{Loudoun County, Virginia} Controversial Library Board Appointee Resigns

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Mon Jan 13, 2014, 05:52 PM - Edit history (12)

Source: Leesburg Today

Posted: Monday, January 13, 2014 10:32 am | Updated: 11:05 am, Mon Jan 13, 2014.

The man who came under fire for his extreme political stances after he was appointed to the Loudoun Library Board of Trustees earlier this month has resigned.
....

Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling) nominated Beacham for the vacant Sterling District seat on the Library Board of Trustees in December. As is the process set out by the board, nominations are made at one meeting and the appointees are confirmed at the following meeting.

But after Beacham's appointment controversy arose in the public because of his previous political activity. Beacham recently ran for Congress in Kentucky and is an outspoken tea party member and anti-abortion activist, known for tearing up the pages of the Koran in front of the White House in 2010. A Google search of his name brings up information on his Congressional run—with the exception of recent news reports about his Loudoun appointment.
....

Delgaudio also challenged assertions that he knew Beacham previous to nominating him and was aware of his strong political views—stemming mostly from photos found from a 2009 protest by Delgaudio's organization, Public Advocate of the United States, at an Arlington high school where the two men were seen standing close to each other. Delgaudio noted he had done several TV and other media interviews leading up to the protest. ... "Everybody knew there was a protest against the president in Arlington, and anyone could have come," he said. "And they did."


Read more: http://www.leesburgtoday.com/news/controversial-library-board-appointee-resigns/article_8258a638-7c67-11e3-ba0c-0019bb2963f4.html

---

I'll have lots of commentary about this. There's almost too much to say about this guy.

Hat tip: JoeMyGod

Eugene Delgaudio Just Got This Guy Appointed To The County Library Board
http://www.joemygod.blogspot.com/2014/01/eugene-delgaudio-just-got-this-guy.html#disqus_thread

Loudoun names Andrew Beacham, who once tore pages out of Koran, to library board
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/local/wp/2014/01/10/loudoun-names-andrew-beacham-who-once-tore-pages-out-of-koran-to-library-board/

By Tom Jackman
January 10 at 5:00 am

UPDATE, Saturday, 1:30 p.m.: Delgaudio said today he will seek to rescind Beacham’s appointment to the library board. A short story on that is here.

A Sterling man who once tore out pages of the Koran in front of the White House, and whose fierce rhetoric on Twitter included declaring “the only good progressive is a dead progressive,” has been approved by the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors to sit on the county library’s board of trustees for the next four years.

The Loudoun supervisors last week confirmed Andrew Beacham, 31, a recently defeated candidate for Congress in Kentucky, to the library board. But several supervisors, including Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling) who nominated him, said they were unaware of Beacham’s colorful past.

"Unaware of Beacham’s colorful past?" The instant I saw that, I knew he was lying.

Photos from 2009 Public Advocate stunt show Delgaudio working with his new extremist Library Board appointee
http://www.loudounprogress.org/2014/01/10/photos-from-2009-public-advocate-stunt-show-delgaudio-working-with-his-new-extremist-library-board-appointee/#comments

Posted on January 10, 2014 at 3:33 pm by Epluribusunum |

Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words. We don’t yet know how many words Sterling supervisor Eugene Delgaudio will emit claiming that he didn’t know “much of anything” about Andrew Beacham, his nominee for Loudoun County’s Library Board – but we do know that they will be arranged into falsehoods.
....

Below is a photo from the 2009 protest at Wakefield High School, mentioned by Tom Jackman in the article linked above. What Jackman’s article doesn’t say is that this tiny protest, entitled “Mr. President, Stay Away From Our Kids!” was the creation of Mr. Delgaudio’s hate group Public Advocate. Given what we have since learned about the operations of Mr. Delgaudio’s county office, it’s probable that Loudoun County resources in one form or another were involved in its creation.



