http://www.patriotswashcova.org/
There’s a whole new game in town:
The Patriots of Washington County VA
can take credit for a brainstorm that can be repeated in other districts, and throughout the country…it’s Downsize DC meets Grassfire, custom-crafted for Washington County.
The kick-off event was held at the December 8th meeting of the Southwest VA Tea Party Abingdon/Bristol/Washington County. For months, this local group of entrepreneurs headed up by Hammond Hunt and Abram McConnell has been devising a strategy to amplify both community outreach on important issues along with acknowledgement by local government—not exactly a primrose path.
Cybertechnology has provided a solution. WWW.patriotsofwashcova.org will feature local, state and national issues as action items that citizens can take part in through a vetted petition process; creating a member account allows GIS-validated Washington County VA residential addresses along with verified email accounts to join the group.
The first hot-ticket item allows members to voice their objection to the County’s controversial purchase of the Alpha Natural Resources Building (see below). Members can volunteer to manage gathering a hard-copy list of signatures that will ultimately be compiled and submitted to our local government. The goal? Proving that the will of the people must not be ignored.
Why Should I Sign the Petition?
http://www.patriotswashcova.org/
✯ Expenses will increase from $1.00 per year rent on the current office building to a cost of $550,000 per year.
✯ The county incurred added debt of $16 million (about $8 million purchase price plus another $8 million in interest).
✯ The county increased long-term financial obligations by approximately 30%, including interest, in one single transaction.
✯ The Alpha building assessment nearly doubled unexplainably just months before the county purchase, from approximately $4.4 million to $7.9 million.
✯ Additionally, the county has now committed nearly $1 million more for building renovations, scheduled for completion mid-summer 2012.
✯ The purchase was discussed and decided upon by the Board in closed-door sessions, only giving citizens the minimum comment period required by law.
This reckless spending by our Board of Supervisors can only lead to higher taxes for citizens of Washington County; and their complete lack of transparency erodes our trust in them to honor their oath of office.
Please support our efforts to remove this burden from us and future generations by signing our petition to dispose of the new county government building.
Let your voice be heard!
