Warren County EDA seat filled by supervisors without interviews

FRONT ROYAL – The Warren County EDA Board of Directors is now fully-staffed following a Tuesday appointment by the Board of Supervisors, despite the fact that no interviews were conducted before making a decision on who would fill the seat.

Alexander Gray Blanton was appointed to the EDA Board of Directors following a closed session at the end of the WCBOS regular meeting. A vacancy was created when longtime EDA board member Patricia “Patty” Wines died on July 11, 2017.

Happy Creek District Supervisor Tony Carter made the motion to appoint Blanton, saying that he “would have big shoes to fill.”

Queried Tuesday evening, prior to the scheduled meeting, about the number of candidates who had applied for the volunteer position, Fork District Supervisor Archie A. Fox said there were “several applications” and he believed that the panel would be able to move forward with a decision that evening.

According to Warren County Deputy Clerk Emily Mounce, in an August 1, 2017 email, “The ad ran in the Warren Sentinel on July 27th and in the Northern Virginia Daily on July 28th and 29th.

As I have previously stated, a copy of every public notice is posted on the bulletin board in the Government Center foyer for at least a month, sometimes longer. Additionally, citizen appointment vacancies are posted to the County of Warren website.”

Because the county government is allowed to treat citizen applications for appointments as personnel matters, the documents are exempt from Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). It has been confirmed, however, that the supervisors did not conduct interviews for the vacancy.

When asked about Mr. Blanton on Wednesday morning, EDA Executive Director Jennifer McDonald replied, “I have never met him.”

Blanton, incidentally, served on the Front Royal Town Council from July 1, 1990 through June 30, 1994.

County supervisors appointed Blanton in December 2006 to fill the South River District seat vacated by J. Scott Weinberg after accepting a Federal job transfer to Kansas City. Blanton did not run for that seat in the November 2007 election.