That’s Andrew Beacham holding the Gadsden flag. In the next photo, there’s Beacham again on the right, and Mr. Delgaudio being interviewed right next to him, in a group with another Gadsden flag. The entire protest – which was really just a media stunt – was comprised of no more than eight people. Again, this was in 2009. Delgaudio and Beacham are active in the same circles and engaged in the same kind of political activity. Delgaudio may even have been training Beacham; in fact, it’s likely. That sort of training is what Delgaudio has done since he was Executive Director, and later served on the board, of “Young Americans for Freedom/Young America’s Foundation.” Other things they’ve being doing together will no doubt come to light.

Delgaudio is the individual in the white long sleeve dress shirt above the fire hydrant in the second photograph.

Delgaudio says he will withdraw Andrew Beacham’s nomination to Loudoun library board
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/local/wp/2014/01/11/delgaudio-says-he-will-withdraw-beachams-nomination-to-loudoun-library-board/

In a September 2009 protest outside Wakefield High School in Arlington, Eugene Delgaudio is seen in a white shirt holding a sign which advises President Obama to “Stay away from our kids.” About 15 feet to the right, Andrew Beacham is interviewed by a local TV news crew while holding a tea party flag. Delgaudio said Beacham was not part of his group and he did not recall meeting Beacham then. (Public Advocate of the United States)

Delgaudio's outfit, Public Advocate, even provided the two photographs showing Delgaudio and Beacham near each other at the barely attended rally. He really needs to keep better track of his lies. I wonder if any of those videos taken by TV crews show Delgaudio and Beacham chatting with each other.

Here is the video provided by Public Advocate of that demonstration.

Big, big thanks to commenter comchay999 for his link at 1/11/2014 1:01 PM EST to Beacham's résumé. Who could be better?



Man Who Tore Out Pages Of Koran In Front Of White House Appointed To Loudoun Library Board
http://dcist.com/2014/01/man_who_tore_out_pages_of_koran.php

Andrew Beacham resigns from Loudoun library board
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/local/wp/2014/01/13/andrew-beacham-resigns-from-loudoun-library-board/

By Tom Jackman January 13 at 12:32 pm

Andrew Beacham, the Sterling man who was appointed to the Loudoun County library board of trustees by the county board of supervisors on Jan. 2, submitted his resignation Sunday. The move eliminates the possibly tricky legal question of the board trying to remove someone from a board once they have been nominated and confirmed.

On Friday, the State of NoVa reported that Beacham had a colorful past as an anti-abortion protester, including tearing pages from a Koran in front of the White House on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. His Twitter feed includes vehement denunciations of liberals, gays and Nelson Mandela. He has twice stood and disrupted speeches by President Obama. More details about all that are here.

Following uproar, Loudoun library board appointee resigns
http://www.loudountimes.com/news/article/following_uproar_loudoun_library_board_appointee_resigns543

Monday, Jan. 13, 2014 by Trevor Baratko

....
Despite pictures showing Mr. Beacham at a Public Advocate protest in 2009, Mr. Delgaudio maintained Monday he met Mr. Beacham in fall 2013.

What happens when you let the GOP run Loudoun
http://realloudoun.com/2014/01/11/what-happens-when-you-let-the-gop-run-loudoun/

....
Of course, the striking similarity between Beacham’s anti-gay provocations and those of Delgaudio might have been a clue that that was not completely 100% true; and Loudoun Progress quickly dug up a picture of Beacham and Delgaudio together at one of Eugene’s phony media-event anti-gay “protests” (attended by 8 people) back in 2009.

Delgaudio . . . He’s baaaaaaack
http://realloudoun.com/2014/01/09/delgaudio-hes-baaaaaaack/

In case you missed it, all is apparently forgiven: as its first order of business for the new year, the all-Republican Loudoun Board of Supervisors named disgraced, censured, corrupt, and all-around wacko fellow-Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling) to a spot on the Board’s powerful Transportation and Land Use Committee.

Delgaudio had been stripped of his committee assignments last January when the Board wanted to pretend it was doing something about the unfolding scandal surrounding “the clown” (as Chairman Scott York termed Delgaudio in one of his more lucid moments) — but not actually say they were doing anything lest they upset Eugene’s very loyal following among the Loudoun Republican Party poo-bahs.

