| Supervisor Individual Accomplishments June 9, 2008 Ask yourself, “What has my county supervisor done for me since elected?” Better yet, ask your supervisor. They, of course, go about their routine business of approving monthly expenditures for schools, Social Services, and such. County personnel issues occasionally must be dealt with, contracts, and other “Executive Session” issues that are conducted out of view of the public. Planning Commission issues, special exception requests, VDOT issues (mostly about what VDOT can’t do because of budget or some other bureaucratic excuse), receipt of reports from constitutional officers and the school superintendent. They discuss events which require their personal attendance, photo opportunities, and media coverage to promote their image before the public. There’s nothing better than having their picture taken with a senator, or higher placed politician, to give appearance that they are big pals. Other than the routine business conducted by our supervisors, it just isn’t obvious as to what each of them, or even all of them collectively, do to serve the good citizens of Giles County. What do they personally initiate that is above and beyond issues brought to them by the county administrator? They basically just sit in their designated chair and await issues to be brought their way from the county administrator, school superintendent, or constitutional officers. They aren’t eager, prompt, or proficient at responding to citizen questions, comments, and requests. The standard no response stare is implemented by each supervisor so effectively as to give the appearance of having been practiced before, or immediately after, having been sworn in to their elected office. Board chairman, Eric Gentry, put it best when asked if each supervisor would identify the projects initiated by them in the interest of serving the citizens of the county. His response, “That isn’t what this board is about. We serve as a team”. How many politicians, other than county supervisors, can get by with making that statement? Can you imagine candidates for governor responding during their campaign that they refuse to identify what they plan to do for the state because that isn’t what their administration is all about? How about our ongoing presidential campaign subscribing to Mr. Gentry’s philosophy by stating that “it’s their policy to not discuss what they will do for the citizens of this country because they are working hand in hand with congress and they all are pulling in the same direction to do what is best. They are a team and no one person stands out as a person who takes credit for their ideas and successes“. How many of those politicians would get elected by subscribing to the philosophy of Eric Gentry? You and I know, even if Eric Gentry doesn’t know, that politics has no room for his out of step philosophy. Eastern District citizens: Encourage one or more good citizens to step forward and show a sincere interest in county issues, not just Eastern District issues. Encourage and support the best person for you to elect as the supervisor from the Eastern District. One by one, we must replace “do-nothing” supervisors with caring citizens who have a true interest in serving county citizens, in lieu of only serving themselves. Although Eric Gentry doesn’t come up for re-election until 2011, it isn’t too early for interested citizens to get involved. In the case of Chappy Baker and Richard McCoy they are up for re-election as county at large supervisors in November 2009. This is our next opportunity to make our voice heard and believe me when I say this is the only true way your voice will ever be heard by the county supervisors. After the election they forget who you are unless they want to get even with you over some nebulous issue, such as you having been a candidate for a seat on the board of supervisors. ----------------------------------------------------
BOARD OF SUPERVISOR PERFORMANCE RATING SYSTEM January 11, 2008 Each supervisor will be rated for their performance on important issues throughout the year. The rating system will be from 0 to 10, with 10 being the highest rated performance. The more proactive the supervisor is in asking appropriate and inquiring questions about a given issue, the higher their rating will be. Demonstration of having command of the facts and details required to make an informed decision will also increase the rating. The actions of the supervisor to protect and serve the needs of county citizens will carry the most weight in their rating. The first subject to be rated for 2008 is the supervisors performance at the joint meeting between the school board and the supervisors January 10, 2008. This meeting involved a presentation by the school superintendent and the county administrator about necessary expenditures at Eastern Elementary, Giles Technology Center, and the Narrows and Giles athletic field bleachers. The estimated costs for each facility: Eastern Elementary: $8,813,324 Giles Technology Center: $7,928,611 Giles and Narrows Bleachers: $1,297,450 Technology Center Greenhouse: $113,275 TOTAL: $18,302,160 The total annual taxpayer cost to service the debt on a loan for this amount of money will be $1,148,000. This would increase the real estate tax rate .14 cents per hundred (from the current .63 cents per hundred to .77 cents per hundred). The supervisors didn’t make any final decisions at the January 10, 2008 meeting, except to defer making a final decision. | CATEGORY | BAKER | GENTRY | HOBBS | McCOY | SPENCER | | Knowledge | 0 6 | 1 5 | 3 8 | 0 7 | 1 5 | | Questions | 0 6 | 1 5 | 5 9 | 0 6 | 1 6 | | Suggestions | 0 5 | 0 6 | 1 7 | 0 6 | 0 5 | | Actions for Citizens | 0 6 | 0 6 | 1 6 | 0 6 | 0 6 | | | | | | | | | Vote (for or against) | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NOTE: Ratings in the above table shown in the color blue are applicable to the supervisors performance at the April 8, 2008 joint meeting between the school board and the supervisors. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Supervisors Appear to be on Cruise Control March 14, 2008 It was too good to be true. In fairness, I must say that the actions of the supervisors at the start of this year looked as encouraging as I've seen in the five years I've been attending their meetings. They seemed to be off to a good start and now they appear to be on cruise control. Why do I say this? There is much work to be done by these supervisors and unless they initiate work on these issues, we will just be watching the days click off the calendar while they do nothing about these issues. The actions I've identified on this site (Board Actions Required) are very important to the citizens of Giles County. Until the supervisors accept this fact, they will just continue to adhere to the meeting agenda prepared by the county administrator. The same standard agenda items meeting upon meeting with no self-initiative to recommend new actions to the supervisors. The new board chairman could/should initiate these needed actions but I'm afraid that isn't going to happen. Part of the problem has to do with the fact that someone other than the supervisors is recommending actions they should take. When people in positions of authority allow their ego to get in the way of much needed and progressive change, they have abandoned the duty of their position. The five supervisors on the board have an opportunity to really make a lasting difference in the lives of county citizens. The unanswered question is: Do these supervisors have the necessary self-initiative, energy, leadership ability, time from their personal/professional lives, and passion to deligently serve the citizens of Giles County? Attend their meetings and observe for yourself who the leaders are and who the followers are among this group. Observe how infrequently the supervisors instruct the county administrator to take action on any of the items I've recommended on this site. Observe how the supervisors just accept the words of the county administrator without challenging him for more information and more detailed research. When I attend these meetings what I see is a rehearsed question and answer session. What I see is a group of county leaders holding hands and doing everything within their power to present a united front on most every issue that comes before them. I hope one or more of these supervisors will look in the mirror and make the decision to tackle the demands of their job as supervisor in a more serious manner than what they've previously displayed. These are good people who COULD gain the respect of many caring citizens, if they would only do more to protect and serve these citizens. I challenge each supervisor to perform their own evaluation of their actions to date and ask themselves if they could have done more for the citizens. I challenge each supervisor to make a promise to themselves that they will do more to protect and serve all county citizens. I challenge each supervisor to be more candid with their responses to citizen questions and demonstrate that they have a passionate desire to serve the best interests of citizens and not just businesses and other power-brokers. How often do you hear a citizen ask a question at a BOS meeting and then receive a response from any of the supervisors? The supervisors don't want to respond until they've met behind closed doors and discussed the question and decided upon a united response. Attend the Board of Supervisor meetings and you will see that what I've stated herein is true. I will continue to hope for positive change within this group of county leaders. --------------------------------------------------- Board of Supervisors Meeting February 21, 2008 The supervisors voted 5-0 to approve an ordinance authorizing the Social Services Board to pay one time bonuses or special recognition awards. This action is a bad idea and a terrible precedent for other such actions by the supervisors. The pay rate for these workers isn't established by the county. The county is stepping into the fray of the issue of salary caps for social service employee positions and tinkering with an ill-advised solution that isn't the best solution to the problem. I don't doubt that these employees are loaded down with cases and deserving of more pay for the amount of time they must spend discharging the duties of their position. I believe this is yet another example of the state passing the buck of responsibility to localities without giving the localities any bucks to resolve the problem. Why do we have elected state delegates and senators who are responsible for representing our interests in Richmond? Why doesn't the Board of Supervisors use these elected officials more often to seek equitable resolutions to problems such as this pay issue? The answer is that it's too easy for the supervisors to just vote to spend your money to resolve any and all problems. It requires more effort and time to use the state system of elected officials to resolve financial problems and this is where our supervisors and the county administrator are weak in making critical decisions. On this issue each supervisor receives a rating of zero for each category of their evaluation. The county administrator reported to the supervisors that county staff had contacted the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and was told there was no basis for a health assessment since there was no known pollution source. This