
After hearing six Samuels Public Library supporters scathing criticism of their recent withdrawal of County Public Works library facility maintenance work during Public Comments on non-agenda topics at its October 15th meeting, several members of the Warren County Board of Supervisors launched into a sometimes multi-directional denial of any political motivation to their action.
But it appeared those speakers, accompanied by an equal amount if not more, citizen library supporters, were not buying that denial and claim of purely budgetary and legal motives.

With Samuels Library supporters comprising a majority of the public present, Steve Foreman was the first of six speakers questioning the motivation for the supervisors decision to abandon the decade-old amendment to the Samuels Library lease agreement authorizing in-house Public Works physical plant maintenance work on the County-owned building and grounds. – Royal Examiner Photos Roger Bianchini
That the removed departmental maintenance work on the County-owned library building and grounds in place for a decade was initiated as a money-saving measure for the county governmental apparatus seemed to bear out that citizen skepticism. As we understand the move away from the leasing arrangement, prior to the 2014 change library maintenance costs performed by private contractors as necessary were submitted as part of the library’s operational budget covered by County tax revenue. So, the change to in-house County departmental maintenance work was seen as a cost saver to the County in lowering that part of the library operational budget covered by county taxes.
Several speakers wondered at the current board’s sudden change done without including Library officials input or even notification that the change was being considered, as an indicator of less than straight-forward motivation on the part of the county’s elected officials.
“I’m here tonight because I’m concerned about the County abandoning the maintenance of the Samuels Public Library,” said Steve Foreman in opening the first of the six Public Comments on the library situation (10:07 linked video mark). “Whether the letter of the (lease) agreement or the precedent that’s set by 10 years of practice is the proper legal stance is a matter for the attorneys to sort out.
“But to overturn a practice that has supported what is possibly the most important local organization aside from public safety is questionable. For a community that reveres its past to abandon a local entity that was originally chartered in 1799 is counter-productive to the good of the community,” Foreman told the elected officials he faced from the meeting room podium. He cited American “Founding Father” Benjamin Franklin’s role in promoting the importance of libraries in making available a wide range of books and topics to the new nation’s citizenry.

Foreman closed his remarks with a historical Founding Fathers reference to the importance of a broad availability of reading material on a wide range of topics to American citizens to facilitate the democratic process. Below, Kelsey Lawrence began her remarks with a “Let’s cut to the chase” accusation that some supervisors are penalizing the library, not due to in-house building maintenance costs, but “because you didn’t win the book banning battle.”
“The Founders thought that an educated public was fundamental to democracy. And this philosophy was re-enforced by a literate population. This latest action against the library is aimed at undermining the independence of an institution that was recently named Virginia Library of the Year. It’s leadership has won awards,” Foreman said acknowledging the range of special recognitions the library, its staff and leadership have achieved.
“This appears to be yet another attack on the freedom of speech. This latest action raises the question of why the leadership of this county doesn’t appreciate the value Samuels provides to the county. This is something you can’t put a price tag on,” Foreman said in closing with a jab at the idea the board’s maintenance decision was simply a frugal budgetary one.
Following Foreman to the podium was Kelsey Lawrence (12:17 video mark), who took a more combative stance in asserting the board’s totally unilateral maintenance withdrawal move as “Part 2” of last year’s effort to ban certain book topics from Samuels Library’s shelves and gain control of library operational decisions in such regards.
“Let’s cut to the chase, Samuels Public Library is being penalized, not because of building maintenance, but because you didn’t win the book banning battle. This isn’t about broken windows or leaky roofs. It’s about broken priorities and moral leaks,” Lawrence opened in pulling no punches on her perception that library wars, part two, was now underway.
“It’s about LGBTQ-plus books that some of you don’t like. When you couldn’t force them out of the library, you resorted to cutting off necessary funds for upkeep like a frustrated landlord trying to evict a tenant you don’t want,” Lawrence continued in accusing a board majority, including Vice-Chairman “Jay” Butler and Supervisor Richard Jamieson of being a part of, in less than stellar fashion.
See the linked video for the balance of Lawrence’s remarks, followed at the 15:08 video mark by, in succession: Public Comments speakers Bethany O’Neill, Catherine Connette, Jeanette Foreman, and Rebecca Althizer.
Board Reports and Library responses
Fork District Supervisor Vicky Cook led off the Board members reports, where responses to the citizen criticism were heard, with a 14-minute review of budgetary matters before addressing the pro-library comments:

“We’re not punish, we’re not punishing the library,” Cook began somewhat haltingly, eventually backing off speaking for the entire board to specify, “I’m not punishing the library, we’re just trying to make things legal,” as to the wording of the 2008 lease agreement.
Her perception appeared to be that the 2014 move to have facility maintenance handled in-house by the County, as was done in other leasing arrangements with tenants of other County-owned buildings and properties to reduce operational expenses, was never legally established by a vote of the involved parties to change the original library leasing agreement.

