"There are two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there."

-Indira Gandhi

County Administrator and Staff

County Administrator- Chris McKlarney
(540) 921-2525 phone
(540) 626-7073 phone
(540) 921-1329 fax
(888) 214-5744 pager
cmcklarney@gilescounty.org

Assistant County Administrator -
Kevin Belcher
(540) 921-2525 phone
(540) 921-1846 fax
(877) 731-9178 pager
kbelcher@gilescounty.org

 

State Budget Cuts: What is our County Administrator Doing?

October 1, 2008

Governor Kaine is reviewing budget cuts (reported to be as much as 20%) for all areas of state funding, including state funding to localities.

Apparently our county administrator has chosen to ignore this reality, or he intends to submit a hefty tax increase proposal.

What he isn't doing is placing a moratorium on recommending new capital expenditures, new personnel hiring and salary increases, reduction or elimination of planned local funding for county contributions to business development, especially Carilion Hospital.

The responsible action would be to require an immediate review by all county departments for submittal of their recommendations in how they could reduce their current budget by 20%.

What he is doing is keeping the million dollar plus proposed addition to the wellness center alive at a time when we cannot afford such a luxury, especially for so few county citizens.

The county administrator needs to wakeup to the fact that he is employed in a county that is far down the list of distributed wealth in the State of Virginia. Pull in the spending reins or pull up stakes and move to northern Virginia where money is plentiful.

 

Our Spend-Happy County Administrator
July 10, 2008
 
Where does the audacity of Mr. McKlarney begin and end? One would think that in a time of fiscal disparity within county financial coffers the county administrator would employ an attitude of restraint not heretofore exercised from his duel positions as our Economic Development Director and County Administrator. One would think that his most recent “first love” project involving development of the Dogwood Farms acreage in Pearisburg (not the county), would have been enough of a financial embarrassment for him to lay low for a couple of years. That personally conceived and politically supported project has required an upfront approval of over $900,000 of county taxpayer funds and resulted in a tangled web of financial decisions that ultimately denied a more reasonable pay increase for county school employees. Not to be forgotten is the significant financial outlay and future obligation of taxpayer funds to support the much needed maintenance and, to a lesser degree, expansion of county school buildings. Now, to get to the point of the issue at hand:

Mr. McKlarney participated in a presentation to the supervisors at their July 3, 2008 meeting in regard to potential expansion of the Giles County Wellness Center (GCWC). If we lived in Roanoke County, where the tax base goes well beyond personal property and real estate taxes as the primary source of county revenue, his proposal would possibly be greeted with great public enthusiasm and support. But we must remind Mr. McKlarney that he is administrator of a county that relies primarily on one major industry, one lesser industry that provides minimal financial revenue to the county, and many smaller businesses that provide tourism services within the county. Mr. McKlarney should first be spending the bulk of his time seeking out true revenue and employment contributors to the county by way of larger businesses that produce a product, employ significant numbers of people, and make a significant contribution to county revenue. Instead, he continues to come up with projects that cost taxpayer money and provide little or no significant and additional county revenue.

His GCWC idea is estimated, by his own calculations, to cost approximately $3.5 million dollars. This means that the actual cost will probably be closer to $6 million dollars as measured by prior county administrator project estimates that have far exceeded their initial projected costs. The good news involves big corporate contributions to this latest and greatest idea and the bad news is that this is just yet another county administrator initiated taxpayer obligation for the overly-stressed citizens of Giles County. Where does it end Mr. McKlarney?

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August 16, 2008 Update:

Supervisor discussions and comments at their July 3, 2008 meeting about the Wellness Center proposed expansion indicate their willingness to increase our taxes in order to fund this project. This project, while an improvement to county recreation, is far from being critical when compared to teacher salaries, school renovations, water quality, and other services funded by county taxpayers. Approximately 3 cents could be added to our county real estate tax to fund this project. It is totally inconceivable to any person with a sense of fiscal responsibility that our supervisors would be in favor of this non-critical expenditure at this time.

The economic condition of our entire country is on very shaky ground and this should, by any measure of fiscal responsibility, trickle down to actions of our state and local elected and appointed officials. We cannot support Mr. McKlarney’s champagne tastes on our beer budget capabilities. Mr. McKlarney, you are out of step with the current economic times and without a significant course correction on your part, you should seek out a more astute location to implement your expensive and expansive ideas.

We must rely on the wisdom of our supervisors to pull in the reigns on Mr. McKlarney and see the imminent financial dangers facing our county. Higher real estate appraisals during a time when real estate foreclosures are at a modern-day all time high isn’t a good idea by anyone’s standards of interpretation of Economics 101. As a matter of fact, it borders on the ridiculous for the county to be spending taxpayer funds for a new county real estate appraisal during this time of retreating real estate values. This is just another example of poor leadership from those who operate at the helm of direction for county financial affairs.

County supervisors were determined to not raise real estate or personal property taxes during 2008. However, they are salivating as they await year 2009, the year that will long be remembered within the minds and wallets of all county taxpayers as the “big hit” on their personal finances in order for us to support the numerous county expenditures, many of which are totally unnecessary and unwarranted.

