Supervisors Appoint Jane Meadows as Interim County Administrator, Debate Circumstances of Gotshall Resignation

At its three-pronged meeting of February 3rd, including an opening Closed/Executive Session at noon, convening of an open meeting at 1 p.m., and transition to a Budget Work Session upon conclusion of the open meeting around 2:15 p.m. And following a brief recess, the work session convened at 2:25 p.m. During the open meeting, the Warren County Board of Supervisors took several operational actions.

And as part of a two-item Consent Agenda from which one item was removed for additional discussion (see below), the board authorized “Ratification of Declaration of Local Emergency” related to the post-snowstorm clean-up and traffic impacts. See staff summary reports on this and other agenda items further below this opening county administration section.

County Administrator situation

Perhaps chief among the above-referenced operational actions was the appointment of Deputy County Administrator Jane Meadows as Interim County Administrator. That was done after the item was pulled from a two-item Consent Agenda to allow any board comments on the matter. On a motion by Tony Carter, seconded by John Stanmeyer, the appointment was approved by a 5-0 vote at an adjusted annual salary of $153,612. Meadows was present at the staff table with County Attorney Jason Ham.

She may have still had her Deputy County Administrator name plaque in front of her, but Jane Meadows, seated with County Attorney Jason Ham at the Administrative staff table, was Interim County Administrator by the meeting’s end. Royal Examiner Photos Roger Bianchini

As readers will recall, Meadows appointment comes in the wake of what remains a highly contentious acceptance of the submitted resignation of recently hired County Administrator Bradley Gotshall after about four months on the job. The fact that a perhaps escalating divide continues in public venues on the circumstance of Gotshall’s departure was illustrated during the Board Reports portion of the meeting (beginning at the 46:33 mark of the County Video).

As Royal Examiner readers will note, North River District Supervisor Richard Jamieson has taken the point in submitting highly critical claims of impropriety in Gotshall’s termination to local newspapers and on his website BOSNR.com.

Those accusations come despite the admitted fact that Gotshall’s contract includes a referenced section, cited as “Section 10-B(C)” which “allows the county administrator to resign following a formal or informal suggestion by the board and still receive severance as if terminated without cause.” This fact raises the question as to whether the majority board’s silence on details of the termination may be in place to protect the future employment interests of the resigned employee. And while the exclusion of board members from the resignation acceptance discussion seems troublesome, could it be explained if those excluded members were part of the reason for the resignation request?

Might a more detailed public discussion of the circumstances of the resignation open up the potential of litigation against the county government for violations of that 10-B(C) section of Gotshall’s employment contract? Stay tuned, local governmental DRAMA fans. — One supervisor, Tony Carter, the final speaker on the topic, hinted at such an outcome in his Board Report addressing County Administrator Bradley Gotshall’s resignation, as reported in detail below.

In fact, during Jamieson’s portion of Board Reports (55:00 mark of the County video), County Attorney Ham attempted to inject a comment about attorney/client privilged information (56:08 video mark). However, Jamieson continued to make his prepared comments without acknowledging the county attorney. At the point just prior to, and into County Attorney Ham’s attempted acknowledgment of attorney/client privileged information, Supervisor Jamieson was saying this:

“I also believe it’s appropriate for the public to know that Mr. Gotshall without knowledge or discussion of the full board either in closed or open meetings had been told by our county attorney at the direction of Cheryl Cullers (board Chair) that it was likely that a majority of the supervisors would ask for the resignation to terminate him if he did not do so. He chose to avoid a humiliating situation and resign rather than be fired in a public meeting,” Jamieson concluded.

Supervisors Hugh Henry and Richard Jamieson may have been seated side by side but they were not eye to eye on perspectives on the accepted resignation of now former County Administrator Brad Gotshall.

Speaking just prior to Jamieson during Board Reports, Hugh Henry also referenced the Gotshall resignation (50:59 mark County video):

“In regard to Mr. Gotshall’s resignation, I did support that, but there’s been some stuff that’s been said on social media that is probably not true — I wouldn’t support that. I’ve personally suffered falsehoods and false statements on social media,” Henry said, adding, “I would encourage those who participate in social media to not put statements out if you don’t know they are factual. And I would encourage those who read things on social media that don’t seem believable, there’s a good chance maybe they’re not. I don’t think Mr. Gotshall was the best fit for Warren County. But definitely wouldn’t wish him any harm or political damage from the craziness of social media. I don’t think that’s fair.

