Hanover Political Round-Up: Supervisor Primaries, And More.
Monolo Serves Sammich; Dyer Needs Logic Appointment, Schuhle Loses Debate of 1, Beaverdam, Ashland, Chickahominy, Mechanicsville Districts, Commonwealth Attorney Trip Chalkley Retires. OPINION
Who says politics are boring? There is a lot here so scroll down to look for your district if need be.
Monday:
Rob Monolo held a meet and greet with his controversial appointment for the School Board the same night as a forum on over-development concerns in western Hanover. The purpose was to introduce his School Board appointee with a question-and-answer session. Rob opened his meeting and did so this time without a Bidenesque 3 x 5 card, invited everyone to have a sandwich, and then, according to attendees, went and sat in the corner. Coleman made small talk one-on-one, but there was no legitimate Q&A session between the appointee and taxpayers addressing the assembly. The one-on-one sounds personal, but it allows for a change of positions without an opportunity to examine any inconsistencies. Avoiding direct contact or interaction with voters is characteristic of Monolo’s general performance. (See info about Jeff Stoneman Below). *UPDATE- a number of people have contacted me to say I should have included a point about the profession of Monolo’s and Coleman’s faith that drew fire from Micheal Paul Williams, and that neither volunteered to say grace over the food offered. Seems thanksgiving was not in their collective minds. Monolo urged everyone to the table without saying much about anything. One might expect that in New Jersey, but not in Beaverdam.
Over in Beaverdam, only one candidate showed up for American Legion Hall Forum. This was to provide supervisor incumbent Monolo and candidates Stoneman, and Schuhle, an opportunity for each to voice their vision to keep western Hanover rural.
Rob sat quietly in his chair in Doswell, watching attendees compete for the sandwiches offered and attempt to discover something about his New Jersey appointee. You may recall Monolo’s emphasis last year on his most important qualification for the Board- he was born here! Monolo/Mitchell chose a guy from New Jersey while Jeff Stoneman has Denny Waldrop’s support. (Long time Beaverdam resident Waldrop put his name in the hat for the School Board appointment and was rejected). His campaign manager Emma Lee Mitchell understandably dodged the event as well. Considering all her development activity in the county, it’d be awkward to do a forum on keeping western Hanover rural.
Stoneman’s son was in the emergency room, and he couldn’t show up but did manage to call in by cell phone to answer questions- a difficult proposition given the local cell service.
The only candidate present was Doug Schuhle, who people said confirmed the angry guy tag I’ve heard about. Some in attendance said he lashed out at his prospective constituents claiming that if they gave 20 bucks to one of his opponents, they were “establishment.” That label would certainly stick on Monolo, given our defacto supervisor seems to be his campaign manager. Mitchell fits the description of the old Hanover establishment type perfectly. She has run several supervisors’ campaigns and advised others, including the campaign for Trip Chalkley’s replacement, and has financially benefitted from the votes of those supervisors.
Calling others “establishment” is weird, given Shuhle joined the committee to gain access to the voter list of those establishment types (my name is on there as well- imagine me being establishment, that’ll give many people heartburn).
It’s also odd that he admitted to several people that Emma Lee Mitchell invited him to run for the supervisor seat. Many, including myself, wonder if DS got into the race to split the vote. Schuhle is a mortgage banker, no stranger to a calculator, and has been treasurer to previous Supervisor campaigns (meaning his establishment charge is projection), which Mitchell managed. He certainly can understand the math in a 3-way race with an incumbent.
The short of it is that the forum produced a first: SCHULE is the only candidate I have ever heard of to be the lone candidate to show up at a debate or forum and still lose!
On Thursday:
Our befuddled partisan Chairman seemingly attempted to undermine Delegate Buddy Fowler’s run for the new 59th District on legislation concerning development and transparency (apparently killed in committee). He appeared to make his ally, developer/realtor Emma Lee Mitchell look uncomfortable at several points.
Jack later went into his best TV preacher mode calling for people to go to the SB meeting to save our schools from a pending Democrat Cultural Marxism apocalypse. Jack is a big proponent of the old patronage system of appointments. He couldn’t explain when asked (by me) why we have to go into panic mode and turn out in force at every SB meeting when 6 of 7 School Board members are Republican appointees! If the appointment system keeps the cultural madness at bay, why do we need to convince our Republican super-majority School Board not to accommodate the Cultural Marxist? If appointed School Boards were the answer, we should have nothing to worry about with a Republican majority. Dyer was stumped and mumbled something about voting the appointed SB members out! He doesn’t seem capable of getting the obvious logical problem here. He didn’t seem to make a connection between complaining about a dead bill’s accountability issues concerning the public and ignoring the lack of accountability to the public with appointed School Board members.
I think I get why Dyer likes appointments; unable to win an election, maybe gravitating to a system where one doesn’t answer to finicky voters comes naturally.
Commonwealth Attorney Trip Chalkley retires and gives fair-well address:
Trip Chalkley announced his retirement at the (same) Hanover Republican Committee Unit Thursday night. He was greeted with much applause and fanfare by the 100 or more in attendance. Chalkley intimated much about his years of service, his appreciation for the work of those in his office, and the support of Sheriff Hines, who later thanked him for his service and friendship. No doubt he will be missed.
