We're Stunned, Too. Everything that Happens in Vienna is Simply Stunning.
Bill for Election Rankles Vienna Officials
by Brian Trompeter, June 9, 2009
Did you put an “I Voted” sticker on your lapel after casting a ballot in the May 5 Vienna Town Council election? If Fairfax County gets its way, that small expression of civic pride will cost the town a penny.
Fairfax County General Registrar Rokey Suleman on May 13 sent Vienna officials an invoice for $2,897.19, which included about $1,500 in fees that had not been charged in previous elections.
“For many years, Fairfax County has absorbed most of the expenses associated with conducting town elections,” read Suleman’s letter to the town. “Due to recent state and county budget cuts, however, the Office of Elections can no longer afford to subsidize the May town elections.”
Vienna officials used to run the town’s annual elections and select, feed and pay the election officers. But that ended after the May 2007 election, when challengers and their supporters cried foul after an election officer instructed some voters to vote for three candidates, when there actually was no such requirement.
Fairfax County last year began choosing the town’s election officers and running the Vienna spring election. After the 2008 Vienna election, the town paid only about $1,400 for the election officers. But those fees more than doubled this year because of straitened budget circumstances.
Charges the town would have covered under the earlier agreement included a $200 fee for a chief election officer, $150 for an assistant chief officer and $100 apiece for 10 election officers. There also was a $17.60 charge for election officer mileage, paid at 55 cents per mile.
But now county officials passed down absentee-voting costs to the town. These included $74.13 for the county print shop to produce 300 paper ballots, $16.52 to cover postage of 28 mailed ballots and $11.20 for certificates of mailing for those ballots.
As for in-person absentee voting on May 2, the county billed the town $183.69 for an absentee-voting supervisor, $238.80 for a pair of registration assistants.
Fairfax County did not charge the town for six hours of the general registrar’s time on election day. But the county billed Vienna $218.58 for the services of the deputy registrar, $214.08 for the election manager and $43.22 for two hours of the absentee supervisor’s time.
The county also billed the town $5.36 for eight paper rolls, $4.20 for 20 numbered security seals, $50 for voting cart/machine delivery, $10.50 for 1,000 “I Voted” stickers, $15.81 for 100 voting permit cards and $10 for manuals, pens, envelopes, labels and other miscellaneous expenses.
In his letter to the town, Suleman suggested that Vienna might save money by holding elections every two years, as do the towns of Clifton and Herndon. Doing so would allow Vienna to share Saturday in-person absentee voting expenses with those towns, the letter stated.
Vienna could obviate all its election expenses by moving the town election to November - a switch that also might result in greater voter participation, Suleman’s letter read.
Vienna Mayor M. Jane Seeman wrote a letter to Suleman protesting the charges, which “stunned” the Town Council, she said.
Town officials are happy to continue paying for election officers, as they have in years past, but as for the other items, “we feel we’ve already paid for them as Fairfax County residents and taxpayers,” Seeman said.
Council member Michael Polychrones said town officials aren’t going to lie down for many of the new charges.
“This is an opportune time for the mayors of the three towns to sit down with [Board of Supervisors Chairman Sharon] Bulova and say, ‘This is how it’s going to be. Work it out,’” Polychrones said.
Even if town officials desired to alter the dates and frequency of Vienna elections, it would require town charter changes that would take years, Seeman said.
More election financial clouds may be on the horizon for local governments.
After July 1, the State Board of Elections will not print poll books or process voting credits. These expenses will be passed on to counties, which will forward them to towns.
Comments
Part of the machine's secret is a May election. November election? No way Vienna stays a machine.
Posted by: No May | June 9, 2009 04:01 PM
What is the County thinking? TOV will need that extra $1500 to pay damages from the fireworks lawsuit.
And is it just me, or was 2007 an especially bad year for TOV "government"? The Rhoda Stevens affair, the fireworks disaster, etc ...
Posted by: Pontific8tor | June 9, 2009 04:01 PM
You know those people who hang around campaigns and politicians in a constant orgasmic state...acting like they are in the presence of royalty...we all forget that is Jane Seeman of 20 years ago...a jock sniffer is what we would call her if she was a guy...what is the term if a woman? Point is...that is the mindset of the Vienna mayor.
Posted by: back in the day... | June 9, 2009 04:53 PM
Chump change compared to the cost of running a bloated Nannypublican Town police department
Posted by: Agreed | June 9, 2009 10:03 PM
Anyone else read the TOV's legals published in the back of the Examiner yesterday? Home have a carport? Beware of Nannypublicans.
