Local politics can be fun

Our county has a comical controversy going on.

Background: There is only one significant local issue: residential growth. The leading anti-growth politician is Commissioner Jim Surkamp, a wacky guy who squeaked into office a few years ago after claiming (with no evidence) that he had received a telephone death threat. He has since alienated all but the most fanatic no-growthers with a series of weird tantrums at commission meetings.

Surkamp and two others of the five county commissioners hired a consultant to draw up an anti-growth zoning ordinance. But the leading local anti-growth activist, a guy named Paul Burke, discovered that the proposed ordinance would inadvertently allow more growth than the present system. So the effect of the new ordinance was unclear.

WV state law is basically pro-growth, so that the state government can get tax revenue from bedroom communities in the eastern panhandle. State law says that county zoning laws have to be put to a public vote if citizens of a county petition for such a ballot. Local pro-growthers, led by a woman named Ronda Lehman collected the signatures to require such a vote, and the zoning ordinance was soundly defeated in an election on Nov. 7.

One of the poll workers in Surkamp’s precinct was petition-gatherer Ronda Lehman. Apparently in an attempt to embarrass Lehman, Surkamp went to the polling place to vote, even though he had already voted, in early balloting at the county courthouse. Surkamp denies that he planned to vote a second time, and said he was just checking on the performance of Lehman and the other poll workers. But it was illegal for him even to be in the polling station.

A local paper, the Observer, has created a sideshow by publishing a dramatic grainy photo of Lehman working at the polling station, as if she was doing something illegitimate. The WV Secretary of State and the Jefferson County Clerk, who supervise elections, quickly said that Lehman’s service as a poll worker was completely legal. Taking a photograph inside a polling station, on the other hand, is illegal. The Observer editors, happy with the attention they have gotten for the photograph, have declined to comment on their apparently illegal action. (The funniest part of the Observer story is that they repeatedly call Lehman a "pole worker." which I think refers to women who work in strip clubs, instead of the legitimate "poll worker" she actually was.)

Our local TV station has tried to report on the controversy, but the online text of their story garbled the criticism of Surkamp by a local Democratic Party leader. The TV station story omits the phrase “I do not feel that…” from the Democrat’s comment on Surkamp, which completely changes the meaning of the comment.

The nice thing about these tempests in a teapot is that Jefferson County is not threatened with significant residential growth, so it really doesn’t matter whether or not Surkamp and his friends ever get an anti-growth law passed. It is a shame that tax money was wasted on the consultants who drew up the ordinance and on holding the election, but it does give the local media something to talk about, and a few smiles for observers like me.

A book recommendation

Thoughtful political junkies simply must read Michael Sandel's book Justice. It's about how to think about political questions, from the perspective of moral philosophy. It's readable, and filled with thought-provoking and conversation-starting examples of ethical problems. Check it out at Amazon, by clicking on the icon in the right-hand column.

Sorry for not posting lately

Sorry about the hiatus. I've taken a new job and just don't have time for venting here. Thank you to the couple of people who have written and asked what's going on. I'll try to add at least occasional items, particularly of things that you probably won't hear about elsewhere.

A WV fiasco, the Promise Scholarships

WV's Promise Scholarships, the great legacy of the Bob Wise term as governor, have again been revealed to be a fiasco. Alas, this will probably not stop Wise from keeping his higher-education lobbying job, or even his running for Byrd's senate seat as an expert in higher education.

This program was a great example of George Bernard Shaw's adage "A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend upon the support of Paul." The taxpayers who are robbed know little about the scholarships, but the recipient families know the program well, and love it.

Intelligent, honest people such as University of Charleston President Ed Welch have said repeatedly that the Promise program is a waste of money.

Case study: coverage of Jewish poll

I noticed in the Jerusalem Post that the American Jewish Committee has polled US Jews about issues such as bombing Iran and the Israeli settlements in occupied territory.

Per a Google search, no US media have yet reported on the poll, I guess for fear of somehow offending Jews, even though a Jewish organization took the poll and put out a press release about it.

It's interesting to see that the hawkish Israeli paper, the Post, headlines the story "US Jews back military strike on Iran." Can you imagine the uproar if an American paper ran such an (accurate) headline? The AJC's anodyne press release emphasizes "Rising Concerns Over Iran's Nuclear Program."

As I've said before, the Israeli newspapers do a much better job of reporting on US support of Israel, and activities of American Jews, than our own papers do.

WV Dems Defend ACORN?

Incredibly, for me at least, WV's two Democrat congressmen, Nick Rahall and Alan Mollohan, were among the few votes against cutting off federal money for ACORN. The vote was 345-75. The 75 were basically the Black Caucus (although Detroit's John Conyers voted to defund), left-wingers like Kucinich, a few urban liberals from NY and CA that Acorn has helped, and Rahall and Mollohan.

What on earth were these two thinking of? Their votes make no sense ideologically or politically, as far as I can see.

Has Acorn helped them in their campaigns?

We are talking about a group that has been exposed beyond any doubt (unless you work at CNN or MSNBC) as a sleazy, lawless organization; videos show staffers in five different offices offering help with planned child prostitution activities.

Capito of course voted with the majority, against the ACORN funding.

Rocky backs "animal rights" wacko

Senators Byrd and Rockefeller should be asked about Cass Sunstein, who last Thursday was approved by a small Senate majority to the important position of director of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, or "regulatory czar."

Sunstein is a widely respected lawyer and law professor, but he's a bit wacky when it comes to animals. He thinks animals should have more representation in court, and he thinks hunting should be banned, when it's "just for sport or fun". He's also big on gun control. Not the kind of guy most West Virginians would want in charge of regulation in the Obama White House.

Byrd didn't make it to the Senate for the vote, but Rockefeller voted for Sunstein.

Virginia Democrat Senator Jim Webb -- a proud guntotin' son of Appalachia, per his great book Born Fighting -- voted against Sunstein.