jr. is distinguished by several things: He has raised exactly ten dollars for his campaign and he looks a little bit like Dwight from “The Office.” He will debate anyone at any time on any website that returns a Google hit on his name. (Hi, Will. Don’t bother.) Neither the Dems nor the GOP seem to want him around because he’s sought to run with each. Wait! He’s with the Green Party now!

And “scene!”

I need to get into politics because I could always use ten dollars. I bet you could buy a lot of Ibuprofen with that…

Re-electing Chairman Bulova on November 8th.

What it says.

Seems simple enough but for the fact that most people would never guess such a panel exists and fewer still would have much idea what it is they actually do.

I’m no longer in the former camp but could be fairly said to be an adjunct member of the latter despite having read up on these folks a bit.

I will include the three incumbents’ bios from their official state site and offer my impressions of the the other two non-incumbents’ respective desirability.

1. Thomas L. Cranmer, 72, is a retired Mobil oil executive and the info I have on him makes him sound charming and multifaceted.  Unfortunately one of those facets is a ringing endorsement from the local teabaggers which means YOU MUST NOT VOTE FOR THIS FREAK UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!  Forgive the all-caps but we do not screw around with the denizens of Teatardia. They are the worst and most destructive force to afflict our civic lives since Bush/Cheney snuck under the wire in 2000 and we don’t give them another angstrom of ground. In any capacity. Ever. I know Soil and Water sounds innocuous but if the baggers are interested in it that means there is harm to be done. Don’t let that happen. Huge “NO!” on Cranmer.

2. Incumbent Johna Good Gagnon is serving her first term as an elected member of the Board. She is appointed, since 1993, to the Environmental Quality Advisory Council (EQAC) by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. She is also appointed to the Citizen Corp Council and serves on the Fairfax Joint Local Emergency Planning Committee (FJLEPC). For more than 15 years, she served on the Lee District Land Use and Transportation Advisory Committee. Gagnon is retired from the federal government after more than 26 years service and is currently working in education and training.

Sounds good. Voting for Ms. Gagnon.

3. Incumbent George W. Lamb is currently serving the remainder of the board term left by the death of Sally B. Ormsby. Since settling in Fairfax County in 1993, George has been very active in the county’s civic and environmental community. He currently serves as Vice-Chair and as at-large appointee on the Environment Quality Advisory Council (EQAC) and is co-founder and current president of the Fairfax League of Conservation Voters. He is also a member of the Tysons Corner Land Use Task Force.

Sounds very solid and Mr. Lamb gets my second vote.

4. Peter M. Marchetti is running under the Green Party banner.  His webpage is here.

And no, I can’t friggin’ believe it either. If you haven’t guessed already I am a proud tree-hugging liberal weenie and I would be inclined to support a Green Party candidate if it didn’t look like he created his page and its content between bong hits!

Mr. Marchetti, I like trains too. Public transit and fiscal responsibility are also things I like and I think they could go together well. Now how about you think about telling me what the hell either of them have to do with the position you’re running for and what the hell qualifies you for that position?

I’d appreciate complete sentences with proper spelling, grammar and punctuation if you can get around to it either before November 8th or after your stash runs out, whichever comes first.

It is your fault that I must cast my third and final vote for….

5. Incumbent John W. Peterson was appointed by the Virginia Soil and Water Conservation Board on January 20, 2006 to fill the unexpired term of Delegate David Bulova. He is currently President and CEO of KEMPS Consultants, Inc. with expertise in natural resources public policy, water resources, and erosion and sediment control. Peterson founded Kemps Consultants in 1994 upon retiring, after 40 years of successful federal civil service, from his position as Assistant Chief of USDA’s Soil Conservation Service. Peterson is a former Watershed Specialist for the National Association of Conservation Districts and a former executive director of the National Watershed Coalition. He drafted and lobbied for the successful passage of the Small Watershed Rehabilitation Act of 2000, the first major USDA water resources legislation passed in over 22 years. He is currently Director of Government Relations for the Certified Professionals in Erosion & Sediment Control’s Governing Council and a Soil & Water Conservation Society Fellow.

Mr. Peterson also got a nod from the baggers but they weren’t swooning over him the way they were for Cranmer. They acknowledged he was “conservative” and sort of left it hanging there. I have conservative friends (honest) and if I have to vote for one (as I do here) I prefer them to be experienced in their jobs and giving as little indication of teabagger madness as possible. Mr. Peterson meets that standard and so he gets my third vote along with my hopes that he is a conservative in the best sense and not a closet radical of the kind favored by Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin’s gullible little urchins.

My two cents on five candidates.

This is noble work. Thank-you to all involved.

1. Republican Bill A. Cooper the 3rd is a retired deputy with an associate’s degree in criminal justice from NOVA. He is the head of his own process serving company, coaches little league and is the President of his homeowners association. He says he will get tough on crime and get the 4000 fugitives walking the streets of Fairfax County off those streets.

So far so good, although I admit I had no idea Fairfax was so ghetto.

Cooper has recently secured the endorsements of a few successful and not so successful state Republicans including current Governor and Pat Robertson protege Bob McDonnell and ex-Governor and complete racist embarrassment to mankind George Allen.

I honestly feel bad for any decent moderate Republican having to carry that kind of baggage. It’s like a Democrat getting the thumbs up from Al Sharpton.

Moving on to…

2. Democrat Stan G. Barry is the incumbent Fairfax County Sheriff of eleven years standing. He’s a graduate of Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government state and local executive program. He beat out his GOP predecessor 11 years ago and Fairfax voters haven’t looked back. He’s also overcome the personal tragedy of his wife’s suicide in 2003. It appears the usual GOP creep squad tried to spin it into something sinister but, as is their habit, they failed.

Sheriff Barry has also implemented the “Secure Communities” program that checks county inmates for immigration violations and has succeeded in deporting about 400 bad guys as of late 2010. The feds pay for it and the county saves the cost of locking them up. Very nice all around.

I’ll continue my own habit of endorsing the Democratic candidate here with one caveat:

Sheriff Barry, get yourself a website. Your state office site is fine but when you’re running for office in the 21st century you need a campaign site. They’re cheap and your opponent has one. Take nothing for granted. Get on it.

Re-electing Sheriff Barry on November 8th.

Sheriff Stan G. Barry