By Ruthann Carr
Correspondent
Attorney General Mark Herring stopped in Fluvanna Monday (Sept. 9) to speak to two different groups – the Lefty Lunch Ladies and TRIAD (see sidebar).
Su Wolff, of Lefty Lunch Ladies, introduced Herring to a group of about 40 people gathered for lunch at The Pub at Lake Monticello.
“The Lefty Lunch Ladies feel fortunate to have regular briefings from the Attorney General,” she said.
Like his last visit in May 2018, Herring said President Donald Trump’s policies have “added to his work load.”
“We’re trying to stop the worst impulses of Trump in environment, health care, reproductive rights and attacks on immigrants,” Herring said.
Virginia’s AG joined several other state attorneys general filing lawsuits to stop the immigrant family separation policy, fighting to protect several provisions in the Affordable Health Care Act and suing Purdue Pharma, makers of Oxycontin.
Herring was one of the state AGs who sued the Trump administration over its desire to add a citizenship question on the 2020 census.
“If you told me in law school I’d go to court on an enumeration clause case, I would have laughed. But we did – to protect a fair census – and we won,” he said.
He also boasted of two Supreme Court victories.
The court agreed that Virginia had the right to ban uranium mining. The Supreme Court also allowed to stand a lower court ruling that a 2011 GOP Virginia House racially gerrymandered districts, which is against the law. That decision meant several district maps were redrawn, making them less racially divided.
Many believe the ruling will help Democrats win a majority in the state house.
All seats are up for re-election in November.
Herring urged the group to vote Democratic because after the 2020 census, district maps will be redrawn.
Also speaking was Mark Asip, a Democrat challenger to Lee Ware’s 65thdistrict House of Delegates seat.
Asip, who lives in Powhatan, is a career educator. He worked in Fairfax, Williamsburg and Chesterfield school districts as a teacher, principal and Chesterfield’s Director of Exceptional Education.
Asip said in his monitoring of laws brought before the House, he noticed another “voter suppression” law.
“I wrote to Lee Ware to ask him why it was necessary and he said, ‘you know there were 140 votes of questionable status in Fairfax,’” he said.
When Asip did the math, he said those questionable votes amounted to .002 percent of the votes cast.
“It seems like an invented problem,” Asip said.
He also said Virginia is proud of being the number one state in business. But according to the Virginia Education Association, Virginia is 34thin teacher pay, 42nd in the allocation of state funds to public education and 39thin funding mental health care.
“Can we raise those up and still be number one in business? I think so. I’m not a zero sum guy,” Asip said.
Also speaking was Kim Daugherty, who is running in 2020 for the 5thDistrict Congressional seat currently held by Denver Riggleman.
Daugherty grew up in Stafford, got her bachelor’s degree from Longwood University and now lives with her husband and three children in Fauquier County. She practices family law and said her skills in arbitration would serve the 5thDistrict well.
“We need a representative that can work with others in the hyper-partisan climate. I handle divorces daily…I work to find common ground,” she said. “Those are the kind of negotiation skills I’ll take to Washington.”
Sidebar
Herring at TRIAD
Attorney General Mark Herring spoke to about 50 people gathered at the Fluvanna County Library for a TRIAD meeting. TRIAD is a cooperative effort of law enforcement agencies (police/fire/sheriffs), senior citizens, and senior organizations focused on reducing crimes against older citizens.
Virginia is the only state in the country that is supported by the Attorney General’s office, Herring said.
“I’m proud of that,” he said.
There are 100,000 Virginia citizens who have Alzheimer’s or another type of dementia, Herring said. It’s important to have training for first responders and education and support for families.
That’s one way TRIAD is important because it helps make that available.
Herring also spoke about scams and fraud, which he said is “100 percent preventable.”
He offered these tips:
- If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is;
- Don’t send money up front;
- If you do receive a solicitation, wait 24 hours to respond.
Waiting 24 hours gives you the opportunity to talk to family, friends or to call the sheriff, Herring said.
When it comes to robo-calls, Herring said everyone gets them, even him.
“Don’t answer and don’t give out personal information,” he said.
When asked about how to help people who may have had their pain medicines stolen, Herring suggested getting information from the AG’s companion website www.HardestHitVA.com that offers comprehensive information, including videos, about combating the heroin and prescription opioid epidemic. The site educates on how to keep your prescription medicines safe from theft.
According to the Fluvanna County Sheriff’s website, the mission of TRIAD is to reduce the fear of crime and victimization among seniors by increasing awareness of scams and frauds targeting them, strengthening communication between the law enforcement and senior communities, and educating seniors on local and state resources that are available within their community. The goal is accomplished through training for seniors and law enforcement officials.
