OPINION / George Harris: Marty Nohe on Boondoogle to Taiwan? $$ = influence.
by George Harris
So our supervisor [Marty Nohe] is off with some other folks from the state on a junket to Taiwan. Here is what he says about this boondoggle:
“From October 6th through the 14th I will visit Taiwan (Republic of China) in my role as the Chairman of the Northern Virginia Regional Commission. I will join members of the Governor’s administration, the General Assembly and other local elected officials as we look to build a partnership between Virginia and Taiwan. During the trip we will discuss and share best practices on issues including alternative energy and improvements in the effectiveness and efficiency of mass transit. The trip is being made possible through private funds and no taxpayer funds are being used.”
What this screams to me is BOONDOGGLE! It tells me there are no programs in the United States that are worth looking at–no alternative energy programs–no mass transit systems worthy of consideration.
He says no taxpayer finds are being used but someone is paying for this BOONDOGGLE and surely there will be some quid pro quo. Since he is going as the Chairman of the Virginia Regional Commission, do we as citizens of Virginia have a right to know who paid for this BOONDOGGLE and what they expect to get out of it? I believe we do. Do you?
George Harris
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Tags: Marty Nohe, Taiwan, transportation, Virginia Regional Transportation System, VRTA 
PART II NOHE BOONDOGGLE
Have you ever heard of the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award? Probably not and apparently neither has Supervisor Marty Nohe or any of the others off on their Taiwan BOONDOGGLE because they had to go all the way to find quality businesses to study.
The Baldridge Award was established in 1987 to recognize businesses in several categories that are “best practices” in areas such as management, production and customer services. Seventy-two organizations have received this award from the President of the United States. It is the only such award in this country.
But somehow, this prestigious group has chosen to overlook these organizations in favor of going off on a BOONDOGGLE and spending American dollars in a foreign country. A country that until 2009 has been on the U.S.’ Special 301 report of countries involved in the piracy of intellectual properties. The fact that Taiwan is no longer on this list simply means their piracy activities have dropped below the threshold necessary to be on the report.
So—are Marty and crew there to study the best piracy practices or what?
As to solar power—well California has 4,245.5 megawatts of solar projects approved and there are plans to build a 12.5 square mile solar project. Perhaps these were just not good enough to merit consideration of this BOONDOGGLE group.
And the question still remains—“Who is paying for this trip and what is the quid pro quo?”
Please help us out here Marty.