Posted by: Agreed | June 10, 2009 07:13 AM
Re:Town officials are happy to continue paying for election officers, as they have in years past, but as for the other items, “we feel we’ve already paid for them as Fairfax County residents and taxpayers,” Seeman said. What a stupid thing for a person to say, of course, we have duplicated services, we have many. So why does Seeman complain? She obviously does not know how to be a real leader or mayor!
Regarding Polychrones: Council member Michael Polychrones said town officials aren’t going to lie down for many of the new charges. “This is an opportune time for the mayors of the three towns to sit down with [Board of Supervisors Chairman Sharon] Bulova and say, ‘This is how it’s going to be. Work it out,’” Polychrones said. When has he ever spearheaded anything even remotely looking like a person of leadership and actually acted upon? When will we get lower taxes, equitable water rates, etc. He may speak like he knows how things should be done, but he and Kelleher never ever stray far from the control of Maud, in efforts to keep their noses clean so they can run fro higher offices in state run politics. Will we see November elections being changed due to any action from these elected officials? No. Not ever. So why even try. They will just raise our taxes even more to cover the cost of more duplicated services. This is the way things have been done in Vienna forever, and don't hold your breath on any action from Polychrones or Kelleher, Lovelace, Springsteen, Cole, or Seeman. Maud doesn't want change, so she won't let them make these changes. None of these people have a backbone of their own, and things won't change. Never. Repeat, never.
Re:Even if town officials desired to alter the dates and frequency of Vienna elections, it would require town charter changes that would take years, Seeman said.
This is a flat out lie, and Seeman knows this. These people know full well that one of the main reasons they say in power is due to low voter turnout, i.e. apathetic voters. They want this to continue. They know that if they change the date to the NORMAL November date, they would get an immense increase in their voter turnout, and these morons would not keep being re-elected. So stop your lies, Seeaman, these changes could be done in 1 or 2 sessions in the VTC. Why not be a real mayor and just try being honest, just once, in your life, stop all your lies, and say something truthful: "We don't want change or improvements of any kind or sort, because we would lose our positions of power in Vienna, we would not be re-elected."
Jane Seeman, you are a pathetic excuse for a mayor, and it would be nice if you would be more honest with the citizens of Vienna.
Posted by: All Lies and Laziness, Same old Stuff | June 10, 2009 07:28 AM
Suleman's comments in the letter seem perfectly reasonable. It's Seeman's and Polychrone's knee-jerk reaction that appear totally out of place.
Posted by: SoVi Resident | June 10, 2009 07:41 AM
Is Pelosi stunned? Did someone just goose her? Is she caught like a deer in the headlights? Where have you seen this face before?
I'll tell you, Jane Seeman. Yup, same deer in the headlights, state of confusion blank stare... just replace Seeman for Pelosi and Maud for Obama. I can here them now, "Jane, I want you to tell that reporter that it will takes years and years to get something like this changed, and then we won't have to worry, because in 6 months these Vienna Citizens [read morons] will have forgotten all about this and we will keep things the same, and keep all our power," said Maud Robinson.
Posted by: Stunning you say, I'll show you stunning | June 10, 2009 07:59 AM
Three cheers for Rokey Suleman. The amount of money may be trifling, but this is one more reason to move elections to November.
Posted by: Gridlock | June 10, 2009 08:04 AM
Don't hold your breath, I am not going to allow for November elections as long as I am alive!
Posted by: To Gridlock, From Muad R. | June 10, 2009 09:59 AM
Uhhh... Pelosi? Don't see the connection to our House Speaker. Whether one agrees with her politics or not, Pelosi's definitely a leader, one who has the strong backing of her district and her fellow Democrats.
Seeman? Not so much.
Posted by: You're Kidding Me, Right? | June 10, 2009 11:11 AM
And, yes, Maud, your dog-n-pony election show in the Spring will be stopped. I will make sure of it.
Posted by: vienna mommy | November 5, 2007 01:19 PM
All of the documentation that it takes to move the Vienna election to November has been secured. The process will involve putting it up for a vote on the Nov 08 ballot. We the people, under State law, can put it on the ballot. More news to come on this, but it will involve first having 10% of the Vienna voting electorate signing a petition to request that the ballot initiative be added for Nov 08. This is all outside Maud's perview and control.
