Letter to the editor
I barely know Mike May. I have only met him briefly three or four times. I couldn’t tell you if he is married or if he has any kids. I don’t golf with him. Never been to his house. Never watched a football game with him.
In fact, I don’t know much about his record as a public servant. But I am encouraging everyone I know to vote for him to be the next Commonwealth’s Attorney for Prince William County because of what I know about Paul Ebert.
Over the past few years I have had two specific encounters with Paul Ebert that I think are very telling. The first was in 2010 when a former mayor and town council of the Town of Quantico hosted an unbudgeted tax payer funded music festival with a price tag of $108,000 and only collected $4,000.
The event lost over $103,000 dollars. Contracts over $10,000 have to go through a bidding process. The contract for this event was a “sole source” arrangement with a friend of a town resident.
After the event I contacted Paul Ebert and asked him to look into the event on the grounds that state and local contracting laws were not followed. I also asked him to look into whether there were any grounds for holding the mayor and town council responsible for their negligence in wasting tax payer money.
His answer? He implied that I was a jilted candidate seeking some sort of political revenge because I had lost the previous mayoral election in May 2010. No “I will look into it.” No calls to the town treasurer for more details. Nothing.
The second encounter was after I became the Mayor of the Town of Quantico in 2012. One of the many things we had to fix was our police department.
After I initiated an external audit the Virginia State Police were contacted and completed an investigation. When the audit and the ensuing VSP investigation were completed it was determined that several police service weapons were missing as well as at least $1,200 in cash and an unspecified quantity of drugs were missing from the department’s evidence lockers.
The Virginia State Police stated it would be Paul Ebert’s decision on whether to seek charges against the responsible parties but he had decided not to do anything about it. Again nothing from Paul.
After numerous emails and phone calls I actually made an appointment and met with Paul Ebert in his office in Manassas. I can tell you it was one of the most discouraging meetings I have ever had with a public official. I pressed him for an explanation on why he was not enforcing the laws he was elected to enforce. Nothing. He just sat back in his comfortable chair and smiled.
Paul Ebert has gotten too comfortable and needs to go. Which brings me back to Mike May. When asked, Mike has expressed to me that he would have handled these situations differently, and I believe him.
I will be voting for Mike May to represent me and my family as the next Commonwealth’s Attorney of Prince William County and you should too.
This post is submitted by Quantico Mayor Kevin P. Brown.
