Copyright Norfolk Virginian-Pilot
Norfolk School Board As a resident of Norfolk, with years of close involvement in the Norfolk School Board’s proceedings, I strongly urge all Ward 3 voters to cast their ballots for Jodi Slaughter in the upcoming special election. Though I live outside Ward 3, my deep understanding of the board’s work — gained through regular attendance at meetings and service on school division committees — makes me confident in this recommendation. Slaughter is challenging incumbent Jason Inge. This special election represents an excellent opportunity to bring new energy, ideas and accountability to the school board. Slaughter has demonstrated exceptional leadership and a commitment to service, qualities that Norfolk Public Schools urgently needs. Slaughter’s background as an educator, counselor and businesswoman equips her with a diverse set of skills. Ward 3 deserves a representative who is diligent, thoughtful and thorough in their decision-making. Slaughter’s dedication to research and careful consideration before making recommendations sets her apart. During the eight months that Inge has served as an appointed member, I have observed several instances of impulsiveness and questionable judgment. Our representatives must model the values we expect from our school leaders. The children of Norfolk deserve the very best from their school board. I truly believe that Slaughter is the candidate who can deliver that promise. On Election Day, I encourage you to vote for Slaughter for Ward 3’s School Board seat. Charla Smith-Worley, Norfolk Cynthia Scaturico A vote for Cynthia Scaturico for the 70th District for the Virginia House of Delegates is a vote for life, a vote for values returning to our schools with quality education of the basic tools to succeed: reading, writing, mathematics and of course our proud American history and civics. A vote for Scaturico is a vote for the “right-to-work.” No one should be forced to join unions who take your money and vote for their political gain. A vote for Scaturico is a vote for economic growth by keeping wages in the pocket of the wage earner, not by taxation to grow the state budget. A vote for Scaturico is a vote to protect sports for biological women only and to protect our daughters and granddaughters from being exposed to non-biological women (biological males) in their locker rooms and restrooms. A vote for Scaturico is a vote for her to perform common sense work every day for the citizens of our city, not the work of the flavor of the day politician scoring contributions and points from special interest and lobbyists. It’s time to send a hard-working, family-oriented delegate to Richmond who represents all the people of Newport News. Nora A. Lambiotte, Newport News Scare tactics Misdirection. Duplicity. Inciting fear with scare tactics such as “this is what will happen if you vote the wrong way” alarms. Sounds about right for national politics. But it seems that these deceitful maneuvers have come to Virginia Beach with the hyperbolic and apocalyptic claims surrounding the magnitude of the outcome of the 10-1 vs. 7-3-1 voting referendum. Interestingly, if you follow the money, the intense lobbying for the 7-3-1 system becomes clear. A quick investigation into the “Every Vote Counts” committee, which is responsible for mass campaign mailings and the myriad “Vote No” signs everywhere across the city, reveals that the donors are real estate developers, businesses and hospitality interests. It would seem that those interests are campaigning to have more sway in City Council decisions at the expense of our citizens. With the 7-3-1 system, it’s even possible that all three at-large seats and the mayor could come from the same district or represent the same interests — an outsized and unfair influence in city policy and decisions. The 10-1 system gives every citizen of Virginia Beach equitable representation in the governing of our city and a city councilmember who can speak for their own neighbors. Vote “yes” for keeping the already established 10-1 system, which has served all of the citizens of Virginia Beach well. James Wilson, Virginia Beach Unqualified Democratic nominee for governor and former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger should never have settled on one debate and only on a Fox affiliate unless there was a second scheduled on PBS, which Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears wouldn’t have accepted. The moderators did nothing to control Earle-Sears’ school-yard actions and should have cut off her microphone, while Spanberger displayed an amazing amount of decorum during the unchecked verbal assault. An early Earle-Sears ad showed her smiling at Gov. Glenn Youngkin and he’s looking down at her smiling face with a look of dismay. After hearing Earle-Sears express that she has no idea how solar and wind energy work, asking, “what happens when the sun goes down,” I fully understand his expression. If there’s a more unqualified candidate than Earle-Sears, I don’t know where you’d find one. Jeff Allen, Hampton Jason Miyares Recently Attorney General Jason Miyares has styled himself “the people’s protector.” But as a former constituent who tried asking for his help, I know how laughably false that claim really is. In early 2017, I met with then-Del .Miyares to ask him to bring accountability to a fundamentally corrupt state agency, which for many years had refused to enforce its own regulations. I had years of documentation of the agency’s apathy and neglect, and Miyares made a practiced show of containing his supposed outrage and promising to “kick some doors in” on my behalf. But rather than trying to change the agency’s dishonest practices, he simply sent me a letter that was obviously copied from an agency email, repeating stale excuses and falsely claiming the issue was “resolved.” Rather than taking action on a constituent’s concerns, Miyares provided political cover for a state agency to continue its corruption indefinitely. At a neighborhood meeting several months later, he boasted at length about his new plans for hurricane flooding. These never went anywhere — but this is an irony in retrospect, given that he is directly responsible for Virginia losing hundreds of millions in federal funding that would have helped mitigate future flooding. As a Virginia delegate, Miyares betrayed my trust and spat on his responsibility to represent my concerns as a constituent. As attorney general he has betrayed the trust of all Virginians, in favor of ideological extremism that benefits the wealthy and connected — the only people he really cares about. John M. Aguiar, Virginia Beach Election letters We are no longer accepting letters related to the Nov. 4 general election and will publish those we’ve received, space permitting, through Friday.
