I’ve had the hardest time this past six weeks trying to write. I guess I’ve been suffering from some kind of intellectual constipation that also includes this nauseous dread of what the coming year is going to be like. Virginia is one of seven battleground states because of our open Senate seat, and we can expect nothing less than a scorched earth campaign from both sides. And while it has been kind of amusing to watch the Republican presidential candidates eat their young, it’s scary as all get out when you consider that one of these bozos has a good chance of becoming president.
The cautious optimism that I felt here on the home front after the November election lasted about two weeks. It took about that long before it became apparent that the BOS Chairman-in-waiting Danny McDaniel and County Administrator- for-Life Papa Doc Dalton are moving to marginalize the new board members. We’ll know in a month or so how that works out. Watch to see to what committees the new supervisors are appointed, and who they in turn appoint to the various advisory commissions.
We don’t have to wait to see what we can expect from the new Commissioner of the Revenue. Faye Barker hasn’t even taken office yet, and she is proving to be what I thought she would be after the first and only time I spoke with her last summer at the Farmers Market: a mean spirited, vindictive woman with low self esteem and a nasty attitude. Though I would have handled things differently, I can understand her reluctance to work with Robert Kegley after the rumor driven negative campaign she ran, but Ms. Barker’s treatment of Donna Leonard is unconscionable. As was reported in the Wednesday print edition of the Wytheville Enterprise (which I have not had an opportunity to read yet) Ms. Leonard is a single mom with an honor roll student at Radford University whose only crime was to support Mr. Kegley. Not only will Donna begin the new year without a job, she will also lose her family’s health insurance. Shame on you Ms. Barker, shame on you. You consider yourself a good christian lady, but actions speak louder than words and you are neither.
Anne and I spent a delightful Sunday afternoon at the historic Rex Theater in Galax attending a performance of the musical comedy Nunsense, a Galax Theater Guild Production presented by the Arts Council of the Twin Counties, directed by our sister-in-law Stephannie Dees. The premise of the play is that the Little Sisters of Hoboken have pooled
Sister-in-law "Sister" Stephannie Dees
their talents to produce a benefit to raise money so they can bury four of their colleagues currently being stored in the school cafeteria freezer. The four are the last of 52 nuns who died after being accidentally poisoned by some bad soup prepared by Sister Julia, child of God. The play is two hours of jokes, songs, and tons of nun puns performed by a very talented cast. “How do you make holy water? Boil the hell out of it.”
The show has two more performances left, Thursday evening at 7:30 pm, and Sunday afternoon at 2:30 pm. Tickets are $7 ($5 for seniors.) Popcorn, soft drinks, and candy are available in the lobby for only a dollar a piece.
Congratulations to Faye Barker, Joe Hale, Artie Hall, Tim Reeves, Gene Horney and Deborah Crigger. I sincerely wish each of you success when you assume your office in January. If you succeed, we all succeed. The answer to the question of who really won Tuesday is the people of Wythe County. For the first time in a decade, we will have a Board of Supervisors who will actually make decisions rather than rubber stamp those of Cellell Dalton.
No mandate emerged from Tuesday’s results. Each of the contested races was decided on its individual merits. The one thing that is apparent is that the Tea Party has far less influence in the county than they would have us believe. The threat to bring hundreds of Tea Baggers full of righteous indignation to the polls turned out to be just that, a threat. The Wythe County Tea Party Express seems to be only a handful of very vocal folks. Only 7156 people or 39% of the registered voters participated in Tuesday’s election. That is 4% lower than 2009, and 2% lower than 2007. Though they backed Republican candidates in each race, Buford Bailey, who lost his bid for Supervisor of the Ft. Chiswell District to Democrat Joe Hale, was the only card carrying Tea Bagger in any of the races. Mr. Bailey is to be commended for running a clean, issues oriented campaign. Some of his ideas are pretty good ones, and I hope he will continue to speak out.
I misspoke in my last post when I said that Republicans now control the BOS. Actually, there are three Republicans, three Democrats, and Gary Houseman who runs as an Independent. It will be interesting to watch this board evolve. With Bucky Sharitz gone, you can bet your damned skippy that Cellell Dalton will have far less influence than he has in the past.
With this new board in place, we can really hope that the business of Wythe County will NOT be business as usual.
With a net pick up of one seat, Republicans have taken control of the Wythe County Board of Supervisors. Newcomer Tim Reeves defeated Board Chairman Bucky Sharitz for the at large seat, and Tea Party backed Artie Hall won over Sis Cassell for the seat being vacated by Democrat Martha Umberger. Democrat Joe Hale defeated Tea Party candidate Buford Bailey in the Ft. Chiswell District to pick up the seat previously held by Republican Maggie Poole.
In the hotly contested race for Commissioner of Revenue, Republican Faye Barker easily defeated Democrat Robert Kegley by a margin of just over 1400 votes. Barker won 60% to 40%. In the race for School Board At-Large, incumbent Deborah Crigger held off a strong challenge by recent George Wythe graduate Lennon Counts.
At 10:00 am, voter turnout across the county stood at 11%. In 2009, the turnout at the same time was 14%.The total turnout in 2009 ended up at 43%. That contrasted with 41% in 2007. We can and should do better today. If you haven’t voted yet, I hope you plan to do so. I’ll have updates later today.
Patsy Hale works the Ft. Chiswell High School polling place for her husband Joe.
I plan to vote for Lennon Counts for the At-Large School Board seat tomorrow, and it may be the most important one that I cast.
Last week Liza Field invited me to speak to one of her classes at Wytheville Community College. The class is composed of a dozen or so students, the majority of whom graduated from George Wythe High School last May. It was an 8:00 am class and when I arrived at 8:45 am, the appointed time for my portion of the class, the students took one look at the old man standing in front of them and settled in to catch up on their sleep. Whereas no one got to the actual snoring stage while I prattled away about social unrest and global politics, most of their eyes glazed over, and a few slipped into rhythmic heavy breathing. When I mentioned Lennon Counts’ name in passing, it was if someone threw a switch. Faces lighted up and the class suddenly became animated. I heard descriptions like “brilliant,” and “great guy” being tossed around.
A couple of days later at the grocery store check out, I asked the young clerk if she was registered to vote. She answered in the affirmative. I asked if she planned to vote tomorrow, and she answered “probably not.” When I told her about Lennon Counts and his run for the school board, her attitude changed and she promised that she would go vote.
These two incidents confirmed what I thought the night of the candidate’s forum. Wythe County needs this young man. For those of you who don’t know, Mr. Counts is 19 years old, graduated from George Wythe last May, and is currently attending WCC full time. The following is from the August 30 edition of the Wytheville Enterprise:
“Lennon Counts decided to run for the School Board At-Large position just a month ago. It was at the suggestion of his friends’ parents that he began thinking seriously about running.
The 18-year-old graduate of George Wythe High School, who is currently taking general studies classes at Wytheville Community College, said he feels his age will give him a unique perspective on issues.
He said he could provide the board “more student-friendly input, if needed.” Since he graduated this past May, he more readily understands the desires and experiences of the students, he said.
Counts said he’s heard nothing but encouragement from those he’s spoken with.
“We need younger people in politics,” he said.
In this election, no truer words have been spoken. Mr. Counts and his peers represent the real future of this county, and the sooner we can get them involved in the decision-making process, the better all of us will be.
So there you have it folks: Tim Reeves, Robert Kegley, Joe Hale, and Lennon Counts. These are the people in contested races for whom I plan to vote. Someone commented on one of the previous posts that I seem to be left leaning, and that’s true. I lean left because I’m leaning as far away from the extreme right wing, the christian right, and the lunatic fringe that I can…left is the only way you can lean in this circumstance.
If I were able, I’d vote for Sis Cassell for this reason. Artie Hall might be a nice guy, but his stated priorities are Christ first, family second, and everything else third. This is fine if you’re running for pastor of a church, but supervisor? Not so much. Besides, Sis is a gracious lady who will bring vast institutional knowledge and the voice of moderation to the table.
Bentley vs Horney is a you pick’em. I’ve gone round and round on this race and still can’t come to a conclusion. I think the best thing that Speedwell voters could do for their future is to try dating outside their zip code.
I wish all the candidates good luck tomorrow and encourage the rest of you to vote early and often.
I’d like to apologize to Faye Barker, Robert Kegley, and the voters of Wythe County. I made some snarky comments about Ms. Barker in a previous post, and I probably shouldn’t have. In doing so, I’ve created some undeserved sympathy for her at Mr. Kegley’s expense and moved the discussion in this race away from the central point: Who is the most qualified to be the Commissioner of the Revenue for Wythe County, Virginia?
Faye, I don’t know you. We met once at the Farmers Market, but I doubt you remember. My opinion of you and your qualifications to be Commissioner of the Revenue versus those of your opponent is based on conversations I’ve had with people who do know you, both supporters and detractors. It is also based on your stated qualifications and on your public statements about the events surrounding your retirement from county government.
At the candidates forum last Thursday evening, you stated the following:
“I am currently not working in the office. I had planned to run for the office in this year’s election, and found it better to resign from my position in February due to the friction that developed in the office upon my announcement that I was going to run. This the only reason that I left.”
Mrs. Barker, that is not the truth and you know it. You did not RESIGN your position, you RETIRED. There was no friction in the office when you retired because you did not announce your intention to run for the Commissioner’s job until AFTER you retired.
