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Page Warren County Report Late May, 2007Republican party fightingpointed to an early May conversation they were informedabout from “four or five” sourcesthat Sayre is alleged to havehad with Fred Andreae, an Independent and former countyplanner. Their understanding ofJohn Smedleythe conversation was that Sayrehad “lamented” the fact thesupervisors were facing re-election without opposition. DespiteSayre’s assertion on the matter,the depth, direction and intentof the Sayre-Andreae conversation remains at issue with bothTraczyk and Llewellyn. Andreae,reported to be out of town, couldnot be reached for comment onhis perception of the conversation with Sayre prior to publication.The issues raised by Traczykat the Republican Committeemeeting apparently led directlyto a late evening call from Sayreto former Front Royal MayorGeorge Banks, a political Independent, on May 9 during whichthe issue of a Carter conversation with Banks over his futurepolitical plans was discussed.Carter said he had discussedBanks’ political future with theformer mayor about four yearsago prior to Llewellyn’s decisionto run for office for his currentterm, which ends this year.Banks declined comment on hisMay 9 conversation with Sayre.Revenue politickingBefore the Republican Committee fireworks went off, thefiring of a disgruntled, part-timeDepartment of Social Servicesemployee re-ignited the issue ofpersonal integrity in the Repub-lican race for the Commissionerof the Revenue nomination.Judy McClosky, a three-daya-week fraud investigator forsocial services fired on April26, stated to the media she hadbeen asked by Happy CreekSupervisor Tony Carter lastyear about her availability fora potential investigation intothe way the Tax Relief for theElderly Program was administered by Smedley. The inquiry,which Carter admits to havingmade, came during the board ofsupervisors’ exploration of howthe Tax Release for the ElderlyProgram impacts the countyfinancially. An attempt that yearto place the program under theauspices of the county financedepartment floundered andwas eventually dropped by theboard.Currently Warren CountyPlanning Commissioner RonMabry is challenging five-termincumbent Smedley – who onMay 11 picked up a key Republican endorsement from 26thDistrict State Senator MarkObenshain – for the Republicannomination. That challenge willbe decided in a May 22 canvass,open to all registered voters,held at the WCGC.Carter and Smedley are oldpolitical adversaries. Carterchallenged Smedley for theRepublican nomination forRevenue Commissioner in 2002,Smedley’s first race as a Republican after four successfulcampaigns as an Independent.Smedley soundly defeated thesitting Happy Creek supervisorin that Party canvass.In Smedley’s final Independentcampaign in 1998, he defeatedthen Republican CommitteeChairman Matt Tederick following a particularly nasty politicalrace during which Tederickraised the issue of Smedley’sintegrity, openness and administration of programs like tax relieffor the elderly.Asked about McClosky’s revelation of Carter’s inquiry abouta potential investigation of hisoffice, Smedley said it was oldnews to him. Smedley also saidhe smelled old political vendettas rather than substantial issuesat the root of ongoing inquiriesabout his handling of his office.“I sure do,” Smedley said of therole of politics in such inquiries.“It’s been happening ever sinceI ran against an opponent backabout eight years ago (Tederick). It also festered again fouryears ago when Steve Brady ranagainst me (the same year Carterchallenged him for the Republican nomination).”Deep in his second internalRepublican battle to remain inoffice, Smedley said of the taxrelief program, “The number ofpeople and the total amount ofmoney involved is audited andmust agree with the Treasurer’sbooks. The taxpayer’s file arenot opened or audited underany circumstances no matterwho is the Commissioner ofthe Revenue. These recordshold people’s social securitynumbers, bank account numbers, federal tax returns andother personal information (seerelated story). Should I releasethis information I would breakmy oath of office and could besubject to violations of Virginialaw. This is information Carterand Llewellyn want but can’thave,” Smedley said.Smedley said what he believesare politically motivated pushesfor such disclosures hold implications for other records heldthrough his office, includingpersonal property, income taxand land use.“This issue could go on indefinitely, however, I will take thehigh road. Mr. Carter and Mr.Llewellyn have an agenda – toget my opponent elected so theycan run the Commissioner ofRevenue Office.”countability between the officeand the board would not be anissue. “My approach throughoutthe whole campaign is that accountability is a key componentof the Commissioner’s office asit should be with any office thathandles public money.