Inflation can hurt in ways we may not always see

JIM RIDOLPHI

Contributing Columnist policies. Loudon County did not implement their policies until months after the sexual assault that occurred there. This happened between two individuals who had previously met in the bathroom and who planned another meeting. It had nothing to do with transgender students OR transgender inclusive bathroom policies that someone took advantage of. To discriminate against our trans youth because of misplaced fear, is still discrimination and breaks the law.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone to learn that American families are undergoing increasing financial pressures in their everyday lives with well documented increases in cost of living expenses. Paychecks don’t go as far as they used to, and it seems every staple in our lives comes at an inflated price. Most of us are living under these pressures, struggling to balance household budgets and searching for any way to stretch the dollar.

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Production Manager denine d’angelo ddangelo@mechlocal.com use on a case-by-case basis. There is a meeting with the child, parents and school personnel, eliminating the possibility for the policy to be abused.

The law states that these children CAN use the bathroom they identify with, however because many adults in this community have been unwelcoming, they don’t feel safe using either of the gendered bathrooms and choose to use the clinic bathroom.

These children are bullied practically daily, which is no surprise when we have an electoral board

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member submitting letters in our local paper (which further marginalizes them), and School Board Member Angela Allen makes reckless Facebook posts which puts targets on the backs of these children. Children read these, and they emulate their parents and other adults. Regarding “Privacy Matters”: In order for someone’s right to privacy to be considered violated and thus void a transgender student’s right to not

Please see LETTERS, Page 7

Letters

The Gazette welcomes your signed letters to the editor on topics of interest to Goochland residents. Letters must include your address and a daytime telephone number. We reserve the right to edit letters. We do not guarantee that every letter received will be published. Letters reflect the opinions and positions of the writers and not The Goochland Gazette.

send letters to: The Goochland Gazette 8460 Times-dispatch Blvd. Mechanicsville, Va. 23116 editor@goochlandgazette.com

8,014.

A recent report cited evidence that taxes have remained relatively steady during this period of inflation. But, anyone who regularly visits a grocery store will tell you that it’s not the taxes you see that have the most impact on households. It’s the ones you can’t see.

For example, reported local real estate taxes are level or reduced throughout most of the Commonwealth, but that’s not a true indicator of the amount of tax actually levied on citizens.

Real estate assessments are experiencing significant increases and most taxpayers are receiving higher bills on their properties, resulting in increases in revenue for communities. Now, that’s not technically an increase in real estate taxes, but in reality, it’s a segment of local budgets that have endured steady increases for the past several years.

For localities, the increased revenues are good news and allow communities to fund important services like fire, be discriminated against, there would have to be some sort of misconduct. To imply “privacy matters” is to imply transgender students are bad and wrong. Equal rights for others does not mean less rights for you. in school as a direct result of this post. Angela Allen swore to condemn this type of conduct, and yet she willfully incited it then sat back and watched it unfold. Has Ms. Allen apologized to children and families she hurt yet? A caring and compassionate person certainly would.

County Employees Take Part In Damage Assessment Training

On Feb. 22, Goochland county employees participated in damage assessment and crisis Track training provided by Virginia department of emergency Management (VdeM) at the central high complex. This training will be useful when there is severe impact to Goochland’s community from a major event like the June 2022 tornadoes. The training helped building inspectors understand the information that needs to be gathered when assessing damaged property and how it is captured real-time in the field using the crisis Track tool on county-designated tablets and phones. This data is used by Goochland’s emergency Operations center, state emergency Operations center and FeMa to manage response and recovery when major events occur.

Ms. Johnson seems to be unaware of the laws and the roles of our School Board and Board of Supervisors. Their duty is to uphold the law, not just listen to the loudest constituents. Changing our current policies that are anti discriminatory, would open this county up to expensive lawsuits that Goochland will lose at the taxpayers’ expense. I also must call out her implying that we should discriminate against our LGTBQ youth because they aren’t the “overwhelming majority.” Does Goochland allow this discrimination and marginalization to go unchecked? We must condemn this conduct.

Inflation

From 6 financial period where increases in cost of living seem to come from every direction. lenges that accompanied a nationwide shutdown. Government employees and teachers have been rewarded with well deserved salary increases, and public safety has been enhanced with additional staffing.

Similarly, personal property taxes have increased significantly due to increased values of used cars in our country. Again, good news that your car’s value is holding but unfortunately another increase in those taxes we often omit when considering inflation.

These special interest groups Ms. Allen, Ms. Lascolette, Ms. Wirsing, and Ms. Johnson entertain (Moms for Liberty, No Left Turn etc.) are very close to being classified as hate groups. They follow an anti-trans/anti-LGTBQ as just one of their items in their playbook. Ms. Lascolette even created “agenda notes” that were sent out to subscribing Goochland residents, instructing them on what to harass the School Board about at upcoming meetings. An agenda that is based on conspiracy theories and treads on the civil rights of our black and LGTBQ communities. We also can’t forget Ms. Lascolette’s request for all our parent/guardian’s contact info. Almost expectedly, Ms. Johnson requested that same information through FOIA during Ms. Allen’s campaign in 2021. A little too coincidental that the

1776 Project PAC donated nearly $4,000 in in- kind donations going to advertising and mailers. These women’s political, personal interests and loyalty to each other take precedence over any Oath or Code of Ethics they swear to uphold. This level of misconduct and abuse of power from our elected officials is unacceptable. We must hold them accountable.

Ms. Wirsing is following in their footsteps and already ignoring the rules and policies. Not just by helping Ms. Allen plan the 1/26 post, but was trespassing on GES grounds the morning of 3/3, handing out campaign material to cars in the car drop of line. She did not get it cleared, she did not check in and she did not have permission. She also stayed in the back parking lot seemingly avoiding school personnel. This level of disrespect to our schools and safety policies puts our children in danger and is unacceptable coming from a School Board Candidate. Goochland deserves better for our children.

Lauren Comstock Sandy Hook

Please see LETTERS, Page 8 rescue and public welfare. The additional funds also allow localities to provide competitive compensation for the people who staff those important positions. Many communities are finding it more difficult to attract and retain good employees as demand for their services increase.

It’s a sort of doubleedged sword for citizens who benefit from quality services and attentive government, but also must navigate a tricky

Localities in the metro area should be commended for maintaining levels of service despite the pandemic and a myriad of economic chal-

Although the increases in real estate assessments, personal property tax bills and the like represent a small part of the increased costs of living currently being levied on households, when coupled with increased food bills, hefty fuel bills and increased prices for most consumer goods, it all adds up.

Then we have Ms. Lascolette coming to Ms. Allen’s defense. She’s been interfering with our school district for years violating her Board Of Supervisor’s Code of Ethics. Ms. Allen not only violated several of the School Board’s Code of Ethics, she also publicly displayed her incompetence and lack of knowledge of the law and her obligation to uphold these laws. Then she allowed hateful rhetoric to transpire on her page. Through information obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, we believe we have proof that the 1/26 post was not only planned by Ms. Allen and Ms. Wirsing, but that the so-called bathroom policies were understood not just by Ms. Allen, but also Ms. Lascolette. A child was bullied