The 2024 Virginian Review Election debates, covering the races for Covington, Clifton Forge and the AHPS School board positions, was held on Octber 3, 2024 at the Historic Masonic Theatre, from 6pm-8pm. You can view the video on the Virginian Review’s FB page. Here is the transcript of the event.
2024 Virginian Review Election Debates
SPEAKERS
Robert Umstead, Video, Jay Woodson, Carl Wolfe, John Mosier, Corey Bowles, Julie “JT” Stanley, Michael Foster, Audience Question, Gene Mundy, Lee Roe, Susan Wolfe, Jeff Irvine, Commander Wallace, AJ Panebianco, Susan Crowder, Bruce Young
Pre-Event Panel Session
Bruce Young 05:51
Welcome everyone, I’m Bruce Young. I’m roped into being the host for tonight, so you get to work with me and learn a little bit about our panel first, and then we’ll get started with the debate. So we have a group here that we’ve brought in from the community, and I will bring my crib notes to make sure I get everything correct for them. And what we’re going to do initially here is spend a few minutes just talking about the issues and getting warmed up and give our candidates a little time to get adjusted. And then exactly at six o’clock, we will start the debate. So first of all, let me introduce to you the fellow who will be controlling the actual debate, AJ Penny Bianco. He is a Covington native, and started with the Covington police force, and then went through several other police forces, Buena Vista, and eventually became chief of police there, and Chief of Police for Middleburg, which we were just talking about, which sounds like it was a lot of fun, and President of the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police and foundation. And he will be leading the questions and leading us in the debate today. Next to him, to your left, his right, is Julie JT Stanley. She’s a lifelong resident of Covington, and so did not leave for Buena Vista or Middleburg, and is a retired educator, medical technologist and Information Specialist. Julie dedicated 23 years to the Allegheny Regional Hospital Louis scale and three years to Bath County Community Hospital, and 17 years at Allegheny County Public Schools, and she’s been serving us for her whole career, both in teaching and in being medical so if any of us go down, we know who to turn to. Next to her is Gene Mundy at the end of the table there, and he’s a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel with over 40 years as a military officer, management consultant, corporate executive and now entrepreneur and panel member, a whole new business for you, hopefully you can do a whole profession of panel member and trying to hide Behind me is Corey Bowles. Corey is a long time foster mom and educator, so we’re fully covered in terms of being taught here. Corey currently serves the Allegheny Highlands public schools where she has been a Health Sciences teacher, athletic trainer, interim athletic director and a behaviorologist. Can I say behaviorologist? Oh, good since 2003 so what we’re going to do is we’ve got some of our issues. We’ve all been studying up. I’ve on on what’s been going on and some of the surveys and things. And now I will let AJ guide us into discussing today and what some of the issues the candidates will be facing. All
AJ Panebianco 08:43
right, so if you see me as AJ or chief, AJ, don’t try. It’s going to be a fun debate. We think it’s going to be a debate where I’m all saying, then, if it’s not working, there sorry about that. Oh, that’s much better. I can hear myself, so call me AJ or chief AJ. AJ is perfectly fine. Last name’s kind of a doozy, but you did actually, and just for all of you, it’s Italian. It means white bread. So we took these questions that were developed not by the panel, but by polls that were put out in the community. So the issues that will be discussed today are issues that the constituency has, that they’d like to see the answers before they cast their vote, which is, you know, how the system should work, kind of try and nail people down, so to speak, in Clifton Ford’s, there’s, you know, there’s concerns with hiring, there’s properties that need to be repaired. There’s, um. I gotta put my glasses on, because I’m on that age. Actually, we’re going to try and get some of the candidates to ID the issues that they see and about transparency. And each of these members up here, I’m sure you guys have some opinions on any of these, and feel free to chat. Chime in anytime you want to. You know, covenant has its own set of issues. And, you know, economic development that’s always even in Clifton Forge, that’s going to be an issue, tax options, how the cities are run, how the town is run for Clifton Forge. And then when we start into the school board, we’re going to talk about some of the issues that are going on right now. You know, school safety is a big issue. That’s not just a Allegheny County centric issue, it’s it’s everywhere. And I recall, I’m a retired police chief, and I’ve been a chief now five times, and each and every time, school safety was a top priority. So it’s not just something that’s that’s concerned about here. It’s concerned. Everywhere. We’re fortunate in Allegheny County, Chris Fisher just got hired to be the first school safety I’m not even sure his title, but, but I know Chris Superintendent of school safety and and he is a good individual, and I think he will lend some credibility to that position. So I’m really excited to see that happen. I’m gonna turn it over to any you up here on the panel. If you’d like to chime in and talk about what you have concerns or what you’d like to see answered, please make Sure you do you I think this one works.
