2. Action needed: VCDL to demand apology for Culpeper Town Manager's
inappropriate email
**************************************************************
As you recall from the VCDL Update over the weekend, Executive member
Mike Stollenwerk sent an email to the Culpeper Town Manager, Brannon
Godfrey, about the Culpeper web site's unlawful statements about a
gun ban in their parks. Mike simply asked that the web site be
updated to remove the offensive 'no firearms' wording.
In turn, Mr. Godfrey sent a letter to Mike in GERMAN!
I asked for a translation and approximately 30 of you responded.
(Thanks to respondents for their help.) I now have the translation
(verified word-for-word by 7 German speakers) and it ISN'T
complementary to Mike:
Mr. Stollenwerk - many thanks for serving as our moral conscience.
Culpeper would be lost without the patronizing guidance of the
people
like you in Northern Virginia.
Long live the State!
Sincerely,
Brannon Godfrey
Some notes are in order: First, replying in German is clearly a slam
at Mike because of his ethnic German last name. Second, the closing
line, "Long live the State!" is the closing line used by loyal Nazis
of the Third Reich! Yet another slam at Mike's heritage. And third,
this was all done by a town official who was responding to a Virginia
citizen on a town matter where the town was in violation of state
law! The correct response should have politely thanked Mike and said
that the web site would be fixed forthwith.
THE VCDL BUREAUCRATIC DRANO EFFECT
I called Culpeper Town Hall on Monday and I am now scheduled to
address the Culpeper Town Council on October 11th at their 7 PM
meeting.
As coincidence would have it, I received an email from Brannon
Godfrey about 30 minutes later! In it he said that I was more than
welcome to address the Town Council, but that the offending signs in
Culpeper's parks were already scheduled to be fixed by a contractor
in two weeks. He also said he was unaware of any gun-ban language on
the Culpeper web site, but he would look into it. (The web site was,
of course, the very reason that Mike had sent his email to Mr.
Godfrey in the first place a few days ago!)
I hurried over to the web site and, indeed, the offending wording had
already been removed.
(Funny how that seems to always work out. VCDL sets up an
appointment to air some grievances publicly with a town or city
council and suddenly a long standing problem gets fixed!)
ACTION ITEM:
The Culpeper Town Council and Mr. Godfrey owe Mike Stollenwerk an
apology and I plan to demand one from them! The way Mike was treated
by Mr. Godfrey was shameful. I also will address the slow response
time in getting those signs fixed - including waiting an entire month
just so Mr. Godfrey could talk to the Town's Attorney about it!
As it is important that the voices of Culpeper area voters are heard
on the Town's misleading and illegal gun prohibitions, please stand
with me when VCDL addresses this issue on your behalf. Whether you
decide to also speak or just be counted among the gun owners
represented is up to you. I expect to ask that those who are in
solidarity with us stand up at the end of my comments.
Also, I need someone from the Culpeper area to go by the two parks in
question - Yowell Meadow Park and Mountain Run Lake Park - around the
end of the month to verify compliance. As Ronald Reagan said,
"trust, but verify."
Here are the details of the meeting. If you can make it, drop me an
email at president@vcdl.org so I have a rough idea of how many of you
are coming to show support. Numbers will also show Culpeper that
getting those signs fixed in a timely manner is important:
County Administration Building
County Board Room
302 N. Main St.
Culpeper
Time/date: 7 PM, Tuesday, October 11th
I will have an orange "Guns Save Lives" badge and will try to bring
some extras for those who show up. If you already have one of those
cards or badges from a previous event, bring it with you.
***************************************************************************
VA-ALERT is a project of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc.
(VCDL).
VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organization
dedicated to
defending the human rights of all Virginians. The membership considers
the
Right to Keep and Bear Arms to be an essential human right.
VCDL web page: http://www.vcdl.org
***************************************************************************
inappropriate email
**************************************************************
As you recall from the VCDL Update over the weekend, Executive member
Mike Stollenwerk sent an email to the Culpeper Town Manager, Brannon
Godfrey, about the Culpeper web site's unlawful statements about a
gun ban in their parks. Mike simply asked that the web site be
updated to remove the offensive 'no firearms' wording.
In turn, Mr. Godfrey sent a letter to Mike in GERMAN!
I asked for a translation and approximately 30 of you responded.
(Thanks to respondents for their help.) I now have the translation
(verified word-for-word by 7 German speakers) and it ISN'T
complementary to Mike:
Mr. Stollenwerk - many thanks for serving as our moral conscience.
Culpeper would be lost without the patronizing guidance of the
people
like you in Northern Virginia.
Long live the State!
Sincerely,
Brannon Godfrey
Some notes are in order: First, replying in German is clearly a slam
at Mike because of his ethnic German last name. Second, the closing
line, "Long live the State!" is the closing line used by loyal Nazis
of the Third Reich! Yet another slam at Mike's heritage. And third,
this was all done by a town official who was responding to a Virginia
citizen on a town matter where the town was in violation of state
law! The correct response should have politely thanked Mike and said
that the web site would be fixed forthwith.
THE VCDL BUREAUCRATIC DRANO EFFECT
I called Culpeper Town Hall on Monday and I am now scheduled to
address the Culpeper Town Council on October 11th at their 7 PM
meeting.
As coincidence would have it, I received an email from Brannon
Godfrey about 30 minutes later! In it he said that I was more than
welcome to address the Town Council, but that the offending signs in
Culpeper's parks were already scheduled to be fixed by a contractor
in two weeks. He also said he was unaware of any gun-ban language on
the Culpeper web site, but he would look into it. (The web site was,
of course, the very reason that Mike had sent his email to Mr.
Godfrey in the first place a few days ago!)
I hurried over to the web site and, indeed, the offending wording had
already been removed.
(Funny how that seems to always work out. VCDL sets up an
appointment to air some grievances publicly with a town or city
council and suddenly a long standing problem gets fixed!)
ACTION ITEM:
The Culpeper Town Council and Mr. Godfrey owe Mike Stollenwerk an
apology and I plan to demand one from them! The way Mike was treated
by Mr. Godfrey was shameful. I also will address the slow response
time in getting those signs fixed - including waiting an entire month
just so Mr. Godfrey could talk to the Town's Attorney about it!
As it is important that the voices of Culpeper area voters are heard
on the Town's misleading and illegal gun prohibitions, please stand
with me when VCDL addresses this issue on your behalf. Whether you
decide to also speak or just be counted among the gun owners
represented is up to you. I expect to ask that those who are in
solidarity with us stand up at the end of my comments.
Also, I need someone from the Culpeper area to go by the two parks in
question - Yowell Meadow Park and Mountain Run Lake Park - around the
end of the month to verify compliance. As Ronald Reagan said,
"trust, but verify."
Here are the details of the meeting. If you can make it, drop me an
email at president@vcdl.org so I have a rough idea of how many of you
are coming to show support. Numbers will also show Culpeper that
getting those signs fixed in a timely manner is important:
County Administration Building
County Board Room
302 N. Main St.
Culpeper
Time/date: 7 PM, Tuesday, October 11th
I will have an orange "Guns Save Lives" badge and will try to bring
some extras for those who show up. If you already have one of those
cards or badges from a previous event, bring it with you.
***************************************************************************
VA-ALERT is a project of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc.
(VCDL).
VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organization
dedicated to
defending the human rights of all Virginians. The membership considers
the
Right to Keep and Bear Arms to be an essential human right.
VCDL web page: http://www.vcdl.org
***************************************************************************