The last letter to the SSD Editor

For those who did not see the Sussex Surry Dispatch here is  my letter to the editor ...

Groundhog Day by Fred X Turck Blackwater District

There is a classic Bill Murray movie, Groundhog Day, which revolves around the repeating over and over of February 2nd. This is a very funny movie but what is happening here in Sussex County unlike the movie isNOT FUNNY one bit. Similar to the movie we seem to be reliving over and over a bad day for the county in the form of the Board of Supervisors Meetings. It is becoming very tiring and very old. This is NOT just something that has occurred with the newly elected board but has been going on for years.

Not sure what was going on prior to the start of the meeting but Chairman Tyler rearranged the seating locations of the Board Members, was it an attempt to break allegiances or was it just another show of power.  When 7:30 PM came the meeting began as always with hopes, the pledge of allegiance and a prayer, but did not take long for the hope to dwindle and the words of both the pledge and the prayer to be just that, words. It didn’t take long for the €œBull Supervisor Fly and the Bully Supervisor Tyler to revive their deep disrespect for each other and those they were elected to serve. He said - she said, whose going to Meetings. Gentlemen, ALL 6 of you, PLEASE stop this, set your personal differences and agendas aside and get back to what it is you were elected to do.

There was a bright spot last night, not since the hunters rallied in support of an issue very important to them has the meeting room been so full. During the citizens comments portion of the meeting about a dozen or so folks got up and voiced concern for several issues. There was a well-organized and orchestrated outpouring of support for Attorney Henry Thompson, many called for the county to “do what is right and pay outstanding bills, some called for the county to act NOW and replace the outdated and unreliable communications system and others asked for county support of youth activities.  You could tell that this, just like with the outpouring of hunters, rattled the Board, to the point where funding for a youth recreation league was placed back into the budget just in time for spring activities.

HOWEVER this huge outcry for doing what is right from the citizens also lead to an unprecedented, out of place and very unprofessional rant from the chairman. While we all can support some aspects of what he has to say, just like we can find some points to agree with made by other Board Members we MUST DEMAND that our Groundhog Day come to an END! If you can’t attend the meetings, I am glad you are keeping up with it through the Sussex Surry Dispatch, and  please contact your representative(contact info follows) let them know it’s time to get to the business of supporting you, your family and your county and check out my blog at

www.sussexcountyva.blogspot.com

Board of Supervisors

Courthouse District

 Eric Fly   Cell: (757) 647-8190   Email: cefly@seamcorp.net

 Stony Creek District

 Charlie E. Caple, Jr   Home: (434) 246-2602    Cell: (804) 586-3645

 Waverly District

 Alfred G. Futrell   Cell: (804) 385-6406   Email: rottrucks@aol.com

 Blackwater District

 Raymond L.Warren   Home: (804) 834-2920   Email: rwarren46@aol.com

 Henry District

 Rufus E. Tyler Sr  Home: (434) 246-4246   Email: rtyler@impassoc.org

 Wakefield District

 John A. Stringfield,   Home: (757) 899-3088   Email: jastringfield333@yahoo.com

Groundhog Day

The new "line-up" or I should say seating arrangments. just like an elementary school teacher Chairman Tyler gave the "students"  new seating locations. A fresh look but the results were the same and predictible.

The "Bull"

 The "Bully"

At times I think the County Administrator should be issued a striped shirt, yellow flag and a whistle.

Surprise, surprise a 3 - 3 vote in yet another attempt for electing a vice-chair. I would suggest each of the nominees stand infront of the board and the citizens and make a statement as to why they would want the job and what they could bring to the vice-chair position. then ask the board to vote in full view of the public so we can know what/who/why they are voting the way they are voting. If this cant be resolved....hey here is a thought....maybe Mr Futrell would be willing to step up and take on the responsibility so the board can put at least one of the issues in front of them to rest.

Your out of order Mr Chairman.

Just pay the bill !!!

More of my thoughts will be posted soon, please check back.

