Retired Marines support Walt Mabe for Supervisor

Dear editor,

A big reason that Tom Sayre doesn’t deserve reelection on November 5th is that the doesn’t back up with his “accomplishments” as a Front Royal Town Councilman for eight years (2006-2014) and a member of the Warren County Board of Supervisors for four years (2016-2019) with facts.

Are we expected to simply take him at his word without any back up? Isn’t this what got us into the EDA mess in the first place?

Mr. Sayre, you present no dates, times, and locations of actions — that you initiated — that would have prevented one of the biggest scandals in the history of Virginia from occurring. You simply makes claims.

We’ve had enough of the current Board of Supervisors lack of integrity, credibility, courage, and leadership! We are tired and angry. We want a clean sweep of all local government officials.

That includes Mr. Sayre. We no longer want to be the laughing stock of the state — or the nation!

Here’s an example of Mr. Sayre’s lack of credibility. It is based on his personal Facebook page entry dated October 8, 2019:”

• Mr. Sayre state: “As a freshman supervisor [2016], the now notorious long-standing corruption related to the EDA broke-open and I played a big roll in exposing the rogue EDA director.” Then says, “I played a significant part in putting pressure on people to look at her actions and involve the Virginia State Police.”
• Mr. Sayre, where are the details of this pressure you put on people? Where, when, and with whom did you meet? Where, when, and with whom did you make telephone calls? What actions did you initiate? Most importantly, what were the results? Mr. Sayre also states in his October 8th Facebook post, “I became aware of irregularities in the work force housing issue and held open meetings questioning Jennifer McDonald.”
• Mr. Sayre, Where and when were the meetings held? Were the meetings advertised to the public?
• How many constituents attended?
• Were any media present?
• The truth is these “open meetings” were never held according to all available evidence.

Here’s another example of Mr. Sayre’s lack of integrity and credibility:

It’s common knowledge that the first red flags that something was amiss with Jennifer McDonald and the EDA were raised in November 2016 — not by Mr. Sayre — but by Front Royal Councilwoman Bebhinn Egger. For months, after Bebhinn raised the red flags, Mr. Sayre and the Board of Supervisors did nothing of substance while the scandal spun out of control. Now, three years later, Mr. Sayre is shamelessly trying to take credit for what Bebhinn did. It’s a blatant and brazen misrepresentation of what really occurred.

Also, note that when Bebhinn voiced her concerns in November 2016, she was roundly mocked, derided, and belittled by fellow town council members. Why didn’t Mr. Sayre and Board of Supervisors — which appointed the EDA and had the ability to dismiss them at any time for any reason — come to her defense? Why were they so silent about the debacle?

The stonewalling was nothing but contempt for the truth and the people of Warren County.

Also, in a letter-to-the-editor in the Royal Examiner on October 14th, 2019, “I never claimed to have made a motion in open session to conduct a forensic audit. To do so before criminal charges are placed would have told the people who were subsequently arrested that we were on to them.”

Yet, six months earlier in an article in the Northern Virginia Daily dated April 11, 2019, journalist Josh Gulley wrote, “Sayre said he and supervisor Archie Fox wanted the board to approve a Virginia State Police investigation into the EDA in 2017 — but they were voted down in a closed session.”

Mr. Sayre, had this supposed motion been passed, wouldn’t it have had the same affect?  Wouldn’t it have “told the people who were subsequently arrested that we were on to them?”

Also, if the EDA irregularities were important for you and Archie Fox to want the Virginia State Police to investigate, why were you absolutely silent after this supposed vote went against you? A good leader would have held open public meetings, conducted press conferences, and written “open letters” to the media and government officials to express EDA concerns to the public. Mr. Sayre, you did none of these things.

In the same April 11th Northern Virginia Daily article, Paul Gabbert asked Mr. Sayre:

• “You say you wanted a special investigation. Couldn’t you have gone further if you knew what was happening… Couldn’t you have gone further to the public?”
• Sayre said: “I was doing what I could do” and “I was letting people know” but “it fell on deaf ears.”
• Mr. Sayre, this is such a weak response. To whom did you speak? Who refused to listen? Most importantly, what did you do after your efforts “fell on deaf ears”?

Two final items on Mr. Sayre’s credibility and courage:

1. On October 25th, 2019 — just over a week ago — Mr. Sayre caved shamefully and voted with the other supervisors to use taxpayer’s money to fund defenses against the recently-filed removal petition — after pledging earlier in the month to pay for his own defense against charges of misfeasance and nonfeasance. How convenient again that the charges were dropped on a technicality and Mr. Sayre will not have to answer the question.

2. Why did Mr. Sayre refuse the invitation from Walt Mabe — his opponent in the current campaign for the Board of Supervisors — to debate the EDA scandal and other issues during the closing days of the campaign? The offer was mad by Mr. Mabe in an October 21st letter-to-the editor of the Royal Examiner. A real leader would have welcomed Mr. Mabe’s challenge. We believe the real reason Mr. Sayre ignored the challenge is that he doesn’t have a public record he can defend.

On November 5th, the voters of Warren County will have a chance to vote Mr. Sayre out of office — and begin the healing of our badly fractured county. Let’s give Walt Mabe a big win on November 5th.

Sincerely,

Bill Hammack, retired U.S. Marine Corps colonel, campaign manager for Walt Mabe
John Lundberg, retired U.S. Army colonel, assistant campaign manager for Walt Mabe