Category: candidate support

ON THE SPECIAL ELECTION FOR THE PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY’S CLERK OF THE COURT

On By Citizen TomIn 2017 Election, candidate support, Delegate Jackson Miller3 Comments

What follows is an email from Bob FitzSimmonds. The subject is the special election (See www.pwcvotes.com.) for Prince William County’s Clerk of the Court, scheduled for April 18,2017.

Who is running for the job?

Special Election, this Tuesday, April 18th

As most of you know, Michele McQuigg served 9 years as the Clerk of Circuit Court for Prince William and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.  During that time, I was privileged to be her Chief Deputy and then succeed her as Clerk.  If you know Michele, you know she was a person of high principle with an amazing work ethic.  In spite of this, when Michele ran for re-election in 2015 she and I were subjected to a torrent of invective from the Democrat, who alternately displayed an incredible unfamiliarity with the office of Clerk and with the truth.  Every campaign position she took was a distortion of something we were doing or an outright invention.

This person is again running for the office of Clerk of Court in the special election to replace me.  Since Michele is not around she has directed her invective at me and at my staff.  She has a video running that dismisses the staff as intolerant and indolent. (How she plans to motivate them if she should win is anyone’s guess).

At the Committee of 100 debate, she spent the majority of her time criticizing us for mismanaging an office that we don’t manage at all and suggesting we take funds in contravention of the Code of Virginia.  In her defense, she had no idea what she was talking about, so she wasn’t actually suggesting we break the law. That would have just been the result of following her advice.  What do they teach in law schools these days?

Fortunately, we have a great alternative in Jackson Miller.  Jackson is the only candidate in the race with experience that prepares him for the office.  He has served in law enforcement. He has served on the Courts of Justice Committee in the Virginia House of Delegates and is familiar with the very real funding stresses that we have to deal with.  If you have heard him campaign, you know he is not promising the impossible.  What he is promising is to retain the current staff, build on their successes and continue to provide some of the best customer service in the area.

The Election is this Tuesday, April 18th and you will be voting at your regular voting location.  This will be an election that will hinge on turnout.  I implore you to go to the polls and take friends and family with you.  If we turn out our base Republican vote, Jackson will be able to complete Michele’s term.  It is as simple as that.  If you have any questions, give me a call or reply to this email. If you need more information about Jackson, please go to his campaign website at www.MillerforClerk.com.

Thanks.

Bob FitzSimmonds
703-851-2990 – cell
bobfitziii@earthlink.net

Here are the previous posts I have written on this election.

SHE CAN’T GET THIS RIGHT?

On By Citizen TomIn 2017 Election, candidate support, Delegate Jackson Miller, Humor, oops!8 Comments

The special election (See www.pwcvotes.com.) for Prince William County’s Clerk of the Court, scheduled for April 18,2017, has been a relatively quiet affair, but we do have some funny fireworks.  So here is a reminder to vote and a few details about what I hope was just a snafu.

Who is running for the job?

Smith apparently is either an inexperienced candidate, or she is devious. The Republican Party of Virginia seems to think her devious, but I will give her the benefit of the doubt.

BREAKING: PWC, Manassas, Manassas Park Democrat Activists Distribute Illegal Sample Ballots

In a special election in Prince William County, Manassas City, and Manassas Park City local Democrat Party activists are handing out illegal ballots with intent to fool voters! The “sample” ballots have an official seal on them with a disclaimer from the local electoral board and a marking for the Democrat candidate. The problem is all three of these issues run directly counter to our state’s election law!

Even more ironic, the special election is for the Clerk of Court position which oversees the areas courts. Local Democrat Party activists are breaking election laws in an attempt to insert someone to oversee the court system!

We will not let the Democrats get away with this travesty! RPV has notified the authorities and is fully prepared to take legal action to ensure this election is not rigged against our candidate.

Make sure to let the local Dem candidate know that we are on to her supporters illegal dirty tricks. Call her campaign at 571-529-9379! (from here)

What the picture shows is a flyer held over a sample ballot. Since it lacks detail, I am guessing the picture is just a picture someone took with a cellphone.  The sample ballot is marked for Jacqueline Smith. Apparently, Smith’s campaign just took the official sample ballot off ww.pwcvotes.com (see that ballot here) and edited it. That’s a no-no, and a lawyer ought to know that.

Here is the official guidance from Virginia Department of Elections. Note that the “§” references are to sections in the legal Code of Virginia.

7. Sample Ballots:

a. On sample ballots, any official authority statement of a local electoral board or the State Board of Elections must be deleted, and replaced with the publishing candidate’s or group’s authority statement (or “disclaimer”). § 24.2-622.

b. For federal offices, the disclaimer required by federal law must be used. For all other offices, the required identification on campaign material is specified in the Code of Virginia. For details, see the State Board of Elections website or call Department of Elections.

c. Samples of any ballot (or part of a ballot) cannot be printed on any shade of white or yellow paper and must contain the words “ SAMPLE BALLOT ” in type no smaller than twenty -four point. § 24.2-622.

d. The voter is allowed to carry sample ballots and campaign material into the polling place but must not display them to other voters. §§ 24.2-622, 24.2-604.

(from here)

Because they copied an official sample ballot and printed it on blue paper (They know they are Democrats.), they got some of it right, but anything else they could have gotten wrong, they got wrong.