Yael Levin vs. Faye Prichard: Ashland District
Democrat Faye Prichard of Ashland hasn’t done much on her reelection campaign. I haven’t seen signs out, and the last time I looked, there wasn’t any new reporting on VPAP. Prichard has been in office for a while and has appointed some rather extreme types as her office has allowed. People who do not at all share the majority of Hanoverian sensibilities. Prichard votes with the Republicans on the build-out of the county and other issues but goes to the extreme Left on social issues with her appointments. If you weren’t from Hanover, you might think that a 6 to 1 majority of Republicans would render those appointments meaningless, but that isn’t the case. With all the lather the recent movement to retain the failed patronage system has generated, the School Board seems split with a swing vote on cultural issues. The Superintendent is an extreme liberal as well. Prichard’s seat is essential in this cultural Marxism mix, and Yael Levin has been working hard to challenge her. Levin has a lot of notables behind her, including radio host Jeff Katz. Levin is unchallenged in the primary, as Travis Crown dropped out over his claim to have served in the military was found to be false. Levin is being attacked with malicious gossip from alleged members of ANTIFA on social media. I’ll report more on this as it develops. You can see here video of the School Board meeting here. Levin earned a major education endorsement here.
The East Side:
Ryan Hudson is running against Canova Peterson in Mechanicsville District again. You can read about him here from the last cycle. Much of his platform has stayed the same. I support his candidacy. Peterson is far past his best-buy date.
Danielle Floyd is running in Chickahominy District. Angela Kelly Wiecek dropped out of the race. Perhaps she needs a change or wants to go out without being defeated. I have a lot of posts on her on the Hanover Conservative Caucus Blog, and you can search for her name there if you are interested.
Floyd has a lot of support and has a fine family, attends the local Catholic Church, and will certainly be no worse than Wiecek on the issues most people in the county are concerned about and, hopefully, be an improvement. The one big concern I have about Floyd (VPAP) and Hudson (VPAP) is that their profession continues a trend of a development-friendly supervisor majority in Hanover. In some sense, it’s a wash as both Canova and Wiecek can’t be said t be hostile to development by any measure, and Hudson has responded favorably to the concerns of his potential constituents.
Floyd worked for RCI Builders until two months before she announced her candidacy. Chenault has filed suit against the county over a project denied on Winns Church Rd. Floyd may be in a position to vote on that issue.
Danielle with Mike Chenault; Danielle 1st function; Danielle's last picture with Hometown; RCI with Danielle; Ian Di Sesa, son of Craig from middle resolution with Danielle; Danielle with Todd Rodgers; Danielle with Hometown in February 2016; Danielle with Hometown in 2014
VPAP
Total raised to date by Danielle Totals raised by occupation Expenditures
HOPE PRINCE:
Hope, as far as I can tell, is pretty liberal. What I find interesting about her candidacy is her close connection with Floyd through reality connections. They seem to be mutual acquaintances and work for the same realtor. Given the history of developers and supervisors in the county working to gain seats on the BOS, I can’t help but wonder if Prince is being run to guard Floyd’s flank against a Democrat opponent in November. Like Schuhle in Beaverdam and his connection with Mitchell, the seeming splitting of the vote in supervisor races is an old tactic. Years ago, I experienced it in Beaverdam when I ran against Bucky Stanley. Is that what is going on here? I’ll leave it to you to decide.
Hope 4 Hanover FB Account; Loan Officer Profile; Hometown Realty Profile
Previous employment: Loan Officer at Novus Home Mortgage
All these candidates are fine folk; real estate is a necessary business. The perennial question for many of us has been if this industry has too much influence over a significant issue among taxpayers here in Hanover. If Monolo, Floyd, and Hudson all win, the Real Estate/Development industry has a lot of influence on the Board. The first thing candidate Wayne Hazzard did once elected (his treasurer was Schuhle, and the manager was Mitchell) was to go after the Proffer system, which helped cover the impact costs of development in the county. The proffers at that time were about 19,000 for each new home built. That $19k had to be made up by existing property owners in higher assessments. You can read about it here. I encourage you to search “Proffer” on that blog.
Jeff Stoneman
Jeff Stoneman is a businessman operating Pawscienda Pet Center in Montpelier and running for the Beaverdam District Supervisor seat. Stoneman is a Deacon and treasurer at Beaverdam Baptist. He is running on a controlled growth platform to keep this end of the county rural. He has many position videos on his Facebook page you can visit and look at. If he hasn’t knocked on your door and met you face to face, it’s an excellent place to check him out before Tuesday if you have not had time to research your choices in Beaverdam District. Watch video here. Stoneman has former Beaverdam Elementary Principle Denny Waldrop’s endorsement and promise to serve as his School Board appointment.
I support Hudson and, tentatively, Floyd. I also support Jeff Stoneman in Beaverdam, who would lend some balance here as he is not connected to the Real Estate/Development industry. I support Yael Levin. I offer best wishes to Trip Chalkley for a peaceful and fruitful retirement.
I challenge Monolo, Floyd, and Hudson to sign a statement declaring they will recuse themselves from voting on the projects of their current or recently past employers. In Monolo’s case, any projects Mitchell is likely to profit from. Will they? It would be an excellent way to assure residents that one of the top 3 issues in the county- growth- will be one less to worry about if they each win their respective races.
My guess is they won’t.
HCC is an opinion blog. I employ satire, commentary, and fact to entertain and convey my opinions on religious, cultural, and political issues. I expect you to know the difference. Thanks for reading. Please subscribe.
Development articles on Hanover Conservative Caucus: