I,  (enter name here ) do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me as (elected/appointed position).  According to the best of my ability. So help me God.

The words of this, alone, mean little. True value comes from reading the Constitutions. In particular, I took time to look at the Virginia Constitution to see some of what our elected and appointed officials were taking upon their shoulders.

Some of the most interesting items were found in Article I of the Virginia Constitution, The Bill of Rights:

Intro.:

“A Declaration of Rights made by the good people of Virginia in the exercise of their sovereign powers, which rights do pertain to them and their posterity, as the basis and foundation of government.”

Section 2. People the source of power.

That all power is vested in, and consequently derived from, the people, that magistrates are their trustees and servants, and at all times amenable to them.

Section 3. Government instituted for common benefit.

That government is, or ought to be, instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security of the people, nation, or community; of all the various modes and forms of government, that is best which is capable of producing the greatest degree of happiness and safety, and is most effectually secured against the danger of maladministration; and, whenever any government shall be found inadequate or contrary to these purposes, a majority of the community hath an indubitable, inalienable, and indefeasible right to reform, alter, or abolish it, in such manner as shall be judged most conducive to the public weal.

Section 7. Laws should not be suspended.

That all power of suspending laws, or the execution of laws, by any authority, without consent of the representatives of the people, is injurious to their rights, and ought not to be exercised.

Section 12. Freedom of speech and of the press; right peaceably to assemble, and to petition.

That the freedoms of speech and of the press are among the greatest bulwarks of liberty, and can never be restrained except by despotic governments; that any citizen may freely speak, write, and publish his sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right; that the General Assembly shall not pass any law abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, nor the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for the redress of grievances.

Although only 1 small portion of a fairly large document (See Article 7 if you are looking for specific information pertaining to local jurisdictions.) These sections contain some pretty important information.

The introductory statement clearly shows the intent of the Virginia Constitution is to function as a guide for governance that is strongly rooted in the rights of the people. (Note the word people, not person, not group, not voters, not political party, not any other subset of the ‘people’. Section 2 further denotes that it is the ‘people’ who represent the power of government. It is government that serves the people, not vice versa.

Section 3 discusses the responsibility of government to provide from the ‘common benefit, protection, and security of the people, nation, or community”. Furthermore, it is noted that the best form of government is that “which is capable of producing the greatest degree of happiness and safety …”. This section also provides guidance for what the people can do if government is “found inadequate or contrary to theses purposes”.

I found Section 7 particularly thought provoking as I pondered whether selective suspension or execution of laws would be acceptable so long as the ‘representatives of the people’ approved. Does this imply that so long as elected/appointed officials approve of something, it is right and proper? If so, then Section 3 and Section 7 would be in direct conflict with each other. It you take Sections 3 and 7 together, you see that it would be through the fair and equal application of codes that things would be okay. For instance, selectively apply certain Town Codes to one party and not another would not be acceptable.

Lastly, and most importantly in my mind, is Section 12 that covers Freedom of speech and of the press; right peaceably to assemble, and to petition. All of the other sections mentioned above would be pretty useless if individuals/groups did not have the right to speak or write of those things which they believe to be incompatible to their basic rights.

Keeping people uninformed and misdirected has become common practice in government and in business. Through the decades, people have been taught to trust where perhaps trust has not been earned. Being a good citizen means taking responsibility for your actions/inactions and accepting your role in monitoring the government that represents you. It is not about political parties, it is about generations of habits that need to be changed and taking an active interest.

More on the topic of the Virginia Constitution will be forthcoming so keep checking back.

