Charles City citizens call for resignations of supervisors, county administrator

Charles City citizens are calling for the resignation of two of the county leaders as well as the recently hired county administrator.

For approximately 70 minutes of the 90-minute Charles City Board of Supervisors meeting on Nov. 25, citizens lashed out with the direction of the county, with many of them expressing frustration and lack of faith in leadership.

After District 1 representative Ryan Patterson’s request to amend the agenda was denied, citizens launched verbal barrages at District 2 representative Michael Hill and District 3 leader Byron Adkins Sr., as well as County Administrator Keith Rogers Jr. for their positions and mismanagement of the county.

“I want to address the shenanigans that’s been going on during the past few weeks,” commented Pat Davis. “Mr. Patterson was trying to access documents, and he was denied doing his duty that he was elected to do.”

“Mr. Rogers, you serve at the pleasure of the board and you’re not an elected official,” she continued. “If you can’t answer simple questions or complete simple tasks of your superior, you’re in the wrong job.”

According to the public period, Patterson attempted to gain access to documentation such as finances, issued checks, and contracts. However, the public charged that Patterson’s access to the building was taken away and that authorities were called to escort him from the building.

“I am asking for the board to ask for the resignation of the current county administrator,” commented Susan Ware. “Our current administrator hasn’t taken action to address these issues. He’s only made these worser.

“It is the duty of the county administrator and county attorney to make sure the meetings are conducted fairly according to the bylaws,” she added. “That clearly didn’t happen last month.”

The comments kept coming as accusations of collusion and disregarding regulations continued to reign during the public forum.

“I came to the meeting here last Saturday and it was no standing room, and that was for one supervisor,” commented Bill Hopke. “If you look at it tonight, it’s looked like it has died down, and that’s because they don’t want to deal with the other two supervisors. It’s just too frustrating, and everyone I deal with feels the exact same way.

“I think you all are kicking the can when it comes to this RAN (Revenue Anticipation Note),” he added. “You all are trying to pay this off when it’s not due to the end of June. But yet, you want to pay it off before the end of the year. It is because of the audit? What are you all trying to hide?”

Even business owners expressed frustration with the county operations. Thomas Evelyn, who owns companies in Charles City and serves as the chairperson on New Kent’s Board of Supervisors, spoke about the difficulty working with current county staff as he is attempting to bring Pointe One Data Centers into the Roxbury Industrial Park.

“As many of you know, I’ve sat in your seat for 18 years on New Kent’s Board of Supervisors so I can say that I know firsthand how demanding this job can be,” he began. “But with that responsibility, comes a duty to the voters and citizens in this county.

“As you know, Point One has been working on bringing a data center to the county for three years,” Evelyn continued, speaking on how it would bring $16-18 million to the county revenue. “After working on this project, I’m not entirely sure if the structure is functioning correctly in Charles City County. If this project was in New Kent, I could assure you that as chairman, I would be working hand-in-hand with our county administrator to get this project across the line.”

Evelyn spoke about the various businesses that have made homes in New Kent County. But he also said that all of the county staff was on-hand to bring the companies in.

“Point One Data Centers is fully invested in this county and wants to be part of this community, but that’s nearly impossible when we can’t meet with county leadership to move this project forward,” Evelyn monologued. “We have asked for more than a year for the county to establish a tax rate for data centers. We have asked for meetings with the county administrator and previous county administrator, that have been canceled, and as of last Tuesday, an all-day meeting with executives scheduled to fly in to meet to know what the county needed from us and what we needed from the county. At 9:30 a.m., the meeting was cancelled.”

While Evelyn praised the professionalism of the staff, he expressed dismay with the county’s communication and scheduling.

“Point One is willing to invest millions of dollars but staff isn’t willing to set up a meeting,” he said. “And this comes back to you three [county supervisors]. I can promise you this would have never happened across the Chickahominy. This project represents a transformational opportunity for Charles City County and provides long-term stability for your citizens but only will be reality when leadership is engaged.”

Gerald Barnes, chairman of the Charles City Electoral Board, spoke about the relocation of the General Registrar’s Office from the Charles City County Government and Administration Building to the Ruthville Complex.

