Wait, where am I? A radical change of Town tone and focus 2 weeks later

Following Town Attorney Doug Napier’s reading of the Roberts Rules of Order conditions on public and member conduct in critiquing proposed municipal business and actions, the August 10th Public Comments period and consequent staff and board reports went surprisingly smoothly. Gone was the staff report political posturing of July 27th and mayoral-council infighting over that posturing. In fact, one member, Thompson, would later apologize for her role in the previous meeting’s back and forth.

But even more surprising was council Virginia Beer Museum “family values” critic Jacob Meza’s expression of common ground with Beer Museum proprietor and local attorney David Downes’ remarks to council. Of course, those remarks did not involve events at the Beer Museum, but rather Downes plea that the Town partner with him as a local criminal defense attorney, as well as with Town and County law enforcement and the judicial system in creating a more proactive safety net for opioid drug addiction in this community.

Local defense attorney David Downes was before council Monday with a plea for proactive action to address the opioid epidemic he said has claimed nearly twice the county lives as the COVID-19 virus this year. Royal Examiner Photos/Roger Bianchini – Royal Examiner Video/Mark Williams

“We are dying in this town – I’m not referring to COVID where we’ve lost seven members of the community; I’m referring to at least 13 drug overdose deaths in Warren County this year alone,” Downes began, pointing to a total of 68 overdose calls reported to the regional joint drug task force, “20 in April alone,” he added, citing 25 defendants and over half a local court docket devoted to “drug-related charges”.

Downes bemoaned that fact that unlike the governmental COVID-19 pandemic reaction of emergency response planning, direction and precautionary guidelines at the state and local levels, no such commitment has been made in this community to an epidemic that has claimed twice the number of lives as the 2019 strain of Coronavirus for which millions of dollars of federal, state-administered aid is being made available.

Noting the current public focus on “marches, protests, petitions, referendums” Downes continued, “So, I must ask, do drug addict’s lives matter?

“I am here asking for your help before another 13 families” he hesitated, choking back emotion momentarily before continuing, “lose a loved one.”

Pointing to the closest drug detox center he said was in Galax, 250 miles away, Downes urged a commitment to bring such professionally administered treatment options to our community. Pretending the issue can’t or won’t ever reach you or your family or friend circles is no longer an option, Downes told council.

And some 20 minutes later, the meeting microphone went to Councilman Meza’s member’s report.

“I’d like to thank Mr. Downes for bringing up the drug epidemic. You know I’ve been on the planning commission and town council now for almost five-and-a-half years, and it’s something that I’ve heard discussion about but have yet to see any major initiatives taken, undertaken (stick with the first one in this context, Jake) in this community between both governing bodies and our law enforcement and community members. And I think there is a real opportunity for such committees to exist – 250 miles away is a long way, in addition to the drug epidemic and finding the resources available for those individuals.

“Behavioral health is another issue that our community faces and it faces the same statistical challenge of being about 200, 250 miles away for major centers of help. These are very important things that cripple citizens of our community,” the Valley Health administrative professional observed. “And I would be happy to have those discussions, with Mr. Downes and our law enforcement leaders on how we can work together and figure out a way to establish resources. Because it is an epidemic and it’s something that’s going to be tearing apart this town slowly but surely if we don’t get a handle on it.”

Okay, I am in “The Twilight Zone” right?

Previous philosophical and policy adversaries David Downes, above, and Jacob Meza, below, found common ground in a desire to improve this community’s services for citizens victimized by the opioid epidemic.

Setting an example

Talk about “Front Royal Unites”!! – Common cause between David Downes and Jacob Meza to a common good for this community? – Slap me hard (figuratively, not literally), and not with the butt of that gun council appears poised to resolve publicly that you are now going to be told you can openly carry into any Town office, meeting or public property festivals or events (see coming related story on Monday’s work session 2nd Amendment Resolution discussion).

Maybe there actually is the hope of compromises to positive community-wide ends in Front Royal and Warren County. If Jacob Meza and David Downes can substantively cooperate toward a common good – don’t drop the ball, guys – why can’t the rest of us on other issues of import to us all?

Watch this unexpected meeting of the minds on a crucial issue to this community – perhaps even more crucial than bikini-clad girls washing motorcycles behind the Virginia Beer Museum’s 6-foot Biergarten privacy fence and about nine parking spaces therein – in this Royal Examiner video of the business conducted at Monday’s meeting.

In addition to approval of a non-exclusive, 5-year contract on pole use for a fiber optics telecommunications system with LUMOS NETWORKS, Inc.; approval of a dedication agreement with First Bank on 594-feet of dedicated space to accommodate a “slip lane” at West 17th Street related to the Sheetz property access; and approval of a COVID-19 preparedness plan, that business included two other public comments speakers, Kelly Walker and Ina Kolesnik, raising the issue of whether the weekend walking mall idea has outlived its usefulness for the majority of Historic Downtown Front Royal businesses;

FR Unites Samuel Porter addressed his relationship to the Black Lives Matter movement and his organization’s activities locally.

also Front Royal Unites’ Samuel Porter’s update on his relationship to the Black Lives Matter movement and a seeming response to Downes’ earlier “focus on marches, protests, petitions, referendums” comment; and a familiar final speaker, Tom Sayre, promising to bring some “levity” I’m still waiting for the punch line to, to “what’s going on in our country and community”, including FOIA inquiries on local Town-County “back-channel” meetings on the Town-EDA dispute over the FRPD headquarters debt service payments.

Setting an example – David Downes and Jacob Meza

Front Royal Town Council Meeting – August 10, 2020