“When I’m commissionereverything is going to be open.Certainly confidential information doesn’t get released butthere is a partnership with thecounty and the audit will bedone as a regular, standard procedure on an annual basis,” theRepublican challenger said.“Mr. Smedley’s comment thatan audit can’t be done because ofconfidential information reallydoesn’t hold any water. Corporations have audits done all thetime – they have proprietaryinformation, they have confidential information yet none ofthat information is released invery specific detail.“An audit can be done to saythis program is being operatedappropriately and legally and wedo not make any recommendations for changes or an auditmay say we are finding these issues and we would recommendsome changes in the operationof the program – that’s good information and assures programsare run efficiently,” Mabry said.An open book?Of his inquiry to McClosky,Carter, who also sits on the Social Services Board scheduledto review McClosky’s grievanceover her termination on May 17,said, “It was just to ensure thatthe program was properly administered. As a supervisor youhave a fiduciary responsibilityto make sure that it’s adequatelyrun. I made the inquiry approximately nine to 12 monthsago, it was a one-time inquiry, Iwas gathering information forMabry’s perspectivethe purpose of presenting it tothe board at that time. It wasMabry said if he were elected never pursued and as far as ICommissioner of Revenue, ac- was concerned it was a forgottenmatter until it was brought forthby another party (McClosky).”Llewellyn said the board ofsupervisors’ interest in the TaxRelief for the Elderly Programwas an outgrowth of what headmitted were a series of unsubstantiated reports the numbersadmitted to Warren’s tax relief program may be unusuallyhigh.“The reason we were talkingabout an audit was that we hadbeen hearing for almost a yearand a half of incidences wherepeople who didn’t belong in theprogram were in the program,”Llewellyn said. “Now it wasall second and third hand butsince none of us are privilegedto having the information infront of us – and I don’t thinkanybody on the board of supervisors wants to see it, I don’t andI don’t know that anybody elsedoes – the thought was that anoutside third party have the opportunity to review it, like anyother county program . . . Wejust want a third party auditor toverify that those in the programbelong in the program and thatthey have realistically qualifiedto be there. The board certainlydoesn’t want to remove anyonefrom the program that deservesto be there, we just want tomake sure the system isn’t beingabused.”Cannibals?At the end of a tough politicalweek, Warren County Republican Committee Treasurer TonyElar bemoaned the spurt ofParty infighting.“It’s pretty bothersome to me,what is going on. It just goes toshow you – and it’s happenedto me on other committees inother states and other jurisdictions – that when you have sucha strong one Party domination, we begin to fight amongstourselves and we have startedcannibalizing our Party insteadof continuing the good fightagainst the Democrats.”

Late May, 2007 Warren County Report Page Audit controversyNearby Revenue Commissioners describe processesFull tax relief program audits not routine in two adjacent counties“My office does administerTax Relief for the Elderly and asfar as I know, always has,” Black,In an attempt to see how in her position since Feb. 1999,things work on “the other side” responded.we inquired of three nearbyCommissioner of the Revenue Frederick CountyOffices if they administeredthe Tax Relief to the Elderly“Since the information onprogram, and if so whether and individual applications is securehow those programs had ever data only an approved auditorbeen audited.with security and disclosureWe received responses from restrictions would be allowed totwo Revenue Commission- see these records and thereforeers, Ellen Murphy of Frederick audit them and only then withCounty and Kathy Black of certain information hidden,”Shenandoah County.Murphy said of potential se“I have always managed the curity issues revolving aroundtax relief program for the elderly audits. “Our external auditorand know that my two immedi- is aware of the program andate predecessors did as well,” while he has not spent an inMurphy, who has been in office ordinate amount of time on itsince November 1994, replied. there have been questions onBy Roger BianchiniWarren County ReportLawyers servinginjured personsinvolved in:it in the past but not annually.These questions have had NO(her emphasis) political basis orany regularity, as say in electionyears. They have been part of therandom sampling audits as normally conducted on very limitedoccasions. There has been nopolitical issue with this programduring my administration of it,”Murphy observed.