Most normal people probably assumed that in June, when the Board finally addressed Delgaudio’s little problems head-on by censuring him and taking away his office staff and office budget, the punishment of being stripped of committee assignments would continue as well.

Can the restoration of Eugene’s office budget be far behind now? Then he can get back to running his full-time fundraising office on the public’s dime once again, an activity that he has never explained or apologized for.

Eugene Delgaudio’s Really Weird Rant: Beware the RADICAL Homosexuals
http://washingtonnote.com/eugene_delgaudi/

[Aristus]

1. A guy who tears up books definitely should not be on a library board of trustees!

Glad he resigned.

[jsr]

2. Republicans love book burners

[MNBrewer]

3. Delgaudio is also a piece of work

[Neurotica]

5. And Delgaudio's claims that he didn't know about Beacham are suspect to say the least

considering that they both are involved in right-wing political stunts and considering that Beacham was with Delgaudio at an 8-person rally in DC. There's likely a lot more to this whole relationship.

[blm]

6. The whole family is crazy and have worked GOP dirty tricks for decades.

Perverts and nutcases.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2003-04-24/news/0304240083_1_child-pornography-patterson-park-judge

[Neurotica]

11. And we have to deal with him on a local level as well

I used to send my kids out of the school board meeting room so that they wouldn't hear the vile things that his colleagues were willing to say (in a public forum no less!).

[starroute]

14. Richard Delgaudio made Top 10 Conservative Idiots in 2003

http://www.democraticunderground.com/top10/03/107.html

Richard Anthony Delgaudio is a prominent Republican fundraiser and president of the Legal Affairs Council, "a group that helped pay the legal bills of former Reagan administration officials Oliver L. North and Caspar W. Weinberger after they were charged in connection with the Iran-contra affair," according to the Baltimore Sun. And as of last week, he's also a convicted child pornographer. Delgaudio took "lewd photographs" of a 16-year-old girl he met in a Baltimore park - some of the photographs showed him having sex with the girl. He also allegedly had sex with and took photographs of a 15-year-old. Delgaudio was sentenced to a mere two months probation after crawling to the judge, saying that he didn't know the girls' ages (police beg to differ) and promising to donate $5,000 to "young mothers who are in distress and in need." Incidentally, he was once quoted as saying that Bill Clinton was "a lawbreaker and a terrible example to our nation's young people." What an incontrovertible scumbag you are, Mr. Delgaudio.

And Eugene got noticed here in 2005 for opposing John Robert's Supreme Court nomination:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1689302

[starroute]

15. Another blast from the past

This is about Richard first but then catches up with Eugene. Both of them were in the direct-mail fundraising scam business.

http://www.salon.com/2003/04/24/dogs_10/

Apr 24, 2003

Delgaudio literally brought Paula Jones to public attention in 1994. That was when one of his fundraising fronts, the “Legal Affairs Council,” paid her travel and hotel expenses to appear at the Consevative Political Action Committee conference in Washington, where she gave a brief account of the indignities she had allegedly suffered years before. Earlier, Delgaudio had raised money for the defense of that other right-wing martyr, Oliver North.

It was a very good business. According to the Post, the Virginia-based Legal Affairs Council reported $2.6 million in revenues to the IRS in 2001. He is also listed as chairman and director of the United States Intelligence Council and president of National Security Center Inc., two very official-sounding outfits that probably separated more than a few gullible wingers from their money with alarms about black helicopters and the Panama Canal. Last year, Delgaudio co-chaired an event called the “Western Conservative Conference” in Southern California, co-sponsored by the Washington Times, Christian Voice, Richard Viguerie’s ConservativeHQ.com, the ultra-right California Republican Assembly, Larry Klayman’s Judicial Watch, Reed Irvine’s Accuracy in Media, and Morton Blackwell’s Leadership Institute.