From: Randy Wingfield
Sent: Tuesday, July 20, 2010 1:44 PM
To: Ann Carter; Bradford Stipes; Earnest Wade;
Henry Showalter; Jim VanHoozier; Mike Barber;
Richard Ballengee; Lance Terpenny; Barry Helms
Cc: Ann Carter; Craig Moore; Kevin Conner;
Mike Byrd; Steve Huppert; wbooth; Nichole Hair
Subject: Ivy Ridge Connectivity Index/Sage Lane Connection

VDOT uses a connectivity index for approval of
subdivision with new streets as part of their
secondary street acceptance requirements.
This index uses street segments divided by
intersections (cul-de-sacs are included as intersections)
to come up with the index number.  Christiansburg is
classified by VDOT as a Compact area which would require
a connectivity index of at least 1.6, however this
requirement does not apply within Christiansburg as we
maintain our own streets, I am just providing this for
your reference.  To simplify it, the higher the
connectivity index, the better.  The connectivity
index cannot mathematically be lower than 1.

 I ran the same connectivity index for Ivy Ridge
and came up with the following numbers:

For the development as shown on the Ivy Ridge
Conceptual Plan dated 5-10-10 with a connection made
to Sage Lane = 13 segments / 7 intersections
(including cul-de-sacs) = 1.86 connectivity index

For the development as shown on the Ivy Ridge Conceptual
Plan dated 5-10-10 with no connection made to
Sage Lane = 10 segments / 6 intersections
 (including cul-de-sacs) = 1.67 connectivity index

The Town Administration, Planning, and Engineering
staff feel as though the connection to Sage Lane
should be made because of general connectivity and
for emergency access reasons.  Police Chief Mark Sisson,
Fire Chief Billy Hanks, and Rescue Squad Captain
Kelly Walters concur that the connections to Sage Lane
is desirable for these reasons.

There is an existing stub out at the end of
New Village Drive which could be utilized for access
through the Shaffer land via the stub out of Albert Lane
shown on the concept drawing.  This connection would
provide an additional connection through New River Village
 to the proposed development if it were constructed.

Town staff will require the connection if Town Council
desires it, but will not require the connection if that
is the desire of Town Council.

Randy Wingfield
Planning Director/Zoning Administrator
Town of Christiansburg
100 E. Main Street
Christiansburg, VA 24073
phone: (540) 382-6120 x 119
fax: (540) 381-7238

Since Mr. Wingfield has provided his phone number, feel free to let him know how you feel about this. Feel free to call all of those members of Council and ask who authorized this.

The Mayor and Town Council are ultimately responsible. Simply replacing the Town Manager will not accomplish anything unless you are very fortunate in finding a replacement willing to stand up to Town Council if they are wrong about something. “Simply Following Orders” should be the flag Mr. Terpenny is carrying around.

It is the role of the Mayor and Town Council to put someone in as Town Manager. Then, it is their role to monitor performance, give direction, and make changes as necessary. This requires that Mayor and Town Council learn a little bit about the processes involved.

If any Town Council hires someone to do a job and doesn’t know enough about the job itself to monitor job performance, then they have failed the public.

Personally, I imagine that Mr. Terpenny will do quite well in Floyd where you have a very different sort of base of elected officials. I just don’t see Floyd doing the hands off approach that the Town of Christiansburg government has done. Floyd officials are more likely to ask questions and expect answers.  They may not try to ‘run the show’, but they will be asking questions and expecting answers.

The elected officials of the Town of Christiansburg seldom ask questions, and when they do, are far to quick to take answers such as “I think” or “I believe”. Is it Mr. Terpenny’s fault that this is not done? Absolutely not! With such vague responses, the Mayor should have followed up with asking for more details.

There are a few of the council members who do try to ask questions and push to get answers, if you watch the video recordings you will see a pattern of the majority of them simply ignoring the issues presented by the few.

While sitting in Council chambers on Tuesday evenings, I frequently get this vision of ostrich butts sticking straight up in the air. It is easy to get the feeling that many of those elected officials have an attitude of “just do what needs to be done and don’t bother me with details”.

Being a competent elected officials is not about delegating all authority to someone else. It is not about dressing up to look good and simply voting based upon recommendations or the voices of a few residents. I certainly do not expect them to make decisions based upon what I write here or what I say in Council Meetings. I just want them to do the job of leadership. Listen, learn, ask questions, and make the best possible decision that they can while asking for all of the information that they can get.

