HOW TO MAKE AN IMPACT

 

What does a homegrown citizen movement look like?

Jefferson County, West Virginia is a rural county located 60 miles northwest of Washington, DC.  It is known for being the location of John Brown’s Raid and other significant events in American history.  Tourists flock to enjoy breathtaking scenery. 

Jefferson’s neighbor, Loudoun County, Virginia, is America’s fastest growing county.  In the late 1980s, land speculators swarmed into Jefferson County viewing its untouched farmland as a developer gold mine.

The speculators were welcomed into Jefferson County by “Court House” insiders.  This web of family and business elites had run Jefferson since the Civil War. Elected and appointed officials had grown arrogant, unaccountable, and out of touch with the citizens they were supposed to serve.  By the late 1990s, they were about to leverage their unchallenged power to reap the riches of urban sprawl.

In 1998, the developers briefly exposed their agenda by presenting a master plan to run water and sewer lines throughout the Jefferson County, literally laying the groundwork for explosive growth.  Local officials embraced the plan.  More importantly, they shut down public comment and held countless meetings without involving, or even informing, the public. 

The water and sewer master plan, and the blatant abuse of power by the Court House elite, were the sparks that ignited one of the most successful local reform movements in America.

A dozen concerned citizens mapped out a strategy to create a “level playing field”.  This meant opening-up public meetings to the public; making public documents readily available to the public; making sure elected and appointed officials served public, not private, agendas, and making sure the rule of law prevailed. 

The first step was creating an information network so the diverse and geographically dispersed concerned citizens could communicate and share knowledge.  The “Listener” website and forum quickly grew to 1,000 participants.  It spawned home-based gatherings to discuss what to do.  One group, the “Sewer Underground” met bi-weekly and focused on stopping the water/sewer lines.

As local officials flaunted their conflicts of interest, it became clear that only by electing “reform minded” candidates would things change.  Reformers ran classified ads in the local newspapers to recruit candidates.  In 2000, one answered the call.

This first candidate had never run for office, in fact she broke out in sweats when speaking publicly.  She ran for County Commissioner against a well-financed and well-connected member of the Court House elite.  She lost, but inspired others.

In 2002, “Citizens for Jefferson’s Future” ran another set of ads for candidates.  This time they fielded a complete slate for the School Board and for two County Commission seats.  They won them all.  Their 2000 losing candidate was one of the landslide winners for the School Board, ending years of nepotism and sole source contracting.

In 2004, Jennifer Maghan, a recently returned veteran, answered the ad for County Clerk.  She was interviewed by reform leaders at the local Dairy Queen.  It was a critical moment.  The longest serving clerk in West Virginia was retiring and the Court House elites wanted complete control of voting and public records.  The local media consistently supported the Court House candidates and denigrated the reformers.

Jennifer was outspent 10-1, but her charismatic personality and the 2002 momentum won the day.  The reformers also won another County Commission seat achieving a 3-2 majority.  Jennifer became the first Republican to become Jefferson County Clerk since the county was formed in 1803.  She also became the first Korean-American to be elected to public office in West Virginia’s history.

Emboldened by two series of victories that shocked the Court House elite, the reformers moved swiftly to revolutionize the County’s government, digitalizing documents, creating websites, and ushering in the most open and transparent government in the state.

Battles were won, but the war continued.  The developers created their own Political Action Committee (PAC) and hired consultants.  They fought their way back into a County Commission majority in 2008. 

Thankfully in 2010, Jennifer was re-elected by the largest margin in the county’s history.  She was catapulted to national prominence by turning her opponents attack, “stop stirring the pot”, into her campaign symbol.  Her ads went viral and were merchandized as t-shirts. They became iconic in the battle to topple the Court House elite.  It bolstered the election of a reform-minded judge, who won by a landslide.

In 2014, a veteran was recruited to run for County Commission.  He was the first candidate to exclusively use Facebook to achieve victory.  That same year, the reformers recruited two faith-based House of Delegate candidates.  Both became the “gold standard” for door-to-door campaigning. One won and one lost.  The one who lost ran for State Senate in 2016 and won, having been outspent 21-1!

2016 was the landslide year for the reformers.  They won everything.  Two Commissioners, a new Clerk (as Jennifer retired), all state legislative seats in the County, and for the first time since the County was formed in 1803, a Republican County Prosecutor.