Funnily enough, the “conference chaplain” was none other than Rev. Lou Sheldon, president of the Traditional Values Coalition and America’s leading scourge of pornography, indecency, obscenity and everything else Richard Delgaudio represents. How embarrassing.

Still more ironic, to return for a moment to Santorum’s pet peeve, is the current occupation of the perp’s brother, Eugene Delgaudio, who also serves as an elected supervisor in Loudoun County, Va. Eugene Delgaudio currently runs yet another official-sounding direct-mail chute called “Public Advocate of the United States,” which solicits money from rubes worried about “radical homosexuals” thwarting “God’s will.” Asked about his brother’s guilty plea, Eugene claimed ignorance and said, “It doesn’t sound like him.”

[blm]

4. Wasn't Delgaudio and his brother caught trying to lure underage girls for sex not so many years ago?

How on earth did he get back into any position of power?

The whole family is crazy.

It was the Delgaudios who also arranged for flag-burning 'college students' to show up in city squares just days before a GHWBush campaign stop.

[Neurotica]

7. That was just his brother I believe

[mahatmakanejeeves]

9. Yes, that was just the brother.

The Delgaudio Family of Loudoun County, Virginia
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x680548

[cvoogt]

8. this from a man who

wanted to defund our local libraries. I have met him ... he is friendly in person, but he just holds insane views.

[Neurotica]

10. Or restrict access to certain materials

Or remove certain materials…I could go on and on.

[bucolic_frolic]

12. Libraries are political footballs too

because they have budgets to spend on books and materials

Trustees can be tilted one way or another politically, and does
that influence the books they buy? Trustees tend to be DAR and
local businesswomen or wives older than 50 or 60, generally speaking.
How are they appointed/selected?

I'm told libraries select books based on recommendations from master
library lists, that sometimes they are even required to purchase books

The public can submit recommendations, but even classics are rejected
if they're not popular and too lefty

That said, is there a political balance?

My main public library would get 6 Limbaugh copies, but only
occasionally buy a Nobel prize winner's liberal tome, and only one
copy countywide of a liberal radio host's book. Are they meeting
demand, or promulgating a point of view, or censoring those they
don't agree with?

Who decides how the public's money is spent?

And are all the teeny bopper PG and R movies suitable for a library?
I wouldn't pay a dime to see any of them, do they have redeeming
social value? Ok a way to relax for an evening, but, you know, do they
have merit?

[Neurotica]

13. In Loudoun, the Board of Supervisors appoints people to the library board

Each supervisor can appoint one person to the library board (hence, Delgaudio's appointment of Beacham). Given the political makeup of our BOS, committee appointments definitely need to be monitored. In our county, I don't believe library trustees have influenced or interfered with particular book/movie selections, but they have in the past changed and attempted to change library policies such as the ALA Freedom to Read statement. Also, in the late 90's, Dick Black used his library board appointment to help enact his extreme political agenda (Internet filters required for all library patrons) and launch his political career. (In fact, he's now a state senator and he's running for Frank Wolf's seat in Congress.) Fortunately, the community was paying attention and Dick Black lost when Mainstream Loudoun and members of the community challenged his policy in federal court. The Internet policy he championed was found to be unconstitutional--you can't treat adults like children.

Our supervisors have also attempted to change library policies. Just last summer several supervisors were trying to figure out how they could restrict minors' access to R-rated DVDs. And while you personally might not want your child to watch certain movies, librarians do not want to be policemen. It's the job of parents to monitor what their children are watching if they so wish. And if we start labeling/restricting DVDs, what about books…?

With respect to who decides how to spend money, professional librarians are entrusted to select materials that serve the community. They don't purchase every book that's published or every movie that's made. But they do select materials that allow the freedom to read and explore a wide variety of ideas. If you think that your community library is somehow practicing censorship in its selection of materials, it might be worth your time to attend some library board meetings.

[bucolic_frolic]

16. Good information and suggestions

I doubt such meetings are open to the public.

I did ask more than one librarian about book selection, I was told
it was all done at the main library, which I have a hard time believing
because, more than a little bit, liberal books are in certain libraries,
conservative books are in most all libraries, and there are libraries
that have largely teen movies, while others are a repository of highbrow
PBS and BBC.