Posted by: HV | November 5, 2007 08:24 PM
Maybe they can give us an update on how that's coming along. I don't remember seeing that on the ballot last November. Anyone else?
Posted by: All hat. No cattle. | June 10, 2009 12:00 PM
Re: Uhhh... Pelosi? Don't see the connection to our House Speaker. Whether one agrees with her politics or not, Pelosi's definitely a leader, one who has the strong backing of her district and her fellow Democrats
I think that someone who lies, both Seeman and Pelosi are despicable, and cannot find any support to call that good leadership, no matter which side of the isle you reside. With your type of reasoning, Adolf Hitler would be a good leader, but I don't think so. Just because you have a lot of people ready and willing to blindly follow in lock step with either Maud or Pelosi, doesn't make them great leaders. There is a difference between being a great leader and just a thug with a lot of power and a lot of witless people ready to follow anyone with a handout. I don't call that leadership, I call that criminal.
You may call Pelosi a leader, I call her a bully and a dishonest person. What do you think the CIA thinks of her bullying? For Seeman, she's no better. She doesn't even realize that she is their by the whim of Maud Robinson alone, and without her favor, Seeman would be out. Still absent of any clue to leadership, yes. But Great leaders are those who are willing to do and say the right things and act upon them even when it isn't the most politically survivable thing to do. As Truman said, "The Buck stops here." Seeman is more likely to say,"I pushed the buck next door..." or "what's a buck?"
she is literally clueless about what it really takes to run a town with honesty and integrity. Don't think so, sit out with her family on election day, and she will spout out endless tirades of lies about her opponents in efforts to keep her WASP elitists in power. Video doesn't lie. If you didn't know who she was and ran into her out their at the polls, you would mistake her and her family for white trash.
Posted by: ? wha ? | June 11, 2009 09:40 AM
My advice is: don't mix your local (ostensibly non-partisan) politics and your national politics.
Posted by: You're Kidding Me, Right? | June 11, 2009 10:42 AM
Vienna votes 60% Democrat these days. The majority of VTC members are Democrat. This non-partisan stuff is a ruse.
Posted by: Huh? | June 11, 2009 12:08 PM
VTC council runs non-partisan.
Our Mayor is known to be a supporter of Republican candidates, as is Councilman Polychrones.
The remainder are Democrats, or "undeclaired."
The "beauty" of TOV elections is they all
MUST run without partisan affiliations.
I LIKE that!
Do YOU?
Posted by: Just a Question,,, | June 12, 2009 12:16 AM
HV- You'll want to go back and look at the bills passed by the VA State General Assembly in the year 2008. The issue of if or how a municipality could switch from May to November elections was asked and answered. I don't recall the particulars, but it may have had to do with the State separating itself from local issues, such that a Town or City issue could never appear on a state ballot - ie, the referendum itself would have to be presented in a local May election.
So check it out- It was definately addressed in the 2008 Session.
And the Town of Vienna had nothing to do with the decision that I know of. Again, I'm reaching back in memory, but it may have been brought up by Hampton Roads.
Posted by: May be May | June 12, 2009 09:29 AM
You have no clue. Is that the fantasy island talking point? Sure. Is it reality? No.
Posted by: No Clue | June 12, 2009 12:38 PM
Jane Seeman at one time professed to being republican, and who knows and who cares who she pulls the lever for, but what is painfully obvious now that she sits on VTC as our Mayor, is that she is not for civil liberties and freedom, and conservative values; indeed, you may as well as have Jimmy Carter up there. Her voting record is abysmal when it comes to what our founding fathers worked and died to allow us to just screw it up for her grandchildren and theirs too! So, yes it matters who is mayor. Your house or home, or property rights mean nothing to these people except for Ploychrones. He is the only person on VTC who has the right stuff when it comes to protecting our freedom, privacy, liberties, and family values. All the good it does, because he is always the silent minority.
Soooooo, there is no beauty when it comes to non-partisan in Vienna, they are as partisan as it gets, they all know it, they just don't display it on their campaign signs. I saw Maud Robinson at the fund raiser for Jeanne-Marie, but she's is(was) in the same boat with Seeman, she cares little to nothing about privacy, liberty, family values. Watch their voting habits, they don't lie.
Posted by: Re: Republican vs Democrat | June 12, 2009 01:02 PM
You sound just stupid enough to be a proud member of the Republican base.
Posted by: The Internet | June 20, 2009 04:34 PM