BARRAT FOR COMMISSION

Voters of Jefferson County need to remember that Jane Tabb gave us the Rockwool mess.

Tabb was tasked with meeting with the West Virginia Development Authority and with Rockwool executives to assess the project. Her “ringing endorsement” of Rockwool was the basis for the 5-0 Commission vote to move forward.

It is time to elect Robert Barrat to the Jefferson County Commission. Our County needs someone we can trust to listen to all the people, not just foreign special interests.

Tabb is well documented in callously disregarding community opinion. Her actions have undermined and skirted official procedures and the law for many years.

Secret accounts, costly court battles, executive overreach, and a relentless desire to wipe out what makes our area unique is not the record that deserves another term.

Incumbent Tabb claims she is running for re-election “to be a voice of rational, thoughtful discussion and decision making”. When challenged, she simpers about being just a “simple farm wife”.

Tabb’s record is quite the opposite.

During her first term on the Jefferson County Commission, Tabb became obsessed with tearing down the historic county jail in Charles Town. Despite massive public opposition, Tabb led the charge to rid the historic district of a major contributing building. Tabb also led the way for the County Commission to ignore state preservation laws.

Thankfully, Carol Gallant, the late Jim Whipple, and a core of concerned citizens established the Jefferson County Preservation Alliance to Save Our Heritage (JCPASH). Major public rallies, countless letters to local editors, and hundreds of citizens voicing their opposition did not stop Tabb’s crusade against the jail.

The Jefferson County Jail was constructed in1918. It is on the National Register and Inventory of American Labor Landmarks. The jail was the pre-trial detention facility for William Blizzard, and other leaders of the “Coal Mine Wars”, prior to their treason trials at the Jefferson County Courthouse in 1922. Had she succeeded, Tabb would have destroyed a major landmark in American history, West Virginia History, local history, and American Labor/Worker history.

A six year legal battle ended with the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals siding with JCPASH. In the process, evidence exposed Tabb’s attempt to change state law to restrict historic preservation, and the establishment of a secret Commission “demolition fund”. Thankfully, sloppy bookkeeping co-mingled other County money with the fund, rendering it inoperable.

In it final ruling, the WV Supreme Court admonished Tabb and her colleagues and asserted, “it is incumbent upon us to insure that future generations may still appreciate the beauty and history of these many fine structures”. In spite of this final loss, Tabb tried to mount new legal moves, that were shut down by her Commission colleagues.

JCPASH earned the WV Preservation Alliance’s Most Significant Endangered Property Save award. Its leaders celebrated the reopening of a fully renovated and re-purposed county jail in September 2008.

Public outrage over Tabb’s imperious overreach to destroy history led to her defeat in 2006.

Local memories are short. Tabb returned to office in 2012 benefiting from Republican resurgence in the state and county.

Tabb immediately began where she left off, becoming an ally of Commissioner Walter Pellish in rezoning rural land along Route 340 East as commercial and heavy industrial. They ignored wide-spread public opposition, along with state and local efforts to preserve West Virginia’s tourism gateway. They moved quickly to preempt policy guidance from the Route 340 Gateway Study that was moving through public hearings under the leadership of Commissioner Lyn Widmyer.

We have the opportunity to finally end the career of County Commission Member Jane Tabb.

Robert E. Barrat is the clear choice for all who care about government integrity, openness, and accountability. The future health and well-being of Jefferson County is at stake.

[Scot Faulkner is a lifelong Republican, who served on the State Republican Executive Committees in Minnesota, Virginia, and Wisconsin, and on the staffs of two National Republican Conventions. He was named College Republican and Young Republican of the year. Faulkner was the Chief Administrative Officer of the U.S. House of Representatives. He served as Ronald Reagan’s Director of Personnel on the 1980 National Campaign, on Reagan’s White House Staff, and as a Reagan Executive Branch Appointee.]