Today, Jefferson County remains a model for open accountable government and citizen activism. 

The lessons are numerous:

•      Have a strategy.
•          Have a committed core of leaders who will remain involved for years.
•      Realize that it will take years to sustainably prevail.
•      Actively recruit candidates. Do not depend on party functionaries.
•      Always look for new candidates as elected ones will retire or run for other offices.  Never let the other side’s candidates run unopposed.

·        One way to recruit and credential candidates is appoint them to local boards and commissions (planning, emergency service, parks & recreations, etc.).  Serving on these panels is a great way to learn about government processes, running meetings, public speaking, and messaging.

•         Losses are inevitable.  Learn and regroup.
•         Good candidates and good issues will live to win another day.
•      The opposition will not give up and will fight back.
•      Combine technology (social media) with traditional actions (door-to-door).
•      Money matters but mobilizing volunteers and igniting “fervor” among your supporters matter more.

MOST IMPORTANT:

Deliver on your promises.  Voters want change – give it to them.

 

 

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY

“CONSTITUTING AMERICA” SERIES ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT

America’s 3,034 counties are the backbone of local government and form the core of our civic culture. 

Counties are embedded in each state’s constitution and given explicit governing roles and responsibilities.  They arose during the Middle Ages as the domain of a Count or vassal serving a monarch, thus the name.  When the Normans conquered England, they supplanted the local Saxon shires, governed by chieftains, with “contés”, governed by agents of the Crown.

The core activities of counties have seen little change since Counts were given responsibility for maintaining law and order, providing for local roads, and arbitrating disputes, in their domain.

In his timeless masterpiece on American culture, “Democracy in America”, Alexis Clerel, Viscount de Tocqueville, described the functions of county government and the selection of local officials:

The town-meeting chooses at the same time a number of other municipal magistrates, who are entrusted with important administrative functions. The assessors rate the township; the collectors receive the rate. A constable is appointed to keep the peace, to watch the streets, and to forward the execution of the laws; the town-clerk records all the town votes, orders, grants, births, deaths, and marriages; the treasurer keeps the funds; the overseer of the poor performs the difficult task of superintending the action of the poor-laws; committee-men are appointed to attend to the schools and to public instruction; and the road-surveyors, who take care of the greater and lesser thoroughfares of the township, complete the list of the principal functionaries.

The United States currently has approximately 88,000 local governments, districts, and commissions comprised of approximately 500,000 elected officials. This is 20 times as many officials as exist at the federal and state levels. Local governments collectively spend over $1 trillion annually.

As de Tocqueville outlined in 1835, today counties provide the basic services we require in our daily lives:

•  Police, fire and public safety services 
•  Sewage, water treatment and waste management 
•  Schools, libraries, and other education resources 
•  Roads, paths, and bridges
•  Public transportation 
•  Planning, permitting, and enforcement 
•  Public health services, including mental health, and services to the disabled
•  Tax collection and disbursement

The provision of these services requires close cooperation with “sister” jurisdictions, which may include the state, municipalities and townships embedded within the county, and adjoining counties. Sometimes regional commissions or authorities are established to formalize this cooperation.

County Commissioners or Supervisors act as a “board of directors” to establish policies and oversee these services.  In most cases, there are only 3-9 who are elected and serve in this capacity in each county. These are part-time positions, except in the most populated counties.

The Clerk is a fulltime elected official who is the keeper of all public records, from land ownership to births, deaths, and weddings.  Clerks, and their full staff, administer the settling of estates, or probate, when deaths occur.  Most importantly, Clerks manage voter registration, candidate filings and reports, creating the ballot, holding the election, and counting and reporting the vote. 

The elected Sheriff is more than the chief law enforcement official.  Just like in “Robin Hood”, the Sheriff is the tax collector and manages the county’s finances.

Depending on the population of a county there are an array of other public officials, either elected or appointed, who handle assessing property for tax purposes, certifying the health and viability of water systems and food service establishments, coordinating emergency response, and providing parks and recreation.

Public Schools are governed by a separate and independently elected School Board of 5-9 members.  While schools are funded from the property taxes assessed by the Assessor, and collected by the Sheriff, the Board administers and disburses the funds themselves.

The detailed work of counties is conducted through boards and commissions. These include land-use regulation, building permits, water & sewer, and economic development.  Those serving on these boards are part-time volunteers appointed to the County Commission.

This is where local communities face a fundamental challenge. 