“I would only allow disclosureof specific data in this programthrough the approved auditors,who are under disclosure andsecurity restraints, if necessary,and would make every attemptto hide social security numbersand names on any applicationchosen for examination. I haveno problem with the programbeing examined, however, aslong as secure data is not released.“I take pride in providing thecitizens of Frederick Countywith accurate and proper administration of the many programs under my office andhave always cooperated withany auditing request from theBoard of Supervisors,” Murphyconcluded.Shenandoah CountyOf Shenandoah’s operation,Black said, “My office tries tocooperate with the administrative body of the county and thecounty auditors as necessary. Wedeal with a great amount of confidential information and dofeel compelled to protect ourcitizens’ privacy. I do not believethis office has ever had an issueof oversight. My office administers all county tax programsin a conscientious manner withthe utmost integrity in an effortto be fair and accurate in ourassessments to all our citizens.“The external auditors areaware of the Tax Relief programand the total amount of reliefgranted is a part of the officialcounty audit. The auditors arebound to security and disclo- Automobile accidents Tractor-traileraccidents Wrongful death cases Workers’compensationlossesCarl N. LauerManaging Attorney636-30301-800-698-4907Cool and Selective Tattoo and Art Studio650 West 11th Street, Suite A 540-671-5018 Custom or Flash Work Clean and Professional Atmosphere Mention this Ad and receive 10.00off on a tattoo 50.00 or moresure restrictions. During anyaudit process a random samplemay be asked for. I am only aware of the auditors lookingat the Tax Relief “Book” whichhas basic information on itsuch as name, address, propertydescription and the amount ofrelief granted. None of this information is confidential. I amnot aware of a specific samplingbeing done of actual applications in recent years. If it wasrequested, I would try to concealconfidential information suchas social security numbers, income.”ConclusionsWhat conclusions can wedraw from our small and scientifically unsound survey?Are full tax relief programaudits: Routine? – no; Political? – possibly; Warranted? – if legitimate operational or financial concernsexist; Doable? – carefully and withprivacy protections in place.It would seem a simple matterfor the Warren County Boardof Supervisors, or anyone else(with a couple extra days attheir disposal) to determine ifWarren County has an unusualper-capita enrollment and taxrelief stream compared to otherjurisdictions. That information should be ascertainablewithout the need to explore anyprivileged personal information of program participants.The numbers of those enrolledand the amount of tax reliefgranted through this and othersurrounding jurisdictions’ taxrelief programs would be all thatis needed.

Page Warren County Report Late May, 2007Town surveyTown not slammed by own surveyNice place to live – but about that government . . .Roger Bianchinisome news about surveys inthis community recently; I thinkyou’ve had one yourself – thatyou were not slammed in?Front Royal Town Manager J. Michael Graham discusses results of town quality of life survey at aFront Royal Planning Commission work session.By Roger BianchiniWarren County ReportApril front-page notice of theless-than-favorable result of achamber of commerce survey ofits membership concerning thetown’s relationship to that segment of the business community, the town manager wantedto alert this reporter and thegeneral public to a kinder, gentler view of the Town of FrontRoyal. To that end we publishthe following transcript of oneportion of an occasionally amusing discussion. We do, however,reserve the right to questionwhether the 500-plus (sevenpercent) response amounts tothe scientifically sound samplingand consequent “marching orders” Graham believes them tobe. And we wish we’d had timefor one more question – Whatdo you think the 59 percentwho made “changes to the towngovernment” the number onepriority for desired changes tothe Town of Front Royal, meantby that suggestion?Front Royal Town ManagerJ. Michael Graham, or Mike aswe media peasants like to callhim, recently visited with yourstruly and WZRV/WFTR NewsDirector Mario Retrosi on TheValley Today.Graham did us a great favorby appearing on short notice ona day the scheduled guest wasforced to cancel and the stationwas having technical difficultieson the 95.3 FM side that werenot of my creation – really.Graham discussed severalissues, including the town’s balanced budget achieved withouta tax increase, a renegotiatedwholesale electrical purchasingcontract that has significantlyreduced projected costs to townelectrical customers over thenext two years, and the resultsof a town survey distributed