Public calls Council to account on processes, personal agendas; and Council responds

While a public berating of council was somewhat derailed by the unexpected announcement that there would be no vote on the extension of Town central water-sewer to the proposed Crooked Run West development Tuesday night because that request had been withdrawn, Town official still found themselves in sometimes confrontational cross hairs of public scrutiny the evening of November 12.

Paul Gabbert, among others, were critical of the Front Royal Town Council’s processes and seeming personal agendas on a number of fronts, including committing Town water-sewer to future, out-of-town residential development. Royal Examiner Photos/Roger Bianchini. Video bu Mark Williams, Royal Examiner.

That scrutiny focused on the process and content of the Interim Town Manager’s contract and a general perception that a council majority sometimes appears to be acting in its own interests and agendas, as opposed to the public good. There was also some skepticism that the withdrawn Crooked Run central utility request “at this time” as project attorney Joe Silek Jr. phrased it, indicated only a delay in the request while public attention is at a peak, rather than a permanent change of plans.

Following Silek’s notice of the withdrawn utility request to open public comments near the meeting’s outset, seven speakers followed, all critical or sometimes bewildered to varying degrees with Council processes or actions. With Crooked Run West on the backburner for the time being, the Interim Town Manager’s contract developed by an apparent council minority that allows former Interim Mayor Matt Tederick to transfer that contract to an LLC (Limited Liability Company) for apparent tax-hedging purposes was a primary topic of public scrutiny.

Citing potential conflicts of interest, including those cited in a Simon Mays Letter to the Royal Examiner Editor posted the previous evening Linda Allen began by suggesting that council amend the contract to prevent the Interim Town Manager from hiring or firing employees.

Prior to meeting Gary Kushner discusses Town issues with Interim Town Manager Tederick, Acting Mayor Sealock and Mayor-Elect Tewalt.

Fern Vasquez echoed that sentiment. Citing the internally controversial process in which Mayor-Elect Gene Tewalt, who remained a councilman Tuesday night due to ongoing election review in Richmond, appeared to be excluded from input or review, Vasquez said, “Since council chose not to utilize the normal state resources for this type of transition, we recommend they supervise this position closely, and not allow sudden administrative staffing changes.”

Citing Tewalt’s exclusion from the Interim Town Manager contract process, Janice Hart warned Council of “history repeating itself”. She compared Tewalt’s contract questions and the majority reaction to those questions to the Council majority’s reaction to former Councilwoman Bébhinn Egger’s questions three years ago about EDA projects and questionable assertions about those projects.

“That council member was looking for transparency and took a verbal beating, if you will, from the rest of the Council and they refused to listen to that councilmember that the Town had been overpaying the EDA – and look at what happened,” Hart warned of ignoring Tewalt’s questions today about the process of the Interim Town Manager hiring.

In her comments, Allen also cited Councilman Jacob Meza’s recent “we are not crooks” meeting comments complaining that council was receiving undue public criticism. Allen said she did not recall any past critical public speaker referring to council as “crooks” and that it was Meza himself that introduced the specter of illegal council behavior into the public discussion of council actions.

A lighter moment of confrontation occurred when near the end of his criticism of council for acting on internal agendas rather than in the public interest, Paul Gabbert referenced Meza’s past meeting comment that if citizens didn’t like his service, they could vote him out of office.

“He said if anyone wanted to take his seat, they were welcome to do so. Mr. Meza, if you want to come down here and join the crowd, I’ll come up and sit in your seat right now,” Gabbert told the councilman.

During a lengthy prepared and partially improvised response to the evening’s events and comments, Meza replied to Gabbert that he was glad to see he had taken an interest in local politics and would be undertaking what Meza observed was a difficult campaign path to election.

Above, Paul Gabbert may be trying to hypnotize Jacob Meza, below responding to council criticism, into giving up his council seat. Meza declined Gabbert’s invitation to swap seats.

“I didn’t say I was going to run, I said I’d take your seat,” Gabbert replied from the audience. It was a nuanced difference that seemed to elude Meza, who continued to reference a coming Gabbert run for office.

In lieu of the public criticism, one of Council’s newest members Letasha Thompson became emotional in response. She choked back tears as she said, “We are doing a lot of good stuff up here,” in citing pedestrian safety efforts, particularly in the area of the Kerfoot youth soccer fields and skatepark, among other things.

And council did conduct some business that was not removed from the agenda, including approval of a Special Use Permit for a Daycare Center at 460 Commerce Avenue for the Embassy Deliverance & Worship Center; approval of another five-year extension of the Town’s passenger bus (trolley) service at a cost of only 32% of operational expenses, the rest being funded by state and federal grants; and Consent Agenda approval of two items, the purchase of three new police vehicles replacing ones with over 100,000 miles at a cost of $125,787.48; and approval of contract with Portland Utilities Construction Company for the installation of over 3400 linear feet of sanitary sewer lines to begin needed Intake & Inflow (I&I) upgrades that have been under study the past year.

Letasha Thompson fought back tears while responding to repeated collective criticisms of council.

See all the drama, humor, emotion and conduct of business at the meeting  in this Royal Examiner video: