center for public integrity: how to run for congress with NO $--and WIN!

You’re young and broke. Here’s how to still win a congressional seat. – Center for Public Integrity 

SMART!!!

Center for Public Integrity

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Center for Public Integrity [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

the public isn't being protected from bad builders--take shenandoah county, virginia, for example.

bring it on, bowman. let's go to court. let the public decide who the victims here are. lawbreaker toothman? shenandoah county? us? ruffner? citizens of shenandoah county? citizens of the commonwealth of virginia? citizens beyond shenandoah county, virginia? 


briefly, here are the facts:
1. when we purchased our house, unbeknown to us, the builder had not graded our lot per the approved grading plan and R401.3 of the virginia building code.
2. months later, after heavy rains, I found standing water in our crawl space.
3. as heavy rains continued over the next few months, the amount of water in our crawl space grew.
4. at some point I mentioned to our duplex "roofmate" that there was standing water in our crawl space.
5. our roofmate contacted the shenandoah county building inspection and code enforcement department.
6. the shenandoah county building official and an inspector with the building inspection and code enforcement department met with our roofmate.
7. after their meeting (neither me nor my wife were present; I was not home at the time) our roofmate asked my wife if the county inspector could inspect our crawl space. Jenny called me, and we agreed.
8. afterwards the building official told us "if there's a code violation then the builder will have to fix it."
9. the following day, the building official met with our roofmate and said that there was no code violaion, explaining that she didn't qualify under section 19.2-8 of the virginia code.
10. on june 30 I sent mark griffey (shenandoah county building official) an email entitled "formal complaint, building code violation". I pointed out that R401.3 had been violated. I also pointed out that we were eligible under section 19.2-8 to submit this code violation complaint. finally, I said: "Should you reject my formal complaint, then I request a meeting at county offices with you and other county personnel or outside consultants involved in the decision not to issue a notice of violation of the building code to the builder for this violation."
11. griffey told me in an email that he was sending a notice of violation to the builder.
12. griffey didn't send a notice of violation to the builder. when I asked him to explain why, he said that "they" had decided to "reach out" to the builder.
13. some time later, locations of underground utilities were marked and the builder brought 2 large rolls of flexible plastic pipe and placed them behind our house. I contacted griffey and asked what was going on.
14. on july 26 griffey sent an email entitled "updated drawing".
15. on july 30 I replied to griffey's email with 13 specific comments plus general comments regarding the unsuitability of the plan. griffey did not respond to my comments.
16. on aug. 7, sept. 14, dec. 3 and dec. 4 jordan bowman, shenandoah county attorney, sent threatening letters to me and my wife. 
17. on aug. 14, at our expense, we contracted to have a waterproof slope installed on our property consistent with the approved grading plan and R401.3. 
18. there's mold in our crawl space.
19. the floor and duct insulation in our crawl space were saturated and ruined by the flooding.
20. R408.3.1 requires: "Exposed earth is covered with a continuous Class I vapor retarder. Joints of the vapor retarder shall overlap by 6 inches (152 mm) and shall be sealed or taped." the loose sheets of moisture barrier in our crawl space were neither sealed nor taped. 
21. R408.5 requires: "The under-floor grade shall be cleaned of all vegetation and organic material. All wood forms used for placing concrete shall be removed before a building is occupied or used for any purpose. All construction materials shall be removed before a building is occupied or used for any purpose." paper, cardboard, leaves, pieces of wood, conduit, air duct hangers, fasteners, brick, concrete, insulation, and other construction debris litter our crawl space.
22. there are other defects in our house that result from bad science and poor construction and inspection. e.g., the good, the bad & the ugly: alan toothman construction, inc.: BIG hole in the wall, BIG hole in the head 