Most Americans have poor awareness and understanding of local government.  The decisions and activities of the diverse array of elected and appointed officials go unreported, or under-reported.  Holding local power accountable is one of the greatest problems in America today.

In his groundbreaking book, “Bowling Alone”, Robert Putnam described the deterioration of communities in 21^st Century America.  This is borne out in how few people volunteer to serve on local boards and commissions, how few attend local public meetings, and how few take actions when incompetence or corruption arise.

Corruption and incompetence are more prevalent than ever.  Land use can make or break fortunes, and help or harm a community, especially in the wrong hands. Unfortunately, conflicts of interest are predictable around land speculation.  Misuse of public funds, especially directing contracts to friends and family, or for unrecorded payments, is always possible.

Prior to the digital age, local newspapers were the bulwark against corruption and malfeasance.  Unfortunately, many of these newspapers are vanishing.  Recently, Dean Baquet, Executive Editor of the New York Times, told the World Congress of News Media that “The greatest crisis in American journalism is the death of local news”.  He predicted most local newspapers “are going to die in the next five years”.

Digital media remains more interested in national issues and popular culture.  The journalistic capacity for demanding accountability, or reporting basic information on county government, is vanishing.

It is up to local citizens to demand accountability. This means demanding transparency, including all public documents being public and all public meetings being public. 

Few local officials, especially on appointed boards, support full accountability.  Countless citizen lawsuits have forced public notices to be on websites instead of posted on index cards on courthouse bulletin boards.  This is vital in “bedroom communities” where most citizens commute out of the county for work.

The citizen-led victories for accountability and transparency are based upon state laws that mandate public access. These laws are called “sunshine” laws and “freedom of information acts”.  It is important for those concerned about their communities to learn these laws and fully understand the importance of “adequate public notice” for public hearings and decisions.

America will remain a beacon of hope for freedom loving people everywhere only if Americans take their citizen responsibility seriously and actively participate in their local government.

WEST VIRGINIA's PERPETUAL STRUGGLE

West Virginia Convention - Wheeling 1861

CONSTITUTING AMERICA'S SERIES ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT

The origins of West Virginia, its current challenges, and its political dynamics are all embodied in a unique case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1870.

In Virginia v. West Virginia, 78 U.S. 11 Wall. 39 39 (1870) 78 U.S. (11 Wall.) 39 two counties demanded to be reinstated into Virginia.  The Court ultimately prevented Berkeley and Jefferson Counties from returning to Virginia.  In the process, the Civil War and the battlefield origins of West Virginia were reviewed in detail.  Three Justices dissented, asserting that the birth of West Virginia was chaotic and violated the rights of local citizens in the Eastern Panhandle.

The three judge dissent reveals origins of the state’s current political tensions.  Citizens in the Eastern Panhandle continue to agitate against the highly centralized state government.

Virginian political leaders initiated a process to succeed from the Union in January 1861.  As a Commonwealth, Virginia gave deference to county representation.  Initially, the 152 delegates were solidly pro-Union.  However, old regional rivalries surfaced.

Delegates from the western counties of Virginia raised the issue of unequal political power with the eastern sections of the state.  This east-west divide had been simmering since the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1829.  That State Constitution required a property qualification for voting. This disenfranchised many yeoman farmers in the more mountainous western counties. It also embraced counting slaves on a three-fifths basis for apportioning representation. Every county beyond the Alleghenies, except one, rejected the 1829 constitution, which still passed with overwhelming eastern support. The issue of regional inequality erupted again during the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850-1851.  

On the morning of April 12, 1861, Confederate cannons opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. After the Fort’s surrender on April 13, President Lincoln issued a call for 75,000 volunteers to forcibly return the rebellious states to the Union.  This was enough for the succession proponents in the Virginia Convention to prevail on April 17, 1861.

A formal vote, by county, was scheduled for May 23, 1861. 

Successionists took matters into their own hands and attacked the Federal Arsenal in Harpers Ferry on the evening of April 18.

The Eastern Panhandle became the site for over 60 Civil War Battles.  Local communities descended into chaos as Union and Confederate armies competed for control of this critical north-south gateway.  Some towns changed hands dozens of times.   

Pro-Union forces in western Virginia formed a separate state in June 1861.  Former Virginia Governor, and Confederate General, Henry Wise reported that, “The Kanawha Valley is wholly traitorous…You cannot persuade these people that Virginia can or ever will reconquer the northwest.”

