Thanks for this blog. Did you know that holiday and winter gala gift card giving to local elected officials, key local government employees, and local journalists and editors is surpassing anything I've seen before at 2100 Clarendon Boulevard? Unlike the various travel and entertainment comps County Board members and other key elected officials receive gift cards are completely unreported and it appears that hundreds of high-denomination gift cards were handed out during the recent holidays and at winter galas. This in addition to the usual holiday gift card gifts to members of the local media and key decision makers in local government. The gift card gifts are purchased for cash and $100 is the usual face value. They are often re-packaged by local pols, newsies, etc., into gifts for family members. Another reason we need real ethics reform in Virginia.
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24 comments:
Arlington School Board recently prohibited expensive bribes aka gifts to teachers and other school system employees.
Virginia General Assembly LOVES gift cards.
Call them what they are --- bribes !
Gift cards are another form of cash bribes. The pols don't just receive one, they receive several from the same developer, corporate crony, etc.
Arlington School Board finally said no to parents' bribery of teachers last year which was getting out of control.
Isn't it bad enough County Board members accept expensive travel and entertainment gifts from for-profits and non-profits that come before the County Board looking for grants, site plan approvals, and other gimmes?
School Board had to do something. There was too much out-and-out bribery of teachers.
A few thousand in gift cards and a few thousand for travel and gala tickets is nothing compared to the payoff Chris Zimmerman received for pitching Smart Growth for the 18 years he was in office.
White collar crime in Arlington? What white collar crime? I don't see any white collar crime.
I gotta laugh. Arlington cops literally launch a multi-neighborhood dragnet when someone shoplifts a 6-pack from a convenience store.
Agreed. They and their friends and families are getting paid off to the tune of millions every year. What's the big deal about a few hundred $100 gift cards?
When the Arlington police aren't following members of minority groups who have been reported as 'suspicious persons' they are chasing suspected shoplifters. Community policing? What's that?
Recycled gift cards make great presents for family members, you can dress your kids four seasons in LLBean if you you let it be known those are the gift cards you want.
Some Arlington teachers are pi$$ed because they were receiving enough gift cards from parents to take the entire family out to dinner once or twice a month.
Money corrupts. Wealth corrupts even more. Arlington is a very wealthy county.
Newsies taking gift cards as presents from the people and organizations they feature and promote? Isn't that like a conflict of interest?
Don't expect the General Assembly to ban gift cards.
The Galas are out of control...major league for-profit gimmes are decided by VIPs at Galas hosted by non-profits-for-the-needy.
Bob and Maureen McDonnell would have completely escaped scrutiny if they were only slightly less avaricious.
Was anyone ever concerned about the McDonnells (including their children) and gift cards?
I never saw gift cards mentioned by the Post. Gotta wonder how many gift cards the McDonnells were given over 4 years and how much they were worth.
Reality Check: "Everybody Does It", that's why.
Apparently documents related to which gifts were given to the McDonnells won't be released until their trial is underway.
Born-Again Bob was way beyond accepting a few dozen hundred-dollar gift cards.
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