Gazette Column - Come Clean on Gene by John P. Flannery

COME CLEAN ON GENE!

By John P. Flannery

You know that old question about whether you can characterize government in two words, as government “in action”, or by one word, government “inaction”?

We’ve become accustomed to the latter, and expect less to be accomplished, rather than more.

The latest disappointment is close to home, involving our own Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, because an orange-hatted Member of “the team,” Eugene Delgaudio, from Sterling, identified as the head of a hate group that bashes gays, has been charged with campaign finance misconduct, raising funds in county office space, using county staff, and, oh yes, there are additional questions about whether Mr. Delgaudio’s gay-bashing advocacy went so far that he may have violated privacy and copyright laws; in any case, that’s the subject of a pending law suit naming Mr. Delgaudio.

Mr. Delgaudio has been an object of derision and caricature and, with him, so has our county and its reputation in the region and nationally.

Our Board of Supervisors hasn’t helped matters.  They have so mishandled the accusations that they’re now in the line of fire – and viewed by some with the same distrust and reservations as Mr. Delgaudio.

The stone walls rose up around the bunkered Board of Supervisors, apparently because they are more concerned about protecting one of their own, at the risk of their own reputations, instead of doing what’s right for them and for the County.

Let’s run this reel back to the Board’s first initiative to “handle” this matter.

The Chairman of the Board, Scott York, learns of the allegations and sends some information about the alleged misconduct, under seal, not disclosed to the public, not even now, to the Loudoun County Commonwealth Attorney, Jim Plowman, who passes some or all of it on to the Arlington County Commonwealth Attorney who says, faster than you can say, white wash, “ah, there’s nothing there,” and “clears” Gene Delgaudio.

With twenty-twenty hindsight, it sure looks like the referral was anticipating the Washington Poststory published in September, alleging in some detail Gene’s questionable conduct and identifying one of several witnesses, Donna Mateer, a Delgaudio aide.  Perhaps it was hoped they could say they investigated the matter and it amounted to nothing.  But the public outcry was so loud and clear that the Board had to do more than cite some questionable referral clearing Delgaudio.

So the Board of Supervisors lurched into action, let’s call this Plan B, promising a full “independent” investigation and a public hearing.  We suspected they would fail on both promises.

They voted to appoint an “independent” investigator and set aside a measly $15,000 for the job. But don’t you wonder why Gene Delgaudio votes for his own investigation – and no one thinks to ask him to recuse himself because it’s about him and ordinarily that’s a disqualifying conflict?

The “independent” investigator they appoint, Dan Wright, turns out to be anything but “independent.”  His name was found on the list of political donors that Delgaudio was mining for contributions, as Mr. Wright had contributed to Republican Delegate Tag Greason’s campaign in 2009.  Don’t ask why no one reviewed the list before hiring him – or why they proceeded if they had reviewed the list.  Mr. Wright resigned.  This begs the question, how close and narrow, was the Board’s search for an “independent” investigator that turns up an active Republican campaign donor to conduct an investigation into a list that includes himself.

As for what happens next, the Board resumes plan A.

Our Loudoun County Commonwealth Attorney refers it to the same Arlington County Commonwealth Attorney who cleared Mr. Delgaudio once – asking her to investigate Delgaudio again.  Is that really the best way to go?  How can we trust any “independent” counsel or prosecutor after this contorted collection of political pirouhettes?

By the by, remember how the Board of Supervisors promised a public meeting to discuss how to handle Delgaudio?  Well the Board has now canceled that meeting.

You have to suspect decisions made in the shadows, meaning any public official’s aversion to act in the disinfectant of sunlight.

The cure is to stop these stone-walling practices and make public whatever the Board knows that we don’t.  

First, Donna Mateer obviously has no objections at making public what happened, read theWashington Post where she discloses everything, and any privacy that the County has asserted , claiming they are protecting her privacy, appears calculated to protect Mr. Delgaudio and the Board of Supervisors instead. 

Second, the best if not the only way to do this is to have Gene Delgaudio appear at a public hearing and to answer questions under oath on all these matters.

I’m prepared to believe it’s not too late for the Board to set this matter right and come clean on Gene. 

But it will take public disclosure and Delgaudio under oath to make me a believer. 

How about you?