Although the poll results are in and the battles of the summer and fall are over, old-timers and young cubs on the Board of Supervisors alike made it clear that in a democratic system, politics never rests.
Change was in the air as the Nov. 12 meeting kicked off with some eloquent reflections on the voting process from Board veterans Wayne Acors, who has represented the Madison district for 28 years, and Calvin Taylor, who has served Port Royal for 20 years. Both supervisors lost their seats in the Nov. 3 election, Acors to newcomer Clay Forehand and Taylor to long-time Port Royal mayor Nancy Long.
“We weren’t successful this year, but hey, life goes on, and that’s the democratic way,” said Acors during the meeting’s opening comments. “That’s what I enjoy living in this great United States about, is the fact that you have a choice.”
He did indulge in what appeared to be one dig at the present body, noting without elaboration: “Past Boards, we were able to resolve our differences in an amenable way, and we didn’t take it personally.”
Taylor, after describing his 20 years’ tenure on the Board as “good,” “trying” and “a few other words at different times,” stated that “one good thing about America is that we as people decide who we want our leaders to be, and when the people speak, we listen.”
“That’s why this country is so great, and I’m sure it will continue to be,” he concluded.
Amid these noble sentiments, however, a quarrel broke out over pending appointments of the Madison and Port Royal representatives to the Planning Commission after members Charles Shewbridge and Timothy Thompson’s terms expired.
“I just feel, in light of the circumstances, with new Board members coming in, it would only be fair to them to allow them to pick or to have their own appointments,” Western Caroline Supervisor Jeff Black said.
Taylor wasn’t having it: “They will get their own appointment when the time comes,” he declared.
Later, he told the Board, “As a sidebar, I am making the appointment for the Planning Commission, but I have talked that appointment over with Mrs. Long, and we both agree that that person is a good person for that position. Just for your information.”
A motion by Black to defer all appointments for the rest of the year until Jan. 1, seconded by Bowling Green Supervisor Jeff Sili, failed 4–2—a result that left Sili “disappointed in the Board.”
Acors made no comment on the dispute, but later simply reappointed Shewbridge to the Planning Commission. Taylor appointed Carol Horton to assume the seat held by Thompson, who was himself installed by Taylor’s predecessor, Bobby Popowicz.
Both appointments were unanimously approved.
That issue proved to be only round one in an unusually contentious evening, in which another dispute shortly broke out over the approval of the Planning Commission’s schedule as part of the consent agenda.
After pulling the item from the agenda for individual consideration, Sili pointed to the scheduling of a public hearing Nov. 24 for a special exception for a campground on the Moss Neck property owned by Larry Silver as a concern and asked for more time to investigate the issue, as the decision would “set a precedent.”
Taylor again balked, stating that if the hearing were deferred, it would not come before the Board while he was still a member, “and I would like to have an opportunity to vote on it.”
Acors threw his support behind Taylor, noting that the request had already been through Planning Department review and a Planning Commission vote.
“All we’re doing is approving the Planning Commission schedule,” he said.
The disagreement quickly escalated when Sili posed a question directly to Director of Planning Mike Finchum, and Taylor, as chairman, intervened with an emphatic, “Excuse me, Mr. Finchum, you don’t have to answer that.”
“We’re still in the discussion. I pulled it from the agenda. I have the ability to ask questions, Mr. Taylor,” Sili shot back.
Taylor allowed him to ask the question before Acors motioned to approve the item.
“It doesn’t mean we’re going to approve the special exception,” said Acors. “It only means that we approve the schedule of the Planning Commission.”
The Board split 5–1, with Sili refusing to back down.
A final disagreement emerged in the second half of the meeting over yet another scheduling issue, this time for a public hearing on amendments to Emmett Snead’s special exception for a sand and gravel mine on his property along Route 17.
Snead had previously asked that the hearing be deferred, and it was scheduled for January. The new schedule would place the issue on the agenda for the December meeting.
“I didn’t realize that people got a chance to pick their public hearing,” said Black. “The timing seems a little curious.”
The Board split 4–2 on the issue, with Black and Sili aligned against the other four, but none of the supervisors seemed eager to argue the point further.
- CP Reporter Sarah Vogelsong
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