Gene Mundy 12:02
No, now. AJ, appreciate the, you know, kind of the opening and, you know, one of the takeaways that I had just looking through the issues is the similarity across all three think groups that we’re going to talk to tonight. We’re going to listen to their, kind of, their feedback, and from the sense of from the community, the questions about leadership, economic development, safety, drugs, it’s a common theme. And I think across the highlands, I think if you obviously have lived here long enough, you’ve been exposed to it in some capacity. So it’s interesting to to kindly, to see the the thread, and looking forward to the candidates, kind of unpacking those those issues, and having a chance to to speak to that. I
AJ Panebianco 13:05
All right, so we talked about how we divide, how we came up with the questions, and at what we want you guys to know too. At the end of each debate, there’s going to be a time when we’re going to open it up to see if there’s any questions from the audience. Again, this is not a debate about what we want to know. It’s about what you want to know. Who’s going to cast that vote as as it goes, as far as how this is going to happen, we’re going to start with Clifton Forge, then we’re going to move to Covington, and then we’re going to move to the school board. And because there’s three separate elections, and you can’t really tie them all into one, and each each locality has its own set of challenges. So when this opens up, please don’t be shy if you have questions or if you have something positive or negative to say, please say it. There’ll be some folks walking around that will have portable mics, and we’re about 50% sure they’ll work, since 50% of these work, but no, that’s, that’s what we hope to do, and that’s what we hope to get out of this, is that before you cast your vote, you get a you get a good idea of what people are standing for, that you’re going to throw that vote for. And as far as how I got involved in this, I grew up in Covington. I went to Allegheny County, and then I went to Allegheny High School. So I’ve been two of the three mascots that you have. I’ve been a Colt and a mountaineer. And so I have that tie to Covington. I grew up here, and then I moved away when I became a police officer. And so that’s how I came so I have knowledge of the of the community, but I don’t have necessarily a dog in the fight, so I don’t have a specific person I would like to see win or lose, so I can be completely unbiased. And if they, if they don’t answer the question, expect me to say that was a lot of words, but it didn’t say anything. Can you answer the question? It’s. Them being mean, it’s because you deserve the answers. You deserve to know what the answer is to the questions. And again, these are not our questions. These are questions that the public raised, and we put them into a little bit better verbiage so that they flow into a question. But again, it’s about giving you the power to know who to cast your vote for based on what your your beliefs are, your concerns are, and we hope that you’ll be able to take take advantage of that. We’ve got about five minutes before the the live show goes on. And I don’t know if any of the candidates are here yet. Hang on one second. We’re getting ready to go with the Yeah, yep. I
Bruce Young 15:39
made some noises. There we are. So, yeah, I was going to interrupt you there, because I think what we’re going to do is talk a little bit about the wall that heals, which is in Covington right now, and is really remarkable experience. It’s a scaled down version, a three quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC, which, if you’ve ever been to, is an astonishing place to be. We were just talking about that a little while earlier, but this one travels the country to give people who aren’t able to go to DC that sort of experience. And it’s finally arrived here, and they’ve set it up down at Jackson Park. And it’s worth the trip. It’s worth really something to see the number of young people that gave their lives in that conflict. But I believe we have a video that explains it, that will be showing here, and that will let you see what you can have the opportunity to come view through Sunday, I believe. And here comes the screen slowly. Wasn’t there an Austin Powers gag like this, where It just kept i Come on. We are
Wall that Heals Video 17:05
checking. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, many years ago, created a replica of the wall that travels to communities around the country that we call the wall that heals. This mobile replica really is about taking the names home to communities large and small, to allow people to have that same kind of healing experience to come and show their respect, to remember those 58,000 whose names are on the wall, as well as the 2.7 million Vietnam veterans who served, who returned Home, it’s a chance to look back and pay their respects to those who answered the call of service to their country, especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice to be able to take this around the communities that may not even know anything about the wall or the war, especially for the young kids to come out and see these things and get educated on them. People need to know what these 58,000 plus gave their lives for, whether they want to hear about it or not. They need to know the experience at the wall that heals is as you go from one end in toward the center, the wall actually rises up above you, so that is taller than you are, which is one of the key design aspects of the wall in Washington. As you go down one of the walkways, the wall actually rises above you, and I think that has a psychological impact, where you actually understand that there is something important here. It is so large that it creates an emotion of power, and you understand you’re supposed to stop you’re supposed to think about it. And in this case, you can read the names. You can see your reflection in the wall, and you have to remember why those names are inscribed. These are people who sacrifice their lives for our country. I get this feeling in my stomach, the pride that you see when we went into San Dimas the kids were all on the streets with their American flags, that always chokes me up, because I know what it is to serve this country, and we as Americans sometimes don’t understand. To cost the war. Hate the war all you want. Don’t hate the war. I met a couple guys here this morning. One guy, I walked up to him and he started crying. Really, man, it makes you feel good, not that he’s crying, but that he’s here to have mommy with someone and be able to find his buddy on the wall. Me so much.
Bruce Young 20:22
I and we’re back and remarkably, right on time. It’s six o’clock, and so we can formally kick off events with the American Legion Covington post four color team, who will bring us forward the flag for The Pledge of Allegiance, gentlemen, if you would please, applause. So as they present the flag, we will have the Pledge of Allegiance, and then we will bring our candidates in, and AJ will be able to introduce us to them and get things going with the questions that he has. This will probably be formatted as individual questions for each of them. But now let us do the formal arrival of The flag. My name
Commander Wallace 22:05
I pledge of allegiance, to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for All.
Bruce Young 23:18
Excellent thank you, gentlemen. So let us get things underway. So if we could bring forward our candidates, our first ones are for the town council of Clifton Forge and our i Let me switch my page so that I give correct information here. Let me tell you a little bit about the format as we bring them up. That would be Michael Foster, Jeffrey Irvine and Carl Wolf, where we’ve conveniently given you a little name tag so you actually know where to sit. We try to make it easy. So the format tonight, it’s debate format, candidates are asked a question and then I got a question, so now, AJ, let me hand it to you.
CLIFTON FORGE TOWN COUNCIL DEBATE
AJ Panebianco 24:36
All right. Excuse me. My mics on. So gentlemen, thank you for showing up tonight. It’s it’s important in the election process to let the individuals out there that are going to cast a vote know what your views are. So we’ve drawn flipped a coin. Actually, I think to see who you. The Town specifically regarding nepotism. In light of these concerns, how would you approach establishing clear guidelines for hiring that promote equity and integrity?
Michael Foster 25:20
Thank you, and thank you for having me. First of all, it’s an interesting question, not one that I’ve heard a whole lot of discussion about around town. However, you know, I think that in a small town, you’re always going to have people that rise to the occasion. And I think that if the question specifically is about, you know, government hiring, then yes, I do think that there should be an independent review process that any candidate for any job, if there is some relation there to, you know, a local government official, there should be an independent counsel that or group that that can approve those hiring and that should be transparent to the public. I do think that transparency is a big issue, and this town council has done a very good job of being transparent. I encourage anyone who has any questions to come to the town council meetings, to come to community gatherings. But specifically, as it relates to nepotism, that would be my answer. I think that an independent hiring group should be formed if there is any family relation involved,
AJ Panebianco 26:26
Mr. Irvine, you have a minute to respond please. Is
Jeff Irvine 26:28
it Owen? Uh Harring, I don’t think it’s any nepotism, because, you know, we have a I would depends on what department the department head will be at the meeting the chuck town manager and he, I think he has a couple more that sets in on hiring. The problem is you have to have the right people for the job. You have to horror of qualified people, and qualified people is just not putting in right now.
AJ Panebianco 27:04
All right, thank you, sir. And just one follow up on that. Do you currently know what the policy is for nepotism, as far as how it’s defined, or who can manage who? As far as family relations?
Jeff Irvine 27:18
I mean, like I said, I think is fair. I think we’re doing a great job at it. I mean, I don’t know what else you know, maybe we could have some outside people set in on the interviews. Maybe we can do that.
AJ Panebianco 27:33
Thank you, sir, and keep your mic on, because you get to next question. Mr. Irvine, staying with hiring practices. Oh, I’m sorry I skipped you, Mr. Wolf, you get to respond. It’s our first time.
Carl Wolfe 27:52
Is this on? Yeah, it’s on. Well, here’s how I feel about it. Is we? We as a council, we hired chuck to to handle all the hiring and firing in town, and we have to trust who we put in that position to to do the right thing. Sometimes it doesn’t seem like the right thing, but, but I’ve seen, I’ve seen some qualified people get hired, and I’ve seen some qualified people not get hurt. And it’s very hard situation in a small town like this, when you got three or four people applying for the same job, and all of them are qualified. So I always just whoever I put in position, like we put chuck in position is, is let him determine. Thank you.
AJ Panebianco 28:42
Thank you for your answer, sir, Mr. Irvin, you get the next question. We’re staying with the hiring practices. What actions would you take to refine recruitment process for every job within the town, and how would you measure its effectiveness in attracting top talent. And again, the goal being top talent.
Jeff Irvine 29:04
Again, I think, I think we’re doing a good job at recruiting. VML helps us at the top jobs. We use Covington, Virginian, we use all social media, you know, we I think we used go to run out times in some instances. But like, like, again, like I said it it’s qualified people’s not a lot of people are working at home now, I mean, and a lot of qualified people are not trying for these jobs at, like, public works or something like that. A lot of people nowadays, and being honest, just don’t want to work for 12 or $13 an hour. You all
AJ Panebianco 29:48
right, Mr. Wolf, you have one minute to respond.
Carl Wolfe 29:53
It’s hard to find and keep qualified people with the pay scale we have pay. Scale is a big deal down here in Clifton Ford’s. And you know, we hire police officers, and I think it costs us $20,000 to train one of them, and they stay here two years, and they move on somewhere else. And you know, someone told me, said the police officer job down here’s a single man’s job, because if he’s married, he’s looking for more money, and you can’t blame him for leaving, you know, and, and I think we keep a pretty good crew on public works. They, it’s not too much of a turnover there. They just, they just enjoy working for us. So, you know, to to hire top qualified individuals, the pay scale somehow has to go up. Thank you
AJ Panebianco 30:46
and Mr. Foster, you have one minute to respond.
Michael Foster 30:50
Changing the recruitment process is challenged, as these two gentlemen have pointed out, with respect to the pay scale, but I think that we can do a better job of organizing and coordinating the town website. We do use social media. You do see it there on a on occasion, I think that we could do a better job reaching more broadly. I think one of the aspects of Clifton forge that is so hopeful for the future is that a lot of people are moving here, and they’re moving here because the people in this town are good people, and they’re welcoming. And the first responders in this town, you know, need to, need to have a big shout out, because they are generally underpaid, they are hard to keep around. That’s very that’s very true. So it’s, I think it’s, it’s really broadening the broadening the base of what we’re doing on the recruiting side. What I would change Go ahead,
Jeff Irvine 31:48
I think it says a lot. As of right now, unless somebody quit today, our our town, is fully staffed. And I don’t know if any Allegheny County or Covington can say that, but as of right now, I think we’re fully staffed.
AJ Panebianco 32:01
Thank you. You mentioned a pay scale. Is that something that, as candidates you would want to look at, maybe, and just a yes or no on that, raising that pay scale to make it more attractive, so that your law enforcement officers, which you’re correct, it does cost a ton to train, will be interested in staying is it’s, it’s, you know, sort of like when you’re being married. Sometimes it’s cheaper to keep her, but, you know, it’s cheaper to keep a police officer than it is to go out and hire a new police officer at $20,000 every other year. And could that money be used to put into salaries? Just a yes or no, yes?
Jeff Irvine 32:43
Yes, I’d love to give them raises. And as as of now, we’ve gave them raises every year for the last five or six years in a row.
AJ Panebianco 32:54
Yes, good, good. Thank you. Put my glasses back on, saying, See Mr. Wolf, this question’s for you. It’s a little bit long winded before we get there, but Clifton Forge is a beautiful community. It has traditional walkable downtown. In fact, I walked it today. I spent some time doing that. I ate at Michaels and New York pizza, and so enjoyed that it’s it’s got a town that will draw crowds. I remember growing up and we would come here for the events. But like with everything else, there are two sides to this coin. Contrasting this beauty are some homes and some storefronts that are have fallen into district repair. And the question is, what strategies would you propose to not only address dilapidated properties, but also to promote sustainable redevelopment within the community?
Carl Wolfe 33:52
Well, I’ve, I’ve, I’m a contractor also and and I’ve remodeled. 11 homes. Since I’ve been here, we have how those 11 homes, I think 90% of them are people who migrated here, who aren’t from here. They migrate here, and they live in these homes. And you know, housing’s always been a big issue. You know, I told him one time before, you know, Dabney and Liberty University started the same year, 50 years ago. What did they do that we didn’t do. We housing. We didn’t supply housing. Someone, someone, we had a great forestry department, and if someone in Newport News wanted to go to forestry, they went to Penn State or South Carolina because they had housing. That’s where they get housing and get their forestry degree. So, you know, I don’t know how we. Fix these properties up, but housing is a big deal with me here in this community.
AJ Panebianco 35:11
All right, Mr. Foster, you have one minute to respond.
Michael Foster 35:15
I think both the commercial real estate and the residential property issues are, are real. We’ve had that question a number of times, and we can’t. We all kind of have our approach to it, and I’ve had discussions with a lot of people about it, and looking at the laws that are on the books in Richmond that can be adopted by the town council of Clifton forge that will allow us to charge a vacant property tax. Essentially, it’s not a tax, it’s a registry. Is the first step. And what I’ve said before is that I would love to work with our delegate and our senator in Richmond, assuming they’re, you know, still in office, they will be until next year, but to really sponsor legislation that will help small towns like Clifton forge really take on this issue, there are some localities that have taken it on, head on, and had a lot of really good, great success about it, and there are also federal programs for, I guess my time’s up.
AJ Panebianco 36:21
Yes, sir. So Mr. Irvin, would you like to respond? You have a minute?
Jeff Irvine 36:29
Yes, it’s there’s just so much we can do. I mean, we have, we’ve got buildings, stricter building codes. This council has added, I know of two to three stricter building codes. In the last three, two or three years, we have a new building inspector, which would be the first, including Forge, which He is a licensed building inspector, and he does business management, and he he’s the building inspector, plus he checks out the code enforcer, and he will. He’s in class now. He will be licensed, but as of now, I’ve taken to class. He is officially a building inspector. That’s the first time Clifton has had that we’re working right now under, as Mike said, as the building registry for the old buildings in town that we can find them for, we are working on that. This council has been working on that for about maybe a year or so. Our lawyer now is working on the paperwork so we can get everything legally, so we can put it into law.
AJ Panebianco 37:34
All right. Thank you. And maybe something to consider, there are other options besides just, you know, finding a a building in disrepair and pointing it out. There are grants. There are federal grants that can help with that. I believe the Allegheny fund, I think, is still a thing, and that may be able something. So I’m hoping that at some point, if you were elected, that you will look towards some of the creative avenues to try and fix those, and we’ll go ahead with question number four, which is for Mr. Foster. The desire for change is frequently what drives challengers to run. Unfortunately, while many crave a challenge, they often hesitate to embrace it. They I’m sorry. While many crave change, they often hesitate to embrace it. If elected, you’ll have the chance to introduce new ideas. So what would be your top priority to address, and can you share an experience where you successfully initiated change in a resistant environment. You have 90 seconds
Michael Foster 38:44
Sure. My top priority has been, from the start, been to rehabilitate the downtown. As a downtown small business owner, I want to have it full. I want to have neighbors. And to your point, there are grants out there, and there are, there are opportunities to go after that, and I’ve had discussions with, as I said, a lot of people in my lifetime. I have taken on many opportunities where change was certainly not fun. I was a consultant for five years, and when I showed up, people knew that people were going to get fired. And in the bankruptcy world, you don’t have a whole lot of time to make relationships, but you absolutely have to have relationships with those people, especially the ones that are most fearful of change. And I think that of the all of the conversations that I’ve had with Clifton forge residents over the last two years to a person I don’t know that there was one that didn’t say we really need something to happen. There will be the naysayers, there will be the challenges there, but I think we have to stick to it. And I’ve been through down that road before, and I know that at the end of the day, what it really, really, what really boils down to, is developing relationship. With both with people who are supportive of it and those who are not.
AJ Panebianco 40:08
Mr. Irvine, you have a minute to respond please,
Jeff Irvine 40:11
as you’re talking about grants for the businesses we did put in for a grant, and with cooperation with Covington, we worked with Covington or whatever, and it was a million dollar grant for us and a million for Covington that made it all one step away from being done. So it’s not like we’re, you know, we’re not doing it. We have put in for grants. Of course, you go have some naysayers. We I’d like to see this done or that done, or whatever. No town is perfect, but I think Clifton is come a long way. We’ve got more road paving and done in the last year or two than it’s been done in 10 years. New sidewalks with handicapped ramps. That’s brand new. I mean, we’re, we’re moving forward. I mean, it takes time. You can’t do everything at once. But as to the naysayers, I say, sit back and watch. It’s some great things coming for Clifton, you just, just have to give it a little time.
AJ Panebianco 41:06
And Mr. Wolf, you have a minute
Carl Wolfe 41:09
change. Change, my favorite saying is, change is like surgery hurts for a little while, but usually it’s for good, you know, at the same time the codes, certain codes, hold us back. We have to change our our codes out. You know, I’d paint the town red, but we’re in a historical district, you know, I like bright colors, bright colors and buildings and and I would bring all the billboards back on Interstate. You know, I was telling chuck the other day that when you go to West Virginia and you see a hamburger on the sign, you know what’s coming the next exit I’m getting off or getting a hamburger. We have a little green sign that says food this way, you know. So change is it’s gotta, we gotta look to the future. You know. We’re not making decisions just for us. We’re making decisions for our grandchildren.
AJ Panebianco 42:06
Thank you. And I don’t have a follow up question for that, but it will just say to the people watching, just so you know, councils cannot do what they call spot zoning. They can’t say we don’t like that property, so we’re in a zone against it. So, just so you know that that’s how that works. Question number five, Mr. Irvin, social media can be a double edged sword. It highlights your successes, while it amplifies your failures, and critics are quick to take shots, despite this challenge, despite this challenge, it can serve as a powerful tool for community engagement, if elected, what is your main objective and how do you plan to communicate that message effectively to the people?
Jeff Irvine 42:50
Again, you said it right. Social media is a double edged sword. You know, sometimes it’s great for us. Sometimes I try to stay off of it and not answer a lot of things. Sometimes that don’t work when false information is given online. Sometimes I try to correct it. Maybe it’s a mistake, but I try to do it there. I think our web page is being worked out. You know, it has some faults. Everything has some thoughts. When you put something brand new, we’re working on it now. Things are, are changing on it. Social like I say social media is good to us sometimes, and bad to us. I mean, but you’ve you’ve got to again, you have to have patience. We can’t do everything at once, you know. And I would like for social media to be all good for town, get get out there and let it. Everybody see what we’re doing, and that’s what we try to do. Everything that we do is a council or whatever is on our web page, we use other social media to get the word out. The biggest thing you have to come to the meetings more. I mean, I’ve been 13 years on cancel, and I’ve seen one person out there, and sometimes I see 50. But I mean, you’ve got to come to the meetings and tell us what you want. I mean, we just can’t guess what you need. We try our best.
AJ Panebianco 44:26
Mr. Wolf, you have a minute to respond.
Carl Wolfe 44:28
Social media. I’m way behind. When I got on council, I would’ve been a struggle for me to to email and receive emails. So I get my wife says, Help me. Let’s just say, who’s you know, a pastor told me a long time ago. I’ve been in business 38 years, and I still paper file everything. I still receive everything. Paper So social media. I know what it can do, and I know the power it can do. You know. To and getting someone to this is what I want you to do. Put this on now. I can do it now. You know, I used to can but, but it’s a powerful tool. It can, it can hurt you or it can help you. And I do know the power of social media.
AJ Panebianco 45:19
Thank you. Mr. Foster,
Michael Foster 45:25
double edged sword is an understatement, and I think everybody here you know can agree with that, but it can be used for the better, and there will always be trolls out there that will, that will react negatively and throw shade and question the decisions that are being made. But I think that if you continue to lean into it and use it in a positive way, to get Tran better transparency, increased transparency, you know, with what’s going on with Town Council, I think it would be a positive thing. The most recent example of the blow up of social media has been about the murals here in town. And if you take a step back and you take the negativity out of it, what you find is that there is a town full of people that are passionate about having murals, and we can take that and use it for the better. And you know, within the confines of the ARB, but at the same time, you take that passion and you use it for for the positive, even if they disagreed with what happened.
AJ Panebianco 46:31
Thank you. Food for thought. If you guys get elected, any, any of you, I guess two of you will, there should be a position somewhere in the in the town infrastructure that sends a consistent message through through social media. So that may be something that you guys consider adding to the workforce. And I know you guys are looking at tight budgets, as we always are, but that’s such a such an informational tool that’s used by majority of people at this time. So Mr. Wolf, we’ll go with the next question straight to you, being on council will necessitate sacrifices in your personal life and commitments to your business. Considering all of that, what motivates you to run for town council, and how much time are you prepared to be able to
Carl Wolfe 47:27
give? Well, have this wrong. I’ve been there four years, so I’ve sacrificed a lot being on council. I missed out on a lot of work in town. I can’t bid on it, and I can’t my people work for me can’t bid on it. So I’ve lost a lot of money. Right now I’m supposed to be at a pastor’s comps in Christiansburg. My wife left at two o’clock today. I’m here because I committed to this job. And soon as I get out of here, my clothes are in the vehicle and I’m gone down the road. So you know, I know what sacrifice is. You know, I’ve been a servant my whole life. My servant. I got my focus off me and on other people. My problems went away. I have very few problems because I’m constantly I want to see the better for Clifton Forge, I want to see the better for everybody. I want to see the better for the restaurants in town, better for the the the contractors. You know, I’ve, I’ve done well in Clifton Forge, even though I don’t have social media, I’ve made a good living in Clifton Forge. You know, small town. Most 90% of my works in Clifton Forge, not Allegheny County, is in Clifton Forge and and a lot of it is from, I want to say, people who moved here. I’m missing the word right now. You know, transplants, transplants, a lot of my workers from people who are transplant, and Clifton Forbes has a tremendous amount of people who volunteer, and a lot of
AJ Panebianco 49:01
sorry to cut you off like that, but we do have times. But thank you. You look like you’re passionate about that. Mr. Foster, you have a minute to respond.
Michael Foster 49:10
My wife will kill me, but for saying this, but as much time as it takes she has seen me. I mean, we’re partners in our business, I kind of feel like I’m already serving the public role every night, I talk to people and I hear their concerns and I hear their thoughts, but you know, I’m on the board here at the theater as well as the chamber board, but in my experience, people who get things done probably have too much to do, but that’s why you turn to them, because you know that they’re going to get the job done and they’re going to find the time my kids are grown, I do have a grandson in Roanoke that I will continue to spend as much time as I possibly came with, but as much time as it takes, because it’s a big job, and the people of Clifton forger County. On us,
AJ Panebianco 50:02
Mr. Irvine, you have a minute.
Jeff Irvine 50:04
I spend a lot of time serving, and I want to. I want to, I count myself as the voice for people who who can’t make it to the council won’t make it to the council meetings or whatever, or won’t get on social media and comment. They see me around town, they I think everybody in this town knows my personal phone number. I go to every event. I try to get to every event I can. I haven’t missed a ribbon cutting in three years. I haven’t missed a day after hours in two or three years, proclamation I haven’t missed, and these take time to do. I mean, when most ribbon cuttings are 1130 in the more evening, morning, and I go to the I have to take my own personal time at school. I work for the Allegheny County Schools. I had to take my own personal time to do that. And I’m proud to do it, and I’m happy to do it, and I’m lucky to have a school system that supports me and help lets me do it.
AJ Panebianco 51:09
All right, thank you, and we’re gonna turn it over so we can get some audience questions.
Bruce Young 51:14
Yes, absolutely. And I’d like to congratulate you all for being the first political event to actually be on schedule this. This never actually happens. So we can look out into the audience now and see if anyone wants to grab one of the mics out there. And have we? Have we somebody? Okay, well, come on over. Hello. Hello. There you are. Okay. State
51:44
your name and who your question is for.
John Mosier 51:48
My name is John Moser, and this is for all the coming or staying on Town Council. I’m wondering, do you all think we can change the charter to where the people get to vote for the mayor, instead of town council gets the vote for the mayor?
Bruce Young 52:09
Well, we’ll start with the veteran, Mr.
52:11
Irvine. That’s a good question, and honestly, I would like to see that. But to change your charter, you have to go through the House of Representatives, and we’d have to vote on it. It’d be up to the citizens, and then it would go to the house, and there’s a general assembly, I’m sorry, not the house. We go to the General Assembly, and they would have to okay it, but personally, I would love to see it.
52:39
I went up to the courthouse, and they say it has to do with Town Council. It has nothing to do with the state.
Jeff Irvine 52:46
I’m sorry, but that’s wrong. It has to go through the General Assembly. Anytime you change a charter, you have to go through the General Assembly.
Bruce Young 52:54
Mr. Wolf, you want to take that on?
Carl Wolfe 52:58
Well, I think, I think it works great the way it is, but at the same time, it’s the people’s choice. You know, you always go back to the people’s choice. So if it was a way, you could change it, and you could elect, that’s a people elect to Mayor. I think it would be great. Mr. Foster, I
Michael Foster 53:22
think at the end of the day, it’s a question for the for the for the town attorney, but with respect to supporting it, absolutely, I think the way that shorty said it is the best, it should be the people’s choice, whether or not we can put a referendum on the ballot during the at the next election for the citizens of Clifton Forge to vote on in order to get it to the state house. That may be the interim step. I’m no expert in in local government law, but that would seem to, from a governance perspective, make sense as the next step. But again, that that probably better answered by the town attorney, but that’s that. That would be my my view.
Bruce Young 54:05
I think the sound we hear right now is people flipping through papers to find the exact legal requirements. Do Have we any other questions out in the audience here, which is always a challenge to see through the lights, but it looks like we’re feeling fairly comfortable with the answers. I’m glad gentlemen, that you’ve been able to serve double check with our panel. Does anyone here have a thought for them? Well,
AJ Panebianco 54:35
first I’d just like to say thank you to the candidates. I think you guys were upfront and honest and gave this a lot of attention. So we appreciate that council. I mean, the council, the panel, is going to have a discussion about your answers here in just a second,
Bruce Young 54:52
but you’re welcome to flee.
AJ Panebianco 54:56
Thank you, gentlemen. Applause.
Bruce Young 55:17
We try to be more fun. So I guess AJ will let you guide us in the discussion. Since,
AJ Panebianco 55:24
all right,
Bruce Young 55:25
we’re in a guiding mode here today.
55:27
A couple things. Great question from the audience and the the candidates are correct. It has to go through the General Assembly. I was in Middleburg. We actually did change ours while I was there. So it is possible to do, but it is also a sweat, because they can say no, even if you voted to have it sent up there that you want it done. So just know that if that’s something you want, you’re going to need to push for that. Get it on the ballot here, get it to where it can get to the General Assembly, and then they have the power to still say no or yes given the circumstances that they want to look at. So think that was great. We’ll get any other feedback from the panelists.
Gene Mundy 56:19
Microphone, shuffle up here. No look. I’d like to also just to the to the three candidates, thank them for being here, for being forthright and answering the questions that their constituents provided us as a forum here to ask so gentlemen. Thank you very much. A couple, one of the things, and there was a couple questions, and I don’t know whether we got to the answer of the question, and what we were discussing, we I think we got, we got, I won’t say off track, but when we talked about social media, the question I think we were trying to get at is, what was the candidate’s main objective in running, and then, how would they use Social media? So whoever gave us that question, apologize. Hopefully we we got to an answer that you were looking for. But all three candidates obviously went in the same direction, so I think it was more the question how we asked it than their interpretation. So gentlemen, thank you again, for for your effort and for for your time,
Bruce Young 57:44
I was actually really interested in that subject to Gene being obviously a journalist by career and training, transparency is very beloved by me in government. And was it was reassuring to hear them all want to be more transparent, and if we had had a little more time to clarifying things, it would have been nice to see, because in the new age, it’s tough for government to find a good mode to tell people what they’re up to, and still, you know, be able to listen, especially as and what they did address, especially in this atmosphere with social media, to be able to filter out the trolls and and actually hear what your town wants you to do.
Gene Mundy 58:34
Have quite an active social media scene here and in in our area, and to your point, it can be used effectively. I think aj’s Comment about who in the city really controls the messaging, you know, what we would call messaging themes, topics, and keep the conversation going in a constructive manner, and not let it get hijacked by individuals who may not have the best interest of the constituents, you know, as their as their number one number one issue.
AJ Panebianco 59:17
All right, real quick, we’ll hit a couple more things if you thank you. I was
Audience Question 59:22
just going to say, I think, as a citizen who’s relatively new in all of this, I really appreciated the transparency factor and that they wanted to talk about it, because in the little bit that I’ve been doing lately with talking to people that have some issues with some things that are going on in the community, everybody just keeps saying nobody’s listening. And that’s their biggest problem, is they feel like no one’s listening to them. And so it was reassuring. To hear that they do want to hear I do also want to encourage the citizens that if you want to be heard, you have to speak, and that may mean that you have to go to the board meetings, or you have to go to the council meetings. You can’t just complain about it on social media or, you know, behind the scenes. You. I mean, Clifton said they have people that want to listen, so make sure that you’re speaking in the in the right places, and saying what you want to have heard, because you’re the right to your citizen and they need to listen. So
Gene Mundy 1:00:18
it’s kind of a combination of all this. We got you have a town council meeting. You should be you should if you have an issue, you need to go. If you can’t go. I mean, how many organizations are here that are broadcasting those events in real time that you can set in your living room or at your dining room table or wherever, and watch what’s going on and you may not be able to speak, but you should be aware of those conversations. There are post event recordings that you can go back and watch. So so yeah, social media is is a tool, but I agree with you, there’s a lot of ways to get information if you want it.
Corey Bowles 1:00:58
I want to touch just real quick, too different than most of the people up here. I’m not from here. I am transplant, as they said, from Loudoun County. And so I think that when they were talking about how to get people to come here, that’s I think, once we get people here, keeping them isn’t a problem. It’s getting them here. That’s the problem. I came and I thought, I can do anything for a year, and then once I came and you meet the community and the people here and fall in love with the area. So I just encourage us to find a way to get people here and then we can keep them
Gene Mundy 1:01:41
overseas. And we found a lot of a lot of things we were looking for. We found in this community, the stability, nature, the pace, no traffic, you know, a lot of things. And so it’s there are things that can attract people to our community. But as we were talking about housing, jobs, salary rates, those are all things to consider. How do you hang on to to those people? Because they’re, you know, they’re obviously want to be in the workforce. Here
Bruce Young 1:02:13
you actually conveniently segue to the next thing I was thinking of, which is it all, in the end, it all comes down to money, doesn’t it? All the time. I suspect we’ll be talking about that all night long. And we have a couple three minutes here left, and I was thinking that I noticed that the other thing that pretty much all of the all of the candidates wanted to talk about was how to create, essentially, a beneficial spiral. How do you get more people, how do you get more business? How do you get more development? How do you get and then those people want nicer homes. Those people want to get paid more. And then, of course, you you create a tax base that lets you pay more to the to the police, into the into the public servants, looking around at a lot of not just here in this area, but a lot of communities. That’s a tough equation to do.