The Council should not sit back and make decisions based upon what developers, citizens, business owners, or anyone else say. They should be using the resources of the Town such as:

• the Planning Department (of course, that would require that the Council knows what questions to ask of the Planning Dept. or to have people in Planning who will voluntarily provide all relevant information),
• the Town Attorney (in my opinion, the Town Attorney should be an active participant in discussion, providing Council with information that is needed to make decisions including relative State and Town Codes),
• the Finance Officer as to the current financial status of the town and projected revenues before investing money in a project)
• the Police Chief for current traffic and crime stats and projections based upon proposed projects
• The Fire and Rescue Chiefs for information concerning access to areas where development is to occur and response times.

It is likely that some of the Council members may have information from those individuals but does it ever get to the rest of the Council or become accessible to the public? No.

For example, much of this type of information would be useful at the Planning Commission stage of things. Recent discussions concerned sidewalks and walking trails in developments. Where is the input concerning crime rates? I did a bit of looking around and it appears that sidewalks tend to decrease crime while trails going through people’s backyards tend to increase crime. Although I did not look around long enough to come up with anything definitive, isn’t it worth the time to look? Was there ever any consideration given to those features? What about emergency access to someone should an accident occur on a trail?

Listen to some of the Planning Commission Meetings and you will hear a lot of phrases that indicate that a particular Planning Commission member does not like something, but they are not appointed to represent their values and beliefs. They are appointed to look at the impact of decisions on the whole of the Town. The Planning Commission should be comprised of a variety of people, representing the variety of citizens. Adding more members would allow for younger voices to be heard, to include more variety in race, sex, education, and socio-economic status.

Smoke and mirrors. That is how magicians encourage your eyes to be deceived and convince your brain that what you imagine is reality.

Smoke and mirrors 1: Town Council goes through the motions of producing a budget and passing tax increases. OOPS! The eye was not deceived on this one. The vote to increase taxes did not meet the legal criteria for a vote. A state code required a 2/3 majority, but what the town had was had was a tie broken by the Mayor. Back to the wood pile.

Smoke and mirrors 2: Town Council goes through the motion of dealing with budget cuts. Yada-yada-yada…all talk and no action. Ideas were put forward, shot down, revitalized, and then left laying on the table to die of neglect. Oh, wait, there was something about revisiting them in the future. That came about the same time that the Mayor acknowledged that a 5% increase in real estate tax would be needed next year to deal with the rapidly dwindling ‘reserves’ that are being used to offset the deficit. Hold your breath until you see those budget cuts on the table again before the next budget meetings in say…June of next year.

Smoke and mirrors 3: Town Manager wants a 3 plus year contract and the Mayor calls for action on it. Outraged citizens and a little thing called State Law put a crimp in that siphon hose.

Smoke and mirrors 4: Town Manager is asked to resign because they have no faith in his continuing in the position. Okay, that’s kinda hinky wording and sounds a lot like legalese for you want to resign but if you do, you will not get the benefits you want, so we’ll give the appearance of ‘terminating’ you without really ‘terminating’ you so that you get all of your benefits. Actually, it sounds a lot more like there was concern on someone’s part that something was going to happen that would mean the Town Manager’s contract might not be renewed … something like new members of council or possible investigations from outside sources? Maybe a few new lawsuits? I’d bet the Town Council Members who think that they know what has been going on really don’t know more than about 10% of the real facts.

