Comically Inept Attempts at Dirty Tricks in Arlington County Board Race

Melissa Bondi's statement to supporters (0.00 / 0)

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by: lowkell @ Thu Jan 12, 2012 at 14:49:47 PM UTC

I don't think that... (0.00 / 0)

...the late payment of her personal property taxes is a big deal.  It appears that they were ultimately paid in full.  I'm willing to give Ms. Bondi the benefit of the doubt on the Federal tax lien.  Its entirely possible its an IRS screw-up or perhaps she made an honest mistake, or tried to push the envelope on a legal tax strategy that didn't work out.

(I should say that I was not inclined to support Ms. Bondi even before this broke, notwithstanding the enthusiastic support she enjoys from a number of my friends)

What gives me the most pause about this story is the issue of having a car for two years in Arlington and not paying the PPT on it.  Its possible that this was an innocent mistake, or an attempt to shoehorn herself into a legitimate exemption, but it seems equally likely that she was simply making a deliberate decision to not pay the tax.  If that's true, it was wrong and in my mind would be disqualifying for local office.  Not sure how we can ever know the truth on this issue, so I guess each voter simply needs to make up his or her own mind on what s/he believes is the truth.

p.s.  I thought Mr. O'Leary's comments were over the top, though not particularly surprising.

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by: independent in arlington @ Thu Jan 12, 2012 at 15:10:15 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

ArlNow covers the "mud slinging" (0.00 / 0)

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by: lowkell @ Thu Jan 12, 2012 at 15:02:18 PM UTC

I bought a new car a few years ago (4.00 / 3)

I assumed that VDOT and Fairfax actually communicated with each other.  Nope.  I got dinged as well when I called up in December to ask Fairfax Office of Taxation where my car tax stuff was.  Their reply?  "We weren't aware of it".  "No problem, here's the info, what do I owe?" "We'll get that out to you".

A week later, I open my mailbox and see the bill - with a kicker for late payment.  I call back.  "Hey, there's a late payment penalty on here, it's a mistake" "No it's not, it's December and the taxes were due in October"  "But, you never billed me, I called you to correct your mistake"  "It's not our responsibility to add your car to the rolls.  You need to do that when you buy it" "But I've bought quite a few cars and I've never not had them automatically show up come tax time.  When did taxpayers start needing to tell the county to tax us?" "Sometimes VDOT does not get the information to us" "Ok, so, I informed you of the mistake, and you're penalizing me?" "Yes, your taxes were due two months ago, so you have a late fee".

Mind numbing stuff, and that's for someone who's lived in Virginia their whole life.

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by: NotJohnSMosby @ Thu Jan 12, 2012 at 15:37:44 PM UTC

Miles, I disagree. (4.00 / 2)

Miles, you are my friend and I respect you, but I also disagree with you here and I have to say that the hypocrisy of this entire matter is too much for me.  Isn't this the same as criticizing Stephanie Clifford for not voting in a Dem primary?  The same as jumping on Patrick Murray for his bus getting in a car accident?  For Cuccinelli not returning money from a suspect PAC?  For Favola accepting money from developers?  The same as Kim Klingler having typos on her website and the comments of some questioning Kim's ability to run a county when "she can't even run her campaign"?  

To then assert that asking these questions is inappropriate and mudslinging wrecks of hypocrisy.  The truth is -- the relevancy and the weight of the issue are two different things.  Whether this matters to the voter is for the voter to decide, but it is up to the voter to decide!  And the voter deserves to have the information.  Look, I feel for Melissa -- sounds like a rough financial situation on top of her dad's illness (bravo to her for being such a caring and compassionate daughter).  And the first time she was late paying her PPT, well, okay - that happens.  That's why there are late fees.  The second time ... dragging it out to seizure of a car? Really?  That's pretty inexcusable.  This is especially so when she is an engaged Arlington community member, heading up civic associations and commissions.  Then she garageed a car here on and off for two years while her dad is sick -- okay, so maybe "it was the furthest thing from her mind" ... but this is all happening while she is heading up Zimmerman's re-election campaign in 2006, doing a billion other civic related activities in 2006-08, etc. and she even has time to put campaign stickers on her car ... and respond to an inquiry from the tax commissioner but doesn't think she has an obligation to register the car?  There are several inconsistencies there.  And finally, the tax lien -- perhaps she didn't know.  It's entirely possible (I guess?) but do I really want a county board member collecting my taxes and running my county who "didn't know" she had a $20K tax lien?  I mean, in this case, isn't that something she should have checked BEFORE she filed her candidacy?

The same thing applies to Kim, who paid her taxes late twice (once by a day and once by a couple days).  She then paid the late fees.  To Miles who didn't know about the requirement but then paid the late fee.  Does this matter to anyone?  Who knows!  But do the voters deserve to know?  Yes.  

We all know what campaigns are like.  These are things that you check before you run, these are things you are prepared to answer when the questions come up.  We would be asking every one of these questions of any Republican candidate and I imagine we would ask these questions of any other candidate who wasn't supported by the establishment, who wasn't our friend, or who wasn't a Democratic party insider.  Now, that fact that Melissa is supported by the establishment, is our friend, and is clearly a devoted and dedicated insider sheds some light on the weight we may want to give the matter.  I like Melissa, she is my friend and I do not think in anyway that this makes her a bad person or community member.  But it doesn't mean the questions shouldn't be asked.  And it certainly doesn't mean that every other voter doesn't have a right to know the facts and determine for themselves what weight those facts have in deciding who to vote for.  

