I can see how the leadership structure in Loudoun County, particularly its school district, would be unnerved by the investigation launched by new Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares over the handling of sexual-assault cases in the school system.
A number of Democrats in the legislature last week tried a pre-emptive attack, demanding that Miyares halt what they claimed was a partisan hit job by the Republican on the Democratic leadership in Loudoun.
Youngkin, who has the authority to launch the investigation because he was asked to do so via an executive order from the governor, has dispatched former Arlington Commonwealth’s Attorney Theo Stamos to lead the effort.
Stamos recently was hired for a new position in the attorney general’s office, having served in the U.S. Department of Justice since losing renomination to Parisa Dehghani-Tafti in a contentious Democratic primary in 2019.
Miyares’s office scoffed at accusations of partisanship or politicization. “Uncovering the mistakes that led to two minors being sexually assaulted at school shouldn’t be partisan,” a spokesman said.
One thing about Stamos: She is relentless. If there is any malfeasance to be found – and at this point who knows? – she’s not going to stop until she gets to the bottom of it.
Perhaps that’s why school leaders, and those who carry water for them at the state level, made a play to pre-empt the investigation.
BAMBI MAY GET A REPRIEVE: An interesting program from the Arlington Committee of 100 last week, which looked at a proposal to start blasting away at Bambi and friends in order to reduce the number of deer in the county.
That’s been the goal of one advocacy group for some time; what was interesting at the Committee of 100 was the pushback that seems to have bubbled up from county-government staff. You had to read a little between the lines, but it certainly seems the relevant staff has not bought into the proposal.
Will we have coverage? You bet.
A LITTLE ADVANCE TASTE: Our editorial page will have comment on Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz’s proposed fiscal 2023 budget, which was unveiled on Saturday.
I won’t tip you off to anything more than the headline: “Pillaging of the Middle Class Continues.”
We in Sun Gazette-land do not pull our punches!
– Scott McCaffrey