A joke of an evening with the Albemarle Board of Supervisors
It was a joke of an evening at the Albemarle Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday night and County taxpayers were the comedy targets again at the hands of the six Democrats on the BOS. (Hey, I'm not picking on Democrats. These six picked being Dems. I didn't pick their label for them.)
So, let the laughter begin.
Supervisor Ann Mallek (D, White Hall) butted in during the public comment portion of the meeting and asked Dr. Clarabelle Wheeler to keep talking after her three minutes of speaking time were over. So, Ann, who gets extra time next time? What are the chances you will give bonus time to someone who is critical of something about County government. Will you jump in and give them an extra minute or two also? I can hear the laughter now.
Supervisor and Board Chairwoman Liz Palmer (D, Samuel Miller) later invited a man who had already had his three minutes of tax rate Public Hearing time to come back to the podium to talk some more. So, Liz, next time you have a Public Hearing will you be letting someone else come forward a second time to speak? Any chance for favoritism with such a system? Chuckle, chuckle. Who gets to decide who gets to speak how many times and for how long? Oh, that’s right, you have the cue cards and the power to do whatever you care to do. Why even go through the phoniness of having Supervisor McKeel read the speaking and time limit rules? This is just too, too funny.
Speaking of Supervisor McKeel, we were treated Tuesday night to Supervisor Diantha McKeel (D, Jack Jouett) once again blaming Albemarle taxpayers’ powerlessness against ever-rising taxes on the General Assembly. The General Assembly members don’t set Albemarle’s tax rate, don’t approve and pass Albemarle’s budget, don’t okay unwarranted pay raises for all Albemarle County employees while the private sector and Social Security retirees suffer wage and benefit stagnation. You do this, Diantha. You and your Democrat pals on the BOS. This is on you, not on Richmond. At the same time you have the nerve to talk about wanting to support business here to grow the commercial tax base? What a joke! In my view, there is only one business this Board is interested in supporting — the business of government growth.
Yes indeed Tuesday night was another BOS comedy hit!
It included the government sitcom “The List" once again. That’s the perennial last minute log jam of pet projects and leftovers and unresolved issues that all require money in order to be included in the next budget. It’s the game of which Supervisor has found enough votes via telephone before the meeting begins. Here’s last night’s score:
Supervisor Mallek wins 4-2 to take $288,000 in taxpayer healthcare savings and transfer it to her favorite rural wealth-fare program ACE (Acquisition of Conservation Easements). The two urban Supervisors Brad Sheffield (D, Rio) and McKeel vote no, losing out though to Mallek, Palmer, Norman Dill (D, Rivanna), and Rick Randolph (D, Scottsville).
On Supervisor McKeel’s initiative, the six Democrats said NO to Republican Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Tracci’s request for just under $44,000 to move a part-time attorney’s position to full-time for the rest of this fiscal year and all of the new fiscal year. At a BOS meeting last week, Chairwoman Palmer praised Tracci — while he was present at the meeting — for his work during his first three months in the office previously held by Democrat Denise Lunsford. Probably not good Party form, Liz. Supervisors Randolph and Sheffield quickly chimed in on McKeel’s comments that she first needed to see Tracci fill a currently vacant attorney’s position in his office. Randolph wanted “empirical documentation” from Tracci and Sheffield wanted “trend analysis” information. Meanwhile, when Tracci presented his drastically pared back request last week, he told the BOS that fines and fees would cover the $44,000 when reimbursed to Albemarle County. Sorry, Robert, others can come in late with budget requests, but it sometimes can kind of depend on which team you play for.
Supervisors McKeel, Palmer, Sheffield, and Randolph chalked up another extra innings win Tuesday night when they refused to go along with Supervisors Mallek and Dill to authorize $6,500 for the OAR Restorative Justice Program. OAR provides excellent services to the greater Charlottesville-Albemarle area, but it is an agency after all and its Restorative Justice Program didn’t pass the ABRT (Agency Budget Review Team) review process, albeit on a technicality, this time around. To my way of thinking, though, there are two surprising and quite positive take-aways from this 4-2 BOS decision that went against OAR. During the discussion, Supervisor Randolph said most non-profits could actually raise such money pretty quickly "outside of government." Win #1. And Supervisor Dill called OAR what it and many other agencies really are, and I’m quoting him here: “a charity.” Win #2.
