'Twas he Night Before Christmas in Prince Edward County

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through Prince Edward County the good old boys and girls were pleased because Dunn Brothers Development had been delivered their bounty.

Citizens throughout the County were tucked in for a long winter night, upset that it appeared that Supervisors Jones, Fore, McKay, Moore, and Simpson could care less about their plight.

See back in 2003 74-acres of County land was sold; now it was time for a private developer to turn it into gold.

The land was purchased for a price that was minimal. Then a mystery person sold it for a profit just two years later that almost seemed criminal.

Dreams of hundreds of townhouses danced through the developers' heads. This deal was going through, no matter what any pesky citizen said!

Though the road condition seemed poor, and not appropriate to accommodate such a site, the County bosses wheeled all their power to make this deal right.

The proposal would pass the County’s Planning Commission too. In order to make it appear they were pressing, a few members even voted against the proposal for a little window dressing.

A citizen pointed out that the Vice-Chairman of the Planning Commission’s son was working for Dunn, could a conflict of interest ruin their fun?

The County Administrator would contact the Commonwealth Attorney like a bat out of hell; she wanted to make sure the Vice-Chairman’s conflict was a matter of ethics, and not something that would send him to jail.

Supervisors Gillifan, Cooper-Jones, and Ward seemed concerned that such a deal violated the public trust, but 5 stone faced men would hear none of that fuss.

Now the deal is Dunn, and the profits will soon follow, citizens are disappointed that members of their local government seem cold, calculated, and hollow.

Democracy in Prince Edward this year seemed sort of down, I guess things still need to change in the County infamous for Board v. Brown!

Merry Christmas!