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[Update Oct. 12, 2009:  Greg wrote this letter to Dave Albo in May, challenging Dave to stop deceiving voters about Greg's residency and his commitment to his community, Springfield, where has lived for nearly a decade.  Despite being confronted, Albo CONTINUES to deceive voters by publicly stating the disproven claims below, most recently at the West Springfield Civic Association on Oct. 7th.  We deserve better from our Delegate.]

May 12, 2009

Dear Dave:
I’m writing today to express my surprise and disappointment in the letter you recently sent to voters in our district.  I recall when you and I sat in my dining room and discussed the kind of campaigns we believe should be run and the kind of dialogue we thought best served voters across our area.  We talked about the need for more honest, ethical political campaigns that focus on the issues, rather than baseless personal attacks. 

I’m sure you understand why I’m so surprised at your letter.  It’s chock full of lies, Dave – and you know it.  I can’t understand why you would have written it or put your name to it.  So let’s talk about the truth – just so there won’t be any more need for you to distort it.

In your letter, you claim that I only moved into the area in 2005.  You know this is false because from 2002 to 2004 we lived only doors apart on Garfield Court in Springfield, before my wife and I married and moved into a townhouse in the same neighborhood.  You and I occasionally waved to one another as we left for work in the mornings.

You also falsely claim that my wife, Marion, and I moved out of Springfield and have only recently returned.  But during the period of time you claim I was living out of the area, I invited you over and you sat at my dining room table in Springfield to discuss, ironically, the need for more ethical political campaigns.  A simple public records search by anyone would show that Marion and I have lived in the same Springfield townhouse continuously since we bought it in 2004.

You also make a ridiculous charge that I do not work in Northern Virginia.  You know that in 2006, I left a successful law practice to start a nonprofit dedicated to alleviating poverty across our state. You are trying to use the fact that we work with struggling families and communities throughout Virginia to deceive voters.  Our main offices, out of which I and all of my full-time staff work, are now and always have been in Northern Virginia — first in Springfield, and now in Alexandria. In truth, every day I sit in the same NoVA traffic which you claim to have made “miraculous progress” solving.  That statement makes me wonder how much time you’ve been spending in our community.

While all of these distortions and untruths bother me, one lie in particular bothers me the most.  I am going to set the record straight right now – even though I believe you know this already – and I will trust that this is the last time in this campaign that you choose to involve my parents in your campaign shenanigans.  You make the claim that Marion and I live in Petersburg, Virginia.  You know that in 2006, Marion and I used much of our savings to buy that home in Petersburg for my parents.  My mother has worked for years as a domestic, cleaning homes and offices, and my father was a prison janitor.  Between low-paying jobs and the expense of raising two children, they had no savings.  It was one of the most gratifying moments of my life when Marion and I were able to buy this home for them, so that they could be closer to us as they grew older.  Of course the title is in my name and I pay the utilities– and you have apparently decided to use that to deceive voters. 

Your letter arrived over Mothers’ Day weekend, while my mother was visiting us in Springfield.  When friends began calling and reading the letter to us, my mother was near tears, thinking she had done something to hurt my campaign by accepting the house.

There are so many other false claims and outrageous distortions in your letter that I’m tempted to go through it sentence by sentence and refute each one – but I’ve decided that it is much more important for me to continue conducting my campaign the way I believe voters want me to – with honesty and integrity; focusing on the issues important to them; discussing how we’re going to work together to make life better for everyone in Southern Fairfax County. We need new ideas, new energy and new leadership in the House of Delegates, not the sad brand of politics as usual to which you’ve resorted.  I am committed to creating jobs, lowering taxes for the middle class, supporting our public schools and getting us out of traffic, all items on which your efforts have been either tragically late or startlingly ineffective. 

In the future, I hope you will think twice before putting your name to something so transparently untrue and desperate.  It’s a perfect example of what voters dislike about politics these days.  It is what they’ve come to expect from typical politicians who care more about holding on to power than serving their constituents.

Sincerely,


Greg Werkheiser

P.S.  I’ll be fighting for the truth in this campaign the same way I’ll fight for progress in our community.  When you misstate the facts in future negative mail, I will respond directly to voters on the “Truth Squad” section of my website: www.gregfordelegate.com.