Democrats Push for Delgaudio’s Removal from Office
Petition filed this week in Loudoun Circuit Court seeking hearing.
http://ashburn.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/sterling-group-democrats-push-for-delgaudios-removal-from-office-ashburn

The saga continues in Loudoun County for those seeking to remove Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling) from office as a citizen group that includes Delgaudio’s most recent opponent filed a recall petition this week in Loudoun Circuit Court. A judge has ordered Delgaudio to appear.


The group Sterling Deserves Better, which includes Al Nevarez, who ran against Delgaudio in 2011, filed the recall petition because of dissatisfaction with other disciplinary measures.

“We all truly believe this is our best chance to make a difference or the better in Sterling’s representation on the Board of Supervisors,” Nevarez said during a press conference at the County Government Building in Leesburg Tuesday morning.

For many, the ordeal came to a close earlier this month when Delgaudio received a committee assignment on the board after being removed from committees last year, one of a series of disciplinary actions the board took.

Accusations against Delgaudio include that he misused his office for political gain and that he blurred the lines between his county office and his work heading up Public Advocate of the United States, a conservative group that opposes gay marriage and taxes, among other things. Public Advocate has been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

While some have called the move a long shot, attorney John P. Flannery, who filed the petition on behalf of the group, disagreed.

“There are some who think than an elected officials can only be removed for some criminal offense,” Flannery said. “But that’s not true.”

The accusations center primarily on former Delgaudio staffer Donna Mateer, who claims she was asked to set up campaign fundraising meetings for the supervisor and report to an employee with Public Advocate.

Delgaudio has denied breaking any laws. A grand jury that investigated the matter was not asked to consider charges against Delgaudio by the special prosecutor assigned to the case, but did take the unusual step of issuing a report highlighting their concerns.

After the grand jury wrapped up its case, the Loudoun Board of Supervisors stripped Delgaudio of his committee assignments and took control of his managerial district budget.

Flannery said Mateer still feels she has not had the opportunity to present her side of the story in an open forum, unlike the grand jury format in which Flannery said she felt “intimidated.”

“She’d like her day in court to tell her side of the story,” Flannery said, adding that the courts would still provide Delgaudio an opportunity to respond. “Someone would want to test that on cross examination. The way to do that would be a hearing or a trial.”

Charles King, an attorney representing Delgaudio in the case, said the petition is an attempt to force his client unfairly from office, rather than using the democratic process.

"The folks who filed this petition should be reminded of the old adage to be careful what you wish for," King said late Tuesday. "As President of Public Advocate, Supervisor Delgaudio takes clearly provocative views on national social and family issues. If you disagree with him strongly, use the political process, not a slap suit."

At one point, Delgaudio planned to fight the Loudoun board’s disciplinary actions, but instead dropped that fight and apologized for causing “embarrassment” to the board.

Of the current filing, King said, “I do not believe the petition will get very far. Many of the allegations involve subjective questions of temperament best decided by the voters of Sterling, not a Circuit Court judge."

But Flannery disagreed.

“Plainly, this removal statue contemplates that an elected official’s conduct can be so egregious and his misconduct so damaging to the purpose and process of good government that limiting the official’s conduct in office and requiring the citizens to wait until the next election is not a fair and just remedy,” he said.

The parties will now await a response from the circuit court.
Attachments:

Case Against Delgaudio Moves Forward

Watch the video here:
http://www.wusa9.com/videos/news/local/2014/02/04/5210169/

That guy looks like a pedo.

The Southern Poverty Law Center? Are you kidding me? They label everyone that is not a lock-step liberal as a hate group.

The only thing worse than preaching tolerance is preaching tolerance and then labelling everyone you disagree with as a hate group!

http://www.humanevents.com/2011/07/28/isnt-the-southern-poverty-law-center-the-real-hate-group-2/

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/12/the_southern_poverty_law_cente.html

http://www.thesocialcontract.com/answering_our_critics/southern_poverty_law_center_splc_info.html

http://southernnationalist.com/blog/2011/06/22/the-southern-poverty-law-center-scam/

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/02/02/Emails-Expose-Southern-Policy-Law-Center-s-Collaboration-With-DOJ

This thread belongs on the Loudoun Underground website, if they have one.

Louderthanhell Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Southern Poverty Law Center? Are you kidding
> me? They label everyone that is not a lock-step
> liberal as a hate group.
>
> The only thing worse than preaching tolerance is
> preaching tolerance and then labelling everyone
> you disagree with as a hate group!
>
> http://www.humanevents.com/2011/07/28/isnt-the-sou
> thern-poverty-law-center-the-real-hate-group-2/
>
> http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/12/the_souther
> n_poverty_law_cente.html
>
> http://www.thesocialcontract.com/answering_our_cri
> tics/southern_poverty_law_center_splc_info.html
>
> http://southernnationalist.com/blog/2011/06/22/the
> -southern-poverty-law-center-scam/
>
> http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/02/02
> /Emails-Expose-Southern-Policy-Law-Center-s-Collab
> oration-With-DOJ

Precisely. They label the Boy Scouts as a hate group too.

