Public Hearing speakers raise issues on Shenandoah Farms Sanitary District management and tax revenue usage

While the bulk of the open portion of the January 17 Warren County Board of Supervisors meeting was fairly routine, shortly after adjourning from a nearly hour-long Closed Meeting to discuss personnel matters originally intended to include the board-appointed Shenandoah Farms Sanitary District Advisory Committee, in addition to appointments to the Board of Equalization to deal with tax assessment appeals, the supervisors reached the Public Comments portion of the open meeting on non-agenda items.

Two residents of Shenandoah Farms, Tracie Lane and Sarah Saber, both chairpersons of their respective Farms Sanitary District groups, rose to express continued dissatisfaction with how the county’s elected officials are allowing business to be conducted in the Farms Sanitary District. Lane’s remarks begin at the 5:20 mark of the video, Saber’s at the 11:25 mark. Among issues raised were a lack of county government transparency in dealings with the Shenandoah Farms Sanitary District finances, infrastructure costs, decision making, and a seeming blanket refusal to accept suggestions from resident advisory groups, even the one they appointed.

In addition to the above-cited Farms Sanitary District issues, a failure of supervisors and involved staff to respond to direct questions about Sanitary District tax revenue usage and requests for meetings to try and help clear matters up was broached.

“I have a few things to say to you folks,” Lane began after introducing herself as the recently elected chairman of the Property Owners of Shenandoah Farms (POSF) and a three-year participant in the POSF Board’s activities as the past Farms residents-elected advisory group to the County on Farms Sanitary District matters. “I watched the Advisory Committee meeting from January 5th, and there were some challenges, some comments about how we are not responding to emails with lists of properties and things like that. Mr. Mabe, you said you didn’t get an email from me, and I have a copy of the email you received several days before that with your name on it, so you did get that,” Lane told the supervisors’ representative to the Advisory Committee meetings of her emailed response to a request for a list of the POSF-owned Common Properties in the Sanitary District.

Current POSF Chairman Tracie Lane makes her case on a lack of transparency by the supervisors regarding use of Shenandoah Farms Sanitary District tax revenue in front of meeting spectators, many Farms residents who had showed up for a specially called Advisory Committee meeting that was later canceled by the supervisors’ administrative staff.

The Pot calling the Kettle black?

Lane continued to note that county officials, including the supervisors, had, in fact, failed to respond to her “repeated” email requests for meetings “to hopefully start a new dialogue” between the Sanitary District’s elected POSF representatives and the County. “And you haven’t responded at all, nothing. As a citizen in this county I at least deserve a response,” Lane said pointedly to the county’s five elected representatives and their administrative staff.

She then traced the POSF’s unsuccessful two years of seeking Farms Sanitary District financial reports while POSF served as the County’s official Farms Sanitary District advisory group since 2011 (after voluntarily handing management authority it had held since 1995/96 over to the County as the district’s annual budget climbed into six figures). “Instead of answering our board, which was elected by property owners, we were replaced by your appointed board. January 5th, your appointed board asked for that same disclosure on how funds were being spent – repeating their request from July.

“Instead of the disclosures, we learned that the fourth financial director of Warren County since 2019 had resigned. In the past three years (the county’s) had more financial directors than 1965 to 2019 combined. Why do they keep quitting?” Lane asked pointedly, making an analogy to a bank that didn’t send statements to its account holders. “That would be a bank that most people would fire. Now you want more tax money from us? All I have to say is no new taxes until … you guys account for every penny you have spent,” Lane challenged the board directly, ending her remarks with a “Thank you” for her three minutes to state her case.

Current supervisor-appointed Shenandoah Farms Sanitary District Advisory Committee (SFSDAC) Chairman Sarah Saber began on the topic of a specially called SFSDAC meeting originating with the supervisors’ administrative staff, later canceled, that would have coincided with the supervisor’s 6 p.m. closed session on personnel issues that evening. “I just wanted to clarify since nobody responded to my emails from this afternoon – not a single one of you, you were all copied – in addition to Ed Daley (county administrator), Mike Berry (public works director) – Just wondering what the justification was behind the impromptu scheduling of the meeting, which part of the bylaws which you all wrote – you can’t actually schedule a (SFSDAC) meeting.”