To claim otherwise is illogical at best and hypocrisy at worst.  To say revealing this information is mudslinging and a smear campaign assumes that these "facts" are untrue.  The facts are facts -- how the voters weigh them is a separate matter.  Calling Melissa a scoundrel is a personal attack, and shame on Frank for engaging in such ugly rhetoric, but you can't brush the entire matter aside because of what one person said.  

Running for public office means opening yourself to public scrutiny.  Before you run, you better know all your dirt.  If you don't, then hire someone to find it out.  And then once you have it, review each and every piece to determine whether you can properly explain it.  If you can't, then don't run.  But if you chose to run, you better be ready to answer the questions because they will come out.  How they come out may vary and may be a controversy in its own right, but they will come out and you will have to answer them.  This is not a vote to elect the nicest, most dedicated person.  This is not a good person award.  This is a race for election to public office, to be the one who writes the rules for everyone else.  Therefore, public scrutiny of whether you are playing by the rules is not only appropriate, but expected.

For all those reasons, I wholeheartedly disagree with Miles' blog post and the various comments across the blogosphere that echo it.  It seems to me that people's opinions and principles on what is appropriate and what is mudslinging seem to change as often as the weather.  

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by: Tiffany Joslyn @ Thu Jan 12, 2012 at 17:25:15 PM UTC

Again, if all of this is so legit ... (0.00 / 0)

... why are the attacks being made anonymously? If this is about open debate, then let's do it. Melissa Bondi, you, me - clearly we're all willing to put ourselves out there. Why aren't these smearers doing the same? It's a shame ArlNow.com's Scott Brodbeck & others are letting people make these attacks without getting their hands dirty.

Read more at TheGreenMiles.com and follow me on Twitter

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by: TheGreenMiles @ Thu Jan 12, 2012 at 17:38:58 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Miles, what are the "attacks being made anonymously"? (0.00 / 0)

It would be one thing if anonymous sources were putting out stories that Ms. Bondi liked to kick puppies in her spare time and had a drinking problem.  In this case, the stories are about publicly available, documented information.  As Ms. Joslyn put it - much more clearly and eloquently than I could - this is legitimate information for the voters to have.  They can then use that information in whatever way they deem appropriate.

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by: independent in arlington @ Thu Jan 12, 2012 at 19:42:42 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

The tax lien information is public, anyone can look at it. (0.00 / 0)

The car tax issue is mostly public, including Melissa's comments on it. The question in my mind is much more the substance of the issues, not who brought them up in the first place.

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by: lowkell @ Thu Jan 12, 2012 at 20:01:17 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

No Mud Here (0.00 / 0)

Tiffany Joslyn has it right. This is legitimate campaign practice. I would prefer critics not hiding and agreeing to attribution, as Frank O'Leary did. (And as do those few of us who post with real names.)

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by: JimWebster @ Thu Jan 12, 2012 at 19:35:49 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Well said, Tiffany. (0.00 / 0)

You nailed it, pretty much. Thanks for the comment!

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by: lowkell @ Fri Jan 13, 2012 at 02:06:13 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Narrowly? (4.00 / 1)

:-)

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by: sbenglin @ Thu Jan 12, 2012 at 18:15:09 PM UTC

this is interesting... (0.00 / 0)

coming from the same guy who attacked me once on twitter for mentioning how I thought Melissa's line about "not owning a car" was kind of weird in her ACDC announcement speech and twisting what I said into a blanket statement against the Car Free Diet, which is actually something I really like and passed around literature for it during the Virginia Senate primary.

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by: mrg.uva @ Thu Jan 12, 2012 at 19:36:42 PM UTC

You can't polish a turd (0.00 / 1)

Even a green turd

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by: TGEoA @ Thu Jan 12, 2012 at 21:40:24 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Ad hominem comments are not allowed (0.00 / 0)

on Blue Virginia. Thank you.

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by: lowkell @ Thu Jan 12, 2012 at 22:00:59 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Then why did you let Miles post this? (3.00 / 1)

Miles attack is certainly ad hominem. He's addressing the accusers, not the substance.

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by: TGEoA @ Thu Jan 12, 2012 at 23:26:01 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I gotta reluctantly say... (0.00 / 0)

that while the "turd polishing" comment was completely out-of-line, TGEoA's comment on the ad hominem attack nature of Miles' post is completely warranted.  

To me this is nothing more than an attempt to take an issue - Melissa Bondi's alleged inability to pay her taxes resulting in a $20k lien filed against her by the IRS among (an increasing number of) other charges levied by opponents - that definitely calls into question Melissa's qualifications for public office and turn it into a "isn't this what's wrong with politics today?" argument worthy of Andy Rooney himself.

The public has definite right to know the details of Melissa's tax lien and decide for themselves whether or not that disqualifies her for office.  So far, I think she has failed to adequately explain herself but that's me.  Tiffany said all that earlier, and she did so rather definitively.  Go Tiff.

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by: mrg.uva @ Fri Jan 13, 2012 at 01:40:45 AM UTC

[ Parent ]