Smoke and mirrors 5: Sage Lane revisited. If it isn’t bad enough to have elected officials paying with fire to create all that smoke. We have to have developers, planning department staff, and planning commissioners contributing some diesel fuel so that the smoke is particularly dense. (By the way you can see the videos of this discussion, copies of documents — including the deed discussed for the right-of-way on Albert Lane at: 07_12_2010 Planning Commission Meeting

At the beginning we get a bunch of rhetoric about VDoT critera (with a mention or two, very causually, of how VDoT criteria is not applicable to Town Roads). Suddenly, Planning Commissioners are focused on VDoT standards. Fortunately, a Sage Lane resident caught the drift and asked for clarification which ultimately indicated that the Sage Lane Road would not be needed in order to meet even VDoT standards (which are not required). Then we get all of this focus on the Sage Lane Rd. being necessary for emergencies. Nothing is said to indicate that the developer simply wants a road there. No…it’s all about safety and emergency access, until someone in the audience pointed out that it is not necessary to have a road in order to have access. Then, the topic shifts to the necessity of the agreements and proffers being vague because of an ordinance change concerning sidewalks. Duh…..this application must be based on current ordinances, you do not base plans on ordinances that might be enacted at some time in the future! What is submitted and approved now would be binding and future changes would not have an affect. Furthermore, the proposed changes would only affect certain types of developments (which currently do not exist in the Town) and would be optional. (This is a whole different smoke and mirrors scam where the Town pretends to be addressing citizen issues while writing ordinances in such as way as to be useless unless the developer wants to do things a certain way.)

Whenever you go to any of these meetings, listen well to what is actually being said. All too often, in the rush of things, the human ear hears what it wants to hear, not what is actually being said. Carefully choosing words can result in statements that appear to say one thing while in actuality say something entirely different. Thank goodness I can watch these videos over and over again to see the gaps.

Yep! The EPA might have to come visit Christiansburg because of all that smoke in the air. On the other hand, if the smoke continues to billow, there is a growing number of citizens with damp pieces of fabric (aka wet blankets) who will find the smoke useful in sending messages to other areas of the State.

Here are a few observations/questions about why this and many other development issues have come up.

1. Poor to non-existent planning.
2. Council not being fully informed before making decisions.
3. Planning Commission not being fully informed before making recommendations.
4. Planning Dept. staff not knowing what information the Planning Commission and/or Town Council need to know in order to make informed decisions.
5. Planning Commission and/or Town Council not wanting to know the information required to make informed decisions.
6. Someone dictating what the Planning Dept. staff is allowed to present to the Town Council and/or Planning Commission, created a very skewed view of things.

At the July 12th Planning Commission Meeting, I reviewed what the Town is calling Staff Analysis packages. These are the packets of information that are provided to Planning Commission and then to Town Council in order for those elected and appointed officials to know the impact on rezoning/development on the Town as a whole and on neighborhoods specifically. It was all I could do to keep from laughing hysterically.

Take a look for yourself. Then take a look at samples I got from other jurisdictions for a comparison.

1. Christiansburg Staff Analysis
2. Examples from other jurisdictions:  Sample 1 Sample 2

You will quickly note that the information that is provided to Commissioners and Council is far more extensive in other jurisdictions.

When I asked Planning Director Wingfield why there was so little information, he responded that he had been told by the Town Manager what was to be given in the report and that the Town Council has said what it is that they wanted.

This sets up two distinctive scenarios: 1) the Town Manager has been controlling what the appointed and elected officials see in relation to any proposed development or rezoning, and 2) the Council members are expected to know what it is that is available for them to ask for and that they have the knowledge/training to know what is important.

I believe that it is part of most programs offering Planning Degrees for students to learn what should be included in such documents. Also, I do not believe that we have any elected or appointed personnel who have degrees in planning. This makes it a lot like going to a proctologist for a toothache! Hello….get a clue…people who are trained to do something, have been examined for their knowledge on that something, might…just might have a tad bit more knowledge than those who do not. In fact, if I am not mistaken, isn’t that why the Town of Christiansburg pays the money that they do for Planners, because of their knowledge.

Talk about waste of taxpayer money. If you are not going to let someone do what they are trained to do then why have people with the training?