“We’re all working very hard to get a better alignment to help our county move forward. In the administrative department, we’ve got some plans in place for something temporary, and when we do our search and get the right guy for the right job. And I think from a costing standpoint and a productivity standpoint, in the future we’ll be in a better place in a short time from what was a very hard decision,” Henry said before addressing the water issue raised during Public Comments.

Speaking just after Supervisor Jamieson was Tony Carter. Of the Gotshall termination situation, he said this: “I think the issue with the administrator, we wish him the best, and it’s time to move on. However, I do have some concerns with some of the information that’s been let out. And an example of it we’ve just had, where one supervisor continues to go on and on” Carter said with an apparent reference to Jamieson’s remarks before continuing, “This is a personnel issue, and I don’t want to do anything that would infringe upon Mr. Gotshall’s reputation or this board’s reputation.

Gone but still argued over, now former County Administrator Brad Gotshall was on the job during his 4 months of service to Warren County. The entire board has wished him well in his future endeavors.

“And I just want to make it clear that when somebody puts something out there, and it’s signed ‘supervisor,’ that does not mean they represent the whole board. And what we’re running into a posibility of is a potential lawsuit. And that’s really going to cost,” Carter said of the implications of such legal action, adding, “And the other thing too is sometimes people will sue the board, sue the County, and sue the individuals.

“And if this is going to be a lawsuit brought because one individual on this board continues to avoid attorney/client privilege, it’s all on him, although we all get dragged into it,” Carter theorized of the potential legal liability of one member, rather than the whole board or all the county’s taxpayers. “So, this is going on; it’s up to him. It’s been released to the newspaper. And that’s fine because that’s the story that was written. But again, you do what you want. I don’t want to impede your free speech.

“But your free speech may wind up costing taxpayers more money than the severance package we offered the administrator. Just keep this in mind: this board did not hire this administrator. This is the previous board’s (selection),” Carter concluded of his assessment and potential issues at hand.

In opening board comments on the county administrator situation, Supervisor John Stanmeyer, along with Jamieson a member of the board who hired Gotshall, said this: “First of all regarding the resignation of Mr. Gotshall I just wanted to say I was not pleased to see that happen or how it unfolded. And to me, he was definitely professional. And I did not have serious concerns about his performance at all. I wish him well in his future endeavors. I’m looking forward to turning the page and this board coming together in unity to conduct a thorough search and find the right successor. I’m also pleased to have Ms. Meadows in the acting county administrator position for the time being.

“And I’ve already heard some good ideas on how to proceed, and I’m looking forward to working through that,” Stanmeyer said in concluding his remarks on the county administrator situation.

So, we are left to ponder whether Supervisor Jamieson will join his colleagues, all who have cited good wishes to Mr. Gotshall in his future endeavors, in moving forward as a unit whether you agreed with the resignation initiative or not.

As we said earlier, “Stay tuned, local government DRAMA fans.

Four of five supervisors, excluding Richard Jamieson, far right, seem prepared to move on to the recruitment of a new County Administrator in the wake of an apparent majority vote to accept Brad Gotshall’s resignation behind closed doors.

Below is a staff summary of the other business the county supervisors engaged in on February 3rd.

Other Business

Closed Session:

Motion to be Made Going into Closed Meeting:

I move the Board enter into a closed meeting under Section 2.2-3711(A)(7) for consultation with legal counsel and briefing by staff members or consultants pertaining to actual litigation.  The subject matter is Axalta Coating Systems U.S.A., LLC, v. Warren County, Virginia.

I further move that the Board enter a closed meeting under Section 2.2-3711(A)(1) for discussion and consideration of the resignation of the County Administrator, and the discussion of prospective candidates for the position of County Administrator and interim County Administrator. The subject matter is the recent resignation of the County Administrator and the County Administrator position.

