Peterson elected Hanover BOS chair; Rutherford retains gavel in Nelson; Bowen presides in Nottoway
A final installment of the week with a little bit of what's happened this week
I had originally said that this would be a Nottoway County exclusive, but I’ve also said this is an experiment. That means I will make changes as I keep working toward how to get a handle on covering 24 localities. And you get more information.
I neglected to initially list the Nottoway County Supervisors’ organization meeting that happened on Tuesday. They usually meet on a Thursday, and I had put the wrong information into my tracking system. I have not yet perfected this set-up, but I won’t turn it over to artificial intelligence. I’ll just get better.
So, for the first time ever, this newsletter focuses more on what’s happened as opposed to giving a preview of what’s to come. I feel there’s extra capacity for me to try to begin to treat this more of a regular newsletter that will continue to expand over time.
And I am formally opening this newsletter to shout-outs! One of the ways I make money is through Patreon, where people can pay a certain amount a month to get shout-outs. For the rest of this month, anyone who signs up for $25 a month gets four-shout-outs for this newsletter for the rest of the year.
Rutherford to serve second year as chair of Nelson County Supervisors
The Nelson County Board of Supervisors were called to order Tuesday afternoon by Jesse Rutherford of the East District. He held the gavel all of last year but turned it over to County Administrator Candy McGarry moments after the meeting began.
“I will know open up the floor for nominations for chair of the Board of Supervisors for 2023,” Rutherford said.
Before a motion was made for a nomination, Robert Barton of the South District commented that he was next in line for the position but did not want it.
“I think for a couple of reasons,” Barton said. “One of which is that I think Jesse has done a really nice job and that we need to continue doing what we’re doing
Barton also said that his health was not where he would want it to be do to do the work.
“I feel it’s best for the county that I don’t do that particular job so I’d like to make a motion that for the second year in a row, Jesse Rutherford be the chairman,” Barton said.
The motion was seconded with no other nominations but the vote was not unanimous. Supervisor Thomas Harvey of the North District voted no but the rest voted for Rutherford, who then got the gavel back.
Barton nominated J. David Parr of the West District as vice chair and that vote was unanimous.
Two up for election in Nelson County
There are two seats up for election in 2023, but we’ll get to that in a minute.
First, a look at the demographics of a community whose local government advertises the place as “The Sunny Side of the Blue Ridge.” The U.S. Census count for 2020 is 14,775 and the Weldon Cooper Center shows that declining to 14,438. A review of the Comprehensive Plan is currently underway with the Berkley Group leading the way.
Barton’s South District seat is up again this year. The Democrat defeated incumbent Republican Larry Dale Saunders in 2019 with 560 votes to 510 votes.
In the West District, James David Parr won election in 2019 with no opposition on the ballot. There were 15 write-in votes among the 972 ballots cast.
Nottoway Supervisors select Bowen as chair; uphold rules to make Roark vice chair
The five-member Nottoway Board of Supervisors met on Monday and were called to order by County Administrator Ted Costin. He called for nominations for chair.
“I move that Steve Bowen be elected as chairman for the Nottoway Board of Supervisors,” said District 3 Supervisor Helen Simmons.
The vote was unanimous.
“I actually voted for myself because I didn’t know what else to do,” Bowen said after taking the gavel. “You gotta say something.”
Bowen thanked District 5 Lynn Shekleton for her service as chair in 2022.
“I thought you did an excellent job,” Bowen said. “We hear people sometimes criticize and we get that, it’s part of the job. But you have a natural leadership and you did a good job.”
District 4 Supervisor Sherman Vaughn made a motion to nominate Simmons as vice chair. Shekleton seconded for discussion and noted that the rules of the Board call for the rotation of the chair and vice chair positions by District number. That should have meant District 2 Supervisor John Roark would have had that position.
Bowen said that there had been a censure of Roark for last year, which caused him to be bumped from rotation.
Simmons made a motion to nominate Roark as vice chair.
“It is his turn to be vice chair,” Simmons said.
“We did not put a time on the censure,” Vaughn said. “We did not say it was for one year or two years. We just censured.”
Roark said he didn’t run for election for a title, but said he was elected to the position and should be subject to the rules.
“I think the rules of procedure are in place and the rules of procedure should be looked at at the beginning of each term,” Roark said. “And if we’re not going to stand by our rules of procedure, then we’ll just have chaos.”
