Get your revenge the correct way – at the polls

Editor:

Until a short time ago, Front Royal and Warren County seemed to be quiet, rural communities with their respective governments trying to keep taxes down and provide good services. Things were looking up – after years of a down economy the phoenix of the Avtex site was finally getting a big project in the form of IT Federal – which would mean jobs and a boost in the revenue base. There were many projects like this started by the EDA, which had an almost magical grip on the community. It was led by a person who would prove to be a pied piper of sorts; later to face multiple indictments for her many alleged defalcations. She managed to take a highly respected local sheriff down with her, along with an assortment of townspeople who were friends, relatives or business partners.

Things started to turn ugly. Many people faced criminal indictments and some were jailed. Sheriff Danny – May he rest in peace – took his own life. There was a great sucking sound from their respective budgets as the town and county engaged the services of forensic auditors to figure out the mess. Secret meetings were held; some said so as to not tip off the next batch of indictees as to what was coming their way. The town council and the board of supervisors suddenly became secretive – enemies in the eyes of many. Discontent manifested itself in the form of “in-your-face” confrontations and late night phone calls, yelling, screaming and cursing at the town and county leaders.

Now I’m not a lawyer and I don’t know too much about the law – but I’ve been told that a good lawyer could figure out a way to indict a “ham sandwich”. Well, finally, it did happen! A grand Jury was convened and whoever was in charge of “prosecution” managed to turn the entire Warren County Board of Supervisors and some other public servants into a collective ham sandwich. Yes, they were ALL indicted – all 14 of them. Mass Indictments! Boy that should really solve the problem!

Now if that wasn’t bad enough, a certain group of people went out into neighborhoods and started collecting signatures for a recall petition. I ran into one of them. I asked her what the petition she wanted me to sign was for and she said it was to “remove the entire Board of Supervisors from office” I said, “Well, Ma’am, how can you remove an entire board? – who will run the county? And does this fit with the notion where someone is innocent until proven guilty?” She didn’t have an answer for that, and I asked her if I could see a copy of the petition – she said “no”. I reminded her in passing that this is what elections are for. Throw the bums out if that’s what you want, but go to a place provided for that purpose – the polling place. Yes, Vote!

It sounds like a group of maybe 38 people, or one thousandth of the county population, has designated itself to rule the county by stripping it of its leadership. These people on the board were elected by a constitutional process. Right or wrong, the citizens of the county voted to have them as their representatives. Right or wrong, they have been functioning in that capacity.

Nonetheless, this dissident group got themselves a brave lawyer who filed the petition and suggested that not only should the supervisors be recalled, but (just to be on the safe side?) they should be removed “immediately” (like, in case they might do something even more damaging while in office?). Again, who is going to manage the affairs of the county after they have all been “removed”? Who are you going to put in there, volunteers?

Warren County has somewhat north of 38,000 people. The county supervisors handle some pretty massive budgets – they build and service roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, parks and public facilities, to name a few. For the last 15 years, my wife and I have been very happy living here, having escaped the “surly bonds” of Fairfax with its rapacious tax policy and command and control government. We’ve seen Warren county grow modestly while our taxes and the services provided have been entirely reasonable.

So we love living in the Valley, but don’t appreciate what’s happening right now. First, I don’t understand the mass indictments – it seems that the law could have been applied in a more constitutionally centered and selective way. And for those vigilante types assembled in the streets with torches and pitchforks? I have no use for this kind of justice either, and I doubt if their petition for removal will pass legal muster despite the fact it might have given them a warm fuzzy feeling when they filed it.

Finally, I think what’s happening to the supervisors in this county is a travesty. C’mon folks, these are your friends and your neighbors. They have families! They don’t deserve the treatment they have received, even though the EDA woman and her magic carpet apparently managed to take everyone for a ride. There has been an abundance of available afterthought as to what the supervisors and the county government “coulda/woulda/shoulda” done. I’m not sure what anyone would have done under the circumstances.

It’s going to take a while for all the legal & criminal proceedings to work their way through, and I would suggest that the residents of the county tone down the rhetoric and turn out and get your revenge the correct way – at the polls. Dan Murray & Linda Glavis are retiring. Some good people are running for their seats. Tony Carter and Archie Fox are not up for election this cycle. The only one with his head sticking up for re-election is Tom Sayre. Despite all the negative talk being thrown his way, I would consider Mr. Sayre to be entirely worthy of re-election. I believe he is an honorable man who was trying to take Magic Lady to task (and got sued for it). I’m sure he will continue to try to sort through the mess, and he should be reelected.

I worry now that the next group to be targeted is the town council. Are they keeping their heads down, waiting for the same fate as the county? Keep this disgusting trend going and we’ll have indicted and recalled every ham sandwich in the Valley! These people do not deserve the stain of indictments on their records, even if they are only little “fluffy” non-criminal indictments. I believe these are a gross misuse of the law.

And I’ll be damned if I’m going to allow some group of dissidents to recall and overturn my constitutionally elected supervisor!

So please, don’t forget to go out and vote on November 5^th!

Allan Edwards
Front Royal, Virginia