tocitizens about quality of life issues here.With this publication’s mid- Roger Bianchini: There’s beenremember this survey wentout in December, January andFebruary and it was pretty coldI think in January and February. . . So they actually weatheredthe storm and went out, evenwhen it was snowing and gotthese surveys in and we had agreat response. We had over 500responses. And in the world ofsurveying, when you get overtwo or three percent responseyou’re high-fiving and . . . I knowthat we got about a seven anda half percent response whichgives you pretty good demographic sampling. The otherthing we did that was kind ofunique, is we broke down thetown into 16 different sectors.So we can actually go in and findout exactly in what areas – someissues that were very importantto some and not to others.RB: The survey specifically,Michael Graham: Coming fromI think, one of the importantyou Roger, I feel that as a comthings is what do you think ofpliment. But basically, yeah, weliving here, what do you likestarted our quality of life survey,about it, what is good or badwhich is much different thanabout the quality of life in Frontmaybe some of the other surveysRoyal. What do you as the townout there. I needed to find outmanager take from the responsexactly what the citizens werees that you got on that?thinking about Front Royal. Notso much policy, but just aboutMG: Well it was broken downliving here and what they likedinto a couple different segments[about] living here. And so weand smaller segments fromset up the survey scientificallythe big segments. One was the– very scientifically to be able toquality of life in Front Royal,set it up in two different stages.and in that we asked about sixOne was the basic rating ofquestions. Everything fromquestions andthe other oneDel. Clifford L. “Clay” Athey, Jr.was the open18th District House of Delegatesended answersto questions.Serving Fauquier, Frederick, and Warren CountyAnd so that’skind of how wesetup the basis.Wi t h t h a tyou know we’vecome up withsome real interesting conclusions, which– well let mestart out, is thatwhen you havea unit of around7,000 familiesand each oneof them got asurvey becauseStacey & I thank you for the opportunity to serve.we hand delivered it to theirIf I can be of any help, please contact me at (540) 635-7917,door with usingin Richmond at: (804) 698-1018,the VIPS andthe VIPS wereby E-Mail at: DelCAthey@house.state.va.us,g re at volun-or by mail at:PO Box 406, Room 510teers. I mean,Richmond, VA 23218you’ve got to

Late May, 2007 Warren County Report Page Town surveyhow would you rate the quality, to your neighborhood, to aplace to raise kids, place to live,place to retire. You know, howyou rate the quality of servicesin the town. And overall, youknow, we had a rating up over70, 80 percent that fell with inthe fair to excellent range, withthe majority within good. Butthese things – you don’t lookat those as much as you look atthe other percentage that didn’tsay it was good, you know, andthat’s where we have to improve. . . because we want to movethose numbers up to 100 percentloves to live here. You still got,you know a very small percentage, but we want to make surethey’re happy.were very highbetween fairand excellent,we were in the80 percentilein most of that,that people feltvery safe livingin Front Royal.RB: I learned something incollege when I was studyingsociology, you’ll always have 20percent of the people that areopposed to anything, so you’renever going to get 100 percent,at 80 you’ll be doing good.RB: No comment – hey, myprofession is tobe cynical.RB: Like I said,that equates to100 percent inmost surveys,because youhave 20 that arejust obstinate.Roger BianchiniMG: You don’tfall in that, doyou?M G : O k a y,well, you do avery good jobMG: Well, we’re already doing of that.good then if that’s the case. Theother segment was safety, you Mario Retrosi: I was going toknow, we’re very concerned say, that fits you to a T.about safety and again we brokeit down to violent crimes, prop- RB: I had a Chinese dinner reerty, how you feel in the neigh- cently, my fortune cookie said,borhood, do you feel you can “Don’t give into cynicism.” I saidwalk in the streets at night and it’s too late.things like that. And again weMG: There’s always hope.RB: Yes, Mario?MR: I was going to say we havejust a few more seconds left.What do you take most out ofthat survey? What’s the bigthing that folks like most aboutFront Royal and what is some-Kids Fun & FitnessRockwall climb, Playstation 2 game Bikes and Dance CenterExercise circuit Earn tokens for great prizes!Plus: Birthday Parties Kids Night Out Summer CampsOpen to all children ages 5-13 Kids can be dropped off, while yourun errands, go to the gym, or do your shopping!Join our first Kids Night Out on May 18th 6:30-9:00 20.00 Non-members 1

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