SHOOTING ITSELF IN THE FOOT AGAIN?

PRINCE EDWARD BOARD OF SUPERVISORS SEEKS LEGAL ADVICE

WHAT HAPPENED?!

The ongoing story, previously covered in the Iconoclast, continues in Prince Edward County with new revelations of confusion and dysfunction in the County government.

This past December, the Board of Supervisors adopted a new policy to reorganize the Prince Edward County Planning Commission. This new policy will effectively exclude the nearly one third of the entire County population from eligibility to serve on the Planning Commission in an apparent attempt to limit the influence of the Town of Farmville citizens in County related planning matters.

The story continues.

Front page headlines in the February 10th edition of The Farmville Herald read “Commission Still Intact?” The central question is: “Does Prince Edward have a planning commission?” The answer, according to the Herald: “Apparently no and yes.”

“No and yes”…? How can they have it both ways? What is going on?

According to the Herald, County Attorney Jill Dickerson gives this explanation of the December 13, 2005 policy to address Planning Commission composition: “They still continue as planning commission members, it’s just… trying to determine when each individual planning commission member’s term ends, other than (Lockett District Supervisor Robert (Bobby) Jones who serves as the board’s representative on the Commission) which is set by his position as a board member.”

Gosh, golly… that makes things really clear…right? According to Attorney Dickerson, seems quite sure about Supervisor Jones still being on the Planning Commission but not too sure about everybody else.

What part of the official records of Prince Edward County that read “all terms end as of December 31, 2005” does County Attorney Jill Dickerson not quite understand? Did the Board specifically name any appointments or reappointments to take office January 1, 2006? No. There is no evidence that they did and the Board certainly can not presume that specific appointments are somehow implied by their action. Fact is, all members of the Planning Commission ceased to exist at midnight December 31, 2005.

Lawyer Dickerson’s clearly equivocal “legal opinion” does not get the Board out of this mess…namely the dissolution the Prince Edward County Planning Commission as of January 1, 2006, and the complete stop of all legitimate planning functions for Prince Edward County. Since the Board made no new appointments, there are no members of the Planning Commission! Since Planning Commissions are mandated by State law and required for certain legal functions, the consequences of not having a Planning Commission can be quite serious.

But there are other obvious questions…

County Attorney Dickerson suggests that there may be questions about Planning Commission terms “…other than (Lockett District Supervisor Robert (Bobby) Jones who serves as the board’s representative on the Commission) which is set by his position as a board member.”

Really?

Why does County Attorney Dickerson have such clarity of understanding that somehow Supervisor Jones is still a serving member of the Planning Commission? Where is that written?
Why Supervisor Jones?

Wouldn’t any one of the other Board members have the same right to serve on the Planning Commission? Are all the other Supervisors unqualified? Has anyone bothered to ask? What about the policy to advertise the expiring terms? Does anyone else have a right to apply?

So, why does County Attorney Dickerson just assume that Supervisor Jones holds a position automatically with no evaluation of his qualifications and no official appointment? Indeed, according to the Board’s new policy, what real “knowledge” or “background” does Supervisor Jones possess that would qualify him over all other board members to serve on the Planning Commission?

While Supervisor Jones may indeed have some good qualifications, how does the Board really know that Supervisor Jones is the best Board member to serve on the Prince Edward County Planning Commission if it makes no attempt to look at its options? (I promise there will be more on Supervisor Robert “Bobby” Jones later!)

One final point.

Is the Prince Edward County Board of Supervisors really interested in addressing citizen concerns by reorganizing the Planning Commission? Is the Board really interested in being fair to all citizens including roughly six thousand County residents who live in Farmville? Is the Board really serious about outreaching to the citizens to recruit new blood and new talent to restore public confidence in the County’s Planning Commission?

Or, is the Prince Edward County Board of Supervisors inappropriately clinging to control by excluding new blood from the Planning Commission and further promoting organizational inbreeding of the same old personalities who got them in to the mess in the first place.

With Chairman Buckie and his four like-minded fellow Supervisors firmly in charge, there seems to be little doubt which direction this Board is going.

But, there is always hope. Perhaps some of those Supervisors will start remembering the citizens they represent and start working for those citizens instead of against them! Wouldn’t that be grand?

Stay tuned and keep your comments coming!


Disclaimer: In the use of the expression “SHOOTING ITSELF IN THE FOOT AGAIN?” the Iconoclast disclaims any implication or insinuation of making fun of or ridiculing any public official including Delegate John Reid of Virginia or Vice President Richard Cheney of the United States of America regarding the mishandling of firearms. The Iconoclast supports the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution and urges all citizens and politicians to follow all appropriate firearm safety rules. Thankfully, here in Virginia, our Republican politicians do not normally shoot their friends.