Personnel items at forefront of supervisors last meeting of September

‘You say you want a revolution’ – well the James Wood Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution staged one to celebrate the 232nd ‘Birthday’ of the U.S. Constitution at Tuesday’s Warren County Board of Supervisors meeting. Royal Examiner Photos/Roger Bianchini. Video by Mark Williams, Royal Examiner.

At its meeting of Tuesday evening, September 17, the Warren County Board of Supervisors announced the contracting of an interim county attorney; the pending departure of County Finance Director Andre Fletcher, and the reappointment of George Cline Jr. to a new four-year term on the County Board of Building Code Appeals.

The attorney and Cline announcements came after a 15 minute closed session near the meeting’s end. Fletcher’s resignation, effective October 18, was announced by County Administrator Doug Stanley during his report to the board. Fletcher is leaving for a job at the Prince William County Sheriff’s Office where he has previously worked, Stanley said.

Jason Ham, who represented the County Board of Building Code Appeals at last week’s Buracker Construction-Kristie Atwood Building Code Appeals hearing, was present in departed County Attorney Dan Whitten’s seat during Tuesday’s meeting. Ham confirmed to media following the meeting that he works for Litten & Sipe LLP which is the firm contracted to handle the County’s legal responsibilities on an interim basis pending the hiring of a full-time replacement for Whitten.

Jason Ham may not have had a name tag Tuesday, but the attorney’s firm of Litten & Sipe has been named to provide interim county attorney services pending selection of a permanent replacement for Dan Whitten.

Whitten’s final day officially was September 13, though he indicated last week he might actually work through the weekend. Whitten left the county attorney’s position here to take the county attorney’s job in Prince George County, Virginia. Whitten was elevated to the County’s top legal job upon the retirement of Blair Mitchell in the spring of 2016.

Assistant county attorney at the time, Whitten was appointed interim county attorney on May 1, 2016, then named county attorney four months later on September 1. His tenure at the top of the County, and consequently the EDA, legal hierarchy overlapped the evolution of a number of EDA projects begun during his predecessor’s term that are now key elements in the EDA financial fraud investigation and consequent civil litigation.

Those include the ITFederal project at the EDA’s Royal Phoenix Business Park now listed as the vehicle for a fraudulently-acquired $10 million loan from the EDA and the Workforce Housing Project now written off as $640,000 loss begun in 2014 as a $10 gift to the EDA from the former EDA executive director’s uncle and aunt; then purchased by the EDA for $445,000 in April 2017; and then sold to representatives of a regional developer for $10 in late November 2018* – wasn’t it fun, Dan?

Dan Whitten may have been trying to tap out at his final appearance as EDA attorney, at the EDA Special Meeting called for September 10. Come on, Dan – always remember the good times …

Fletcher was appointed interim finance director on September 1, 2016, the same day Whitten had the “interim” removed from his title; and had that word removed from his job description on April 1, 2017. Fletcher replaced Kathleen Dellinger who held the position for just over a year following the April 30, 2015 retirement of long-time County Finance Director Carolyn Stimmel. Stimmel has enjoyed her retirement by continuing to periodically help out around the Warren County Government Center, and even more excitingly this year, at the EDA office – isn’t retirement a blast, Carolyn?

Coincidentally on Tuesday, County Human Resources Director Jodi Saffelle gave an update on the status of implementation of Phase One of a Compensation Plan in the wake of a consultant’s compensation study of county government employee salary levels both internally and compared to surrounding jurisdictions.

While the current cost estimate of $321,886 and change is nearly $22,000 above the amount authorized by the board for Phase One implementation, Saffelle reported that “staff anticipates savings that will keep the funding well within the approved range of $300,000.”

Among the variables impacting those savings are changes at the top of several Constitutional Office departments. Among those are Treasurer, Sheriff, Circuit Court Clerk and Commonwealth’s Attorney, all of which had retirements, two (Circuit Court Clerk Daryl Funk and Commonwealth’s Attorney Brian Madden) to judicial appointments, at the top position within the last year.
The fifth county constitutional officer is the commissioner of the revenue, who has not retired – have you, Sherry?

And speaking of constitutional offices, on Tuesday the supervisors unanimously approved a joint request by Sheriff Michael Arnold and Interim Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Layton to move the County’s Victim-Witness Coordinator’s position from the sheriff’s to the commonwealth attorney’s office.

Interim Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Layton and Sheriff Michael Arnold listen as their request to transfer authority for the Victim-Witness Coordinator’s position to the CA’s Office is explained by County Human Resources Director Jodi Saffelle.

Human Resources Director Saffelle’s summary of the request noted Sheriff Arnold’s observation that most jurisdictions place that position within the auspices of the commonwealth attorney’s office. Examples offered were Clarke, Fauquier, Frederick, Shenandoah and Page Counties and the City of Winchester – well, that pretty much has us surrounded.

It was also noted that the position, which is currently vacant here, is enabled through a grant awarded to the County by the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services. Saffelle told the supervisors that Sheriff Arnold, Layton and County Administrator Doug Stanley were working with the grant administrator to assure the change, if approved, would be reported to the proper state administrative sources, so as not to interfere with the grant process in coming years.

There may only be 13 stars on it but don’t let that flag hit the ground either. Sons of the American Revolution James Wood Chapter President Dale Corey, right, gives a little context to the Dr. Joseph Warren plaque presentation to county officials.

Tuesday’s meeting got off to a colorful start with the presentation of a Dr. Joseph Warren informational plaque for the Warren County Government Center commemorating the Revolutionary War figure for whom the county is named. As noted by Larry Johnson in prefacing the presentation, similar plaques have been place in all nine county public schools as an educational initiative.

It was noted by members of the James Wood Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution that the presentation was being made on the “Birthday of the American Constitution”. It was on September 17, 1787 that the Constitutional Convention that saw the writing and signing of the U.S. Constitution came to a close in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Items included the presentation by Johnson, Chapter President Dale Corey, Ned Farenholtz and Dale Carpenter referenced Dr. Joseph Warren of Massachusetts as a “forgotten Founding Father” who might have been president of the young nation had he not been targeted and killed by the British at the Battle of Bunker Hill.

See this entertaining, informational and colorful start to Tuesday’s meeting and the rest of the county business conducted in this linked Royal Examiner video:

Larry Johnson may be warning of possible British loyalists in the crowd as he leads the way to a 232nd anniversary celebration of the U.S. Constitution on Sept. 17, 2019.

* FOOTNOTE: Whitten did not act as EDA legal counsel on that Nov. 28, 2018 Workforce Housing parcel sale, having recused due to a County-EDA conflict of interest. Local real estate attorney Joe Silek Jr. represented the ED