Thursday Night Board of Supervisors Meeting

Tomorrow Night 7:30  PM BE THERE !!
http://www.sussexcountyva.gov/events/index/view/id/23/

We NEED to take every opportunity we have to stay informed as to what our "leaders" ?? are doing for US and for OUR COUNTY. For  too long now they have been operating under a semi cone of silence, behind closed doors and outside of sound and sight of "we the citizens of Sussex County".
PLEASE attend the meeting it is only then that in numbers we can begin to make a difference.
SEE YOU THURSDAY NIGHT.

The morning after!

About 25 citizens attend the first BOS meeting of 2012.

What started off on a fairly good note at least for Sussex County ended with the same dissention, dysfunction and disappointment that has become expected from our leadership.

Board members get into a heated battle as the County Administrator looks for guidance from higher sources because it seems like it’s not being provided from those we elected to do just that.

HBO could sign Tyler and Fly to a pay per view debate and it just might be more profitable than the Cassius Clay – Sonny Liston fight. But it would also probably leave more questions unanswered than those after the classic fight.

1) Tyler makes light of economic impact and frustrations of the NON-meetings.

During citizen comments a resident of the county (Blackwater District) got up and suggested that both Tyler and Capel refund the county their $600+ stipend they get per month due to the fact that they were both playing games and not attending in what looked like a blatant attempt to not allow a quorum so that county business could NOT be carried out. It was also suggested that the county refund the citizen approximately $50 to cover the cost of gas and vehicle expense for showing up 3 times for the non-meetings. Tyler joked and said the check is in the mail. Well Mr. Tyler I hope an invoice is presented to the board so you can honor those words “the check is in the mail”. And by the way, since Mr. Tyler stated that Mr. Fly should personally pay over $12,000 in legal fees because Fly did not get a consensus of the Board prior to approving the expenditures (which Fly did call all Board members to get the consensus. Shouldn’t Tyler pay the $50 in travel fees for the county resident, since he said the check would be in the mail without any consensus and ratification from the board? I won’t hold my breath nor should the citizen making the comments because we all know you are NOT a man of honor and will not honor this request either.

2) County Administrator calls for Code of Ethics/Standards of Conduct commitment.

County Administrator Tom Harris is attempting to get the board and all county employees to be a bit (no a LOT MORE) professional and civil in how they interact with the citizens of the county and themselves. Almost 2 years ago, I suggested to the board of supervisors that they needed a code of conduct and an ethics guide because at that time it was evident that the past board did not like each other and could not carry out a meeting without some sad and embarrassing moments. They said that they had done this but in reality only gave it lip service and whatever they had were just words on paper without any commitment to honor by all the board. Let’s hope that Mr. Harris has better luck with this most current attempt and is more successful for the betterment of the county and those of us living here.

3) New Board Members sit in silence as senior members exchange verbal blows.

It must have been a real eye/ear opener for the new board members who for the most part sat back in silence as Tyler and Fly traded verbal blows in a real embarrassing he-said she-said bout. Not knowing all the fine details of what went on it sure looked as if both had an equal contribution to this pathetic display of our elected officials working out a disagreement/misunderstanding. Of all the things they talk about in closed session (which should be called into question) this sure seemed like it could have been resolved in a manner that would not made the Board and the entire County look and feel like they are part of the 6-ring circus.

4) County in the red, can’t seem to manage its nickels, how can it be expected to manage millions, is a tax increase in the works?

During the meeting it was stated that between the school board and the county that the county would be almost 2 MILLION DOLLARS in the red if certain tax credits were not renewed. County administrator did propose that as an incentive for departments being fiscally responsible and saving money that any “saved money” be carried over into next year’s budget as an increase to the normal allocations. While this all sounds good and I hope the board takes the request seriously, I too hope that they put into place some REAL measures to hold the departments and department heads accountable for going OVER BUDGET.