In January of this year, you submitted a letter to your superior, Sis Cassell, indicating your desire to retire, citing plans to spend more time with your family and to become more active in your church. At the time you denied any plans to run for the Commissioner’s office.
Your last day in the office was February 9th. Mrs. Cassell and the other employees threw you a retirement party and gave you a rather nice retirement gift. There was certainly no FRICTION then, as you had not yet made any announcement that you planned to run.
In the Wytheville Enterprise article, published a week and a half later on February 18, you are quoted as having said,
Technically already retired, she is finishing the remainder of her accrued vacation time.
“I decided it was time to go,” Barker said. “I loved the job and I loved working with the public.”
The article goes on to say this,
According to her, she has been approached by the Wythe County Republican Party as a potential candidate for commissioner of the revenue in the upcoming November general election. If Barker receives her party’s nomination, she will likely face a Democratic challenger from within the commissioner’s office.
“Sis has said she’s retiring this year,” Barker noted. “I’ve never run for an elected office before but if I get the nomination I’ll accept it.”
By retiring from the office, she won’t be in an awkward position for the election. Barker also will have time to campaign.
“The commissioner’s job is a political one,” she was quick to point out, “but Mr. Whitt nor Sis Cassell ever forced their politics on us.”
So Faye, when you stated last Thursday evening that the ONLY reason you resigned your position was because of the friction that developed upon your announcement, YOU WERE NOT TELLING THE TRUTH.
But I digress. This is about who is most qualified to be the Commissioner of the Revenue.
By your own admission, the Commissioner’s job is a political one for which you have no experience.
The job requires the ability to manage a staff and make personnel decisions, another important aspect of the position for which you have no experience.
“Attended” Wytheville Community College is not the same thing as a four year college degree.
According to you, 38 years of adequately performing what is essentially a clerical job is the only qualification you need to be the boss. That makes about as much sense as believing that someone who spends 38 years on an assembly line building trucks is qualified to be president of the Ford Motor Company.
One other question I have for you. Considering the kind of campaign you have run, and the things you have said that are blatantly not true, should you win, how do you propose to manage a staff that you have lied to, and a staff that is now hostile you? Do you think there is any respect left for you in that office?
Mr. Kegley’s education, political, and managerial experiences are superior to yours. (Mr. Kegley has received awards for his managerial abilities from previous employers.) If Mr. Kegley wins, he will lead an office that is already fully supportive of him. Your election would be a step backwards for the people of this county. You may not like it, but those are the facts.
As cynical as I tend to be about politics and politicians, once in awhile someone comes along who restores my faith in the system. Joe Hale, candidate for the Ft. Chiswell District Supervisor, is such a person.
Joe Hale is a successful businessman who continues to meet a payroll. Through his architectural and environmental engineering firm, he is a job creator. For more than a decade, he has been working to restore the land on his farm in Miller’s Creek after it was clear cut by a lumber company prior to his purchasing the property.
I spent two and a half hours on the phone earlier this week getting to know Mr. Hale and his view of the world, and I must say I was impressed. Not only is Mr. Hale extremely knowledgeable about how far this county has come, he has an excellent vision of where it should go and how to take it there.
I guess the one thing voters should be aware of is that Joe intends to push for more transparency in county government. He also intends to be an advocate for individual property owners. He believes in stewardship and thriftiness in county government spending. He believes that county employees would greatly benefit from a mentoring program that would address the complaints from county citizens about how they are treated by county employees. Complaints that are now being mostly ignored.
He is not a particular fan of Cellell Dalton or his mini-me Stephen Bear. For this reason alone he should be elected.
For Supervisor from the Ft. Chiswell District, my choice is Joe Hale.
The Peter Principle states that “in a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence,” meaning that employees tend to be promoted until they reach a position at which they cannot work competently. In the last couple of weeks, I’ve spoken to a dozen or so rank and file voters who will tell you that Faye Barker reached her level years ago, following her first promotion.
That might be a slight exaggeration, it may have only been 10 or so, but as late as 10am this morning when I told a friend I was going to be posting something about the Commissioner of the Revenue’s race today, she screwed her usually smiling face into a frown and said, “Oooh, that Faye Barker woman makes me so mad. She messed up my taxes two years in a row and never even apologized. The last time, she got all snotty and acted like it wasn’t her fault.”
Folks, in this race, education and intelligence really do matter. Really. They matter…a lot.
Robert Kegley is hands down the best candidate for the job. In brief, general conversations I had with him over the summer during his weekly visits to the Farmers Market, (as a customer, not a candidate) I got to know him a little and to see some of his vision for the future of Wythe County. Mr. Kegley understands the importance of networking and the use of technology to increase accuracy and productivity. I have no doubt that Mr. Kegley will continue to build on the excellence begun by his predecessor. I’m also pretty sure that neither Robert nor anyone on his staff will screw up my friend’s taxes TWO years in a row.