The vote on the first motion for Simmons failed on a 1 to 4 vote.
The vote on the second motion for Roark to be vice chair passed unanimous.
All Supervisors elections on the ballot in Nottoway County
There are 15,642 people in Nottoway County. Or at least, there were that many counted by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2020. The Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia shows that declining to 15,210 in 2030, 14,945 in 2040, and 14,903 in 2050.
Steve Bowen has represented District 1 since 2007 when he won election in a three-way race. In that year, he got 61.3 percent of the 737 votes cast. He only faced electoral opposition in that year and has been unopposed ever since.
John Roark was elected to represent District 2 in 2019 when he fended off two other candidates. Roark received 511 of the 903 votes cast that year.
Helen Simmons won election to District 3 in a special election in 2014 when she defeated a fellow independent 463 votes to 232 votes with one write-in. Simmons was unopposed in 2015 but in 2019 she defeated Daphne Norton in a very close race. Running as a Democrat that year, Simmons got 401 of 794 votes with Norton getting 390.
Sherman Vaughn has held the District 4 seat since at least 2003 when he ran unopposed. He also faced no opposition in 2007, 2011, and 2015. In 2019 there was a race. Running as a Democrat, Vaughn got 504 votes to 400 votes for independent April Marie Wright. There were four write-ins.
Noel Richard Shekleton was elected unopposed to District 5 in 2015 and 2019 but died in March 2020. His widow, Lynn, won a special election in 2020 against two other candidates. She received 46 percent of the vote with another independent getting 41.2 percent. A third candidate got 12.1 percent.
Hanover County Supervisors select Peterson as chair for 2023
At the beginning of the seven-member Hanover County Board of Supervisors’ first meeting of 2023, Chair Angela Kelly-Wiecek of the Chicahominy District made the call to order and introduced the invocation and consideration of a final agenda. But when it came time for Supervisors to make comments, she said she would no longer be chair.
“It is always exciting to think about what we might achieve together in the new year but I can’t talk about that quite yet before I think about all that we’ve been through together as a Board in the previous year,” Kelly-Wiecek said.
Kelly-Wiecek noted that 2021 ended with the death of former Supervisor Bucky Stanley. That seat is now held by Supervisor J. Robert Monolo.
“The work here is not always easy,” Kelly-Wiecek said. “It may look like we we come in, we know what we’re doing, and we just vote. But i want everyone to know that this is a job that we have here that involves a great deal of thought and effort and support from our wonderful staff in the county.”
After a long discussion about reassessments, the reorganizational meeting got underway. Supervisor Sean Davis of the Henry District said that W. Canova Peterson of the Mechanicsville District.
“In the region, [Peterson] is well-known for his strong stances on issues, his no-nonsense way of approaching matters, and I believe that that’s very helpful, particularly for those in public office to be able to speak with clarity and hold a position and be able to support that position.”
There were no other nominations and Peterson was elected 6-1 with Faye Prichard of the Ashland District voting no.
Peterson moved on to the election of the vice chair. Kelly-Wiecek nominated Sue Dibble of the South Anna District. That vote was also 6 to 1 with Prichard voting no.
Goochland Supervisors met with Goochland School Board, Planning Commission
The five-member Goochland County Board of Supervisors held two joint meetings with other bodies Wednesday began with the Goochland School Board at 9 a.m. They will be discussing the capital improvement program. The School Board approved their five-year request on December 13, 2022. Those details can be reviewed here.
Here’s the video of that event.
At 1 p.m. Supervisors met with the five-member Planning Commission. The main topic is the “central tenets and core values” for the Centreville and Courthouse Village small area plans. You can learn about those plans here. (meeting page)
There’s no video of that event.
Reading material
Kenbridge Police chief resigns amid investigation into murder of 17-year-old, Will Gonzalez, WRIC8 News, January 9, 2023 n
Bedford County broadband expansion continues, new board chair and vice chair named, Shannon Kelly, Lynchburg News &* Advance, January 10, 2023
Walker talks elected school board legislation, announces reelection campaign, Bryson Gordon, Lynchburg News and Advance, January 10, 2023
Building up the city: A look at what went down (and up!) in 2022, Sean Tubbs, C-Ville Weekly, January 11, 2023
This article went out with an incorrect headline. The third bullet referenced a different person by the correct name is Bowen. I regret the error.