Non-Agenda Item Public Comments Explode in Pointed Criticism of County Board Budget Process Among Other Issues

What appeared to be a pretty light Warren County Board of Supervisors agenda was rocked by an explosive Public Comments on non-agenda items segment near the meeting’s outset (beginning at 1:48 mark of linked County video).

While the board eventually got down to agenda business, including a 12-item Consent Agenda of topics to be authorized for public hearing at the August 22 meeting, including the Richard Runyon/Shenandoah Valley Golf Club rezoning/residential development request; as well as approval of a couple of routine festival permitting requests — Appaloosa and the Homesteaders of America Conference — and maintaining a health insurance consultant contract, it was what came before that agenda business that put a mark on the first August meeting of the county supervisors.

The WC Board of Supervisors may have thought they would get off easily with a light agenda for Aug. 1 meeting – but then came Public Comments. Royal Examiner Photos

While the first five Public Comments speakers expressed familiar opposition to the SVGC rezoning and age-restricted (55+) residential development on a portion of the existing golf course, the following 10 speakers were scathingly critical of board actions or inaction on a number of fronts. Those fronts included the board majority, minus Cheryl Cullers, apparent siding with the CleanUpSamuelsLibrary (CSL)-led effort to remove LGBTQ+ themed material from the library. Seven full funding, pro-library speakers addressed the board, beginning with the 7th speaker at the 19:55 mark of linked video, through the 12th speaker, picking up with speaker 14. Continued approval of vaguely described departmental budgets was taken on by speaker number 6, most specifically the Sheriff’s Office budget. Another potentially troublesome issue for the county, cited by POSF Chairman Tracie Lane (at 39:47 video mark), as a failure to provide now legally mandated information regarding Sanitary District dynamics impacting home ownership to facilitate the sale of a residential property in Shenandoah Farms. Speaking to involved POSF sources it is believed the continued failure of the County to provide the requested information could impact the ability to facilitate the sale of any home in any of the County’s many Sanitary Districts.

Warren County Builders Association member and Treasurer Martha Buracker (46:35 linked video mark) also wondered if recent rumors of what she termed a “covertly” initiated investigation of the WC Builders Association with potential political motivations in this election year might be true. Buracker alleged the participation of some candidates and sitting Town and County elected officials in what she termed a “secret campaign team” for one candidate on this year’s November ballot.

WHERE to begin? — Why not with speaker number six, County Planning Commission Vice-Chairman and Fork District representative Hugh Henry (16:45 mark of linked video). Henry turned Public Comments away from the familiar anti-SVGC rezoning points of the first five speakers to above-cited budget issues.

“Bundle Budgets” & How the “EDA mess started”

Planning Commissioner Henry noted in opening that he is a lifelong resident of this community and warned that he was about to be critical of the board on a number of fronts related to budgetary issues. “I feel like we’re not doing a good job vetting budgets correctly,” Henry began, perhaps echoing South River Supervisor Cullers who has cast several months of “no” votes on monthly departmental budget submissions due to what she has described as too vague descriptions of what some departments were submitting for line item approvals. Henry then presented the WCSO budget as an example of his concerns, noting that there were other departments at issue as well, but with three minutes of allotted speaking time he couldn’t cite them all.

Former Vicky Cook supporter, Fork District rep and vice-chairman of the WC Planning Commission Hugh Henry, is now calling for his fellow Fork District representative Cook to resign over various budgetary and politicization issues.

“You’ve got line items in a budget that say like $10,000 for dog toys and $24,000 for miscellaneous janitorial services that doesn’t even come out of his budget,” Henry asserted referencing the sheriff, adding, “And Ms. Cullers is the only one with enough strength to question the man on his incorrect budget, and the answers were like ‘I don’t know’ and ‘I guess’. And then we’re using words like ‘bundle budget’ in discussion.

“Bundle budget is exactly how we got the EDA mess to start with — you need a line item budget and whatever department head or faculty comes in, if he can’t explain what each of those line items are, it shouldn’t be approved,” Henry told the board reiterating his point on “that is exactly how the EDA mess started.”

Henry’s comments then turned directly toward the man whose departmental budget he was critiquing, citing media coverage of Commonwealths Attorney John Bell’s Brady-Gigglio filing on Sheriff Butler. “And that’s not my opinion — “That’s in the papers, he’s not even allowed to testify in court. And you took his word and did not vet it at all,” Henry concluded of issues revolving around Sheriff Butler’s tenure at the Herndon Police Department. That tenure included an Internal Affairs investigation at the time of his 2019 resignation from that department while running for sheriff here.

Henry then turned his attention toward the board chairman and his fellow Fork District representative, Vicky Cook. “The one I’m most disappointed in is you, Ms. Cook. When you came for my support to run as a Republican and for me to vote for you, as I did as I said I would, your campaign pledge to me was ‘transparency in budget’ (uh oh, there’s that “trans” issue again), that you were sick of the EDA mess and you had an accounting background. And you’ve done exactly the opposite. You have supported an unvetted budget.”

Henry continued to question how he perceived Chairman Cook using her elected position as a “political platform” to promote the sitting sheriff’s campaign for re-election this year. Henry then concluded with a bang, telling the board chairman, “In fact, I’ve got enough support to start a petition to have you removed.” But looking at the leg work behind that effort, Henry closed by suggesting Ms. Cook resign to “save everybody the trouble of doing all the paperwork to have you removed.” As Henry exited “podium right”, beating the 3-minute clock in concluding his remarks on that flourish and a “thank you for your time” comment, Chairman Cook politely responded, “Thank you very much.”

BOS Chairman Vicky Cook politely thanked Mr. Henry for his scathing appraisal of her board tenure versus what he says he was promised from her regarding budgetary oversight and accountability if elected just over two years ago.

As noted above, other issues raised during Public Comments will be covered in upcoming Royal Examiner stories as additional, verifiable information becomes available.

Click here to watch the August 1st Board of Supervisors Meeting.