what is not known 

• how did the water get in our crawl space? 
• if our lot had been graded according to the approved grading plan and R401.3, then would our crawl space have flooded? 
• maybe. the answer to this question will never be known.
• will our crawl space dry out with drier weather? 
• maybe. time will tell. given the amount of water in our crawl space, it will likely take many months of warm, dry weather to dry the space out.
• is the water in our roofmate's crawl space connected with the flooding in ours?
• maybe. however, I've inspected our crawl space many times and I've never seen any standing water within 6 to 8 feet from our common wall.
• if the water in our roofmate's crawl space is connected to the flooding in ours, then how much water is coming from our crawl space and how much is coming from other sources?
• IMHO, this is indeterminable. I do know that the ground in the front and the rear of our roofmate's house slopes towards the foundation walls. IMHO, this is where the water in our roofmate's crawl space comes from.

finally: 

• why has shenandoah county steadfastly defended lawbreaking builder alan toothman construction, inc.?
• why does the county attorney continue to harass us with threatening letters? (we're in our seventies.) 
• why did the county refuse to meet with us as I requested (#10 above)?
• why didn't the county reply to my comments on the unsuitability of the toothman "fix" (#14 & 15)?
• toothman's and shenandoah county's "fix" does not comply with R401.3. R401.3 requires:
• "R401.3 Drainage. Surface drainage shall be diverted to a storm sewer conveyance or other approved point of collection that does not create a hazard to the dwelling unit. Lots shall be graded to drain surface water away from foundation walls. The grade shall fall a minimum of six inches (152 mm) within the first 10 feet (3048 mm)."
• "Exception: Where lot lines, walls, slopes or other physical barriers prohibit six inches (152 mm) of fall within 10 feet (3048 mm), drains or swales shall be constructed to ensure drainage away from the structure. Impervious surfaces within 10 feet (3048 mm) of the building foundation shall be sloped a minimum of 2.0% away from the building."
• the "Exception" applies only "where lot lines, walls, slopes or other physical barriers prohibit six inches of fall within 10 feet". No such prohibition exists, as shown on the approved grading plan for our lot.
• toothman's and shenandoah county's interpretation of the exception in R401.3 as being an "either/or" situation is incorrect. The exception only applies if the ground can't be sloped away from foundation walls for 10 feet. As the approved grading plan shows, this is not the case with our lot.

it doesn't pass the smell test-either toothman is jim jones and bowman and griffey are drinking the kool-aid, or something worse is going on.

despite the facts that:

• we own the property, we were denied a seat at the table--see #10 & #15 above.
• I have a degree in civil engineering, we were denied a seat at the table--see #10 & #15 above.
• I held licenses to practice civil engineering in Virginia and several other states, we were denied a seat at the table--see #10 & #15 above.
• I have over 40 years' experience in civil engineering and construction, we were denied a seat at the table--see #10 & #15 above.

citizens: 

• you deserve to be protected from construction that doesn't meet the state building code
• you deserve competent building inspection and code enforcement
• you deserve county and state government that defends you--not lawbreaking builders 

       ➤ SPEAK OUT

       ➤ SPREAD THE WORD

       ➤ VOTE  

virginia
shenandoah county 
building inspection
code enforcement
mark griffey
attorney
jordan bowman
conrad helsley
alan toothman construction, inc.

touching tribute for former President George H W Bush given by his friend and former WH photographer David Valdez

‘End of an era’ | George H.W. Bush photographer remembers capturing iconic family moments | kvue.com 

builder alan toothman + shenandoah county, virginia = poorly engineered and constructed new homes

what do you get with a bad builder and a virginia county that doesn't enforce the building code?

answer: angry homeowners with poorly engineered and constructed new houses. 

bad science 

1. ground that slopes towards the house, instead of away from the house, as the virginia building code and the approved grading plan require. result: flooded crawl space. https://www.prettypurpledoor.com/yard-grading-how-to-grade-a-yard/ Amy knows this! How come a virginia builder and shenandoah county's building official, shenandoah county building inspectors, and shenandoah county's attorney, who handles building code violations, don't?!? bad science.

2. level roof gutters that overflow and add to the crawl space flooding. how come builder toothman doesn't know Why Gutter Slope is Essential to Your Home? when I asked toothman why all of the roof gutters are level, she said "they're all that way." great!!! all of the roof gutters on toothman's new houses are level!!! bad science.

3. flexible plastic pipes connected to downspouts with high and low points and buried outlet ends. how dumb is that?!? 

our house came with level roof gutters and 5 downspouts--3 with flexible plastic pipe attached to them and 2 with splash blocks. the outlet ends of 2 of the 3 downspouts with flexible plastic pipe attached were buried.

I notified the builder when rain from one of the downspouts with splash blocks missed the splash block and went into the below ground access well to the crawl space. the builder replaced the splash block with a buried flexible pipe and extended the buried flexible pipe on one of the buried plastic pipes.

later, after a heavy rain, water from the roof backed up in the other pipe with the buried outlet end, backed up in the downspout, and backed up in the level roof gutter such that all of the runoff coming from that section of the roof was overflowing the level roof gutter. it washed out a slope onto my neighbor's driveway. when I told toothman, she said "we would never bury the outlet end". this after toothman had already unburied 1 of the 2 buried outlet ends on our property! talk about dishonest!

roof drainage should flow by gravity, which requires a straight grade--no dips or high points and open outlet ends. water and air trapped in flexible plastic pipes by low and high spots require pressure to flow. when water backs up in downspouts, they leak, and the weight of the stored water can cause downspouts to break away from the house. bad science. 

4. holes in the foundation wall: MINDS OF MUSH: alan toothman construction, inc.: BIG hole in the wall, BIG hole in the head. what?!? bad science. 

5. a room where the temperature is ten degrees colder than the thermostat temperature. (the thermostat is located in the hallway 10 ft. from the cold room.) bad science. 

poor construction 

1. floors with low spots that go BANG! when you walk on them.

2. gutters that leak and a downspout that empties into the below ground, crawl space access door well. 

3. a foul odor coming from the bathroom sink.

4. sloppy trim. 

shenandoah county, virginia's poor inspection and followup failures 

1. during and following construction shenandoah county's building inspectors failed to identify that the ground sloped towards the house instead of away from the house. this is a clear violation of virginia's building code. also, the approved grading plan shows the ground sloping away from the house. in addition to not knowing what the building code requires, apparently the inspectors can't read plans. even so, how can one not see the difference between a hill and a swale? 

2. even though shenandoah county's building official told me that the county was going to cite toothman for violating the buiding code, shenandoah county did not. when asked to explain why the county wasn't citing the builder for a building code violation, the building official told me that he chose instead to "reach out" (his words) to toothman. what?!?

3. shenandoah county's attorney, who works for a private law firm in the neighboring county, wrote us threatening letters. 
http://mindsofmush.blogspot.com/2018/08/how-shenandoah-co-va-mishandled-clear.html
https://mindsofmush.blogspot.com/2018/09/another-letter-from-jordan-bowman-sigh.html 
what?!? 

4. it doesn't pass the smell test. 

citizens of shenandoah county, virginia and elsewhere: 

• you deserve to be protected from construction that doesn't meet the state building code
• you deserve competent building inspection and code enforcement
• you deserve county and state government that defends you--not lawbreaking builders 

       ➤ SPEAK OUT

       ➤ SPREAD THE WORD

       ➤ VOTE  





alan toothman construction, inc.
woodstock 
virginia
shenandoah county
building official
mark griffey
attorney
jordan bowman
strasburg
conrad helsley
stony pointe

a victory for good behavior, a defeat for poor behavior

trump, you lost! hurrah! 

thanks be to God that most Americans don't behave as poorly as you and much of "your base" behave. 

hopefully in 2020 the majority will finish the job and sink the bad behavior candidates of BOTH the republican AND the democrat parties. 

here's how:

who do you trust?
- the republican or democrat parties? 
- their lousy candidates?
- or do you trust billionaires and the billionaire corporations that fund the republican and democrat parties and their bad behavior candidates?