PRESERVING REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT

[Editors Note:  On June 21, 2016 a Republican Member of the Jefferson County Commission was arrested on a variety of sex charges.  He resigned the next day.  Under West Virginia Law, the remaining four members of the County Commission had thirty days to appoint a replacement.  WV Law was unclear as to whether a person had to reside in the Magisterial District or even had to be a Republican.  Eighteen people applied for the position.  Only three were Republicans from the District.

While the letter of the law was unclear, this column, published in local newspapers, called for embracing the spirit of the law and the fundamentals of Representative Government.

On July 21, 2016, the Jefferson County Commission voted 3-1 to appoint a Republican who resided in the Magisterial District.  This column, along with many citizen letters and emails to the Commissioners, made the case for doing the right thing.  A small, but significant, victory for Representative Government.]

There is much at stake in the Jefferson County Commission vacancy.  It is as much about how it is filled as who fills it.  Every Jefferson County citizen should hope the remaining Commissioners select the best possible individual for our community.

 

This vacancy provides an opportunity for the Jefferson County Commission earn public trust. This can only happen if the spirit, not just the letter, of West Virginia law is upheld.

 

This means that the County Commission should select a registered Republican who is a real Republican.  This means that the Commission should select a person who actually lives, and has been active, in the communities within the Harpers Ferry Magisterial District.

 

In 2014, the voters of Jefferson County clearly decided a Republican should represent them for six years on the County Commission.  Being a registered Republican should be the minimum criteria.  The person should be active in the Republican Party and support its candidates.  Selecting a person who was ineligible to run in the May 10, 2016 West Virginia Republican primary would make a travesty of the process.

 

Jefferson County is complex for its size and population. The issues of most concern to those in the Harpers Ferry Magisterial District are unique from those facing residents in the other four Districts.  This is why the West Virginia Code makes it very clear that only a person who actually lives in a Magisterial District can be elected to the County Commission from that District.  If the Commission selects anyone other than an actual resident of the Harpers Ferry District, that person will be disqualified from being re-elected for that Commission seat at a later date. This will deprive Harpers Ferry voters of an accountable Commissioner.

 

Residency should be the minimum criteria.  A person proposing to represent the interests of the Harpers Ferry District should have a record of being active in the community within the  District.  This displays not only knowledge of District issues, but a level of caring over and above political aspirations.

 

The Jefferson County Commission has a unique opportunity to select a person who will be a positive addition to governing. The Jefferson County Commission needs a person who will properly steward public funds and shape a positive future for all county citizens.  This can be done in a number of ways:

 

• Power of the purse – allocating resources determines which county activities grow and which ones whither.  This assures top priorities have adequate funds to achieve tangible outcomes on behalf of the county.  Just as important is making sure public funds are well spent for the purposes intended.  Waste is waste.  Good management is good management.  Accountability and effectiveness transcend ideology.
• Power to appoint – people equal policy.  Selecting the right people to address the specific details of governing is another way the Commission can implement their agenda.  Knowledge, the highest ethical standards, and a passion for bettering our county, not themselves, should always determine who serves.
• Power of vision – the County Commission is more than a ministerial body, it is a board of directors responsible for  the health and wellbeing of the community and its citizens.  Every decision, even the smallest, should foster the best of what Jefferson County can become in the decades ahead.
• Power of leadership – America has 3,144 counties and county equivalents.  The Jefferson County government can find proven best practices from similar counties addressing similar issues.  Our County is also part of the larger Baltimore-Washington Metroplex. The Commission needs to define Jefferson County’s role within this six million population multi-state region.
• Power of the people – citizen engagement is basic to legitimacy.  Every Jefferson County citizen should have the ability to easily know and understand what is going on in their government.  This means full transparency.  This means timely, complete, and clear public notices.  This means full disclosure of potential conflicts of interest, including family, friendship, and business connections. 
   

The County Commission will face voter outrage if they fail in their most basic responsibility - keeping representative government alive in Jefferson County.