Mathieson attacks “distort” Villanueva’s record says Beach Council
By JR Hoeft | Thursday, October 15th, 2009 | PoliticsWe mentioned back over Labor Day weekend that Del. Bobby Mathieson (who stood idly by while Del. Joe Bouchard played the race card) began a negative attack on City Councilman Ron Villanueva regarding his attendance at city council sessions.
Today, in the Letters to the Editor section of the Virginian-Pilot, the Virginia Beach City Council finally took matters into their own hands:
BEACH COUNCIL DEFENDS VILLANUEVA
IT IS AN HONOR and privilege to serve the people of our city.
The job is very demanding, for even though we meet once a week on official business, the work we do outside of chambers to effectively serve our constituents is a full-time job — 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year.We know that we are judged on our records, and we all know we must defend our votes. This is why we are so disappointed to see attack ads that distort Councilman Ron Villanueva’s attendance record, even accusing him of “playing hooky” instead of attending to his duties as councilman.
Ron’s attendance on council ranks in the top half of all current members, at 92 percent of all formal meetings. He has a 93 percent voting record in his nearly eight years on council.
We have all missed meetings for reasons beyond our control, whether coping with personal family issues, attending funerals or even traveling for business or vacation. Indeed, we have all missed at least one meeting due to other city business.
Collectively, we hope that as we approach Election Day, the people judge candidates based on how they plan to help our city by providing effective representation in Richmond.
Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms; Vice Mayor Louis Jones; City Council members Glenn Davis, Bill DeSteph, Harry Diezel, Bob Dyer, Barbara Henley, John Uhrin, Rosemary Wilson, Jim Wood
It’s a shame that while the Pilot is off investigating mysterious, non-relevant connections in hopes of manufacturing a scandal, they can’t take the time to do basic reporting on issues of this 2009 campaign – issues important to their readers.
Unfortunately, it takes a letter to the editor by an entire legislative body to correct the record. I wonder if the Pilot will bother to report on it or write a strongly worded editorial condemning Mathieson for his negative campaigning?
I know I’m not holding my breath.
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Conservative to the core; liberal with his opinion! J.R. has been involved in politics for over a decade and has worked on several campaigns in Hampton Roads. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Chesapeake and the Central Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia. He is also the director of “Blogs United” in Virginia. E-mail J.R.. Follow J.R. on Twitter.
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8 Responses to "Mathieson attacks “distort” Villanueva’s record says Beach Council"
Interesting those Republican council members (yea, I know council is supposed to be nonpartisan but it isn’t) would cover their own rears and support one of their own? While not surprising that the city council would cover for Ron’s lack of attendance record, it does surprise me the members would give up their personal integrity. Since 2001, I personally have spoken with many council members (current and past) who have acknowledged Ron’s lack of attendance record as “factual.”
I’ll have to call a few of those folks and ask why they choose to talk out both sides of their mouths. I guess this desperate stunt backs up the polling data that shows Ron is losing to Bobby Mathieson.
Is the entire council Republican?
There are more than a few Council members who are not Republican. The point is that Mathieson has concoted such a non-issue to deflect attention away from his pathetic record. He has not one accomplishment as Delegate. The guy is a failure.
And, Bailey, you must be a real insider to have polling numbers showing Villanueva is losing. Actually, you’re not an insider, you’re just making stuff up.
William,
“Since 2001″? Villaneuva didn’t even become a City Councilman until July 1, 2002.
Henry: Read it again, It reads “Since 2001, I personally” so I didn’t say Ron was doing anything in 2001. I was speaking of my experiance not Ron’s. BTW: I like and have worked with Ron on many events. I don’t dislike him at all. Ron’s a great guy but I just think he picked the wrong election to run in this time. And I’m sorry it has come down to this type of discussion. But it is what it is…
Mitch: If you knew anything about me and my activities, you’d know I don’t make things up. But you are welcome to write anything you choose as I’ve come to expect that from some folks. I don’t take it personally.
How many of those council members were past?
Bill – I am not sure what polling numbers you have looked at or who is feeding you this information but Ron is waaay ahead in the polls.
In regards to Ron’s absentee record Mathieson never states what impact that has had. Has Ron made a misinformed vote because he missed a meeting? What is the impact of a missed meeting? Tie the missed meetings into something relevant. If not it is a non-issue. As the letter from Council states he is in the upper half of Council when it comes down to attendance.
Not an issue? The data clealy shows Ron’s absentee record has traction with the voters AND they dislike City Council members even more than they dislike GA folks! Just the facts in the numbers…
Not to throw stones but remember Mrs. Strayhorn? How many meetings did she miss? Non-issue… LOL
Remember Doc Welch? Mathieson beat him when he was a strong candidate. Fact: Mathieson is a very strong candidate and his numbers reflect his strenght in the district even with all the anti-Dem messages on TV every night. The 21st district voters simply trust a former cop more than they trust a sitting city council member.
I guess, we’ll have to wait until Election night to see who’s numbers are correct. I’ll put my bet on Bobby in the 21st district. Take care.
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