Richard Jamieson, left, listens as Vicky Cook reviews County budgetary processes. Below is a reference chart showing Cash Flow (single blue line) vs. Expenditures (series of orange blocks).
“We have a lease that was signed back in 2008. It was signed by the library board of directors, and the board of supervisors, and the administrator. And there was some type of agreement in paying for capital expenditures because the lease states that the library is responsible for it. Let’s revisit the lease. Let’s make this legal. If that was the intent let’s make it happen,” Cook said of the original lease wording dating to 2008.
Supervisors Jamieson and Butler did not address the library situation during their reports.
After noting a first meeting of the renewed Shenandoah Farms Advisory Committee, towards the end of his report, Supervisor John Stanmeyer noted that he and other supervisors were getting: “A lot of emails from people who are seeing this (library situation) as political on one side or the other. First of all there was no lengthy decision process. I think this was a very quick thing that came up that there’s a lease that already stipulated how maintenance is handled. And that’s the controlling document in the situation, that the governing entity is the lease … So, there’s no grand conspiracy to undermine the library,” Stanmeyer asserted.
Unexpected Shadow of the EDA ‘financial scandal’ era
Rather, in a somewhat unexpected turn Stanmeyer raised the era of the EDA “Financial Scandal” in justifying the revisiting of the Library lease agreement with the County. The unauthorized transfer of EDA assets to the personal benefit of others, primarily believed to be the now imprisoned former EDA Executive Director Jennifer McDonald, was eventually determined to have occurred between 2014 and 2018.
As noted above, 2014 was when the agreement to alter the library lease from its original wording to the in-house physical maintenance through the Public Works Department. Stanmeyer pointed to that era in local politics as a time when governmental business in the community was being conducted, “kind of loosey goosey … with a wink and a nod, not according to policy. That’s the kind of thing we are trying to get away from, things being done with a wink and a nod,” Stanmeyer said, continuing, “We need things to be done according to policy and above board.
“So, I would just second what Supervisor Cook said regarding let’s open up that lease and fix what needs to be fixed. Or if there’s a specific maintenance need bring it to our attention with a specific dollar amount and we’ll talk about it.
“But the lease does say you get the building for a dollar a year but you’ve got to take care of it. To me that’s reasonable. If we want to modify that, that’s a fair discussion to have too. But I think we can do that without, let’s assume best intent here, without it becoming instantly adversarial or instantly politicized by both sides. That’s not helpful. That’s all I have to say,” Stanmeyer concluded.
Let’s hope both sides can assume and maintain that “best intent” assumption moving forward, despite the cited “loosey goosey, wink and a nod” era from which the past 10 years of County Public Works maintenance of the library physical plant emerged. And despite the defacto support several supervisors gave to last year’s Samuels Library book banning and operational control effort. And again as several speakers wondered, if “best intent” was the supervisors goal in revisiting the library leasing terms, why weren’t library officials made aware of, and invited to participate in, the discussion before a final decision was made unilaterally by the supervisors?
Other Business
In actual agenda business the board faced only two “New Business” items, an eight-item Consent Agenda and approval of its meeting schedule for the calendar year 2025.

It may have been a light agenda, but it was some heavy Public Comments the supervisors heard at their Oct. 15 meeting.
Two meeting schedules were presented, Option A and Option B. On a motion by Cook, seconded by Butler, Option B, which includes three Thursday budget meetings, one each in January, February, and March, as well as four Tuesday work sessions during budget season on January 28, February 25, March 25, and April 22; and the ability for supervisors to get individual staff briefings to accommodate work schedules was approved by a 4-1 margin, Chairman Cullers dissenting.
On a motion by Butler, second by Jamieson, the Consent Agenda was unanimously approved as amended with one item, the Project Sub-Agreement on the proposed Rockland Park Athletic Fields Development Grant, removed for discussion. Following that discussion the Rockland Park item was also unanimously approved on a motion by Jamieson, second by Butler.
See the amended Consent Agenda below, with Item I-6 on the Rockland Park Athletic Field sub-agreement, as noted above, removed for discussion:
Consent Agenda
1. Approval of Asset Replacement Vehicle for Public Works
2. Authorization to Advertise – CUP2024-09-03- South Fork RiverSide Campground, LLC Land-use Campground – The applicant is requesting a conditional use permit for a campground located at 204 Russ Johnson Rd. off Rivermont Drive. The property tax is identified on TM28 as parcel 17 and zoned Agricultural (A). It is located in the Wayland subdivision and in the Fork Magisterial District. The property is approximately 142.09 acres. – Matt Wendling, Planning Director
3. Award of Contract – Matrix Consulting Group – Alisa Scott, Finance Director, Gerry Maiatico, Assistant Fire Chief
4. Grant Approval – Front Royal – Warren County Airport – AWOS Visibility Sensor – Mike Berry, Public Works Director
5. 2024 Annual Virginia Association of Counties (VACO) Conference Voting Credentials – Edwin Daley, County Administrator
7. Authorization to seek an executive recruiter for the County Administrator Position
8. Reorganization of Parks and Recreation Department
Removed for discussion: I-6. Warren County Rockland Park Athletic Fields Development Grant – Project Sub-Agreement
The Board began its meeting with a Closed Session at 6 p.m.

The board comes out of Closed Session shortly before its 7 p.m. open meeting was convened. I wonder if anyone noticed we were discussing Samuels Public Library services again, some may have been wondering.
Motion into Closed Meeting:
I move that the Board enter into a closed meeting under Section 2.2-3711(A)(1) to discuss the performance and resignation of the County Administrator.
I further move that the Board enter into a closed meeting under Section 2.2-3711(A)(8) for the purpose of the provision of legal advice regarding specific legal matters requiring such advice. The subject matters are use of County property, including the providing of library services.
I further move that the Board enter into a closed meeting under Sections 2.2-3711(A)(8)and (A)(29) for the purpose of the discussion of the award of a public contract involving the expenditure of public funds and the discussion of the terms or scope of such contract, where discussion in an open session would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy of the public body, and the provision of legal advice regarding specific legal matters requiring such advice. The subject matter is an Agreement with Page County for landfill services.
Click to watch the Warren County Board of Supervisors Meeting of October 15, 2024.
link