If you don’t have people trained making assessments and giving advice, then don’t be surprised when you have problems with whatever area they are working in….i.e., traffic, stormwater, legal issues, etc. You can expect to see problems and LAWSUITS when professional staff members are restricted or incapable of doing the very jobs that they were hired to do.

More on Sage Lane to come, particularly how easily the ‘emergency access’ can be dealt with WITHOUT having to have a ‘road’ there to create traffic issues.

As a side note, Mr. Huppert noted that he was now seeing people out working on sidewalks and that maybe the focus of the Planning Commission on sidewalks contributed to that behavior. Personally, I doubt it. I think it is far more likely that increased activities on sidewalks, groundskeeping, road repair,  landscaping, street cleaning, and other such area, is more likely a function of the fact that with the Aquatic Center finally ‘finished’, all of those town workers were were diverted from their normal jobs to work on the Aquatic Center suddenly find themselves being allowed to work on the routine daily issues of a town.

The Aquatic Center cost town taxpayers a lot more than just the money for the building. Diverting Town staff from their regular duties to work on the Aquatic Center meant that things did not get done! Even the Town Manager has acknowledged that to cut any personnel would mean having to cut services. It should come as no surprise to citizens that basic services were dropped in order to have people work on the Aquatic Center. Town Council has asked for an accounting of the number of town staff hours involved in the development of the Aquatic Center several times in the past and only vague responses have been received.

Maybe the only way that Council could find out the answer to that question would be to ask the workers themselves. Cutting services to taxpayers is not the right way to get the work done at the Aquatic Center. Reportedly, town staff was used to save money. Perhaps this also contributed to the multiple DCR violations on the site for erosion and sediment control as well.

This rather makes it appear that the Town Charter and/or Code would have had to have been changed before said 3 year contract could have gone into effect. The other localities that I found to have gone with a longer contract for Town Manager, have specifically generated ordinances/charter changes in order to support those. My guess is that the reason for that was this state code.

So, should the town council have been looking at such a contract without having first established that there was such a need as to warrant Charter and/or Code changes. I never heard of any discussions concerning those changes except for some mumblings on how they could enter into the contract first, then change the  Charter/Code afterwards. Maybe there are some lawyers out there who have a better understand of the intent of this State Code and would care to comment.

Is it possible that the 3 year contract was merely a ‘smoke screen’ simply to get people riled up so that they wouldn’t see what was really going on. If so, then you have to wonder who the ‘they’ is in this situation. Certainly with Showalter and Carter being the last to find out anything, they are ruled out.

Of course, the town attorney was in the meetings so if this was actually an issue, one would expect it to have been raised.

Fortunately, the State Code also makes sure that the public will know the full extent of the severance packages of any individuals to which they have or shall be awarded. If it is consistent with the document read by Mr. Barber, there are some pretty vague places that I hope will be clarified before the deal is finalized.

§ 15.2-1510.1. Public announcement of severance packages for certain officials.

Severance benefits provided to any departing official appointed by a local governing body or school board shall be publicly announced by the local governing body or school board, respectively, prior to such departure.

(2006, c. 254; 2007, c. 257.)

It sounds like the details should be pretty specific to me, but I am sure that someone can argue that the Letter of the Law was met in Mr. Barbers statement. However, I wonder if it will truly meet the Spirit of the Law. After all, it is the citizen’s money being used for any such severance benefits.

Here’s what the Town Charter says:

1) He has 10 days in which to deliver all property, books and papers:

§ 2.1 2. Surrender of Papers and Property.–If any person, having been an officer of said town, shall not within ten days after he shall have vacated or been removed from office, and upon notification of request of the council within such time as it may allow, deliver to his successor in office all property, books and papers belonging to the town or appertaining to such office, in possession or under his control, he shall forfeit and pay to the town a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, to be sued for and recovered with costs; and all books, records and documents used in any office by virtue of any provision of this act, or of any ordinances or order of the town council, or any superior officer of said town, shall be deemed the property of said town and appertaining to said office, and the chief officer thereof shall be held responsible therefor. (1954, c. 240)
2) This raises the big question of who his ‘successor’ is going to be if the job has not been advertised and the position filled by that time. The Town Charter again comes to the rescue:

