Send In The Clowns

…don’t bother.  They’re here!

A fortnightly rant, FL-S style…with a h/t each to “Big Eyes the Klown,” Stephen Sondheim, and the late Larry Harmon, once known to kiddies across the U.S. as “Bozo”.  Harmon died yesterday at the age of 83:

My best friend’s dad is a Klown.

No, really…

His dad is a Shriner Klown.  You know the Shriners, the folks who maniacally drive those little convertible cars in circles and figure 8s along the Fourth of July parade route.

The house where my best friend grew up was like being backstage at the circus. Sprawled across the dining room table: rainbow wigs. Along the perimeter of the bathroom sink: tins of clown-white makeup. On the floor by the foot of the stairs: clown shoes.  And, someplace in plain sight: his dad’s trademark BIG EYES sunglasses.

Throughout his many years of klowning, Big Eyes has done “mitzvah” work, most notably providing a moment of joy to sick kids in hospital fighting very adult diseases like leukemia.     

But it is on days like today, the Fourth of July - when the residents of some Connecticut town or city line up their beach chairs along the main thoroughfare and see Big Eyes and the rest of the Klowns from Pyramid Shriners #9 on parade - that I really think of his dad, and smile.

And that’s what Klowns are for. To make us laugh, to forget our worries.

But, I tell ya, we really could have used Big Eyes, Blinkie, Dizzy, and the rest of the crew this week to liven up two really sour acts in our political three-ring circus.

First, to the Stafford County Board of Supervisors Chambers, the site Tuesday night of a contentious (that’s being kind) public hearing and vote on the Business Professessional Occupational License (BPOL).  Passions flared as hundreds of local business owners - squared off against a goodly number of BPOL proponents - vented their spleens over the impending passage of BPOL.  There were so many people there to address the Board in public session that we hear the actual vote to adopt BPOL didn’t happen until after 3AM.

While I wasn’t there, I do hear from several people that at least one public speaker was threatened by Stafford Board Chairman George Schwartz with removal from the chambers.  And the irony?  The speaker was in favor of BPOL.

So, what is this?  South Korean Parliament?

The proponents will tell you that BPOL was intended, among other things, to stabilize the wild year-to-year fluctuations in Stafford County’s revenue stream and make sure that there would always be enough money in the annual budget for schools, public safety, and other requirements.  We were told that its passage would end the yearly bickering over school funding.

Yet, we now hear the resulting package - negotiated on, then voted in 4-3 by the seven bleary-eyed board members - earmarks all of the revenue from BPOL for transportation improvement.  From the FL-S:

The entire board, however, agreed that revenue generated by BPOL will be used to upgrade county roads and help pay the debt service on a potential transportation bond.

So much for stabilizing school-funding.

It would appear that in their zeal to pass this thing, the members-in-favor gave the dissenters exactly what they wanted.  And, mark your calendars: next year’s public hearing on setting the FY 2010 assessment should be a circus!  So, too, should the races for BOS in Aquia, Falmouth, Garrisonville, and Hartwood Districts.

A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants!

Then, a candidate for Congress “suspends” his campaign.

When, Dr. Keith Hummel approached the powers that be that he wanted to run for Congress, he admitted to all the key-influencers and decision-makers that he had once gone through personal bankruptcy reorganization. 

It seemed innocous enough.  And, who among us hasn’t known someone that had gone through the hardest, and most-embarrassing, of financial situations?  Very few, I’d guess.

Many accepted that notion that perhaps there was only one bankruptcy filing.  One person I know, and respect very much, was in a public setting where Dr. Hummel spoke.  She said (he) ”lied to all of us.  In public session, he stated there was one bankruptcy.  One not, THREE!”

After the nomination, the questions about Dr. Hummel started bubbling up.  And, sure enough, an easy-to-run public records search spit out not just one bankruptcy filing in the Eastern District, but three.  And the list of past creditors was long, very long.  Pages long.

Was Dr. Hummel forthright in discussing his financial history?  Not being part of the formal process, I cannot say.  Unlike my friend, I was not in the room.  That said, my friend is an honest broker.  I have no reason to disbelieve her account.

I do know this much.  The machinery to vet and nominate a First District Congressional candidate broke and needs to be fixed.   Questions that should have been asked by the nominating committee, due diligence that should have been done by them, were not.  Information provided may not have been given truthfully, or vetted completely.

The Hummel campaign suspended operations.  And I speak for many that believe Dr. Hummel should now do the right thing and formally withdraw from the race.  Doing so would clear the way for a replacement candidate to come forward.

Then, we need to take a really good look at how all this happened and do everything possible to assure ourselves and the public, that this will never happen again.

Politics should be fun, especially on the Fourth of July.  But in the end, it is and should remain serious business.