Judge dismisses recall case against Loudoun supervisor
http://www.insidenova.com/news/loudoun/judge-dismisses-recall-case-against-loudoun-supervisor/article_71f70f37-b2f7-5413-9e3e-6868832d1ffd.html

The effort to remove Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R) from the Sterling District seat he has held since 1999 died in Loudoun Circuit Court Tuesday.

Judge Paul Sheridan granted the motion by Arlington Commonwealth’s Attorney Theo Stamos to dismiss the recall case initiated by Sterling District voters. Stamos concluded that there was a lack of clear and convincing evidence to prove Delgaulido had misused his office and county resources as outlined in a seven allegations contained in the petition signed by 686 voters.

While Delgaudio’s attorney Charles King agreed with Stamos’ findings, attorney John Flannery, representing the petitioners, urged Sheridan to allow the case to move forward to trial.

The action effectively ends two years of controversy spurred by allegations made by a fired member of Delgaudio’s county-funded constituent office staff that he used taxpayer resources to support campaign financings, intermingled county resources with the conservative lobby nonprofit he leads, the Public Advocate of the United States and was discriminatory in hiring. The allegations gave rise to a special grand jury investigation, which ended without criminal charges in June 2013. Also Delgaudio was formally censured by the all-Republican Board of Supervisors, an action that included the loss of staff aides in January.

The recall petition drive was launched in February, 2013. The effort was based on a Virginia statue that is not known to have been used successfully to remove any local representative from public office. A previous recall effort against a Loudoun County supervisor in 1997 also was rejected in Circuit Court.

In her motion to dismiss the recall case Tuesday, Stamos—who also led the special grand jury through its five-month investigation— said the allegations raised in the petition failed to be supported by the known evidence in the case. She said it was her duty to represent the interests of the commonwealth, not those of the petitioners.

“The petitioners have tried to achieve through this misbegotten removal process what they could not achieve at the ballot box—namely the political defeat of Mr. Delgaudio,” she wrote in the motion. “The Commonwealth cannot rely on conjecture, speculation, suspicions, and assumptions to support the extraordinary statutory procedure.”

Sheridan, a retired Arlington County Circuit Court judge who was appointed by the Virginia Supreme Court to hear the case, said had high regard for Stamos’ integrity and agreed that she could use prosecutorial discretion to end the case if it lacked merit.

Flannery, who with other representatives of the petitioners objected to Stamos’ appointment as the prosecutor in the case, Tuesday renewed his effort to have her replaced. He argued that she lacked experience in civil litigation needed to adequately gather evidence and depose witnesses in the case. Her experience with the grand jury, in which she recommended that no criminal charges be filed, left her with preconceived notions of the merits of the recall effort, he said.

Flannery also objected to Stamos’ actions during a deposition of Donna Mateer that resulted in questions about her credibility as a witness in the case. “Apparently the appointed counsel also wants to be [Delgaudio’s] counsel, Flannery said while trying to persuade Sheridan to appoint another prosecutor or commit to taking a more active role in the case, including the possibility that the judge would call and question witnesses himself.

Following Sheridan’s ruling, there was one thing on which all three attorneys agreed: It will now be up to the Sterling voters to decide if they want Delgaudio to represent them for another four years.

In talking with reporters following the hearing Delgaudio said he planned—pending approval from his wife—for run for a fifth term.

Also in that audience was his 2011 opponent, Democrat Al Nevarez, one of the leaders of the petition drive who said he also plans to run again. He said next year’s race will be different. Previously, he focused his campaign—like other Democratic challengers in recent races—chiefly on defeating Delgaudio and raising questions about the incumbent’s suitability for the office; this time Nevarez said he would focus more on his own qualifications. “I’m running this time because I know can best represent the interests of Sterling,” he said.

There will be at least one more hearing in the recall petition case. Delgaudio will be entitled to recoup legal fees attributable to the case, with the amount and who will pay them to be decided.

Also Flannery and King have pressed to have at least some of the special grand jury evidence and testimony publicly released. Rarely are the inner workings of a grand jury ever open for public review and—although he wasn’t sure he would approve it—Sheridan said he would consider requests from the attorneys to unseal specific material. He also made clear he would not under any circumstances allow the names of the residents who served on the panel to be disclosed.

Delgaudio has another next item on his to-do list. He said he would immediately asked the full Board of Supervisors to rescind the sanctions leveled against him, including the reinstatement of his constituent office budget and staffing.

Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R-Stering), left, and his attorney Charles King meet with reporters following the June 24 Circuit Court ruling dismissing the recall petition filed against him.
Attachments:

"Public Advocate has been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center."

That's just rich putting that in there. As if SPLC has any credibility these days. Pretty much anyone who is not in line with the leftwing extremist agenda eventually gets labeled a hate group. I once worked for a person who was added as a hate group (how is one person a group? I don't know, but it works by SPLC logic) because he'd penned a few editorials that Obama's budget deficits would lead to massive inflation. The guy could not have been any less of any sort of hater or bigot or otherwise if he had tried.