§ 2.14. Duties of Mayor.–The mayor shall preside at the meetings of the council, voting only in case of a tie, and perform such other duties as may be prescribed by this charter and by general law and such as may be imposed by the council consistent with his office. He shall perform the duties of the town manager during the absence of the town manager or while the office of town manager is vacant. He shall have power to investigate the acts of the various town officers, members of the police, fire and public works departments and all other departments of the town government, whether elected or appointed. The mayor shall have and exercise all power and authority conferred by general law on mayors of towns and not inconsistent with this charter; and shall, from time to time, recommend to the council such measures which he may deem needful for the welfare of the town. (1 954, c. 240; 1968, c. 173)
Clearly, it will be Mayor Ballengee who is taking over the Town Manager’s roles until such time as the position is filled. Christiansburg is lucky to have an Assistant Town Manager, Barry Helms, who is very experienced to be the ‘right-hand’ of the Mayor.

This should make for a fairly smooth transition period, providing ample time for the Town Council to begin development of a job description, job advertising, and the interviews required to find the ‘right person’.

Perhaps the Council will even choose to add some citizens to the review committee as they did with the position of Police Chief. Or, if they choose to handle it like the Rescue Squad, let the members (citizens) elect the person they want to fill the position:) (Wouldn’t that be a hoot!)

Time will tell, and I’ll be watching to see what is done. I am sure it will be an interesting process however it is done.

An additional side note to this is also found in the Town Charter:

§ 2.06. Compensation.–The council shall by ordinance or resolution fix the salaries of all officers and employees of the town elected or appointed by it, or appointed by its authority and may so far as is not inconsistent with the provisions of the charter, define the powers and prescribe the duties of all such officers and employees. To effectuate the powers conferred by general laws as well as the powers herein specifically granted, the council may employ all such persons as may be necessary. (1 954, c. 240)
and in the Town Code:

Sec. 2-3. Record book for ordinances and resolutions–To be kept by Clerk of Council.

The Clerk of the Council shall enter in a well-bound book copies of all ordinances and resolutions passed by the Council. The book in which such ordinances and resolutions are thus entered shall be known as the “Ordinances and Resolutions of the Town of Christiansburg.” The Clerk of the Council shall index such book. (Code 1972, § 2-3)

• Revenue from local taxes and fees increased by 120.06%
• Expenditures increased by 120.32%

Expenses:

• Government Admin Expenses increased by 156.35%
• Public Safety Expenses increased by 234.30%
• Public Works Expenses increased by 128.30%
• Parks & Recreation Expenses increased by 315.24%

Revenue:

• Real Property Revenue increased by 156.20%
• Public Service Corporation Revenue increased by 34.39%
• Machinery and Tools Revenue increased by 178.34%
• Penalties decreased by 36.53%
• Interest increased by 0.79%
• Other Local Taxes increased by 173.44%
• Permits, Fees, & Licenses increased by 241.76%
• Charges for Services increased by 374.55%
• Miscellaneous Revenue increased by 1,499.73%

Specific to Local Revenue:

• Local Sales and Use Tax increased by 87.14%
• Business License Taxes increased by 264.35%
• Franchise License Tax dropped by 18.69%
• Hotel and Motel Taxes increased by 359.70%
• Restaurant and Food Taxes increased by 192.83%

Safety Expenses:

• Law Enforcement and Traffic Control expenses increased by 223.16%
• Fire and Rescue Services expenses increased by 322.66%
• Inspections expenses increased by 176.02%
• Overall increase for services 234.30%

Services:

• Maintenance of Highways, etc. expenses increased by 111.23%
• Sanitation and Waste Removal expenses increased by 200.67%
• Maintenance, Bldgs. and Grounds expenses increased by 42.08%
• Total Increase in expenses of 128.30
• Revenue from Local Charges for these services increased by 395.33%

