If you run into Linda Meyer in the next few days, you might want to thank her. Linda has decided to perform a much-needed community service. She plans to record the Board of Supervisors meetings and post them on YouTube. Here is the link for the 10/25/2011 meeting:
http://www.youtube.com/WytheCountyTeaParty
Though Linda has provided the link in the comment section, I think her efforts deserve a little more prominence. Like Ms. Meyer, Wythe Notes is providing this link as a public service and should not be considered an endorsement of the Wythe County Tea Party or any political party.
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Congratulations to Sheriff Doug King and his deputies on some recent really big deal awards. The Wythe County Sheriffs Department was chosen the number one department in both the state and nation among all departments its size, and number one in the nation among ALL departments, regardless of size, in traffic management and control. There are things about this county that we need to be concerned about, but public safety is not one of them.
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Don’t forget the candidate’s forum tonight beginning at 6pm in the Board of Supervisors meeting room.
I attended the candidates forum last night. Very enlightening to say the least!
I was very impressed with Artie Hall (independent running for West Wytheville B.O.S.) and Joe Hale (Democrat running for Fort Chiswell B.O.S.) if either of these two get elected we’ll all be made the better.
I was very unimpressed with both Tim Reeves (Republican running for @Large Seat) and his opponent Bucky Sharitz (Democrat).
I’ll probably vote for Reeves simply because we all know we’re Bucky’s gotten us, but I might throw my vote to the “third party” guy… still haven’t made up my mind yet!
Buford Bailey (Republican candidate for Fort Chiswell B.O.S.) was by far the most entertaining guy on the stage. One second he’s for progress park, the next he’s against it! To be a Tea Party guy, he sure wants to spend money. Fully fund schools, police, rescue squad and anyone else who may be present in the room.
At the end of the day it was two hours well spent! I sincerely believe that Artie Hall will bring a much needed level headedness, education and integrity to the B.O.S.
and that Joe Hale will bring a much overdue simple man’s wisdom to the Board.
So if you live in West Wytheville, VOTE ARTIE HALL…
If you live in Fort Chiswell, VOTE JOE HALE
And if you live anywhere else… PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!
Thanks,
Jeff
Misunderstood?
I personally know Mr. Bailey & he’s not a spend thrift, he’s a working stiff who has reviewed the budgets & audits and knows where we can better spend our tax dollars.
And that is NOT for $650,000 road extensions to know where, Blackberrys, medical insurance for BOS @ over $21,000 per year, 17% raise increase for Robert Keigley($4,626/see Sis Cassels letter request to board of 3/7/11), while the Wythe co. EMS is made to gravel for operating money.
Dues alone, paid by the county depts to state & nations organizations is over $55,000 per year. Buford is aware of all this,he has the line item budget in hand-DOES Joe? Mr. Bailey is far more than entertaining, & perhaps you should give him a call so he can fill you in.
And I think I saw Joe “napping” during the evening, I’ll review the tape & let you know. It’s best to keep on your toes during such an event.
Jeff; i am really happy that i was able to entertain you. if you will check your civics lessons i think that you will learn that the purpose of government is to fund the services i spoke of. As for progress park, i am unable to understand how you thought i was against progress park. what i am against is spending more money on lot 24 and building a road to a lot that may not be used for years. Joe and i did have an honest disagreement on the building of a $650.000 road to this lot in the park. as i understood joe’s position, he though we should build now while it is so cheap. i didn’t agree with that assessment. we have no idea how long it will be before it will be used or when lot 24 may be sold to an industry. I think that Mr Reeves did agree with me when he said it would be much easier to sell the small lots in the park as opposed to lot 24 which is about 262 acres.the money left in an account will draw interest. As i stated last night i respect Mr Hale and we have a good relationship which i think will endure this election. I am sorry that you may have misunderstood my postition and i hope that i have explained it better. Thank you for your input. that is what makes this country great. citizens like you that take their time to express their thoughts on the issues.
Thanks Linda for taking the time to do this! I never make it to the meetings due to being out of town for work so this is a great way for me to see what they are up to. From talking to others in the area it seems that Tim Reeves will be our best chance to get rid of Bucky if we are not careful and people vote for third candidate the vote could split and Bucky could weasel his way back in.
I 100% agree that $650,000 for a road extension to a lot where no factory exists is ridiculous especially in these economic times. As for Kegley’s raise, hadn’t heard about it, where can we see Sis’s letter request? I’ve never saw a copy of their entire budget.
Also, Linda, what all do you know about this rescue squad situation? I have heard it brought up in a couple of conversations and it has me curious. I use to have friends who were volunteers but they haven’t been there for a couple of years so I haven’t heard much about it lately.
I personally haven’t sent a dime of donation money to the rescue squad in years. I don’t mean that to sound bad but if you knew what I did you would understand. One time I overheard a conversation my friends were having about the chief and his wife. I asked them what they were talking about since I had been sending donations and they told me that the chief Paul Callahan and his wife Sandy were all the time taking vacations on the money people had donated. They also said it was impossible to see a copy of the squads financial records because they were kept at Paul and Sandys house. My friends were not known to lie to me so this sent up red flags and I haven’t sent money since. It would be nice to have an update on the situation down there since it has been a big topic lately.
Also funny about Joe napping. I wonder if Joe will take naps during the meetings if he is elected?