If Jacqueline Smith cannot prepare a sample ballot right, we probably should not trust her with the county’s official records. Please vote for Jackson Miller (R).

SPECIAL ELECTION FOR THE PRINCE WILLIAM CLERK OF THE COURT ON APRIL 18, 2017

On By Citizen TomIn 2017 Election, candidate support, Delegate Rich Anderson9 Comments
The Prince William County Courthouse in Manassas in July 2011 (from here)

On April 18, 2017, Prince William County will hold a Special Election for the Clerk of the Court.  Why?

Michele McQuigg’s untimely death last month (February 15, 2015) left an opening in one of the county’s constitutional offices, prompting the three localities served by the court — Prince William, Manassas and Manassas Park–to ask for an April 18 special election to fill the seat. (from here)

What is the Clerk of the Court? It is a big job. If the Clerk of the Court does a poor job, we can waste lots of time in line waiting our turn. Worst, the Office of the Clerk can lose track of or mess up important records.

Here is a miserable example waiting in line from Atlanta, GA, of gods and goddess… by Julie (aka Cookie). With an introductory lesson in Thalia, the Greek Goddess of comedy, she tells her story of visiting the courthouse in Atlanta to probate her father’s will. is a skilled writer. So she makes her story both interesting and amusing. She also reminds of just how insufferable it is to wait in line for no good reason.

Put yourself in ‘s position. Your father has just died. So you are in mourning. Is that the best time to be driving through heavy traffic just so you can spend hours in line? Don’t you think the better option would be to plan ahead? If we take the time we can elect decent manager to keep our county’s legal records.

Here is the official job description. The full title is The Clerk of Circuit Court.

The Clerk of Circuit Court is a constitutional officer elected every eight (8) years. The Clerk serves the citizens of the County of Prince William and the Cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.

The Office of the Clerk of Circuit Court dates back to the 1700s. From that time to the present, the Clerk’s duties have changed significantly, but the office remains vitally important to the citizens of the county and each city.

The Code of Virginia lists more than 800 responsibilities of the Clerk, many of which are complex and challenging. The Clerk serves as the recorder of deeds and probate judge, issues marriage licenses and fictitious names, and is the official court administrator for all civil and criminal court cases. In this latter capacity, the Clerk creates and maintains all court files and records, prepares court orders and jury lists, contacts jurors and issues summons and court processes.

Circuit Court Clerks in Virginia perform duties that in many states are divided among three or four separate offices. Virginia has chosen to combine judicial and administrative functions into a single office–saving citizens significant tax dollars. (from here)

If you want to understand the full scope of the job, click on this link. That is the web site for the Clerk of the Court. That will show you the kind of records that office maintains.

Who is running for the job?

Check out the candidate’s websites. In addition, check out some news articles.

Who am I campaigning for? Jackson Miller. Like Miller, I think the job requires an experienced leader/manager, and he is that. Smith is sharp, but Miller strikes me as sharper and a bit more honest, but judge for yourself.

Anyway, please take the time to become informed and vote. If you are unwilling to do a little research, please stay home.

Need information about voting? Check out pwcvotes.com. Note that if you commute out of the county or expect to be out of the county on election day, you can either vote in-person absentee.

A FEW OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE LAST DEBATE

On By Citizen TomIn 2016 Election, candidate support, Culture War, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, news media bias, Philosophy, unraveling8 Comments

vote for americaI just finished watching Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have a go at it in their second and last debate.  Trump began the debate obviously nervous and angry. H. Clinton started off smugly composed.

Consider what had just happened. Before the start of this second debate, the news media released that abominable, ten-year old video. Why now? Of course, the release of that video was designed to shake Trump up just before the debate and to maximize the “news value”.

Obviously, Wikileaks had similar notions when it released transcripts Hillary Clinton’s private speeches.

Trump, however, had the much greater problem. The news media doesn’t much care if H. Clinton lies to the voters, however, the fact that Trump engaged in locker room talk ten years ago was major news.  So a bunch of chickens in the GOP establishment deserted Trump, and the moderators just had to get to that question.

Thus, the debate began just about as ugly as it could get, which, of course is what both the news media and H. Clinton apparently wanted. Eventually, however, the town hall format forced the debaters to focus on issues. Trump then cooled and composed himself, and H. Clinton grew strangely more anxious. Now why would that be the case? That is something to think about.

Here is one more thing to think about. Why do we have such an awful choice of presidential candidates? Why all the name calling in the debate? The answer is not complex. Instead of voting for what is good for our country, too many of us have voted for what we think is good for us personally. Instead of voting for the best among us, we have voted for those candidates willing to make the most extravagant promises with “other people’s money”.

Because they involve extravagant promises with “other people’s money”, Hillary Clinton’s promises are simply empty talk. She cannot deliver what she promises; it is not possible. All she can do is redistribute the wealth, and redistributing the wealth eventually kills an economy. That’s why our economy is already stagnant.

Trump has a slightly different appeal. He promises to make America great again. Implicit within that promise is the understanding he will stop trying to redistribute more and more of our wealth. He will let us get back to work so we can make America great again.

In truth, only God can make America great again, but God isn’t likely to help us if we keep trying to use our government to rob each other.