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PWC Signs On With Global Warming Compact
By Greg L | 7 June 2010 | Prince William County | 13 Comments
The Prince William Board of County Supervisors unanimously signed on with a regional compact last week ostensibly for the purpose of securing a larger piece of pie of federal money Washington uses to control the behavior of states and localities. Given that this compact was initiated by such “responsible” governing bodies as Arlington and Fairfax Counties, it is hardly surprising that buried within it are at least a few elements of the kind of soft socialism that is rotting the foundations of this country. If only Republicans could resist the allure of trading our liberty for federal taxpayer dollars, we just might be able to save this nation.
The WashPo article heralding this momentous occasion was quick to trumpet the county rolling over on a few of their favorite initiatives. To wit:
Specific targets within the overarching goals include a 20 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from the 2005 levels by 2020 and annual 1 to 3 percent increases in new jobs. Another target in the report: Beginning in 2012, the region will make 10 percent of all housing available affordable.
How peachy. Prince William County is now publicly signed on with the global warming alarmists. Although the compact doesn’t yet define which industries we will smother with local regulation to accomplish this, or what taxes are going to be imposed on individuals and business to discourage energy use and productivity, no doubt the bureaucratic busybodies behind this will soon start beating us up for not implementing their job and wealth-killing proposals designed to fulfill these shared commitments, and enviro-wackos will start whining at Board meetings about how we’re not properly tithing to the Church of Climate Change.
And yes, it is a Church. It comes with it’s own set of prescribed public celebrations, dietary restrictions, prescribed dress codes, financial contribution requirements and a set of prophets whose authority cannot be questioned. Only this religion doesn’t maintain any separation from the state, it is trying to become the state.
Another ridiculous sell-out to the fundamentally misguided but well meaning socialist crowd is this whole notion of benchmarking “affordable housing” goals. We want residential value to increase, and we don’t particularly need to either start subsidizing housing for private individuals with existing real estate nor force developers to lay in huge tracts of cheap tenements that would increase the ratio of cheap houses to 10% of the inventory when the housing market recovers. Transforming huge pieces of the county to resemble Manassas Park is just plain crappy policy.
We’d be far better off helping those in currently “affordable” housing (and for at least a while longer there’s not much shortage there) raise the market value of their properties so they can accumulate some wealth. We’d even be better off encouraging business, instead of putting them on notice that cap & tax is potentially going to be imposed at the county level sometime in the future as our collective act of reverence to the Church of Global Warming.
The path to demolish this nanny-statism does not lead through appeasing socialists. It comes from vigorously combating the horrible utopian ideas they try to foist upon us, no matter how big the bribe of our own taxpayer dollars are offered as incentive. Washington can keep their pot of money and the unconstitutional controls that come as a condition of its acceptance, and instead stop trying to dole out slush funds to other levels of government with our tax dollars.
In this regard last week, our elected officials failed us. All of them. We are not going to fix government this way at all.
UPDATE: The communists at Blue Virginia (of “Coochland Uber Alles” infamy) are cheering Corey Stewart and Marty Nohe on this. When these fruitbags are applauding, you’ve really screwed up!
I’m very happy to see this compact, and even happier to see Republican-led Prince William County signing on (along with Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax City, Fairfax County, Falls Church, Loudoun, and Manassas Park)!
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The BOCS passed this bovine scatology with no idea of its cost. The staff report states, “There is no direct fiscal impact resulting from the BOCS’ endorsement of the compact.” If you buy that, you will also probably want to buy some oil-soaked swampland in Florida.
John Stirrup tried to get some idea of how much this thing might cost. The Planning Office’s perennial clown sent out to present this sort of nonsense, Ray Utz, stated simply that he did not know. That response contradicts his written report stating that there is no cost. I will give him credit, however, for plainly acknowledging his ignorance.
Marty Nohe said fiscal impact doesn’t matter because we don’t have to do anything we don’t like. Then what’s the point? If we want to coordinate with other jurisdictions in the region on transportation planning, just do that. If we can pick and chose the areas on which we want to collaborate, what’s the point of jumping on the bandwagon of a broad agenda set by other jurisdictions whose interests are inimical to our own?
COG sees Prince William County as the region’s bedroom including most of the “affordable” housing with the high-value commercial development going elsewhere. That means a bad residential to commercial ratio in our tax base getting worse and our taxes going up. Also, do you know that we pay about one-half million dollars annually just to belong to COG? Aside from Marty and Peacor getting to hob-nob at some expensive luncheons on our dime, we get virtually nothing from it.