Also as seen in the local paper and further touted at the meeting, the county is the recipient of several grants, upwards of 4.5 million dollars’ worth. While this on the surface seems like a great thing one does not have to go back so many months to see how the county allowed previous grants to wither away with OUT benefiting the county for what they were intended for.  HOW can we expect our current board to manage this kind of money when they can’t seem to watch the nickels and dimes in a responsible manner? In the agenda for the meeting it was noted that the board/county has a “policy” in place that allows a county employee a $50 stipend if they elect to use their own cell phone vs using a county provided phone. This seems a bit; no a lot excessive; I know several state agencies that do not allow this for a variety of reasons. To me $50 is more like a entire compensation as that should almost pay all or most of a standard package available from several providers. This is on top of the $600+ stipend, and health care and expense account.  What about approval of expending over $250,000 for architect fees for the new office for the Commonwealth Attorney. Just these fees alone should build a nice (maybe the nicest in the county) office building.

5) Tyler calls into question the Sussex Surry Dispatch ability to print the truth and calls for a County Newsletter.

The frost on the cake came late in the meeting when Mr. Tyler suggested that the county begin publishing their own newsletter since they cannot trust the Sussex Surry Dispatch to print the truth. Well Mr Tyler is sure making a major assumption that the county themselves is capable of publishing the truth. They have such a good track record of altering minutes (or allowing the minutes to be altered) of public meetings to suite their own agenda, why would we NOT trust them to publish the truth in their own newsletter.

If people really want to know the truth about what is going on in the county THEY MUST BEGIN TO GET INVOLVED. About 25 citizens showed up at the meeting. This is many more than normal, except for those few instances where folks felt the need to ban together and show up in force to let the county know their displeasure with an issue. In those few instances I believe the Board of Supervisors were taken by surprise and felt the pressure of the “power of the people”. Another way citizens can find out the truth if they cannot attend the meetings is to READ THE SUSSEX SURRY DISPATCH.

 

Something's missing

Leadership... that's what is missing in Sussex County!!

WELCOME to my blog on sussex county. This will be another tool to try and hold our elected officials accountable. I have been attending the Board of Supervisors meetings on a regular basis for the last 3 years, I've been part of local organizations that have tried to make a difference. So join me in opening up everyones eyes to what it's really like to live in Sussex County. I will talk about the good when there is good to talk about but for now its more important to address what's wrong and IT'S OUR LEADERSHIP THAT IS WHAT's WRONG!!!

The picture below was taken just munites before the start of what was suppose to be a BOS meeting 12/28/2011.

 

Dear Citizens of Sussex County, ALL CITIZENS, you should be deeply concerned about the recent series of events taking place among the group of folks who are supposed to be working for us all in improving our way of life here in Sussex County. It is a disgrace, a shame, a sham that we end 2011 with such a dysfunctional Board of Supervisors. The management of our county IS IN jeopardy! When a school board is not operating in the best interest of the students and locality the State Board of Education can "Take Over" the operations of that school HOWEVER there is no such safety net when it comes to County Government. The citizens MUST speak up, must show up and must hold their elected officials accountable for their actions AND lack of actions. All options must be considered in trying to get our county functioning including a re-call. I am not sure it has gotten to this point yet and there is a new board coming on in January so we should give them an opportunity to fulfill the oath of office they took. I told the current board almost 2 years ago they needed a code of conduct and code of ethics to help guide them but I do not think either of these documents has been created and adopted. If they were and it was adopted what is the penalty for non-compliance because there is no proper code of conduct or ethical operations being conducted. If we the citizens of Sussex County do NOT fill the seats to overflow capacity at future Council meetings and show we care and STOP all these behind closed door ranting this county will die. No one will want to move here, no one will want to stay here. Speak up, Show up citizens of Sussex County your future depends on it! 

On  12/28/2011 the Board of Supervisors tried to hold a critical meeting to take care of some serious county business. I say tried because this was the 3rd attempt to hold such a meeting in December. The "non-meeting" because there was not a quorum present due to 2 Board Members "playing games" and not showing. 

 The County Administrator, Councilmen Harrell, Fly and Birdsong were present as evident of the above picture taken in the meeting room at 7:55 PM 25 min after the scheduled start.

Tyler and Caple were not present only empty chairs. 

Not only was county money wasted due to these games so too was the time and expense of the few citizens who attended all attempts to have the meeting. The county should be reimbursed as should the citizens.