Sheriff Butler criticized locally, praised nationally in Washington Post article

While being roundly criticized by local “politicians” in Front Royal, Warren County’s first-term Sheriff Mark Butler is presented as a hero of sorts in the Sunday, May 2^nd edition of the Washington Post.

Only last week while Butler was being publicly chastised by, among others, Front Royal Mayor Christopher Holloway and controversial town council member Jacob Meza, a Post reporter/photographer team was working on an article describing Butler’s activities in bringing Coronavirus shots to house-bound residents in our county’s rural areas.

The Post, one of the nation’s three major newspapers – the other two are the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times – was working the story on April 28, just about the time the pejorative and lengthy letter signed by Holloway was sent to Warren Board of Supervisors Chairperson Cheryl L. Cullers about the sheriff and his deputies’ handling of a town solid waste truck crew concerning suspected illegal dumping of sewage waste by town crews into the county’s Bentonville landfill.

Meanwhile, Butler was earning plaudits from the national newspaper and local residents for the work he and his deputies were involved in, facilitating COVID-19 vaccine shots for the area’s elderly and home-bound citizens.

Reporter Jenna Portnoy described how Butler’s deputies, who know their way around sprawling areas and back roads, were accompanied by public health personnel who administer the injections.

Sheriff Mark Butler reporting to the county supervisors in January 2021. Royal Examiner File Photo by Roger Bianchini

One sub-headline in the Post article stated: “Warren County, Va., sheriff’s office is teaming with nurses to bring shots to the hard to reach” and another, “Sheriff’s office aids public health officials in vaccine efforts” in rather larger type face. Butler was quoted as saying his deputies “enforce the laws” in this 200 square-mile region “but also are used to provide social services such as delivering Meals on Wheels, tracking residents with medical conditions… and calling on frail and home bound people daily to check on them.”

“The vaccination program fits in with that mission,” Sheriff Butler is quoted as saying.

Impacted county residents mentioned, and some photographed by the Post’s Matt McClain, include Randy Vaughan, 96, a World War II veteran, one of 17 people attended to that day by nurse Paula Mills and Sheriff’s Deputy Cindy Burke; and Jeanie Clarke, 77, who said she was “flabbergasted” when the sheriff’s office called to say they were coming.