- or do you trust someone who you know who has similar values to yours?

here's how government operates: 

or rather, doesn't operate.

the fix to our dysfunctional government is simple and easy--stop voting for lousy candidates who don't have values similar to yours and who don't represent the best interests of our country to move our country forward. 

If you vote for a republican or a democrat, then it's not the person who you voted for who is in control--it's the party--the hand that holds the puppet/money strings. 

In the next election--national, state or local--vote for someone who shares your values who is not a democrat or a republican. 

even with their billion dollar donors, the republican and democratic parties will shrivel up and die if no one votes for their obstructionist candidates.

Nothing will be better for our country.

two party system | See the article "Two Parties See Record L… | Flickr

File:Two party system diagram.png - Wikimedia Commons

PS the same applies for the biased news media. if folks stop patronizing the biased news media, then they'll dry up and disappear too. who knows? maybe cable tv and the internet will improve without all the hateful rhetoric. we can only hope.

are you fed up with government--at every level--like I am? and the biased news media too?

the good, the bad & the ugly: virginia gives supreme authority for building code violations to the counties. when the county and the builder don't pass the smell test, then virginians are screwed. 

stinks, doesn't it?

had enough? 

who do you trust?
- the republican party or democrat party?
- do you trust billionaires and the billionaire corporations that fund the republican and democrat parties?

- or do you trust someone who you know who has similar values to yours?

here's how government operates: 

or rather, doesn't operate.

the fix to our dysfunctional government is simple and easy--stop voting for obstructionist candidates who don't have values similar to yours and who don't represent the best interests of our country to move our country forward. 

If you vote for a republican or a democrat, then it's not the person who you voted for who is in control--it's the party--the hand that holds the puppet/money strings. 

In the next election--national, state or local--vote for someone who shares your values who is not a democrat or a republican. 

even with their billion dollar donors, the republican and democratic parties will shrivel up and die if no one votes for their obstructionist candidates.

Nothing will be better for our country.

two party system | See the article "Two Parties See Record L… | Flickr

File:Two party system diagram.png - Wikimedia Commons

PS the same applies for the biased news media. if folks stop patronizing the biased news media, then they'll dry up and disappear too. who knows? maybe cable tv and the internet will improve without all the hateful rhetoric. we can only hope.

Jimmy Buffett: I wish I had a Pencil Thin Mustache, the boston blackie kind

Pencil Thin Mustache Jimmy Buffett - YouTube 

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shenandoah county virginia fails to cite lawbreaking builder opting instead to write threatening letters to law-abiding homeowners

1. file a building code violation with the county building official. include a request for a meeting with county officials if the violation is rejected.
2. building official says that he will notify the builder of the violation.
3. building official does not issue a notification of violation to the builder.
4. the county attorney writes threatening letters to homeowner.
5. the meeting that the homeowner requested with county decision makers doesn't happen.
6. the end--there is no recourse for the homeowner.

virginia hands over supreme authority for building code violations to county lightweights. shame on you, virginia! where else in the USA does one level of government (local, state or national) or branch of government have supreme authority? overseen by and answerable to no one? answer: nowhere. virginia, you've created a stinking mess.

citizens of shenandoah county, you should know when your county government defends a lawbreaking builder instead of its own law-abiding citizens.

MINDS OF MUSH: shenandoah county virginia building code violation 

MINDS OF MUSH: the latest letter from jordan bowman, private attorney and county attorney for shenandoah county, virginia, is harassment--it will NOT stand. 