Farms Advisory Committee Chairman Sarah Saber wondered at an apparent breach of bylaw procedures created by the supervisors for their appointed Shenandoah Farms citizen advisory committee, in the calling of the later cancelled special meeting of the committee for that evening.

The bylaws referenced in her email, which Royal Examiner acquired a copy of, say of scheduling of SFSDAC Special Meetings in the bylaws Article 5-2: “Special meetings may be called by the chairman or by two Directors upon written request to the secretary …” with additional processes addressed. Saber’s point appears to be that Farms Advisory Committee Special Meetings are to be called by the SFSDAC chairman or two directors thereof, not by the supervisors or their administrator, with no involvement of the committee.

Saber then referenced another written inquiry involving FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) she made as a committee member dating to July, asking: “So, I’d also like it if the county attorney, who was copied on the email chain back from July, could take another look and see exactly what pertains to FOIA since I sent it to Delores, you ignored it; Walt, you ignored it; Cheryl, you ignored it; and Jay Butler, you ignored it; and Vicky now you’re on the emails too?” Saber asked of the new board of supervisors chairman. “Just wondering. I asked several questions and no acknowledgment, no responses,” Saber said, noting the speaker’s three-minute time clock at 1-minute-20-seconds remaining.

“Any of you planning to respond? Did you think nobody was going to notice? You’re going to slide through an impromptu meeting that you can’t actually do, nobody’s going to notice?” Saber continued to challenge the county board, noting the number of people who had shown up at the Warren County Government Center for the 6 p.m., specially-called Farms Advisory Committee meeting, who had not gotten notice of its cancellation several hours earlier that afternoon.

“No explanation, not one of you,” Saber continued, drawing comment from Board Chairman Cook, “Excuse me, I don’t mean to interrupt, but this is not a question or answer period, is that correct?” Cook queried staff, which confirmed that to be the case. “So, I’ll just keep talking since it’s 30 seconds left,” Saber noted her time clock (Uh Oh).

Saber’s repeated questioning of the board on their intentions regarding thus-far ignored correspondences regarding Farms Sanitary District issues drew a caution from Board Chairman Cook that Public Comments were not a question-and-answer format. Saber’s subsequent comments to close out her allotted time were less than a favorable assessment of the board’s management of the Farms Sanitary District and its relationship to its citizen advisory groups. Below, silent applause continues beyond the chairman’s caution against a public display of support for speakers.

“The fact that you all are unwilling to answer questions is reprehensible. It is disgusting. And it speaks of an absolute disregard for any citizen requests, partnerships with citizen advisory boards, or any transparency. It speaks volumes,” Saber concluded as the timer began beeping. She left the podium glaring the board’s way as scattered applause began, leading Chairman Cook to caution citizens – “No applause, please. We don’t need applause,” which brought silence though one man seated two rows behind the podium continued a silent applause gesture for several seconds.

The Farms Sanitary District officials’ concerns come at a time the incumbent supervisor’s majority in office going into their fourth year (Cullers, Oates, Mabe), without dissent from two-year members Cook and Butler, continue to publicly brag about not having raised taxes during their tenure during one of the most inflationary periods of the past 50, if not 100 years in the U.S. economy. The looming question for many in the Farms is how does a municipal government maintain service levels without increased revenue during such an inflationary period, especially when you continue to opt for higher-cost road infrastructure projects recommended by county staff versus lower-cost ones recommended by your various citizen advisory bodies? – Do you simply use up all your various fund reserves, potentially weakening the County bond rating if your reserves go below prescribed levels, or as some seem to suspect, “rob Peter to pay Paul” as in shifting some Farms Sanitary District tax revenue to uses outside the Sanitary District where there is a revenue void?

Click here to see these remarks at the above-noted spots in the meeting video.