Shaun Kenney to become new Executive Director at RPV

Julian Walker is reporting this morning that Shaun Kenney will become the next Executive Director at the Republican Party of Virginia:

Shaun Kenney has been selected as new executive director of an in flux Virginia Republican Party, a move that could be formally announced as early as Wednesday, party sources familiar with the decision told The Virginian-Pilot.

Notification to party officials that Kenney is the pick to replace outgoing executive director Anthony Reedy -- he is leaving amid some short-term money woes at the state GOP -- began this week, according to sources.

Looks like some changes taking place at RPV....

Augusta Supervisor David Karaffa holds town hall to explain budget issues

Beverley Manor Supervisor David Karaffa talks with attendees before meeting.

"I'm a fiscal conservative," Augusta County Supervisor David Karaffa noted at Tuesday night's Beverley Manor town hall meeting in Verona. "The last thing I want to do is raise taxes."

Speaking at the Verona Fire Department, Karaffa went into detail about his reasons for voting with four other supervisors -- David Beyeler, Larry Wills, Jeff Moore, and Michael Shull -- to hold a public hearing on April 18 to consider raising the tax rate.

With serious budget shortfalls and unfunded mandates from the General Assembly, Augusta County has found itself in the same difficult position as other localities around the Commonwealth as they try to provide revenue for school needs as well as core services such as additional deputies and firefighters. With bills coming due after years of low taxes, fiscally conservative leaders such as Karaffa and supervisor Chairman Shaun Kenney in nearby Fluvanna County have found themselves in the unusual and uncomfortable position of having to consider higher taxes.

While Augusta is looking at raising taxes on real estate and vehicles, Fluvanna is holding a public hearing to consider a 20 percent tax hike, showing that being fiscally conservative doesn't mean being blind to fiscal concerns. Charlottesville's Waldo Jaquith explained it this way:

Fluvanna’s got an interesting tax situation, Bryan McKenzie wrote in yesterday’s Daily Progress. The county’s Board of Supervisors has long been dominated by conservatives, and has steadily lowered taxes relative to expenses as election after election has put in office people who promise to lower taxes. As a result, the county has put off some financial problems for years now, leaving them in a terrible financial situation, without enough money to pay their basic expenses.

He added:

Perhaps the most vocal supporter of this tax increase is the chairman of the Board of Supervisors, Shaun Kenney, who is as conservative a Republican as you’re liable to find. (Disclaimer: He’s an old friend of mine.) Kenney is advocating what he regards as the real fiscally conservative solution: getting the county’s financial house in order, rather than going into further debt and leaving the problem for some future Board of Supervisors to deal with.

Indeed.

The Staunton News Leader has written in the past that a tax increase was necessary in Augusta County, and its latest editorial agreed with the five supervisors:

No one wants to see their taxes go up. But at the same time we want to have ample law enforcement, quick, efficient fire service and the best schools in the land. This is a situation where you cannot have your cake and eat it too and for Augusta County residents, it seems the time has come to pay a bit more in taxes in order to maintain a sufficient level of services.

At 48 cents per $100 of assessed value, Augusta County is next-to-lowest in real estate tax rates in Virginia followed only by Highland County.

Reporter Bob Stuart at the Waynesboro News Virginian attended the town hall meeting and talked afterward with Karaffa:

After 90 minutes of answering questions Tuesday night, Karaffa said he is still weighing a potential 3-cent increase in real estate taxes, and a 32-cent increase in personal property taxes on cars and trucks.

“I need to think about what is in the best interest of the people I represent," he said. Karaffa said he would like to see added cuts in the 2012-13 budget.

The suggested alternative to a tax increase concerns Karaffa.

He has doubts about dipping into capital accounts the county has for major building projects, depreciation and infrastructure needs to fund another $2.4 million for county schools and about $1 million for added firefighters, Sheriff’s deputies and other spending identified at recent budget work sessions.

