Christopher Manion supports Walter Mabe for Supervisor from the Shenandoah District

The “special meeting” of the Board of Supervisors on October 25 was a disgrace, as well as an undignified slap in the face of the citizens of Warren County.

One would think that the Board members could not degrade their authority any further, but they managed to do so.

Most disappointing was the part played by my longtime friend and Supervisor, Tom Sayre. I have supported Tom in the past, but can do so no more.

Consider: on October 25th, in a spectacle worthy of a circus act, the board blatantly stuck the public with the bill for their attorney’s fees. Unfortunately, Tom joined in, even though he had told the public just days before that he’d pay his own lawyers.

Tom could have stood his ground. Instead, he caved.

Tom also broke his personal pledge to me. “If I ever vote for a tax hike, you can shoot me,” he told me some time back. And then? Well, he voted for a tax hike. Wasn’t that enough? Not for Tom. He had a perfect opportunity on October 25th to recover some credibility. At that meeting he could have defied his insolent colleagues. He could have demanded out loud and in public that they pay their own bills.

Instead, he joined the crowd, making the Board’s cowardice as unanimous as it was disgusting.

To add insult to an already grievous injury, Mr. Sayre broke the Board’s own rules and launched into a frustrated political tirade against Walter Mabe, his opponent in the upcoming election. No one was allowed to rebut his attack. Instead, Chairman Murray gruffly adjourned the meeting and the members fled the chamber.

Many Warren Citizens of Warren County are ashamed of this Board. We think enough is enough. Tom Sayre is a good man with a wonderful family, but, like the rest of our Supervisors, he’s failed us.

That’s why I’m supporting Walter Mabe for Supervisor from the Shenandoah District.

Christopher Manion

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