“We’ve never seen you at the office,” said Barnes, addressing Rogers. “We are required to meet ADA (American Disabilities Act) requirements at that facility, and that includes in the parking lot.

“We don’t even have a sign up there,” the electoral board chairman continued. “We received a courteous inspection at the office, and we were noncompliant.”

Barnes said he sent a letter in September to Rogers of noncompliance and a letter of formal rejection of continued disrespect to the electoral office.

“If I was holding my breath, I’d turn blue right now because I haven’t received a response,” Barnes said. “You do call them cantankerous though.

“The electoral board is not an advisory board as you think we are,” Barnes said as he addressed Rogers once again. “We are constitutionally established and stately empowered government power.”

“I have never ran into a person who has never been as arrogant or as disrespectful as you, and you need to be gone,” Barnes concluded.

Citizens continued commenting on how supervisors failed to adhere to their own rules and how administrators are not enforcing them. Citizens expressed embarrassment of leadership turning down meetings, hoping that the situation is corrected before it’s too late.

“Mr. Patterson is the only supervisor citizens feel good coming to and getting some answers,” said Thelma Whitehead. “He’s trying to get answers, and you lock him out. That is not right.

“Mr. Rogers, if you think you made the right decision in calling the cops, then why didn’t you say something and defend yourself? she asked, questioning the county administrator’s stance. “Don’t take the blunt for someone else if you were told to make that decision. It wasn’t right.”
With frustrations mounting over the last month, citizens have begun the process of petitioning the court to send a referendum for the addition of one supervisor seat. That seat would serve as an at-large position, serving the entire county instead of a specific district. Charles City County currently has a three-seat board, one of the few remaining in the state of Virginia.

“If you have a quorum, you have to advertise the meeting, “said Jared Kline. “Essentially, you all can’t talk to each other legally and workshop problems.

“By having a fourth member, you can talk about these issues,” he continued. “By having that fourth member, if there is someone that a supervisor doesn’t get along with in the district, they can go to this at-large meeting.”

With information disseminated, citizens still wanted county leadership to know how the personally felt about the ongoing issues they have with the operations.

“Your screwups are our money,” said former Charles City Commonwealth Attorney Rob Tyler, referencing how the county overspent on the construction of Fire Station 2 in the county. “That was $3.5 million over budget, but nobody knew about it until Davenport [the county’s financial advisors] pointed it out.

“We have the right to know those things,” he continued. “That’s not leadership. That’s not representative of the government.”

Tyler publicly called for Adkins to resign, placing much of the blame on him due to his presence of being the only returning board member. Tyler added he expected more from Hill but accused the District 2 Supervisor of being the needed vote for Adkins to run the government to be run in secret. He asked for Hill to resign after that.

“I like you Mike [Hill], but you’re not getting the job done,” Tyler concluded.

In the end, citizens from District 1, as well as county residents, believe that only Patterson can be trusted.

“I can’t even give my representative paperwork to make copies of because he can’t get into the building,” said Lloyd Carter Sr. “I feel like you need to give the man his pass back so that he can do the job he was elected to do. And if you don’t like what people are saying, they are telling the truth.”

Citizens added that they want supervisors and staff to hold up to the county by-laws during meetings. Requests were also made to county leaders to address concerns of citizens as future meetings, but it’s evident their trust in leadership has nearly evaporated away.

“Have you zero conscious?” questioned Terry Hogan to the leaders. “You know our kids, you know our grandkids.”

She turned to Rogers, to address his position as county administrator.

“You’re not from here, so maybe you don’t care,” Hogan said. “I don’t want to think that of you Mr. Rogers, but after the performance of the last month, it is very hard to treat you with good will.

“You want our good will and want our respect, then work for it,” she said to county supervisors. “Stop lying. Stop hiding the numbers. We’re a little bitty county with a little bitty budget, and the fact that you’re hiding the numbers means you have a guilty conscious.”

During the supervisors’ comment and county administrator period, statements were kept to a minimum by leadership.

“There are many things that we are working with and I know you all will be hanging in there with us as we work to the process,” said Adkins.