MINDS OF MUSH: how shenandoah co. va. mishandled a clear building code violation 

MINDS OF MUSH: shenandoah county virginia's handling of an alan toothman construction, inc. building code violation doesn't pass the smell test 

MINDS OF MUSH: alan toothman construction, inc.: BIG hole in the wall, BIG hole in the head 

MINDS OF MUSH: I feel your pain, ma'am--more virginia corruption 

MINDS OF MUSH: it's obvious that in many places in virginia that the building code isn't being enforced--shenandoah county being another one of them 

MINDS OF MUSH: alan toothman construction, woodstock, va 

citizens of shenandoah county: 

• you deserve to be protected from construction that doesn't meet the state building code
• you deserve competent building inspection and code enforcement
• you deserve county and state government that defends you, not lawbreaking builders 

       ➤ SPEAK OUT
       ➤ SPREAD THE WORD
       ➤ VOTE

virginia 

shenandoah county 
building inspection and code enforcement 
county attorney 
strasburg 
stony pointe 
alan toothman construction, inc.

compendium: shenandoah county, virginia & builder alan toothman construction, inc. don't pass the smell test

citizens of shenandoah county, you should know when your county government defends a lawbreaking builder instead of its own law-abiding citizens.

MINDS OF MUSH: shenandoah county virginia building code violation 

MINDS OF MUSH: the latest letter from jordan bowman, private attorney and county attorney for shenandoah county, virginia, is harassment--it will NOT stand. 

MINDS OF MUSH: how shenandoah co. va. mishandled a clear building code violation 

MINDS OF MUSH: shenandoah county virginia's handling of an alan toothman construction, inc. building code violation doesn't pass the smell test 

MINDS OF MUSH: alan toothman construction, inc.: BIG hole in the wall, BIG hole in the head 

MINDS OF MUSH: I feel your pain, ma'am--more virginia corruption 

MINDS OF MUSH: it's obvious that in many places in virginia that the building code isn't being enforced--shenandoah county being another one of them 

MINDS OF MUSH: alan toothman construction, woodstock, va 

citizens of shenandoah county: 

• you deserve to be protected from construction that doesn't meet the state building code
• you deserve competent building inspection and code enforcement
• you deserve county and state government that defends you, not lawbreaking builders 

       ➤ SPEAK OUT
       ➤ SPREAD THE WORD
       ➤ VOTE

virginia 
shenandoah county 
building inspection and code enforcement 
county attorney 
strasburg 
stony pointe 
alan toothman construction, inc.

it's obvious that in many places in virginia that the building code isn't being enforced--shenandoah county being another one of them

Front Royal town council proposed an amendment for buildings and maintenance codes 

the good, the bad & the ugly: how shenandoah co. va. mishandled a clear building code violation

the good, the bad & the ugly: the latest letter from jordan bowman, private attorney and county attorney for shenandoah county, virginia, is harassment--it will NOT stand.


it doesn't pass the smell test.

virginia
shenandoah county
strasburg
stony pointe
toothman

alan toothman construction, inc.: BIG hole in the wall, BIG hole in the head

there's an underground hole in the outside wall of my crawl space:

the hole is BIG--about 6 ft. wide and 3 ft. high. The only other openings into the crawl space are the access door that is MUCH smaller than this BIG open hole--sealed with a removable metal door--and small vents that are covered with mesh and screen.

how stupid is that? rain, rodents, snakes, etc. can come right through the BIG hole into the crawl space.

Nicholas, our cat that we adopted from the humane society of warren county, virginia, has nailed 5 mice in 9 months--and counting. 

I suspect that the numbskull builder ran into some rock that he didn't want to excavate, so he decided to leave a BIG hole in the wall.

and how stupid is it that the numbskulls at shenandoah county would allow a BIG hole in an outside wall of a crawl space that is otherwise sealed from the outside?

"stupid is as stupid does." 

