Scott Gordon is dropping out of the race for Alexandria School Board.
On Monday, Patch revealed that the Del Ray resident and District A candidate on a questionnaire he filled out for the Alexandria Political Action Committee for Education.
In a June 27 conversation with Patch, Gordon said he recently earned a doctorate in Industrial and Organization Psychology from Virginia Tech at a satellite campus in Arlington County.
A representative from Virginia Tech’s Department of Psychology said Monday there is no record of Gordon attending the school. Another representative from Virginia Tech told Patch that the Psychology Department has no offices in Arlington.
Gordon sent Patch the following statement on Wednesday morning:
In response to your recent piece bringing to light a most unfortunate error in judgment on my part, I'd like to offer a narrative from my end.
While it is fair to judge a person based on his or her actions I'd like to also argue that a person's worth cannot always be assessed entirely on the mistakes he has made but should be based more fairly on the historically well-meaning actions of the individual and his or her commitment to public service.
Throughout history, many of our greatest leaders have had their reputations, decisions and moral fiber challenged due to poor decision-making in their personal lives. And while there is rarely a good excuse for these instances, more often than not their commitment to the greater good, their commitment to the people they represent is left unchallenged in the public eye.
In a moment of weakness, perhaps in a feeble attempt to boost my own personal feelings of self-worth, I slightly embellished the most latter parts of my education. Why did I do this? Why does anybody have a lapse in judgment? The sub-conscience is difficult to understand and low self-esteem, competition and the stresses of public life all mixed together may provide for an interesting end result.
Why did Thomas Jefferson father two children out of wedlock?
Why did Barney Frank fix 33 parking tickets for Steve Gobie?
Why did former Pres. Bill Clinton have extramarital affairs while in office?You see, it's difficult to understand why anybody does anything. What's even more difficult to understand is why someone like me, who knows clearly the difference between right and wrong, would venture to think that the intentional or unintentional fabrication of a qualification is okay.
That being said, the truth has an interesting way of changing when the public begins to give it a life of its own.
I am ashamed that public service in the city has become more about argument, political lines, money and conflicts of interest and has become less about an individual’s desire to serve the greater good.
Regardless of my personal feelings and regardless of my desire to do good, I have challenged any semblance of trust the public may have had in me. In an attempt to begin rebuilding that trust I believe it is my duty to allow others to seek, without any further complications, the seat for which I intended to campaign for.
I have tasted just a very small amount of what it means to be involved in local politics and I am sickened by the experience. I hope this city and its residents can someday act more like a community and less like competing special interest groups. I hope that someday a man's good intentions, his desire to give back, can be held in higher regard than any singular mistake.
I wish all those running to serve on the a ACPS school board the best of luck as November quickly approaches and urge them to put the greater good before their need to highlight any other persons errors.
You know, this started as a misunderstanding and I didn't know how to make it go away. Instead of just saying "no wait, there's a mistake here," I followed through with it. It was a dumb move, but what's done is done.
I hope, with this letter, the press will allow me and my family to move on without continued scrutiny as I am no longer relevant (thankfully).
To quote The British Ministry of Information: "Keep Calm and Carry On."
In March, as a Republican candidate citing a family illness issue. He also resigned from the Alexandria Republican City Committee in protest of its support of Councilwoman Alicia Hughes. He then endorsed Democrat Sean Holihan.
The Del Ray resident entered the School Board race just before the June 12 deadline to file for candidacy.
Six candidates remain in the field for District A: Bill Campbell, Karen Graf, Stephanie Kapsis, Helen Morris, Joyce Rawlings and Heath Wells. The election is Nov. 6.
For more Patch coverage of the 2012 Election, "like" Del Ray Patch and Old Town Alexandria Patch on Facebook and follow @delraypatch and @alexandriapatch on Twitter.
As I noted in an earlier comment on this matter, Alexandrians are, I think, a forgiving lot if you come clean, fess up, understand what you did, and ask for another chance. Reading Mr. Gordon's statement, it's still not clear he understands what he did wrong and why so many of his neighbors -- many of whom worked very hard to attain whatever degree of education they've obtained -- are appalled at what he did. "Record of public service" or no, it speaks very poorly of one's character to say you have a PhD when you don't -- especially when lots of us put in a lot of effort to get college, graduate, or professional degrees. It's a slap in the face. I otherwise like Mr. Gordon's ideas and I was, frankly, hoping this was some sort of mistake or less of a baldfaced lie: that either Virginia Tech would acknowledge he is on its rolls or that Mr. Gordon would come out and be able to show he's in a PhD program somewhere, has written his thesis, and is just waiting on a final defense of it -- that would lessen this somewhat. But I just don't think he gets it. Maybe in the future. Regards, E. Warfield
There's the heart of the problem. Scott never was relevant - and he knew it.
In this case, Scott Gordon threw a very public "political punch" toward Alicia Hughes, then turns around and pulls this stunt. ~ Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. And now, he is asking for this to be considered as a "misunderstanding." Personally, I'm tired of this type of political behavior. It's getting old - and very irritating. ~ If we truly want the "political tone" to change, let's all stick to the issues - rather than engaging in constant personal attacks.
"In a moment of weakness, perhaps in a feeble attempt to boost my own personal feelings of self-worth, I [whatever I did]. Why did I do this? Why does anybody have a lapse in judgment? The sub-conscience is difficult to understand and low self-esteem, competition and the stresses of public life all mixed together may provide for an interesting end result." Regards, etc., E. Warfield