Taxpayers should be outraged when any new non-mandatory project is proposed that will require county taxpayer funds for implementation and year to year maintenance. A strong message should be sent to the supervisors that taxpayers are already overly stressed, not only from local taxes but every facet of economic existence in life as we know it to be during this day and time. Pull in the reigns on all county employees and elected officials who continue to advocate such expansions and increased taxpayer obligation.


Giles County Bicentennial Time Capsule
 
May 16, 2008
 
Apparently our county administrator has finally gotten his act together in regard to the time capsule. This writer was notified by email from The Virginian Leader that the time capsule will be dedicated May 24, 2008 at 11:30 AM at the Bicentennial Wall of Art. The email stated that the time capsule will be a joint dedication in observance of the Giles County and Pearisburg Bicentennials.
This is a typical example of how our county administrator performs his duties. Little or no regard is given to those who volunteer their time to work on projects for the county. This writer proposed the concept for the time capsule, designed the capsule, proposed the items to be placed in the capsule, proposed a method of preservation of the items placed in the capsule, yet our county administrator doesn't see fit to even inform me of the dedication.
Such intentional oversights are indicative of why so few citizens volunteer their time and efforts in support of county activities.
What it amounts to is the practice of the political spoils system in reverse. If a person becomes a candidate for a political office in Giles County and loses, that person is then ostracized from all future participation in county sponsored activities, service on boards, and as a voice among the citizens.
The county administrator was at one time held in very high regard by this writer. Time has proven that prior high regard to be undeserved.
It's very unfortunate that those who serve the citizens must feed their ego and place it above their service to county citizens.
I hope that county citizens will become informed about issues in order to form their own opinion about our elected and appointed county officials.
What you don't know, will hurt you.

May 7, 2008
 
Our county administrator, Chris McKlarney, has had two years to construct the Giles County Bicentennial time capsule site and as of this date it hasn't been started.
 
This writer has discussed this issue on several occasions with Mr. McKlarney and he has presented excuse upon excuse for not making progress on this project.
 
It doesn't do any good to bring this to the attention of the supervisors because they aren't the least bit interested in the time capsule, because if they were they would have already made their voice heard to Mr. McKlarney.
 
The last discussion I had with Mr. McKlarney ended with him telling me he was waiting on the town of Pearisburg to respond to him as to whether they wanted to include their bicentennial items in the same time capsule. I designed the time capsule and it doesn't have enough room for much more than what was designated to be placed in the time capsule for the Giles County Bicentennial.
 
Our county administrator says he is too busy to address items I have brought to his attention, so I have refrained from bothering him with my questions and ideas. Isn't it interesting to see human behavior at work? The county administrator has an executive assistant that was originally hired to be the county administrator and was given a salary commensurate with that position. The supervisors have never given a public explanation as to why Mr. Belcher wasn't placed in the position he was hired for; county administrator.
 
If Mr. McKlarney is so busy, why doesn't Mr. Belcher pick up his fair share of the load?
 
Why does Mr. Belcher use a county vehicle to travel to his home in West Virginia at 1:00 PM on a weekday afternoon so he could use his farm equipment to load and transport hay?
 
Maybe if he was on the job when he is supposed to be, he could assist Mr. McKlarney with some of his efforts.
 
The question that begs for an answer is, "Does anyone care?"
 
 

Giles County: Cadillac of the New River Valley

February 24, 2008

Giles County collected more money per capita ($2,437) than any other locality in the New River Valley for the tax year that ended June 30, 2007. The median for Virginia cities and counties was $2,701 and this includes northern and eastern Virginia, areas known for much higher taxes than we folks in southwest Virginia will ever see (I hope!).

This should concern every county taxpayer because it is a yardstick to measure what we get for what we spend. Do we have better than average roads? No. Do we have an abundance of sidewalks throughout the county? No. Do we pay our school teachers as much as teachers receive in northern and eastern Virginia? No. Do we fully fund a county fire department? No. As a matter of fact, exactly what county services do we receive other than garbage collection, water in some parts of the county, and sewer in some parts of the county? The county provides funding for libraries, public schools, some recreation, social services, and one heck of a lot of money to various New River Valley regional authorities, planning commissions, and of course that all important airport near Dublin (what would Giles County do without it?). Constitutional offices receive some county funding, probably, in some cases, more than what we get for our money.

Our county Treasurer is an example of taxpayer money well spent. Mr. Duncan performs numerous functions that go beyond that of his predecessors and he does it very efficiently and effectively. He should probably be the business manager for our county public schools and then we would see positive results in getting the most for the money spent on education within the county. As a matter of fact, Mr. Duncan would make an excellent county administrator because he has demonstrated his ability to operate frugally, efficiently, and effectively.

Giles County is in desperate need of positive change. If we can’t change our elected officials, can we somehow change other leaders in the county who continue to influence more county spending than we average taxpayers can afford?

The new hospital is receiving county subsidy for site development for the new hospital, the hospital ambulance service receives county subsidy to the tune of in excess of $160,000 per year, the Giles County Partnership For Excellence has received county financial assistance and we all know the dark side of this organization, county supervisors recently voted to approve bonus payments to Social Service workers, the county has approved untold millions of dollars for public education without requiring any accountability as to whether the schools are operating efficiently, and we probably don’t know where many other non-essential expenditures are going.

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Accountability!

Where is it and why hasn’t it been insisted upon by our county supervisors?

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