Criticism of Supervisor Majority on Library Funding Builds

The people of Warren County have spoken, loudly and repeatedly: fund our library. Yet four members of the Board of Supervisors have chosen to ignore the will of the people and instead escalate their war on Samuels Public Library. Their latest maneuver, stripping the library of over a million dollars and redistributing those taxpayer funds elsewhere, is an act of betrayal. However worthy those other services may be, this decision is outrageous. It leaves our already-stretched citizens paying twice: once through county taxes and again through personal donations to keep the library afloat. That is nothing less than double taxation.

The BOS4 no longer even pretends to represent the majority of their constituents. These four apparently answer only to a narrow, ideologically driven minority while openly defying the majority who value Samuels as the heart of our community. They have forfeited their claim to public trust, and they will soon forfeit their seats. Their legacy will be division, damage, and disgrace. This will go down as a shameful chapter that Warren County will remember long after their names have left the ballot.

For too long now, our county has suffered repeated embarrassments such as this due to a small faction determined to impose its views on everyone else. The majority of Warren County citizens have no interest in such overreach. As Americans, we value free access to knowledge, to ideas, and choices, as well as personal agency and decision-making. This entire debacle should serve as a wake-up call: elections matter. We must scrutinize candidates, understand their motives, and above all, we must vote, or we risk watching more of our public institutions gutted by ideologues.

Particularly objectionable is the conduct of Supervisor Jamieson. This past spring, he denied that the Board intended to defund the library and accused opponents of being alarmists, spreading false information. And yet here we are: our library stripped of its rightful funding. It turns out that it wasn’t library supporters who were spreading false information. Mr. Jamieson’s denials skated dangerously close to “bearing false witness” (defined as “giving untrue testimony or spreading false information”). This board, Mrs. Cullers excepted, has broken more than trust with their constituents, and the voters will not forget.

We will not allow the BOS4’s betrayal to define Warren County. We will fight for Samuels. We will restore honest, representative government. And this November, we will bring an end to the disgraceful assault on our community’s most cherished institution.

L.K. Henderson
Warren County VA

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