Fiscal responsibility? What a joke.
“we get virtually nothing from it.”
Oh yes we do, JTF. We get our taxes increased for the increase in infrastructure, teachers, police, social workers, etc., required by those who live in so-called “affordable housing.”
If this was a joke, as you say, the joke’s on us, the taxpayers of the County.
Has Manassas signed?
The City of Manassas hasn’t signed.
Greg is right on “affordable housing”. All studies in the last decade
have shown MP and Manassas have a far larger percentage
of their housing stock identified as “affordable” than any of the
other jurisdictions in Northern Virginia. The primary focus of the two
cities must be to help maintain and hopefully improve our
exsisting affordable housing.
Big Dog, I am not saying your wrong, but it is hard for me to believe Mp and Manassas has a higher percentage of affordable housing then Alexandria. You might want to check that statement. Again, not saying your wrong, because I have found that most of the time you are spot on!
Can we elect some real Republicans not just RINOS in Prince William County in 2011?
fyreman 1,
My most recent data, one study done by the City of Manassas
and another by UVA’s Weldon-Cooper, is from 2006 and cost and
income no doubt changed due to the housing and employment
“crashes”, but I see no reason Manassas and MP’s relative standing
would be much different. Perhaps COG should fund another study
to update the numbers.
Note that a study out this month shows population change
Hispanic Residents 0-17, 2001-2007:
Manassas Park +108.7%
Manassas + 81.8%
Alexandria - 7.4%
Lower price housing brought many immigrants, legal or not,
to the places that offered the lowest comparative housing in NoVa.
Big Dog, please tell me I’m wrong about this:
I keep hearing that new so-called “affordable housing” is planned for the area adjacent to the old Marstellar School by Sudley and Stonewall. I sure as heck hope it’s not true, but that’s what I keep hearing.
Little Dog, even now parts of the area surrounding the old school and across the street are zoned R-5 for affordable, moderate or low-income families. This would also include age-restricted housing if developed in the future. The draft Sudley Road/Hospital Sector Plan up on the City’s website has all the details.
The old school is up for sale if anybody wants it and the land. One goal though in the plan is to perserve the sports fields behind the school as a park. Most of the concept for mixed residential type addresses east of the hospital (across the street where Canteberry Square is and the area in back of there, and also around Surveyor Court). The current homes to the west of the hospital down Rolling and Stonewall will remain the same zoning as they have now for the most part.
Big Dog/Little Dog…
Rollingwood Condos in the city have over 51% delinquency in condo dues, and this poses a huge problem for those wanting to buy a condo there. FHA lenders won’t loan as much as they would because the delinquincies are over 15%, as a result of the poor management. Furthermore, the City of Manassas has OVER assessed these condos. They are not appraising anywhere near what the CoM says they are worth. Wasn’t it just a few years ago that CoM did this same thing with assessments? I would advise the CoM residents to look into the accuracy of their assessments. It seems like some are getting screwed once again by the CoM. Pay attention CoM residents!
JTF is spot on that we have an unsustainable commercial to residential ratio and we need to attract more business to the county to help relieve the residential tax burden and keep it low once the housing market rebounds. PWC has seen a steady increase in home values over the past 12-18 months while most other local counties have seen theirs bouncing around like yo-yos.
Bringing in additional businesses as part of the county’s tax base has long been a priority for Corey and I wholeheartedly support that goal. Meanwhile, you have a supervisor like Frank Principi who votes against new businesses such as a brand-new Hyundai dealership building that Malloy proposed for Route 1 in his own district of Woodbridge. Fortunately, the BOCS voted 6-2 in favor of Malloy (Jenkins was the other “no” vote.) Principi appears to be stuck on cramming as many new residential units as possible in the county, which will only further burdens our infrastructure, public safety and schools.
Anon. — Yes, we can elect some real Republicans in 2011. Greg had an interesting post a while back on redistricting. Maybe we can get Riley into Principi’s district and he can take him out!
I’m suprised! When I attended Lord Monckton’s lecture on the Global Warming Hoax at the Manassas Holiday Inn a while back, I saw a number of the PWC “powers that be” including Corey Stewart! I watched him repeatedly applaud Monckton’s data and comments. They know better!! They believe otherwise!! I don’t understand why they’re doing this??