Perhaps members of the community are coming to realize a tax increase is inevitable if they want to enjoy high quality schools, public safety, and emergency services.  Reporter Calvin Trice at the Staunton News Leader noted:

Judging by the turnout, hardly anyone needed convincing — at least not enough to come out to the community meeting Karaffa held inside the Verona Fire Department.

The county's public hearing will be held at the Augusta County Government Center in Verona on Wednesday, April 18, at 7:00 p.m.

Reporter Bob Stuart talks with David Karaffa Tuesday night.

Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell
10 April 2012

Cross-posted at Bearing Drift

Kents Store, Virginia ... paging Supervisor Shaun Kenney

Paging Fluvanna Supervisor Shaun Kenney from Kents Store! We drove through on a beautiful September day.

Some of the roads in rural Fluvanna made me forget I wasn't in the Shenandoah Valley.

Historic buildings are throughout this county that is also a bedroom community for Charlottesville.

A new fire station was in Kents Store proper.

Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell
9 September 2011

Victory! Fluvanna blogger vindicated for use of county seal

Fluvanna County supervisors were wrong when they passed an ordinance preventing a local blogger from using the county seal. A federal judge ruled that 23-year-old Bryan Rothamel’s First Amendment rights were violated.

It was a bizarre case to begin with -- after all, don't the citizens of a county "own" the seal, not the supervisors? Alerted by Shaun Kenney, a long-time blogger, Bearing Drift colleague, and vice chairman of the board of supervisors, the Rutherford Institute stepped in to defend what appeared to be clearly a First Amendment violation.

In January I wrote in the Washington Examiner:

It all began when a local blogger, 23-year-old Bryan Rothamel who writes The FLUCO Blog, used the county seal on articles he wrote to keep the community updated about supervisor meetings, activities, and decisions. The problem, according to the supervisors, was that he didn't have permission to use the county seal to illustrate those posts and, they added, he was using the seal to "advertise his product."

To rememdy the problem, in September the board made it a Class 1 misdemeanor to violate the law punishable by up to 12 months in jail and/or a fine up to $2,500, noting that "[n]o person, entity or organization shall exhibit, display, or in any manner utilize the seal or any copy, replication, facsimile or representation of the seal, . . ., unless such use shall have been expressly authorized by the board of supervisors."

Kenney was the lone vote against the new law, according to Tasha Cates at the The Daily Progress:

[Kenney] said that he thinks the ordinance was a “remedial action” against the blogger for writing something that a supervisor didn’t agree with.

“This seems like a simple First Amendment, slam dunk, common sense situation,” Kenney said. “I’m still appalled, with all of the other issues facing us in Fluvanna County, that somehow we chose to focus on this.”

Now Charlottesville's Rutherford Institute, a civil liberties organization, has come in to represent the blogger, filing a lawsuit on his behalf as noted by their president on the website:

"Criminalizing First Amendment activities is a grotesque violation of our constitutional right to free expression," said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "Government officials should know better. Such censorship has no place in a free society."

Was Mr. Rothamel singled out by the supervisors? Other news organizations routinely use the county seal when writing about Fluvanna.

Read more from Sharon C. Fitzgerald's updated article at The Daily Progress.


Cross-posted at Bearing Drift

BBQ with the Allens

Susan and George Allen on their deck overlooking the Potomac River.

It's nice to see these signs again....

Allen family portrait by artist David Cochran. David and I were childhood classmates in Richmond who graduated from high school together, and he is a family friend of the Allens.

Fluvanna Supervisor and fellow Bearing Drift blogger Shaun Kenney with his wife Melissa and their children.

Campaign manager Mike Thomas.

The Governor and the Supervisor....

See another photo

Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell
6 August 2011

Virginia redistricting fever

Cross-posted at the Washington Examiner....

Tuesday had everyone on the edge of their seats waiting for redistricting maps to go up on the official Virginia DLS site. Time for lift-off was supposed to be 3:30 but 4:00 came and went and still no maps, then 4:30 and still no maps. Finally, a little after 5:00, the maps went up and the site was immediately jammed with the crush of political junkies trying to read the newly-drawn lines. Can you say mega log-jam?