The Closed/Executive Session sign was up almost an hour prior to the open meeting’s convening at 1 p.m. Below, the empty dais was in closed session, and the board returned to the meeting room for the regular Open Meeting.

Public Comments

The Board also heard Public Comments from five speakers on a number of issues (beginning at the 27:22 mark of the County video). In order of appearance those speakers were: Vicky Cook (clarification of an earlier meeting Public Comment), John Lundberg (Gotshall resignation), John Jenkins (Roosters in Residentially zoned areas and the meeting room sound system, and the board’s consideration of the community assistance non-profits slated for later during the work session), Linda McDunough (water shortage issues and the impact of future rezonings and development on those issues), and Charlene Backstrum, who concurred with the previous speaker’s water and developmental concerns.

Ratification of the Declaration of Local Emergency

EXPLANATION & SUMMARY:

On Saturday January 24, 2026 Warren County prepared for and experienced the effects from Winter Storm Fern, a snow storm which at that time threatened the property and the health, safety, and welfare of persons in the County of Warren, the Chair of the Warren County Board of Supervisors, in their capacity as Director of Emergency Services issued a declaration of local emergency on January 24, 2024, at 19:00 hours; and, the local emergency was declared to ensure that County agencies could enlist the necessary resources to respond quickly and effectively to these conditions; and, consistent with the requirements of Virginia Code §44-146.21(a), the Board of Supervisors desires to consent to the declaration of local emergency by the Local Director of Emergency Management.

Comments: Fire Chief James G. Bonzano recommends approval of this Resolution; the Deputy County Administrator Jane Meadows concurs.

1. Work Session
2. FY 2027 Budget Presentation – Phoenix Project

EXPLANATION & SUMMARY: The Phoenix Project will present its budget request for Fiscal Year 2027

COST & FINANCING: $15,000 – Requested

2. FY 2027 Budget Presentation – St. Luke Community Clinic

EXPLANATION & SUMMARY: St. Luke Community Clinic will present its budget request for Fiscal Year 2027

COST & FINANCING: $8,500 – Requested

3. FY 2027 Budget Presentation – Northwestern Community Services

EXPLANATION & SUMMARY:

Northwestern Community Services will present its budget request for Fiscal Year 2027

COST & FINANCING: $330,000 – Requested

4. FY 2027 Budget Presentation – Warren Coalition

EXPLANATION & SUMMARY:

The Warren Coalition will present its budget request for Fiscal Year 2027

COST & FINANCING: $6,750 – Requested

5. A report from the Berkley Group to begin the budget request presentations was added at the meeting’s outset.

VDOT Report

Also, at the first daytime meeting of the board in quite some time, they heard a live Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) post-snowstorm report from representative Edwin Carter. The lack of daytime meetings had negated live VDOT representative reports to the board.

Discussion — Regarding Emergency Procurement of New Computer Systems

EXPLANATION & SUMMARY:

The WCIT Department received no funding for new computer systems or network equipment in the 2026 budget process.

Due to this issue, in the FY27 budget, we are scheduled to purchase 54 laptops and 64 desktops to replace systems that are 5+ years old and are no longer viable. These are all systems that were purchased before my office was in place. Some were replaced in 2021 after the hafnium attack; most are older than that and not able to do a Windows 11 update.

Additionally, due to several global challenges, including increased tariffs and AI adoption, memory prices have skyrocketed in the last 90 days by as much as 400%, depending on the amount and type of memory. As an example, the standard Dell AIO desktop computers we ordered cost under $1000. Today, a similar standard system costs over $1600.

To wait until July 27 to make these purchases could have catastrophic financial consequences. We could be facing desktop prices over $2,000 and similar increases in laptops.

Our office is working hard to consolidate systems and ensure we are not ordering any more than we need. The proposed purchase in your packet of $193,121.06 will provide us with the needed desktop and laptop systems through FY 2027.

This does not include purchases like tablets and WCSO MDT’s that may be needed in the future 18 months.

COST & FINANCING: $193,121.06 – Proposed

Click here to watch the Warren County Board of Supervisors Meeting of February 3, 2026.