The Shadow
Welcome back, Shadowers! It’s been a crazy few months with all sorts of revelations. In this week’s column, I’ll try to catch you up with snippets of the stories we’re tracking.
Clifton Forge’s Code Enforcement Officer resigned last week due to non-certification issues. Town Manager Chuck Unroe is currently on the hunt for a new enforcer.
In other resignation news, it seems there’s more to Thomas Smals and Matt Smith’s recent departure from Covington’s Parks & Rec than is being revealed. However, in the interest of fact, we’ll wait until the alleged forthcoming legal complaint potentially naming Smals, Smith and Allen Dressler surfaces.
Over in Covington’s building department, seems Eric Tyree is back on the job as the Certified Building Official. That’s a welcomed first step towards solving the department’s lack of a certified official since Tyree left in 2021. City Manager Dressler stated Tyree started June 10, 2024.
410 on Main Facebook page has apparently disappeared into the great construction dumpster in the sky, along with their website which now only tells people to call the city with permit questions. Activity at the building has ceased. Also reportedly, Beth Woodson is no longer working with 410 due to alleged payment issues. Oddly, Owner Gray Lane just won $20K+ from the Gauntlet Program for his outstanding presentation of an idea that sounded good on paper, but in reality, was nothing but illegal and unsafe activities that were shut down by the State Fire Marshal. That’s weird, Steve Miller’s song “Take the Money and Run…” just came on the radio.
Hoo-Hooo-hooo…
Recover Virginia continues to illegally operate out of the old Edgemont school building, despite the building not being zoned for such use. Covington Citizens have been on the City’s case for months, but there’s no indication of any attempt or desire from the city or the organization to relocate. Maybe they’re performing their “if we wait it out long enough, people will forget” magic trick. City Manager Dressler acknowledged that the facility is not zoned for Recover VA’s activities. If the city knew it was a violation why did they give it to the organization in the first place? And why hasn’t the city enforced its own zoning regulations? The situation suggests potential favoritism, and it appears the city may be selectively ignoring its own laws. The larger question remains: why is the city providing support and taxpayer resources to an independent organization for both occupancy and relocation efforts?
Last week’s livestream of the City of Covington’s Council meeting was a bust. Several folks encouraged citizens who were concerned about the apparent unethical and illicit activities of the city’s officials to “either attend or shut up.” The Shadow posted the event details and the public cell phone numbers of the Mayor and Vice Mayor found directly on the City’s official website so they could communicate directly with the council during the meeting. Apparently, a City Council member accidentally passed some kind of a thunderous cataclysmic solar wind that obliterated the internet precisely at 6:30 pm, right when the livestream was supposed to begin. So we’ll try again tonight. You can find the link on the Covington City Facebook livestream page, under the Videos tab. You can also find the cell phone contact numbers for your city council members on the city’s webpage. Send them a text, they want to know what’s on your mind.
Speaking of Covington City Council, they are 12 meetings behind in the mandatory publishing of their council minutes. The last one was added on March 12, 2024. VA Law requires all municipalities to make their minutes publicly available within 7 days. Please call your City Manager and ask him to kindly follow the law and update their website.
In the Tax Deductible or Tax Haven department, one local church states on its donations page that they are a “Tax deductible organization.” However, the official VA corporate database shows it is a ‘for profit’, nonstock corporation, with no IRS tax-deductible 501(c)(3) status required to offer their parishioners tax-exempt donations. Next time you donate to your church, you might double-check that your organization is officially recognized by the IRS, otherwise, you might find yourself in hot water for claiming unqualified deductions.
Breaking news happening over at the Alleghany County Jail. At the time of publication, multiple sources say 11 inmates allegedly had seizures due to reactions from a lice chemical spray. Reports of at least 8 inmates have been taken to the Emergency room. The Virginian Review will have more details as they are available.
Just a small update on the Officer Wright lawsuit filed by Joshua Barricks. In a nutshell, Barricks is claiming abuse of power and police brutality on his violent arrest in March 2022 by Officer Wright. The Virginian Review research team had a conference call with Barricks’ attorney and will be providing more updates on the case shortly.
Last week, the Virginian Review and The Shadow highlighted serious issues within the Alleghany-Covington Department of Social Services (DSS). Since then, more individuals have come forward with additional concerns and experiences. Interestingly, almost every story has the same theme. Currently, three families have retained attorneys, with one already filing a legal complaint in Alleghany Circuit Court against the local DSS, Director Tammy Wilson, and Chairman David Crosier.
Several other families have reported cases involving toddler abuse, child sexual abuse, and elder abuse. Several families have alleged that the local DSS Child Protective Services (CPS) failed to take appropriate action and have attempted to cover up these incidents. Multiple reports also suggest alleged retaliation from Director Wilson and Chairman Crosier, including one documented in a lawsuit. As a result, while others coming forward are extremely fearful of retaliation, their anger at the DSS for not providing the professional services they are obligated to provide has grown to the point of demanding legal action and asking the State DSS to intervene.
Apparently, this exact situation happened last week with the Buchanan DSS, in which control of the department was seized by the Buchanan County Supervisors. Allegedly the Buchanan DSS has a hostile work environment, employee compensation issues and is facing a $1M operating deficit.
Finally, in the “Let’s make up our own rules” department, Covington City Manager Dressler stated that the Covington City public pool does not need to have a Certified Pool Operator. However, documentation from the Virginia Code and the Virginia Department of Health indicate otherwise. The Virginian Review research team has reached out to the Virginia Department of Health for a definitive answer.
I’m out of time, and out of coffee, but I’ll leave you with the words of Plato, “The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.”
