Never Underestimate the Power of the Schwartz…

…or a certain former Stafford County Supervisor named George Schwartz (D-Falmouth) (see Spaceballs).

In 2007, Stafford Democrats met with great success at the local level. Dr. Harry Crisp (D-George Washington) and Bob Woodson (D-Griffis-Widewater) defeated their Republican opponents and provided Democrats the necessary votes to flip the board majority from 4 votes Republican to 4 votes Democratic.

Enter George Schwartz (D-Falmouth) who pulled off a major upset victory in 2005 in the Falmouth Supervisor race against Mark Osborne (R-Falmouth). After the 2007 victories, Crisp, Woodson and Joe Brito (I-Hartwood) voted to elect George Schwartz as the new Chairman of the Stafford County Board of Supervisors; thus, putting a Democrat in charge for the first time.

Schwartz decided, immediately upon his election as Chairman, that Stafford’s implementation of the Business, Professional and Occupational License (BPOL) should be the first major piece of legislation that the new democratic majority take up. Schwartz was certainly no stranger to controversy, earning the nickname “Furious George” from his Republican opponents (and some Democrats). It is without a doubt that George possessed a strong intellect, but what would quickly become his Achilles heal was his poor temperament, “me first” attitude and his yearning for power. The potential was there for Schwartz, but unfortunately it was never realized.

Many democrats warned Schwartz that making BPOL the first issue that this new democratic-led board takes up was rife with many land mines. Schwartz mostly won his election in 2005, based on a populist message that developers needed to pay for their impact on our community (e.g. schools, roads, other infrastructure) and that homeowners should not be asked to subsidize this impact through higher property taxes. Fast forward to the end of 2007. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the Bush recession began in December 2007. As we all know 2008 was a difficult time for many businesses and families, with employers shedding over a million jobs. The problem for Schwartz was that 2007 was not 2005. Secondly, the BPOL fee affects all businesses and not only developers.

Schwartz also was ill prepared for the aggressive marketing campaign put forth by the Republicans and the business community to derail BPOL, even though many warned him about this from the beginning. He simply dismissed many of his fellow Democrats and labeled them as not “real” democrats, even throwing off a well-respected local Democrat from Stafford’s Economic Development Authority (EDA). Schwartz’s answer to the aggressive marketing campaign put forth by the Republicans was silence.

If all of this wasn’t bad enough, the manner in which Schwartz eventually was able to pass BPOL provided endless fodder for Republicans. It was passed in the dead of night. Supervisors were so tired that some couldn’t even push the correct voting buttons. Personally, I don’t believe our elected officials should be conducting the people’s business in the dead of night and when they are obviously too tired to press the right buttons. Republicans seized on this and made the Schwartz-led board look foolish in a much-circulated YouTube video. To make matters worse, they decided to pass BPOL and delay actually collecting it until 2010. From a political perspective, this allowed Republicans to make the 2009 elections a referendum on BPOL.

In the days, weeks and months after passage of BPOL, Schwartz again failed to present any organized effort to explain it to the business community and homeowners. The Republicans were successful in creating a huge public outcry opposed to BPOL. Fast forward to 2009. Republicans were able to turn this opposition to BPOL into votes and regained a majority on the Board of Supervisors, sending Democrats into the minority for the next four years.

Also as a direct result tomorrow, Republicans will be voting to reinstitute the merchants’ capital tax and get rid of BPOL (I’ll have more to say about this in a subsequent post here).

I keep hearing cries of outrage from some fellow Democrats who pushed so hard for enacting BPOL that more must be done to save it before it is too late. Too late???? These folks need to wake up and understand that it is too late! If only these same folks were so vocal in opposition to Schwartz’s tactics back in 2008, Democrats might not be in the predicament they are today. Democrats must understand that ideas are important, but choosing the right leadership and candidates are just as important.

The failure in leadership of former Supervisor Schwartz has brought Democrats to where we are today. It is time to face the reality or be destined to repeat the past. It is time for Schwartz and his supporters to stop blaming everyone else and face the facts. To those who refuse to move forward, may the Schwartz be with you!