Parks and Recreation:

• Expenses increased by 319.59%
• Revenues from local charges for services increased by 206.04%

Government Operation:

• Personal Services expenses increased by 202.32%
• Fringe Benefits expenses increased by 332.50%
• Contractural Services expenses increased by 287.43%

Gross Debt:

• Total Gross Debt of the town increased by 205.02%
• Other General Government debt increased by 221.49%
• Enterprise Activities debt increased by 181.36%
• Unfunded Debt has increased by 205.47%

Well, there are the numbers. Feel free to go to the APA site and check for yourselves. Do remember however, that these numbers do not include any of the 2010 fiscal year information where a more than $2 million deficit is hanging. Maybe there is something to be said for Mr. Lemley’s ‘pay as you go’ philosophy that didn’t stay around after he left.

The simple fact is that if the ‘goes out’ is higher than the ‘comes in’ things have to change. Keeping this 14 year pattern going in the same direction is only going to worsen the problem. Town Council needs to get involved in decisions involving expenditures and more aggressively monitor what is spent and where. The Town Council get routing reports from the Town Manager and absolutely nothing in this article should come as a surprise to any of them. After all, it only took me a couple of hours to get all the reports and set up multiple spreadsheets for analysis and I am not a high paid professional. In fact, I did it for free. Now, what will the Town Council do about the budget, expenses, and revenue?

Over the years, the Town Council has slowly (sometimes not so slowly) diverted almost all of its duties over to the Town Manager. We essentially have a ‘show’ council with the Town Manager making virtually all decisions, establishing contracts (i.e. the Aquatic Center), and choosing which laws and ordinance to enforce and when to enforce them (i.e., multiple violations of Erosion and Sediment Control on Town owned property as well as privately owned). The contract is established to maintain it this way, prohibiting the Council from taking back any of that responsibility. Nuff said by me. Please take the survey. It is short, quick and easy. Your input matters.

Town Manager Contract Survey

Radford and Christiansburg have very different contract issues for very different reasons.

Radford officials have at the front of their concerns list making sure that citizens are protected by insuring that the position of town attorney is being put out for bid and a new contract developed. An interesting aside to this is “who is writing the contract?” The rfp and contract do not, in any way, exclude the current town attorney from competing for, and winning said contract. It is a far and open process. Radford is simply joining the growing number of jurisdictions who are moving to a dedicated attorney.

Christiansburg, on the other hand, is involved with allowing the Town Manager to compile a contract for him that is in his best interest. The sample document used by the Town Manager is one that is provided at a website that focuses on the needs of those appointed officials, regardless of whether or not it is in the best interest of the Town.

While the contract itself has not become public knowledge, the sample contract used for the C’burg Town Manager contract is available online. Clearly, this is a document written to protect the Town Manager NOT the town. It will be interesting to see if the town attorney suggests modifications that support the interests the town or those of the Manager. It will also be interesting to see which of the ‘elected officials’ are supporting the town’s interest and which support the manager’s interest.

Given the Town of Christiansburg’s history of getting into contracts, discovering that mistakes were made, and then struggling to get out of those contracts (Tourism Development, Blacksburg Transit). It would be silly for them to enter into ANY contract that lasted for more than one year.

As to the Town Manager’s dedication to the citizens of the Town, all one needs to do is to read the original contract he set up with VT for the Aquatic Center, then read the one that was finalized after citizen uproar forced a re-evaluation. The version here shows the changes made in red. Please note that the Town Manger was essentially the only one working up this contract with the Town Attorney reviewing it. He was all but giving the Aquatic Center to VT.

So, in light of the compared progressive and regressive actions of the two jurisdictions, I have a survey that people can take to evaluate the performance of Mayor, Council, and Town Manager in 4 areas:

Your participation will be greatly appreciated.