Ah cain't hardly weight.

The content of the following e-mail (unedited) is a good example of what I believe is wrong with Albemarle County government.

From: Lee Catlin <LCATLIN@albemarle.org>

Subject: Your Feedback on the Board's New Strategic Priorities

Date: June 22, 2016 4:43:38 PM EDT

To: gary grant <gwg1949@gmail.com>

Cc: Board of Supervisors members <bos@albemarle.org>

Hi Gary,

Tom asked me to follow up with you regarding your email providing feedback regarding the Board’s new strategic priorities. Thanks for taking the time to respond to the preliminary strategic prioritization work underway by the Board, as always we really appreciate your active engagement. Some of your responses were in the form of comments that will be given careful consideration along with other public feedback received as the process moves along. You have also posed some questions that are exactly the types of issues we will be researching and assessing as this process moves forward – we are in the very initial stages right now. Much of the information you have requested regarding exactly what is meant by some of the statements and what data is available will be analyzed and clarified during the next steps of the Priority Driven Budget process this summer and early fall. As we develop that data, we will be sharing it with the Board and will make sure that it is also made available to the public. Our next discussion with the Board will be in August when we review the Program and Service Inventory in a public meeting – that date will be publicized once it is set. There are several of your inquiries that we can respond to in the short term, we will make sure you get that information within the upcoming week. Please let me know if you have any questions, thank you Gary.

Best,

Lee

Lee P. Catlin

Assistant County Executive

Albemarle County

401 McIntire Road, Charlottesville, VA

(434)296-5841, ext. 3425 – office/ /(434)531-8092, mobile

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The preceding is the reply I received on Wednesday, June 22, 2016 to an e-mail I sent to Albemarle Supervisor Ann Mallek (D, White Hall) on Tuesday, June 14, 2016 and copied to the five other Democrat Supervisors and the County Executive. While I don’t reside in Supervisor Mallek’s magisterial district, we both do live in Earlysville and she did send me (and many others) an e-mail asking for feedback on the Board’s new “Strategic Priorities” approved in early June.

My e-mail contained the same comments and questions I posed in my June 14, 2016 Whatever Albemarle blogpost: “Feedback — as requested. Answers — also requested.” (http://gwg1949.wix.com/whateveralbemarle#!Feedback-%E2%80%94-as-requested-Answers-%E2%80%94-also-requested/vek4s/576002210cf235a69b21448a)

So, what’s wrong with this reply from Assistant County Executive Lee Catlin?

First of all, my e-mail wasn’t sent to Assistant County Executive Catlin. It was sent to Supervisor Mallek and only copied to the others. Supervisor Mallek should have been the first one to reply, saying something short and sweet perhaps like: “Thank you for the feedback; I’ve asked County Staff to provide you with the information you’ve requested.”

Second, the reply I did receive is late by my count by one day, according to the requirements set forth in the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. Government has five business days to reply to requests for public information under Virginia law. (Additionally, the requestor does not have to mention anything at all about the Virginia FOIA.)

Third, the reply doesn’t answer a single question. That might make a resident/voter/taxpayer mad, but legally, not answering is not illegal — as long as non-answers arrive on time.

Governmentally, Ms. Catlin’s reply — on behalf of Tom and, I presume, Supervisor Mallek — tells me that there are Supervisors and a County Executive “working” for us that simply don’t give a damn ‘bout answerin’ no stinkin’ questions from folks who live here, vote here, and pay taxes here. In addition, they ain’t intrested in writin’ ‘telligible stuff in the first place nor talkin’ ‘bout it later when it had oughta made sinse from the git go.

Go back and re-read in my June 14 blogpost (in bold) the Albemarle County generalities, undefined terms, and governmental gobbledygook approved and foisted upon all of us as “Strategic Priorities” by our six Democrat Supervisors — and subsequently wordsmithed by County Executive Tom Foley and his Staff.

As ambiguous and amorphous as all their future-sounding claptrap is, it’s no wonder the Supervisors like it — it says very little that can be understood and, therefore, very little that the six of them can be held to.

Meanwhile, as Ms. Catlin wrote on behalf of Tom and Supervisor Mallek:

“There are several of your inquiries that we can respond to in the short term, we will make sure you get that information within the upcoming week.”

Ah cain’t hardly weight.