One low level Democratic official sympathized with me, basically saying
'yes, absolutely influenced'.

Thanks!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

17. More on Beacham

Scott York, hapless bystander
http://realloudoun.com/2014/01/14/scott-york-hapless-bystander/

As predicted (it wasn’t much of a feat of prognostication), Loudoun Board of Supervisors Chairman Scott York (R-At Large) yesterday disavowed any responsibility whatsoever for having officially nominated and secured the unanimous approval of the all-Republican Board for Supervisors for Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio’s (R-Sterling) wacko choice of an anti-gay, anti-Muslim obscenity-and-violent-threat-spewing extremist to the Loudoun Library Board.

Asked about the laughable “resume” that Delgaudio forwarded to the supervisors from Andrew Beacham (it listed no work or education experience whatsoever), York told Leesburg Today that it was “not unusual” for the Board to receive such “sparse” credentials from nominees for county boards and commissions. “We’ve gotten everything from short synopsis to full blown resumes in the past from people,” York said; he added that it has been “the unofficial practice” of the Board to automatically approve whoever a supervisor selects to fill the position for his district.
....

Or perhaps York’s willingness to play patty-cake with Delgaudio has something to do with those shadowy allegations Delgaudio made last summer, but then mysteriously went silent on, that York, too, had received large bags of unreported cash campaign contributions?

More on Beacham
http://realloudoun.com/2014/01/11/more-on-beacham/

If there was any doubt that the fix was in on the appointment of a raving right-wing loony to the Loudoun County Public Library Board of Trustees by the all-Republican Loudoun Board of Supervisors — i.e., any doubt that Chairman Scott York (R) and raving right-wing loony Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling) knew exactly what they were doing in securing his appointment — the deliberate effort to conceal their appointee’s “credentials” and the absence of any questions being raised about the laughable “resume” he supplied is pretty suggestive.
....

Just of curiosity, why is it that all of these guys who go around claiming that they are bringing “Christian” values to politics such complete, unregenerate liars?

Delgaudio: Curses, foiled again
http://realloudoun.com/2014/01/13/delgaudio-curses-foiled-again/

In our last episode, having been caught in the act of deliberately hiding the notorious extremist background of the right-wing loony he secured an appointment for on the Loudoun Library Board of Trustees, right-wing loony supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling) announced he was “withdrawing” the nomination and Board Chairman Scott York (R-At Large) told outraged constituents who contacted him that the Board would “rescind” the previously unanimously approved appointment at its next business meeting.
....

None of this would have happened had not the Washington Post broken the details about Beacham’s “colorful” past, none of which were included in the resume Beacham and Delgaudio submitted to the Supervisors in support of his nomination to the Library Board. The Virginia statute also requires that the governing body making appointments to Library Boards do so “with reference to their fitness for such office.”
....

The utter lackadaisical contempt for even caring about discharging their legal and constitutional responsibilities and to be stewards of local institutions is manifest in the fact that our supervisors unanimously approved Beacham’s appointment without even caring an iota about the legal requirement that appointees be chosen “with reference to their fitness for such office.”

But if your basic attitude is contempt for government, and your attitude toward political office is to view at as an opportunity for self-promotion, self-enrichment, and political demagoguery, why would you care?

And on and on and on and on and....

[Neurotica]

18. RealLoudoun does great investigative journalism--there's such a need

Kudos to RealLoudoun for keeping an eye on our local government, especially since the local papers seem to primarily run press releases these days and since the WaPo shuttered its regional bureaus. Unfortunately, it's not enough (and there is so much to dig into, really). We need a strong press to effectively serve as the fourth estate and check our elected officials.

I'm not sure how Tom Jackman of the WaPo found out about Beacham, but I'm thankful that he did. What if the WaPo had not run an article about Beacham? What would we be dealing with several months down the road?

