Jamieson Defends Creation of a County Library Board as Normal Fiduciary Due Diligence, Critical of Opposing Views

The Warren County Board of Supervisors tackled a seven-topic agenda, including one late addition involving funding of an athletic field at Rockland Park, regarding departmental budgets and “Financial Projections” on revenue versus expenditures in coming fiscal years at a Tuesday, December 3rd work session at the Warren County Government Center.

First the board was introduced to new or reassigned Warren County Sheriff’s Office staff by Sheriff Crystal Cline.

Sheriff Crystal Cline gestures to new and reassigned departmental employees introduced to supervisors to kick off Tuesday’s supervisors work session. Below, Asst. Fire Chief Gerry Maiatico explained two recent departmental initiatives related to protective equipment and a required positional restructuring for the department’s OMD (Operational Medical Director). Royal Examiner Photos Roger Bianchini

Then the board heard from Assistant Fire Chief Gerry Maiatico on acquiring anti-disease protective equipment and a restructured contractual arrangment with the Fire & Rescue Department’s Operational Medical Director (OMD);

Next it was Public Works Director Mike Berry on the needed replacement of an aging air conditioning system at the Public Safety building, the County’s only “Green building” as noted by County Administrator Daley.

Then a revisit to the podium by Sheriff Cline to address grant availability on the purchase of replacement body-worn cameras;

And County Administrator Ed Daley’s detailed run through on county revenues versus expenditures projected through coming fiscal years;

County Administrator Ed Daley, with Finance Director Alisa Scott assisting him on the numbers, reports on projected revenues vs. expenditures in coming fiscal years.

Then the board got to its final agenda item.

That item was an update from Financial Subcommittee member Richard Jamieson on an “Addendum to 2023 Library Debrief and Research Final Report”. And while the largely empty public-seating section of the main meeting room may not have indicated high public interest for this week’s work session with no Action Item votes and no Public Comments offered for general citizen concerns, that is likely to change. For that topic and the stated justifications for creation of a Warren County Library Board (WCLB) with appointment authority for library operational oversight might draw a slightly larger crowd this coming week for the public hearing on a code addition to enable establishment of that WC Library Board.

For while Jamieson presented creation of the WCLB as simply financial and operational due diligence with contracted, outside agencies offering countywide services, we may see various groups of county citizens perspectives of support and opposition to that sub-committee initiative this coming Tuesday, December 10. That is when the public hearing is scheduled on the enabling code passage to facilitate the supervisors restructuring library operational oversight with establishment of the WCLB.

Supervisor Jamieson peruses his Addendum response to criticism of his methods and analysis. Below, an excerpt from that Addendum, and further below except for staff a largely empty work session meeting room.

Judging from work session comments that initiative is seemingly supported by a majority of the supervisors, perhaps all save Board Chairman Cheryl Cullers who was absent Tuesday, reportedly with a health issue.

It became clear in his lengthy, prepared statement overview that Jamieson still points a finger at Samuels Library Board of Trustees, management staff, and the media for creation of what he asserts is a false scenario of an attempted operational takeover and defunding threat surrounding last year’s “Clean Up Samuels” versus the “Save Samuels”/”Friends of Samuels” battle focused on library content related to LGBTQ materials offered in the library, including in some youth sections. And as previously reported, while Samuels officials reorganized some youth sections age and material availabilty, the basic debate over the intent of such material remains a point of contention in the community.

That debate centers on whether such material acknowledging the existence of alternate sexual identity relationships is “recruitment” to such alternate sexual lifestyles as Clean Up Samuels proponents, a number with self-cited connections to an ultra-conservative portion of the local Catholic community, asserted. Or is it simply an anti-suicide lifeline to teens reaching puberty with their own internally generated sexual identity issues outside the cultural mainstream.

As the debate over library operations and funding has continued this year, several Samuels Public Library supporters have publicly questioned whether Jamieson is personally aligned with that total ban of LGBTQ themed books from the library based on a shared, perhaps religious-based, perspective with some of the Clean Up Samuels group. Tuesday, Jamieson referenced such questions as discriminatory against his religious faith.

Jamieson prefaced a portion of his 37-minute projection-assisted statement (beginning at 1:44:50 mark of linked County video), which noted at the top of a number of pages of the Addendum, “NOT AN OFFICIAL DOCUMENT OF THE WARREN COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS,” with this introduction: “This is a follow up to the initial response to Dr. Timothy L. Francis’s ‘Analysis of the WC BOS 2023 Library Debrief and Research report’ of November 25, 2024. Jamieson then spent considerable time claiming a lack of valid analysis by his critic, Dr. Francis.

“This critique signed with academic credentials yet falling short of basic academic standards exemplifies why credentials alone don’t validate analysis,” Jamieson began his concluding statement, adding, “The thorough examination of library governance requires engaging with fundamental questions about public representation and fiscal oversight, not selective data interpretation aimed at maintaining the status quo.”

Or one might counter “to tear down the status quo” on arguably flawed fiscal analysis of existing library operational oversight and past budgetary management, which Dr. Francis, among others, have asserted was done by Ms. Cook’s and Mr. Jamieson’s sub-committee. And if not at the December 3 work session or on our Opinion page where Dr. Francis’s originally cited Letter was published on November 25, and a response to Dr. Jamieson’s initial critique of his first letter was published December 1st, perhaps at the December 10th supervisors meeting the two warring PhD’s can respond directly to each other.

But until  then we will cite the December 1 Opinion page response of Dr. Francis to Dr. Jamieson’s initial critique of his first letter, expanded upon at Tuesday’s work session by Jamieson. After addressing Dr. Jamieson’s critique of past supervisors oversight of the Villa Avenue location and the comparisons or omissions on library budgets regarding the Handley, Orange, Gloucester, and Botetourt libraries, Dr. Francis wrote:

“Finally, and this really gets to the bottom line, he accuses me of not addressing core governance. He apparently missed the part (hint, it is in the fourth paragraph) where I said the BOS could avoid all this time, effort, and expense, by sitting down and talking with Samuels’ already existing board in good faith. Indeed, given the flat funding for Samuels since 2018, doesn’t that illustrate that current oversight already works? Nor does he address the question of outside contractors or capital investments needed to replace the current system – shouldn’t we know those costs before doing anything rash? What does he think is going to happen if Warren County BOS tries to conduct a hostile takeover of SPL? Will the costs and disruption in services be worth it? Bottom line – how is any of this going to help the citizens of Warren County?”

The supervisors, minus Chairman Cheryl Cullers reportedly home ill, peruse visual projections of North River Supervisor Jamieson’s Addendum update in response to criticism of his and his committee’s initiative to move operational control of non-profit independent entity Samuels Public Library to the supervisors.

And here, at least until next Tuesday, December 10, when the WCLB enabling public hearing is scheduled, we will leave the discussion of the Cook-Jamieson sub-committee driven initiative to alter Samuels Library Board of Trustee appointment and operational authority to County control.

Municipal business as usual for Virginia’s 2024 Library of the Year? We’ll see what the public thinks next week. Maybe get an extra box of popcorn, sports fans.

Click here to watch the Warren County Board of Supervisors Work Session of December 3, 2024.