Forrest Gump                

alan toothman construction, inc.: BIG hole in the wall, BIG hole in the head.

shenandoah county: defender of alan toothman construction, inc.

citizens of shenandoah county: 

• you deserve to be protected from construction that doesn't meet the state building code
• you deserve competent building inspection and code enforcement
• you deserve county and state government that defends you, not lawbreaking builders 

       ➤ SPEAK OUT
       ➤ SPREAD THE WORD
       ➤ VOTE

virginia

shenandoah county

strasburg

stony pointe

toothman

the latest letter from jordan bowman, private attorney and county attorney for shenandoah county, virginia, is harassment--it will NOT stand.

another letter from bowman...  (sigh)

let's look at the facts:

• does bowman have all the answers? no. he's a lawyer working for a private law firm. what does he know about construction, drainage, etc.?
• does mark griffey, building official for shenandoah county, have all the answers? no. what are his qualifications? does he have a degree in civil engineering? is he a licensed engineer? how many years' experience as a licensed engineer does he have in construction, drainage, geotechnical engineering, etc.?
• does anyone at shenandoah county have a license to practice engineering and more than 40 years' experience doing so?
• does toothman have all the answers? obviously, no. he breaks the law by not following the building code. he can't read plans, e.g., the approved grading plan for stony pointe. he thinks that water flows uphill, e.g. flexible plastic drainage pipe with peaks and valleys and buried outlet ends and gutters that are undersized and level. 
• does toothman's engineer have all the answers? no. he should know better than to come up with a cockamamie, numbskull scheme for a 80 ft. long trench next to my foundation wall that will fill up with water.  and flexible plastic pipe on a 1% grade. what some people will do for $!
• does ms. ruffner have all the answers? obviously, no. one has to look no farther than the grading in the front and rear of ms. ruffner's property to know why she has mold in her crawl space. the ground slopes towards her foundation walls--a clear violation of R401.3 in the state building code. ms. ruffner's mold has everything to do with alan toothman construction inc. and failures of shenandoah county's office of building inspection and code enforcement and county attorney's office. the mold in ms. ruffner's crawl space has nothing to do with us.

• I own the property
• I'm a retired civil engineer with a degree in civil engineering
• I held licenses to practice civil engineering in several states, including virginia
• I have 40+ years experience in civil engineering, construction, drainage, etc. 

so, if you had a flooded crawl space, caused by the builder breaking the law, with shenandoah county and ms. ruffner trying to shove the builder's "fix" down your throat, who would you give precedence to? 

• bowman?
• griffey?
• shenandoah county?
• toothman?
• toothman's engineer?
• ms. ruffner?

• or the property owner? after all, it's his property. he's also a retired civil engineer, who has a degree in civil engineering, who's held licenses to practice engineering in several states, including virginia, and who has more than 40 years' experience in civil engineering and construction.

griffey, bowman, toothman--it doesn't pass the smell test.

PS in his last letter to me bowman said: "Any building code violation is now your responsibility." minds of mush: how shenandoah co. va. mishandled a clear building code violation Now Bowman says: "If this issue is not resolved within 30 days, then the county will have no choice but to evaluate its enforcement options against you and proceed accordingly." 

This is harassment, and it will not stand. worse than incompetence is arrogant incompetence.

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By Christopher Gadsden (1724–1805), Lexicon, Vikrum [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/), CC BY-SA 2.0  (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0) or Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." 
U.S. Constitution, amendment 4

citizens of shenandoah county: 

• you deserve to be protected from construction that doesn't meet the state building code
• you deserve competent building inspection and code enforcement
• you deserve county and state government that defends you, not lawbreaking builders 

       ➤ SPEAK OUT
       ➤ SPREAD THE WORD
       ➤ VOTE

listen to the guy who knows:

• not bowman
• not griffey 
• not smith
• not toothman
• not lellock
• not ruffner

listen to the engineer who has 40 years experience in civil engineering, construction and drainage and who was licensed to practice civil engineering in Virginia and several other states. 

6/20/22, an update. jordon bowman no longer represents shenandoah county. mark griffey is no longer shenandoah county's building official. ms. ruffner, my neighbor, did not get her way. I refused "...to allow the builder (alan toothman) to remedy the water issue".

they were wrong. I was right. perhaps now all of them are better acquainted with construction, and the bill of rights' 4th amendment to the U.S. constitution.

virginia

shenandoah county

strasburg

stony pointe

toothman