Augusta BOS looking for their own numbers?...

Operation Drumbeat has an interesting piece on the Augusta BOS seeking to get their own numbers by doing the re-assessments inhouse.

Sure, yeah, I am the (a) Republican Candidate"... Wink~wink... Widespread?...

It seems that word is getting out around the county that several of the “Independent” candidates in the Augusta County Supervisor race are claiming to be “the” or “a” republican candidate when going from door to door or when soliciting campaign sign locations…

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Reports are that several of those doing this quickly change to “a” republican candidate once questioned or challenged by those they are soliciting support from. But in fact they are not the Republican candidate and are actually misrepresenting themselves to garner potential votes.

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It appears former Augusta Republican Committee chairman Kurt Michael has used this “tactic” several times already and more examples are coming out. If true, it then means that Kurt Michael is using his past tenure as chairman of the local Republican party as a campaign “tool” to solicit support in the present campaign for Supervisor of Wayne district, when in fact he is not the Republican candidate in the race. This “tactic” may work with the potential voter who knows little or nothing of Kurt Michael’s past history, or knowledge of the infamous past GOP mass meeting that turned ugly once Kurt Michael was voted out as the Chairman of the Augusta Republican Committee by the majority of republican voters present.

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There are several reports of candidates misrepresenting themselves as the “True” Republican candidate when soliciting campaign sign locations in the county. Several of these candidates have been told to take down their signs once the landowner finds out the truth about the false claims and you can be sure that does not sit well in the business community. If you see a campaign sign that just does not look right in front of a business you know, ask that landowner if they know the true status of that candidacy… Word of mouth and friends talking does wonders!...

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But with Augusta County’s history of voting 70%+ for Republican candidates in the past, it’s obvious that several of these “Independent” candidates, possibly even a former Democrat member, would seek support of the Republican “label” if it might help them in this election.

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It is important to talk to your neighbors, the people you work with, and the people you socialize with to ensure that they get the real info regarding claims being made by some candidates who are seeking their support\votes when in fact they are misrepresenting themselves… Word of mouth and the truth works wonders when it gets out there!...

There is now a letter to the editor in the Staunton Newsleader from the Chairman of the Augusta County Republican Committee advising readers of this obvious problem with candidates claiming to be the Republican candidate when they are not......

Augusta Supervisor Race: "The Pot calling the Kettle Black"?....

The local Staunton newspaper (NewsLeader) recently did a piece on the Augusta County Board of Supervisor race where the challenger, David Karaffa (I), brought to light that the current Beverly Manor Supervisor, Jeremy Shifflett (R) has missed other than BOS meetings in the past. All of the seven Augusta County Supervisors are on special community committees and many times are welcome to attend but are not allowed to actually vote during the process...

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Unfortunately the NewsLeader did not investigate or explore the meeting attendance record of any of the other Supervisors thus making this basically a "Political Hit Piece" by Karaffa against the sitting Beverley Manor District Supervisor...

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Interestingly the NewsLeader article has gotten numerous comments from local citizens who have seen this piece for what it is. In addition to this one commentor has provided an interesting link to the minutes of a BOS meeting where one Supervisor (Beyler) questions another Supervisor (Pyles) regarding his attendance to a committee that dealt directly with the recent Augusta County re-assessment process that he (Pyles) has actively criticized and has been very critical about. The BOS transcript shows Beyler asking Pyles if he had attended these meetings and especially the meeting that dealt with the methodology used to perform the re-assessment process. Supervisor Pyles never really answers the attendance question or provides an actual number, if any, of meetings that he attended...

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The re-assessment issue has become a obvious political tool used by members of the "Gang of Four" (Tracy Pyles, David Karaffa, Kurt Michael, Michael Pattie) who are all running for the Supervisor seats in their own districts. Instead of allowing the re-assessment process to evolve and allow the homeowner to challenge their individual assessment by the procedure provided, members Pyles & Kurt Michael organized a protest by county citizens before the actual individual challenge process was allowed to happen or complete. The vast majority of those protesting no longer see it as an issue now that the process was allowed to be completed as required by law, they had the opportunity to challenge any questionable assessment, and the BOS set an appropriate tax rate with the current economic situation...

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With the above transcript of the Augusta BOS meeting it is obvious that Shifflett is not the only one that has missed committee meetings in the past and thus the "Pot calling the Kettle black" reference above...

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The hope here is that the local newspapers will further investigate issues like this and others sure to come in the future so the voters will have all information to make their decision with....

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