Real Loudoun has done more in-depth reporting than the WaPo and asked many of the questions that Jackman himself should have considered. And where were the local papers when committee appointments were being made, especially considering Delgaudio's track record?

Calling all DU newspaper people, how do we fix this fundamental problem?

[mahatmakanejeeves]

19. "how do we fix this fundamental problem?"

Last edited Tue Jan 14, 2014, 01:38 PM - Edit history (5)

Easy. Just like Invasion of the Body Snatchers: never fall asleep.

Big hat tip to Tom Jackman, and to whoever tipped him off as well.

I just looked through several print editions of the Post, and I couldn't find any articles with Tom Jackman's byline. Apparently his work appears online, either solely or for the most part.

The State of NoVa
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-state-of-nova/post/about-this-blog/2011/04/03/AFySfLVC_blog.html

Posted at 12:22 PM ET, 04/03/2011
About this blog
By Tom Jackman

The State of NoVa is four counties and one city – Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William and Alexandria – comprising 2 million diverse and dazzling people, in every setting from the densely packed apartment complexes of Alexandria to the great wide open of western Loudoun. It’s not like DC, it’s not like Maryland, and it sure ain’t like the rest of Virginia.

The State of NoVa is also the mindset that expects the whole enchilada AND the side of rice. It wants the urban pace and intellect of the District, but also the space to play soccer on Saturday mornings and Sunday afternoons. It wants the security of a suburb, but the culture of the world. The State of NoVa is flush with every nationality, every religion, every fast food joint. It’s got the high life, in the mansions of the rich and powerful in Great Falls and McLean, the chattering social hives of the giant malls in Fairfax and Prince Wiliam, and the large enclaves of Arlington and Annandale where no English is spoken. This page will explore the State of NoVa, examine it, try to explain it and enjoy it. Your help welcomed.

Tom Jackman was born in Northern Virginia, grew up in the fledgling planned community of Reston, graduated from Herndon High School back in another century and is unapologetic about his suburban pedigree. He has been a reporter covering NoVa for The Washington Post since 1998, and is a dedicated follower of the Nats, Skins, Caps, Wizards and United. He likes live music, late nights and lazy Sundays. He knows where and how the wheels of power grind up your hard-earned cash, what’s happening in your ‘hood and where all the cool hangouts are. Or almost all.

E-mail your thoughts about The State of NoVa to [e-mail].

Tom Jackman - The State Of NOVA - Chronicling life in Northern Virginia
http://www.washingtonpost.com/pb/tom-jackman

[okaawhatever]

20. Thank you for taking the time to put all of this out there. We all need to remember the giant web

that we are fighting and take action accordingly.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

21. Thank you for being vigilant.

I have the time to keep track of him. Other than getting handed the bill for his (and his like-minded pals') shenanigans, I take pleasure in making sure the dots are connected.

Best wishes.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

22. Delgaudio: how was I to know?

Gosh, how was Eugene Delgaudio supposed to know that the person he appointed to the library board was a lunatic?

Formal Application, Background Checks Eyed For Advisory Panel Nominees

Posted: Thursday, March 6, 2014 12:57 pm | Updated: 2:21 pm, Thu Mar 6, 2014.

Posted on Mar 6, 2014 by Erika Jacobson Moore

The public embarrassment caused earlier this year when the controversial background of an appointee to the Library Board of Trustees was revealed—along with other potential concerns—has spurred the Board of Supervisors to create a standardized application that digs a little deeper into the background—in some cases with a formal background check—of those considered for appointment to its advisory bodies.
....

The action was triggered by the Jan. 2 appointment of Andrew Beacham to the Library Board of Trustees after reviewing a short letter of interest and on the nomination of Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling). Supervisors said they were unaware of his history as a controversial conservative political activist. After concerns surfaced, Beacham resigned.

Delgaudio acknowledged Wednesday that he made a mistake with his appointment of Beacham, but questioned whether the application process proposed would have unearthed his background. “That is something I should have done with YouTube or Google,” he said. “So I ask is there a higher level we are trying to get here, and if it is political I don't think we are getting there.”