County Learns Supervisor Not Sworn In; Seat Vacant
One week after seemingly approving a method of financing for the construction of a community recreation center, the Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors, minus one member, reversed course on Monday by voting down that funding option.
What changed in a week’s time was a discovery that Walkers Creek District Supervisor Jay Lewis – who had made the motion on the financing of the recreation center, and who had voted with the majority in a 3-2 vote to adopt the motion – had failed to take an oath of office following his most recent election to the Board.
The discovery was made when bond counsel, in the process of performing due diligence in preparation for the county to participate in the Virginia Public School Authority’s upcoming spring bond sale, found that Lewis had not taken his oath of office prior to taking his seat in January on the Board of Supervisors for his most recent term.
Lewis was elected in November to what would have been his third four-year term representing the Walkers Creek magisterial district on the Board of Supervisors. Lewis could not be reached for comment yesterday, Tuesday.
County Attorney John Dreyden determined that because Lewis had not taken the oath of office, the Walkers Creek seat was vacated, as of Jan. 12, the date of the supervisors’ first meeting of the year, when Lewis’s latest term of office was to begin. Dreyden found that there existed a grace period to take the oath of office of up to 30 days following the first meeting but since that didn’t happen, the vacancy occurred on Jan. 12.
A special meeting was called Monday to address three issues related to the unexpected vacancy. One was to authorize the county attorney to petition the circuit court for a writ of election to elect an individual to serve as the Walkers Creek member of the Board of Supervisors. The second issue was to authorize the county attorney to request that the circuit court appoint an interim supervisor. And, the third issue was to decide whether to take a new vote on a bond resolution for funding the recreation center since last week’s vote was not legally valid.
Ordinarily, when a vacancy occurs on the Board, the remaining members would appoint someone on an interim basis to fill this vacancy. However, if this action is not taken within 45 days of the vacancy occurring, the authority for making this interim appointment moves to the circuit court.
The first action the supervisors took Monday was to appoint a vice chair because Lewis had been serving in that role. Bob Day made a motion to appoint Leslie Ayers. The motion, seconded by Steve Hart, passed 4-0.
Dreyden then summarized all that had happened in the past week that led to the vacancy on the Board and the questions it raised regarding the legitimacy of the vote to have the county participate in the VPSA’s spring bond sale. In reaching his legal opinions, Dreyden said he’d consulted with two outside counsels – Jim Wynn, an experienced practitioner of local government law in this part of Virginia, and Daniel Lauro, the county’s bond counsel. Both attorneys were in agreement with the legal opinions Dreyden provided to the Board.
A motion by Day, seconded by Hart, to petition the circuit court for a writ of election and to appoint an interim Walkers Creek Board member, was adopted on a 4-0 vote. The special election will presumably be held in conjunction with the next general elections on Nov. 3. The circuit court judges will determine how and when the interim appointment is made. The only legal criteria for the person who is selected for the Walkers Creek seat is that he or she be a registered voter in that magisterial district.
The matter of the VPSA’s upcoming spring bond sale was the next matter to be addressed. The deadline for moving forward with the county participating in the bond sale happened to be Monday, March 30.
“Just to be clear on this – the Board, at their November meeting, voted to move forward with the [recreation center] project,” said supervisors Chairman David McDaniel. It was a 4-1 vote to direct the schools to move forward with the design and to have staff find the appropriate form of financing. The lack of a motion and vote last week has no impact on this action. The motion and vote tonight, if there is one, is strictly for the spring bond sale that has a deadline of today. If this isn’t done tonight staff still needs to move forward and find a suitable form of financing.”
The vote in November to which McDaniel was referring was taken by members who were serving at the time, including Hart’s predecessor, Kerrs Creek Supervisor Dan Lyons, and Lewis, who was still serving out his second term. The lone dissenter to that vote was Day.
County Administrator Spencer Suter reminded the supervisors of the expenditures – approximately $229,000 – that had been incurred to date as a result of making plans for the community center. The costs include $105,000 associated with financial services and $124,000 for design work. The county is on the hook for these costs regardless of what happens next, though some of the expenditures won’t be repeated if the project moves forward with an alternate financing option, such as participation in the VPSA fall bond sale.
Ayers expressed hope that the supervisors would move forward Monday and approve participation in the spring bond sale. She said she was hesitant to make such a motion because, without Day or Hart voting differently than they did the previous week, the motion would fail on a 2-2 tie vote.
“Does anybody want to say anything?” Ayers asked. “My worry is that we will be coming back here in two weeks or four weeks doing this, moving forward and costing us a couple of hundred thousand dollars just because we didn’t do it tonight.”
When Day and Hart declined to comment further, McDaniel passed the gavel to Ayers and made a motion to move forward with the spring bond sale. When no second was forthcoming, Ayers passed the gavel back to McDaniel so she could second the motion. The vote was 2-2, with McDaniel and Ayers voting in favor while Day and Hart dissented.
Following the vote, McDaniel commented, “Staff will continue to look for options for financing of this project and will bring back those options when you have obtained them.”
The special meeting was then adjourned.