Early in the Civil War, Union forces solidified control of northern Virginia (Arlington, Alexandria, and Fairfax). President Lincoln and the U.S. Congress merged this Unionist beachhead with the western counties as the “free” state of Virginia. 

On August 20, 1861, Lincoln empowered this military-backed civilian entity to establishment the separate state of West Virginia from the pro-Union western counties that opted-out of the Succession Convention.

A “free” state convention met in Wheeling, November 26, 1861, and drafted the "Constitution of West Virginia". It designated forty-four counties, "formerly part of the State of Virginia," to be "included in and form part of the State of West Virginia." The Counties of Pendleton, Hardy, Hampshire, Morgan, Frederick, Berkeley, and Jefferson were not named as part of the state.

The new West Virginia constitution left open the possibility of adding additional counties:

“if a majority of the votes cast at the election or elections held as provided in the schedule hereof, in the district composed of the Counties of Pendleton, Hardy, Hampshire, and Morgan, shall be in favor of the adoption of this constitution, the said four counties shall be included in and form part of the State of West Virginia, and if the same shall be so included, and a majority of the votes cast at the said election or elections, in the district composed of Berkeley, Jefferson, and Frederick, shall be in favor of the adoption of this constitution, then the three last-named counties shall also be included in and form part of the State of West Virginia."

Under the terms of this Constitution, an inclusion vote was held on the first Thursday in April,1862, for citizens in the original forty-four counties, and those living in Pendleton, Hardy, Hampshire, and Morgan.

Significantly, no one in the counties of Berkeley, Jefferson, or Frederick voted on the matter, because:

"from the 1st of June, 1861, to the 1st of March, 1862, during which time these proceedings for the formation of a new state were held, those counties were in the possession and under the absolute control of the forces of the Confederate States, and that an attempt to hold meetings in them to promote the formation of the new state would have been followed by immediate arrest and imprisonment."

A series of laws were passed within the “free” state of Virginia authorizing the military-backed State Legislature to certify popular support for counties being added to the new state of “West Virginia”. On January 31, 1863, the “free” state of Virginia gave consent for the counties of Berkeley and Jefferson to be transferred to the State of West Virginia.  Frederick County, still under Confederate control, remained in the old Virginia.

At the national level, an enabling act was approved by President Lincoln on December 31, 1862 for admitting West Virginia, on the condition that a provision for the gradual abolition of slavery be inserted in the state constitution.

The West Virginia state convention reconvened on February 12, 1863, and passed a new constitution including the abolition provision. The revised constitution was adopted on March 26, 1863.  On April 20, 1863, President Lincoln issued a proclamation admitting West Virginia as the 35^th state effective on June 20, 1863.

West Virginians in the eastern panhandle bridled under being forcibly included in a Union state.  Rumors were rampant that the owners of the B&O Railroad engineered their inclusion because they did not want their rail line going through a southern state.  This led to the 1870 Supreme Court decision. As recently as the 1990s, the Mayor of Charles Town, the county seat of Jefferson County, explored reopening the case.

Unlike its origins, West Virginia choose not to be a Commonwealth.  It remains one of the most centralized state governments in America, possibly for maintaining unity among entrenched regional interests.  Only recently did the West Virginia legislature authorize limited home rule for certain municipalities.  The power of counties to control growth and levy impact fees is less than 20 years old.

West Virginia’s turbulent genesis, and its Charleston-centric political power, has led to the state earning a reputation for corruption and incompetence.  “Democrats are controlled by the coal mining unions; Republicans are controlled by the coal mining executives” observed a Republican legislator. 

The state is challenged in finding its economic bearings as coal use declines.  It lacks internet access (West Virginia has the worst connectivity of the fifty states, while neighboring Virginia has the best).  Teacher unions and a bloated state bureaucracy make West Virginia one of the most expensive per-student school systems in the country, while consistently placing 49 or 50 in academic achievement.  The state steadily loses population, except for the eastern panhandle and the state Capitol of Charleston. 

Except for recent Presidential elections, Democrats dominate the state.  In 2016, Republicans won control of both the House of Delegates and the State Senate for the first time in 82 years.  In Jefferson County, formed in 1803, it took until 2004 for the first Republican Clerk to be elected. The first Republican Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney was elected in 2018.

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.]