Fluvanna Supervisor Shaun Kenny, who also happens to be a blogger, realizing the state site was crashing, grabbed the State Senate and House maps and reposted them at the political Bearing Drift blog for those who could not access the official site, and put sent an alert out out on Facebook.

Apparently the political junkies who couldn't access the official site took note and swarmed over to Bearing Drift only to also crash that site. That was quickly taken care of and the next post went up with a link to the Virginian-Pilot's interactive redistricting maps along with interesting Bearing Drift observations about the two redistricting proposals.

Meanwhile, back at the official DLS site, long waits for maps to load prompted the suggestion to one blogger that she set a timer and return to the computer when it dinged. Ouch.

The maps were interesting, to say the least. The House map had green lines and the Senate map had blue lines. Big, fat lines. They looked like a magic marker had been used to outline the new districts, and there were some very interesting districts, prompting one blogger to quip, "I haven't seen abstract art like this since Picasso died."

Enter the "word map" ... House Bill 5001 with each House district spelled out in precincts. Nice.

The senate precincts were also listed for those who had difficulty reading the maps.

VPAP (Virginia Public Access Project) quickly assembled an in-depth listing of redistricting coverage with links to numerous sources.

David Sherfinski at the Washington Examiner pointed out that Northern Virginia looked poised to pick up three House seats and one Senate seat. Indeed, Prince William County resident Jim Riley unexpectedly found himself drawn into an open 2nd District House seat. Riley, who was considering running for the Board of Supervisors, suddenly found himself being wooed for the open House seat.

As the maps become familiar and everyone finds their districts, look to hear from new candidates and challengers as November beckons those with a willingness to serve.

GOP Advance next weekend ... calling all Republican bloggers!

I am looking forward to next weekend's Republican Advance in Northern Virginia. At last year's Advance at the Homestead, Attorney General Bob McDonnell addressed a small group of perhaps 12 to 15 conservative bloggers including Shaun Kenney at an impromptu gathering. This year Shaun, as Communications Director of the Republican Party of Virginia, has planned some blogging discussions/panels that will be fun as we meet others from around the state who blog for the conservative cause. If you plan to attend I would love to know so I can look you up. Conservative bloggers .... see you at the Advance!

SWAC welcomes RPV's John Hager & Shaun Kenney

John Hager addresses SWAC-GOP Breakfast as Sixth District Chairman Fred Anderson (foreground) listens.

A Republican Unity breakfast was held this morning at Rowe's Restaurant in Staunton with over 50 local Republicans coming out to hear from the new Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, John Hager. Accompanying Lt. Gov. Hager was RPV's Director of Communications Shaun Kenney.

Elected officials in the crowd included Delgate Steve Landes, Delegate Chris Saxman, and Delegate Ben Cline as well as many local electeds and candidates running for the Augusta County Board of Supervisors.

All the grassroots leaders were in attendance including the Chairs of SWAC -- Staunton, Waynesboro, and Augusta County's Kurt Michael -- as well as Mike Meredith, Chair of Rockingham County and Fred Anderson, Sixth District Chairman.

Kurt Michael and Shaun Kenney listen to a question.

Lt. Gov. Hager had rousing remarks about the Party, the direction we're going, how we're rebuilding, and articulating our message to the voters by showing the differences between the democrats and us. He answered questions that ranged from the need for closed primaries to fairness (or lack of) in the media.

He was followed by Chairman Kurt Michael who emphasized what he stood for -- pro-life, pro-family, pro-Second Amendment, anti-tax -- and said that was what he was working toward as a Republican volunteer in the SWAC area.

It was a good event and sets local Republicans up to head off into the fall campaign season ready to go! Our thanks to John Hager and Shaun Kenney for attending the event.

Shaun Kenney & Delegate Chris Saxman hanging around the parking lot of Rowe's after breakfast.

Photos by SWAC Girl