!st things 1st: Wythe Co. squad changed last year or so. They have different people, a great accountant(donates time-free) & can show you accountability for every Q-tip. They are on deck 24/7, have done 1600 calls as of 9/1 & that’s w/o rollovers from the other squads. Their professionalism & competency are beyond reproach.
They have a cash flow problem. I don’t have to tell you how diesel, electric etc. have gone up-let alone insurances etc. The BOS throws them $25,000 a year, & it’s not enough. Business plan,account paperwork etc. was given to the budget committee-they closed the folder & said how much do you want?. This was w 3 board members & Dalton-NO finance director on deck(they just hired one). Next day the BOS convened & when approached on this topic they just insisted EMS meet with Mike Forrest of the Va Small Business people to figure out a plan/ok/we have a business plan/what we don’t have is working capitol. Meetings have taken place w nothing as of this date from Forrest.
Please feel free to contact Beth Crigger or JD Hancock 2620-7290, they know all the ins & outs. They will be delighted to have you view the books, give input & advice.
Believe me this is NOT “same ole, same ole”.
On to the Kegley issue: Idon’t have a scanner but I have the paper in front of me & you’re welcome to see it anytime. Heading is : “Commissioner of the Revenue,budget hearing of 5/31/2011. Requested salaries as per commissioner’s letter of 3/7/11″. They wanted to increase his salary = to his “classification” which would go up with his raise. Dalton told they they should NOT “reclassify” because than everyone else would also want to be reclassified. So they just gave him the raise. Sis said she had it “left over” in her budget & felt he deserved it. It was “left over” because Faye resigned!!!!! The motion for the raise was passed unanimously.
Sorry that # is 276-620-7290.
I agree with Linda on the Wythe Rescue Squad. They have done a complete turn around this year. Mom had to go to the hospital at the first of the year and they came and got her. They were there fast and took excellent care of her. She got her bill a couple weeks later and had questions about it so I called in for her. I spoke to Mr Hancock about the bill and he was super nice and very knowledgeable. He went out of his way to help me understand the bill so I could explain it to mom. He even asked how mom was doing and how the ambulance crew did when they picked her up. May not sound like much to others but in a time where customer service has gone out the window I was more than impressed with the sincerity. If only our politicians were that passionate about helping others and serving the people of Wythe County. Maybe its time for a write in election.
Does anyone know why Faye Barker left the commissioners office to run? I’ve heard some rumors but wasn’t sure what the truth was.
@Lucas your friends weren’t lying but the wife’s name was sally. It was also said that they bought a vehicle and did some work to their home on the squad’s funds but no one will ever know the truth because the records were so closely guarded. If the current adminstration is releasing records so freely I would like to see a copy of the records from when the Callhans ran the show down there.
Faye Barker left the position because of “friction” in the office. Guess who’s at the bottom of the friction , & he’s caused other friction within the office too. Faye put in over 30 years, she was the go to person in that office & hopefully will be again.
At a Sept. BOS meeting in Citizens time a gentleman from Austinville area came & with receipts in hand said his parcel & used trailer he’d bought were reassessed 4 times his purchase price. He wanted to know why. Than he told them he could teach a monkey to do what they did as supervisors. This fellow used a cane & could hardly get around but he still had gumshim!
Video of the candidates forum is now posted:http://www.youtube.com/WytheCountyTeaParty.
Tea Party meeting on Thursday, Nov. 3,2011 @7PM at the sheriffs conference room on 4th Street.
From what I have heard, Faye Barker retired last spring so that she could run for Commissioner.
Apparantly Sis Cassell (Dem) was upset that longtime master deputy Faye (Republican) had decided to run against her handpicked successor, Robert Kegley (Democrat).
It just reaks of the same old partisan boy’s club we’ve come to expect in this county.
Party affiliation means nothing, they’re all the same and all need to be changed.
This is what I heard and believe to be true. The day after Rob resigned as chair of the dem’s so he could run for the Commissioner’s job, Sis heard Faye Barker was THINKING about running for the Commissioners job and Sis went ballistic. When she confronted Faye about the “rumor” that she was THINKING ABOUT running Sis was mean, ugly and disrespectful to Faye and the office became (and still is) hostile. SHE KNOWS Faye is the best person for the job and she knows the public trusts and respects her. She only hired Rob to set him up to run. It is believed by many the only reason she is running for supervisior is because she hopes she will bring the under dog in on her coat tail.
FAYE IS THE RIGHT PERSON FOR THE COMMINNSIONER’S JOB, she has earned it with her experience and knowledge of the office.
I am still wondering how Sis is running her and Rob’s campaign out of the Commissioner’s office on the tax payers dollar. How is she getting by with this one????? PLEASE VOTE FOR FAYE!!
I had no idea that the only reason Sis was ruining was so that Kegley could ride her coat tail.
That’s disgusting.
if that’s true, sis cassell sounds more dangerous than the current Board of stoops.
You all are correct. Faye did leave because of the problems in the office which became quite hostile toward her when she announced that she would run for the office.
The surprising actions of Sis after Faye left would shock you too. After working with Faye for 25+ years, Sis will not even speak to Faye. This past summer at Chautauqua, Sis was sitting right behind Faye and left early and got upset with Sam (her husband) because he wanted to speak to Faye and Dennis. What a shame that in such a small town, that politics can ruin friendships or what most people considered friendships.