HEFESTAY FOR COMMISSION

On May 8, voters of Jefferson County need to remember that, Jane Tabb’s record displays a callous disregard for public opinion. Her actions undermined and skirted official procedures and the law.

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”.

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 pre-empt policy guidance from the Route 340 Gateway Study that was moving through public hearings under the leadership of Commissioner Lyn Widmyer.

May 8 is the opportunity to finally end the career of County Commission Member Jane Tabb.

Jack Hefestay is the clear choice for all who care about government integrity, openness, and accountability.

[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.]

CLERK AT THE CROSSROADS

[Published in the Martinsburg Journal on October 24, 2016]

Two of the fundamental requirements for democracy are the integrity of the vote and the integrity of the public record.

Both are in jeopardy in Jefferson County.  Starting with early voting on October 26, and Election Day on November 8, our county has the opportunity to preserve our democracy or watch it vanish before our eyes.

In 2004, Jennifer Maghan defeated Scott Coyle.  It was a classic battle between the court house “in crowd” versus a broad coalition of reformers and citizen activists.

John Ott had been Clerk for 24+ years.  In his final years, he had allowed the Clerk’s office to fall into corruption and dysfunction. 

Prior to Jennifer’s tenure, our votes were stolen, padded, and altered.

-       Voter registration rolls altered to allow phantom votes for favored candidates.

-       Vote count altered to help favored candidates.

-       Public was barred from monitoring vote count.

-       Ballots removed or added to help favored candidates. 

-       Ballot boxes unsealed and resealed.

Activists documented illegal access to ballot boxes.  Uncaring County Commissioners and ambivalent state officials ignored a mountain of evidence, including photos.

In one election, 150 uncounted ballots were “found” at 2:00 in the morning. The vote count for the anti “in crowd” candidate was reported as going down!  The votes were accurately recounted (50 went to the reform candidate) only because the activists monitoring the ballots began shouting in the Court House and alerting the media.

Many public records were also fraudulent:

-       Land titles and other documents backdated, fabricated, and altered to cover illegal acts.  Many of these were entered into court cases as evidence.

-       Land titles and other public documents “lost” when needed, especially when required for evidence in court cases.

-       Land titles “misfiled” or renamed to frustrate public access, and hide actions.

-       Title and land transfer fees not charged to “in crowd” – depriving our county of millions in revenue.

-       Land transactions were hidden from the public.  “Do not publish” stickers were placed on certain transactions to stop them from being forwarded to the Spirit of Jefferson. The “favored few” were able to hide their land purchases, allowing them to amass holdings prior to major subdivision applications.

-       After hour’s access was only for the “in crowd”.       

During these dark years, only dedicated local activists, at great personal and financial cost, were able to expose the truth and occasionally stop illegal acts.

In addition to these illegalities, the Clerk’s staff was universally unhelpful and officious to the public, except to the “in crowd”. 

The public was shut out of information as nothing was online. The public could only access public records during office hours, except the “favored few”.

How our tax dollars were spent was also hidden and falsified.

-       Financial operations were never independently audited.

-       Clerk’s office covered for malfeasance and help hide secret accounts.

-       The public could not access the county’s financial records.

In 2004, against the odds and being outspent 10-1, Jennifer Maghan shocked the “in crowd” with a 500 vote victory margin.  Jennifer immediately launched a dramatic and swift reform effort.  The “in crowd” demonized her and tried to stop her at every step.  Jennifer never wavered in her commitment to make things right.  She was re-elected by a landslide in 2010.  Her success revolutionized everything and made Jefferson County a state and regional leader in digital documents and public access. 

Jennifer’s honesty cost the “in crowd” millions dollars as they had to pay their transfer fee obligations and endure proper public scrutiny of their real estate dealings. 

The “in crowd” is now desperate to retake control of the Clerk’s office.  They have waited twelve years to bring back the corruption and favoritism of the old days.

Herb Snyder is part of this “in crowd”.  Snyder’s brother, Lee Snyder, and his business partners, were some of the primary beneficiaries of the old regime.  A Snyder run Clerk’s Office will reverse Jennifer’s reforms.  A Snyder run Clerk’s Office will shut out the public.  

Jacki Shadle worked on Jennifer’s Clerk Team.  Jacki is our only hope for preserving Jennifer’s hard won culture of honesty and openness. https://www.facebook.com/jackishadleforcountyclerk/

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.