is another example of the supervisors just sitting back and accepting the work of county staff with no input or question about the thoroughness or validity and accurateness of information provided by staff. Our county elementary school students could be given an assignment to study the source of pollution in Giles County and they would do a better job than what county staff presented to the supervisors. Three of the top 20 industrial polluters in the State of Virginia are located in Giles County. They are AEP, Celanese, and Cinergy Solutions, an affiliate of Cinergy, that supplies utility services to Celanese Acetate manufacturing facilities in Narrows. Did county staff point this out to the CDC? Did county staff provide the Virginia Health Department mortality statistics for Giles County to the CDC and relate them to the state average? Did county staff report to the supervisors that our good neighbor Mercer County, West Virginia, has almost identical abnormally high mortality rates as Giles County for the same diseases? Does anyone see a discernible pattern here? What is the common denominator that is located between Mercer County and Giles County? County staff doesn't have to be a group of scientists to realize there is a real problem in Giles County that is causing high mortality among our citizens. County staff lack-luster performance on this issue gives cause for me to abandon support of county staff not having to be residents of Giles County. It has become obvious that county staff should be a stakeholder in such issues as health, taxes, county services, and more if they are to provide deserved and expected county administration. The supervisors should pass an ordinance requiring all county staff to be residents of Giles County; no exceptions. For this health issue the supervisors receive a rating of zero for not being informed and not requiring definitive and positive action from county staff in obtaining appropriate health assessments, as related to pollution sources and the most likely cause of these high mortality rates. To the supervisors I say, "You can't ignore these mortality statistics and pretend that Giles County doesn't have a pollution source that is responsible for taking lives and destroying the quality of health and life of county citizens. I request that you totally discount and ignore the report of county staff that was provided at this meeting. Do your own research and require the county staff to perform a thorough job of seeking an answer as to what is causing these deaths and what can and should be done to minimize future negative impact to the health and life of county citizens. Each supervisor has been tolerant of this problem for years and it's time for each of you to step up to the plate and insist upon action. Isn't this why you chose to serve and why you sought election to your office? Do a good job and be proud that you served county citizens fairly and responsibly. --------------------------------------------------------- Board of Supervisor Meeting February 7, 2008 This was a very good meeting. Important issues were discussed and the questions and comments from the supervisors were very appropriate and indicative of their understanding of the issues. I've been very pleased to witness these supervisors in action this year because they appear to be better informed and more willing to speak openly about the issues. Too often in the past the supervisors gave the impression of being too close-to-the-vest with their views and not allowing the public to know where they stood on important issues. The appearance of a positive change in this area is indeed most welcome. I've also been impressed with the leadership of Mr. Gentry as Chairman of the BOS. He does a good job of leading the meetings and fielding issues in a very appropriate manner. I hope this type of leadership will continue throughout 2008. The meeting today lasted in excess of 3 hours and this doesn't include the amount of time for the issues discussed in Executive Session. Also, after completion of the BOS meeting business, the supervisors had to meet with the Industrial Development Authority. I'm sharing this with you to make you aware of how much time the supervisors must dedicate to their position responsibilities. This isn't a job for anyone who isn't dedicated to the county and at this point I feel pretty good about our elected supervisors. Our supervisors have many important issues they will have to decide on during 2008. In my opinion this year will be one of the most difficult years for the supervisors since I started attending their meetings in 2003. Their decisions will have a lasting impact on county citizens and I encourage every citizen to speak with the supervisors and voice your appreciation for their efforts. I also encourage you to voice your opinion about the issues and let the supervisors hear what you think they should do in regard to each issue. Plan to attend future Board of Supervisor meetings and form your own opinion about the issues and the conduct of each supervisor. ----------------------------------------------------- Board of Supervisor Meeting January 24, 2008 This meeting was one of the better meetings of this group of elected officials. Members asked pertinent questions about the issues, seemed well-informed on topics being discussed, and, most importantly seemed to be genuinely interested in public comments about all of the topics discussed. The supervisors rating as a group for this meeting is 8.5. The citizens of Giles County should be consistently represented with this degree of professionalism, display of knowledge, and respect for the welfare of county citizens. ------------------------------------------------------------------ |
