Sayre retains county Republican ballot support, steps down as vice chair

Tom Sayre explains his decision to leave the WC Republican Committee Board of Directors as remaining board members, from left Amber Morris, Steve Kurtz and Marilyn King listen. Royal Examiner Photos/Roger Bianchini

At its monthly meeting on September 26^th, the Warren County Republican Committee put on a face of unity amidst a perhaps divisive internal effort to withdraw support from one of its November Election candidates.

That candidate, incumbent Shenandoah District County Supervisor Tom Sayre, helped deflect that effort by opening the meeting with an emotional stepping down from the committee’s vice chairmanship.

Toward the meeting’s end Committee Treasurer Amber Poe Morris was appointed to fill the vice chair’s seat on a temporary basis. Morris noted that while she would now hold two committee board seats, she would have only one vote – “Bureaucracy at its best,” she observed with a smile.

Two days prior to his committee board withdrawal Sayre was indicted with every other sitting county board member on three charges of misdemeanor misfeasance or nonfeasance in the conduct of their public office regarding oversight of the Town-County Economic Development Authority. Several past and present EDA board members were also indicted on similar charges Tuesday.

See Related Story:

Grand Jury indicts 14 County and EDA officials for lack of EDA oversight

Speaking to the press following the meeting’s adjournment, Morris said she was involved in the move to limit committee support of Sayre in November due to post-indictment input from other Republican candidates reluctant to have their names tied to Sayre’s in pre-election committee promotional activities. However Morris admitted to not pursuing the withdrawal of support initiative because of a lack of the two-thirds majority necessary to achieve that withdrawal of committee support.

Amber Morris good-naturedly laments two jobs, one vote.

“The problem is … the entire party does not back Tom Sayre. But we also can’t singlehandedly do anything about it, we need more support, so it’s a party divide,” Morris said.

The lack of institutional and municipal oversight that allowed an alleged $21-million EDA financial scandal to evolve over several years is at the center of two multi-million dollar civil suits and multiple criminal indictments springing from a County-contracted public accounting firm’s investigation of EDA financial operations over recent years.

Other county Republicans indicted Tuesday included Happy Creek Supervisor Tony Carter, Fork District Supervisor Archie Fox and recently resigned committee member Dan Murray, board chairman and North River District supervisor, as well as independent South River Supervisor Linda Glavis. Carter and Fox’s seats are not up for election this year; and Murray is not running for reelection due to personal and family health issues.

Other than Sayre, only Fox was present among Republican Committee members on the board of supervisors at Thursday’s meeting at Warren County’s Villa Avenue Community Center.

Called by Committee Chairman Steve Kurtz for a report on County business, Fox mentioned only bridge and road infrastructure projects, including the pending closing of the new Morgan’s Ford Bridge for bridge and approach repairs from flood damage.

Upcoming candidate and committee campaign events were reviewed and votes on funding those events were held as part of routing monthly committee business.

Tom Sayre was occasionally emotional in recalling the evolving EDA drama that led to his decision to leave the county Republican Committee Board of Directors.

But it was Sayre’s meeting-opening explanation of his decision to leave the county Republican Committee Board of Directors and the history of events leading up to that decision that seemed to bring potential political ramifications of the week’s EDA-related events to the fore of the 2019 political season in Warren County.

After the meeting Sayre said he was unaware of an initiative to remove him from the ballot or committee support, but added he felt any such move was centered in a small group that included Morris.

Committee Chairman Steve Kurtz explained to media present at the committee’s Chester Street headquarters the previous day that legitimately-selected party candidates cannot be removed from ballots after September 6, even if there were sufficient internal support to do so. Asked about her stance on such a move Thursday evening, Committee Secretary Marilyn King said she thought such an initiative premature – “He is innocent until proven guilty in court,” she observed.

See Sayre’s remarks in this exclusive Royal Examiner video: