Charlotte County: Questions of Accountability

Charlotte County Administrator Travel Expenses Raise Citizen Questions and Concerns!

Supervisors decree everything fine and dandy!

Administrator has reason to smile?


Now and again the Iconoclast receives tips from readers about “interesting situations” involving government officials across the Commonwealth. Such a story was recently forwarded to us by several friends in Southside Virginia.

The story involves Charlotte County government and the way it accounts for the expenditure of tax dollars… or doesn’t account… but at least thinks it does.

Confused yet?

Charlotte County is a small rural county in the vast region generally called Southside Virginia.

It would probably be fair to characterize Charlotte County as a tranquil but poor rural County. There are no cities and very few job opportunities for young people. For that matter there probably are not a lot of job opportunities left these days for anyone.

Charlotte County likely has more than its fair share of elderly, retired, people on fixed incomes, and poor people.

Most would agree that Charlotte County government has many needs and few public resources available to meet those needs. They need to make every dollar count.

More information on Charlotte County can be seen by clicking on this link.

The story that the Iconoclast will now address erupted in media reports about a month ago. Both The Richmond Times Dispatch and The Southside Messenger recently reported on this story in considerable detail.

However, the story goes back to at least last year.

It seems that the controversy started last year when a citizen of Charlotte County, one Mr. Larry Lail, made a request to the Charlotte County Administrator’s office for documentation of travel expenses incurred by long-time County Administrator Russell B. Clark and his Assistant County Administrator Stephanie Heintzelman.

Mr. Lail apparently wanted to see where these two top County officials were traveling to and how much the taxpayers of Charlotte County were paying for these activities. His request covered the years 2002 to 2004.

This request was by itself quite unremarkable.

In America, there is a fundamental presumption that all government functions belong to the people. That is why government records are typically referred to as “public records.”

Here in Virginia, the prevailing “sunshine law” is known as the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.

Under this law, most governmental documents are presumed to be available to any citizen upon request (there are a few exceptions to protect certain exempted public and private interests for good cause).

What was remarkable about Mr. Lail’s request was the reaction by Charlotte County government… or more accurately… unusual reaction.

Normally, one would presume that a citizen request for public documents would be fulfilled in just a few days as is required by law.

That did not happen.

The basic problem was that the County could not deliver the requested receipts for the travel expenses because those documents did not exist.

Supervisor Joseph Carey acknowledged that "...Mr. Lail discovered a flaw in the system, and the board took action to correct it…”

Long time Chairman of the Board Gary Walker offered: “We can’t give him what we don’t have… it’s not there.”

According to County Attorney Russell Slayton, the County has not required receipts for travel expenses in the past. Lawyer Slayton goes on to explain that the County is not required to provide anyone with receipts that do not exist.

Wow. All those years in law school certainly paid off!

If this legal explanation was not enough to put the matter to rest, the creative resolution passed by the Charlotte County Board of Supervisors would certainly do the trick.

By a vote of four in favor, the Board voted to approve a resolution to declare that all was “proper and reasonable" with travel expenses. Two Supervisors abstained from the vote and one Supervisor was absent.

The resolution stated in part “a review of past reimbursements has confirmed that those reimbursements were made in compliance with the county’s reimbursement policy.”

In case you are wondering, those voting for this creative resolution to decree all fine and dandy, were Chairman Haywood J. Hamlet, Vice Chairman Garland H. "Butch Hamlett, Jr., Supervisor Gary D. Walker, and Supervisor Nancy R. Carwile. Supervisors Ashley L. Myers and Joseph E. Carey, Sr. abstained from voting and Supervisor David M. Guill was absent from the vote.

Ok…

Now I have a few questions.

What policy?

What kind of official policy would knowingly leave this kind of gap in the County’s fiscal accountability systems? Remember… we are talking about a considerable amount of money here.

This is a gap big enough to drive a Mack truck through with the doors open!

How long has this been going on?

Who is responsible?

What kind of Board would allow this kind of problem to go unchecked for so many years?

What have the auditors been smoking all these years?

The Iconoclast sought to find answers to these questions.

As a first step, a representative from the Iconoclast contacted Charlotte County Administrator Russell B. Clark in June ask him to either respond to a series of specific questions or, if he chose, to respond generally to the situation as he saw fit.

We checked back with Mr. Clark last week with a reminder.

As of this date, County Administrator Clark has elected to ignore both options.

On the other hand, several citizens have openly expressed concerns that the Board’s action by passing the resolution was a “disappointment” and little more than an act to “sweep obvious problems under the rug.” Citizens question how the Board can decree something is "proper and reasonable" on faith without any factual evidence.

One source noted only four Supervisors out of a total of seven actually voted in favor of this dubious resolution.

This is hardly a confidence inspiring vote.

Most interesting, several sources reported that alleged “sloppy and/or questionable financial management” practices involving the same Charlotte County officials, most notably, County Administrator Clark, date back a good many years.

The Iconoclast wants to make it absolutely clear that it is not suggesting that any Charlotte County officials have misapplied public funds.

However, on the facts we have learned from media reports and other sources in the community, the Iconoclast would conclude that the circumstances indicate a fundamental lack of adequate financial management oversight by the Board of Supervisors, poor financial management by the administrative personnel, and a less than forthright response to legitimate questions of governmental accountibility by the members of the Board of Supervisors.

Bottom line, Charlotte County government is probably not going to be a top contender for any “Iconoclast Good Government Awards” in the foreseeable future.

When considering problems of sloppy financial management, whether it is in Charlotte County or elsewhere, it is important to keep in mind abuse and waste of public resources is not limited to only clear-cut cases of criminal misconduct.

Other sources of abuse and waste can and do result from bad judgment, incompetence, greed or ethical weaknesses.

If citizens do not pay attention, public officials will with alarming frequency take advantage of their apathy.

Citizens have the power to make a difference. Much waste and abuse can be prevented through citizen involvement.

Take for example Brenda Stewart, ordinary citizen in Chesterfield who uncovered travel expenses incurred by top Chesterfield County officials, including an $18,000 charter jet trip by the Chesterfield County Administrator and Chairman of the Board for matters that were arguably not even legitimate County business.

That County Administrator has since repaid the citizens the full amount for that lapse of judgment.

Another recent good example was citizen Lee Albright who exposed a culture of abuse by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries ,where state officials financed what can only be described as exotic travel… in this case an African safari… at taxpayer expense and then sought to cover up the abuse.

As a result of this citizen's demand for accountability, several senior state officials were shown the door.

It is not always easy for citizens to get the information they need from government agencies. Even though the law is clear, public officials with secrets to hide are sometimes very creative in resisting the prying eyes of concerned citizens.

This story in Charlotte County, Virginia is ongoing. The results may be months away. But it is good to see that Charlotte County citizens are exercising their rights as the lawful owners of the Charlotte County Courthouse and everything it contains.

Best wishes in this noble quest for responsible government.



NOTE: As always, the Iconoclast appreciates information submitted to it in confidence. Please keep us posted on developments.