The final item on “The List” was another win for Supervisor McKeel. She managed to get a 5-1 win taking some jail and bus line savings away from taxpayers and snatch some money back from the School Board (but only if they agree). These monies will be added to some one-time reserve funds that County Executive Tom Foley said he could find so that the BOS can hire and outfit a new School Resource Police Officer position. On this move, Supervisor Randolph (who earlier, remember, voted for ACE funding at the last moment) decided on this matter that adding the SRO position would "break precedent on the eve of budget approval.” You see, the BOS had been telling the public for several weeks that the new budget would include no new positions. Technically, can Randolph be given a pass on this one? After all, ACE is a program, not a position. Randolph voted against McKeel’s SRO, but a 5-1 win is a win is a win is a win is a win is a win. That does add up to five, doesn’t it? Interestingly, during the discussion, Supervisor Dill told Randolph it was the job of Supervisors to “bob and weave where needed . . . to make things happen.” ACE Angel Mallek agreed with Dill.
So, to those of you yet reading this, are you still laughing — or feeling the brunt of being just another taxpayer punch line?
There’s more.
I listened to the next 20 minutes of financial chatter between the BOS and Tom Foley and Budget Director Lori Allshouse and heard them talk about “investment strategies,” an Economic Opportunity Fund, “non-departmental expenditures,” and an Innovation Fund, but I don’t yet understand who controls what in each, how much taxpayer money is in each, and what each is supposed to buy. Dare I say it? These all have a slightly slushy feel to them. I really do need to know more before repeating this joke.
There was another winner at last night’s BOS meeting, and it wasn’t the two men who spoke against the proposed budget and new tax rate during the Public Hearing. (First an important note of balance here: a woman — Vivian Donahue of the Jack Jouett District — who was a realtor for 35 years somewhere other than in Albemarle County testified to the BOS that: (a) “Albemarle’s real estate is under-assessed,” (b) “our schools are starving for money,” and (c) “Albemarle County desperately needs this increase.”)
Now, back to the additional win I started to mention in the preceding paragraph — and you should most definitely feel this hit your financial funny bone. The winner in this instance wasn’t any of the Supervisors but rather a future private consultant. Yes, the $125,000 for Tom Foley’s general government efficiency study — just renamed the “Transformation/Efficiency Study” —survived the cut. What a hoot! If only the “/” in the new title actually meant SLASH. Even funnier, though, we don’t get to know right now how this 125 grand will be spent, what it will study, and whether anyone in the public will get to provide input to the study — or even have their input paid attention to, if allowed. But never fear, Supervisor Sheffield to the rescue on this one. He told Tom that Tom should make sure to involve some residents “who are less vocal,” maybe folks who have a sincere interest in Albemarle County, but like to remain behind the scenes or under the radar. Sheffield suggested that Tom look for some retirees or perhaps some ex-CEOs with “no political agenda.” However, I must make it clear here that when Mr. Sheffield mentioned "retirees" he did not specify that they be connected in any way, shape, or form to The Senior Center, Inc.
Meanwhile, I could be wrong, but I got the distinct impression that the County Executive might be more comfortable without a great deal of public involvement in his and his consultant’s efficiency study. His wording was sprinkled with phrases like “there may be a need for” some citizen involvement in an “advisory” capacity. Tom did the wise thing in the end and changed the subject slightly, throwing it back to Sheffield and the rest of the Board with this concluding statement and question: “You Supervisors have a strategic plan that is not funded. What do you really want to get accomplished?”
Sounds like Albemarle taxpayers could be in for even more giggles while County government laughs all the way to our banks.
But guess what? The BOS didn’t even talk about the $35.5 million — the amount so far — for a Bond Referendum that they are likely put on this November’s ballot. That howler of a discussion begins in earnest during a 3 p.m. work session on Wednesday, April 13.
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Special note on a different topic: Following a Closed Meeting Tuesday night to discuss the hiring of a new County Attorney, the Albemarle BOS voted 6-0 to name current Deputy County Attorney Greg Kamptner as retiring County Attorney Larry Davis’ replacement, effective June 1, 2016. I have asked for the salary and benefits records for Kamptner since this information wasn’t provided during the meeting. I’m guessing this will take some time — at least five legal government business days by Virginia FOIA standards. I suspect this will be the case because I’m still waiting for the same records for Albemarle’s new Assessor Peter Lynch who was appointed to his new top post during the BOS meeting back on April 6.