Loudoun Democrats couldn’t beat the Sterling Supervisor in the voting booth so they turned to the courts, twice. They failed, twice. Some members of the all-Republican Board of Supervisors decided to jump into the clown car with them, parading around town making fools of themselves. Only one Loudoun Supervisor continues to make a fool of herself.
Two years ago, Democrats in Loudoun were thrilled when a special prosecutor, Arlington County democrat Commonwealth Attorney, Theo Stamos, was brought to Loudoun to investigate Sterling District Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio for malfeasance in office. Democrats were convince that the Stamos investigation would result in charges against Delgaudio, either criminal or civil, resulting in his removal from office. Well-known Loudoun democrats, John Flannery, former candidate for Commonwealth Attorney; Stevens Miller, former Supervisor for Dulles District; and Stevens’ wife, Liz Miller, former state delegate candidate who is also known as the Door Bell Queen, led the charge to have Delgaudio removed from office. It didn’t happen. Stamos and the Grand Jury spent many months in an exhaustive effort to thoroughly investigate the charges. Stamos concluded her investigation with 22 page report and 75 pages of exhibits completely exonerating Delgaudio.
But that wasn’t enough for some of Loudoun’s Republican board members. Scott York’s decades-long vendetta against Delgaudio led the board to censure Delgaudio and remove the funding for Sterling District, resulting in a lack of services available to the citizens of the district. The citizens of Sterling were punished even though Delgaudio had been completely exonerated. Two members courageously objected, saying that Delgaudio had not been given a chance to defend himself before the board. Blue Ridge district Supervisor Janet Clarke and Catoctin district Supervisor Geary Higgins voted against the censure and the removal of funds for the citizens for Sterling district.
As we reported here, the Loudoun County Republican Committee strenuously objected to the board of Supervisors’ treatment of Delgaudio. Despite Supervisor Suzanne Volpe’s efforts against the Committee’s resolution, it passed by a two to one margin, condemning the board’s action against Delgaudio.
John Flannery and the Millers tried again. They formed a group to petition the court to remove Delgaudio from office. With 686 signatures, Flannery submitted a petition to the court to remove Delgaudio as Sterling Supervisor, despite the fact that he has won FOUR elections to represent the district. That effort failed too. There was simply no evidence that Delgaudio had done anything that warranted removal from office. At the conclusion of the case against Delgaudio, Theo Stamos said,
Two years, hundreds of hours, and thousands of dollars have been spent investigating this matter,” Stamos wrote in her motion. “A much better use of the petitioners’ time– and that of the lawyers who represent them — might well be to identify and recruit a candidate from Sterling to run against Mr. Delgaudio in the next election.”
Democrats cannot beat Eugene Delgaudio at the ballot box because no supervisor provides better constituent services than he does. They tried TWICE to beat him in the courts and that didn’t work either.
Last Wednesday night the Loudoun Board of Supervisors voted to restore the funds to the Sterling district. No democrat came to the board meeting to object. The democrats have made fools of themselves for two long years on this witch hunt against Eugene Delgaudio and they have now given up. Unfortunately, some of our republicans on the board joined them over the course of the last two years. On Wednesday night they all saw the error of their ways…all but one. Only one Supervisor did not understand that helping the democrats to defeat Delgaudio in Sterling means we have lost that seat forever. The only Republican who can possibly win in Sterling is Delgaudio. Sterling is simply too democratic for any republican, other than Eugene, to win. Only one Supervisor didn’t understand that the lack of funding for the Sterling district has hurt the citizens of Sterling and that it needed to be rectified immediately. Only one Supervisor failed to realize that the action against Delgaudio was politically foolish and unfair to the people of Sterling. Unlike the democrats, one board member still refuses to stop this foolish vendetta against Delgaudio, and it’s not Scott York. It’s Suzanne Volpe. When former long term Volpe supporter Greg Stone was asked about this strange vote by Volpe he said,
I have no earthly idea why Supervisor Volpe has doubled down on stupid.”
No one understands her lone vote against Delgaudio. While the democrats, and all other republicans, have gotten out of the clown car and headed home, with their heads down and feeling foolish, Supervisor Volpe continues to parade around the county in the car, honking the horn, and calling attention to a ridiculous and very, very, foolish vendetta against Supervisor Delgaudio.
Perhaps her actions are connected to the oft repeated rumor that Volpe has someone in mind to primary Eugene Delgaudio when he runs again next year for his fifth term representing the Sterling District. Or perhaps it’s because she has ‘super secret’ knowledge of things she’s learned ‘behind the scenes.’ If that’s the case, it’s high time she spoke up and shared that information with the voters. She’s had two years to do it. The democrats have given up attacking Supervisor Delgaudio, and the other eight members of the board of Supervisors have moved on. It’s time for her to do the same.
It’s the least she can do, the very least.
More from Delgaudio here.
