Egger lambasts supervisors for ‘foolish things’ and lack of oversight

Mark Egger, addressing the Board of Supervisors for the second time in 2019. He encouraged the board to ‘clean house’ and empanel a new board for the EDA. / Photo & Video Mark Williams

FRONT ROYAL, VA – The Warren County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday morning were admonished by Front Royal resident Mark Egger for what he called “foolish things” including the board’s decision to postpone the appointment of two new EDA Board members to fill the seats of Greg Drescher and Ron Llewellyn, whose terms expired on February 28.

Egger told the panel that they should be ashamed of themselves for allowing either man to remain on the EDA board beyond their term expiration.

He also re-visited the issue of the alleged May 18, 2017 break-in at the EDA office and the subsequent hiring of private investigator Ken Pullen. He said EDA board members Drescher and Llewellyn had different accounts of who hired the P.I. than did former Executive Director Jennifer McDonald.

Egger also provided copies of a check written from the EDA bank account on June 6, 2017, and signed by Dresher and McDonald, that were made out to Ken Pullen and notated as being for “retainer fees” that he obtained by filing a Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

He also displayed a check from Jennifer McDonald’s personal account made out to the EDA, dated on the same day, to reimburse the EDA for the P.I. retainer fees. Egger noted that the check from McDonald was not deposited until Aug. 16, 2017 – more than two months after it was written. He then relayed details of an email exchange between himself and McDonald in which he said she claimed she had and had not hired a private investigator.

Egger encouraged the board to “clean house and move forward” regarding the EDA board and to hold interviews for prospective new members in an open meeting.