AJ Panebianco 1:03:01
It it actually is very tough and and it’s exciting to see that the candidates were all open to all avenues, including, of course, I’m being a former cop. I always want cops anymore. But you know, there, there’s a there’s something to be said for attracting top talent, to pay them better and then to have that consistent message on social media coming out and sticking to that message, I think we have two minutes. Does anybody else have anything
Julie “JT” Stanley 1:03:35
the first question that was asked about the nepotism and the hiring practices. One of the problems with living in a small community is everyone seems to be related to someone else, or everybody is someone else’s cousin, and that that is something that you run into. And you know, I think all the candidates, you know, addressed that. They danced around it a little bit, but they did address it, as with the fact of, you know, trusting the town manager and, you know, maybe having someone from the outside, you know, having a few more people sit in on those interviews and kind of with a little more input in on those decisions. But you know, sometimes we do have to remember that we are kind of kin to everybody around here. So, you know, I just wanted to kind of point that out, that, you know, we are all related to each other around here, and that’s kind of difficult, because we do want a lot of times we want to hire from within. We don’t want to hire from outside. We do want to hire from within our own community. So, you know, that’s a that’s one of those double edged swords as well. And
Corey Bowles 1:04:36
I think that kind of plays into the transparency that people are asking for too. Because if you can explain to me why you chose this person for this board, or why you chose this person for this job, and you know you tell us why and why they were more qualified than another person, then I think most people will be okay with that. And so we need, hopefully to get you know the councils are doing a good job and can. You doing a good job, and get more members that will do the same thing and tell us this is why we’re doing it. And I think it’s also important to say maybe we messed up here, but we’ll do better, you know, well,
Julie “JT” Stanley 1:05:13
and you have the transparency issue you’re discussing, and collaboration is one of those other words that you know we’re talking about. And you know, we had the wall of the wall that heals. That was a huge collaborative effort between Covington and the VFW and different organizations are coming together to make those types of things happen. And when the community gets together, when the local government gets together with the organizations within the community, when they all work together, things like that can happen that bring really positive things to our community, and that’s what we need to see more of, I think. And I think the whole community can agree on that,
Bruce Young 1:05:52
and with that, I’m going to seize control again. So we’re going to move on now to Covington city council, there are six candidates who may come up, whoever has come to join us, which I believe we have. A number. We have Lee Rowe, Raymond Hunter, Tom Seibold, Susan Wolf, Susan Crowder and David Crozier. And as with the last candidates, your your seats are conveniently marked so that finding them will be, hopefully not a difficult task. And since we mentioned it earlier, and since it is Covington, the once again, the heel the wall that heals, is down at the Jackson Park, and it’s there through Sunday, so you have an opportunity to go down and see it. So now, AJ, I turn it back over to you.
COVINGTON CITY COUNCIL DEBATE
AJ Panebianco 1:06:53
Alright. Well, we thank you. We have six candidates, and three were able to show up just a format that we’re going to use, just so the candidates know where the questions came from. They’re not questions that we made up. There was a poll put out, and the questions were gathered from those polls. These are the questions that the candidate, that the constituents have for the candidates. And so we just want to make sure that you guys know that everything we’re asking is something somebody cares about, and it didn’t come necessarily from our brains, but somebody else’s the other format that we’re going to do is the candidates that aren’t here. We will still ask them their question, and then we will have an alternate question for the people that didn’t show, that that did show so that we can get some input time from those folks too. So and we may have to change some of those questions up a little bit. So if you you guys are already, let’s see who’s here we have. Mr. Rowe. You so this will be a little bit of a game of tag, as we we read things and then go to the next question and then sit hit the alternates for follow ups and so forth, like that. So again, thank you all for being here. It’s important that, if you’re serious about running, that the citizens understand that where you stand. So first question is for Mr. Rowe. Mr. Rowe, I realize that everything in life seems bigger when we’re children. However, I have specific memories of how vibrant the downtown used to be. Economic Development has been identified as one of the focuses that city leaders should be working on. So if elected, how do you plan to involve local businesses and community members in your efforts to revitalize downtown, ensuring that the new vision reflects both the historical charm of Covington but also the contemporary needs you have 90 seconds, sir,
Lee Roe 1:09:23
I guess first off, we need to publicize Covington, Virginia, like we’re doing now. There’s still a lot of storefronts that are open. There’s some storefronts that people are holding on to that we’re not utilizing downtown merchant Association be a good way to start. We used to have that. Years ago, there was a regional merchant or a local merchant association that would help everybody. Not necessarily downtown, historic is good. You need to preserve the past, but all. So with the technology in the future, we have to sometimes look and see how we can generate money to survive. Your buildings can survive. You can preserve your heritage. One thing was the building for the Salvation Army. There’s a big troubles in town about it. They preserved it to build a new building, but they put all over the building a lot of historical relics. Was in it, pictures and things of that. But Salvation Army need a new building to do their mission. They had things like that. You still can be able to preserve your past, but you also have to rejuvenate Covington somewhere. We won’t survive. And bidding businesses to come in downtown, as well as anywhere else in Covington has got to be a top priority, because you can’t tax but so much.
AJ Panebianco 1:10:56
Thank you, sir. And it would normally go to Mr. Hunter, but we’re going to go with Miss Crowder. If you got a minute. Yes, Ma’am, how do you plan to involve local businesses and community members in your efforts to revitalize the downtown, ensuring that the new vision reflects both the historical charm and the contemporary needs.
Susan Crowder 1:11:24
Hello, there you go. Hi everyone. So I am a big believer in community being involved, and I am super supportive of the businesses we have in town now, and we do have Old Town Covington, which is great, and hopefully will continue to grow so that we can continue to I guess what I’m trying to say is kind of the same thing as Lee. We do have some places in Old Town, Covington, which haven’t been utilized. So we are needing for those things, those buildings, to be occupied with businesses, and agree that we could get some citizen advisory boards and having district meetings in order to keep the community involved, and a meeting with the local businesses and the business associations in order to make sure that the needs that they have and the needs that maybe our historical society has that we’re all on the same page to continue to grow.
AJ Panebianco 1:12:26
All right, thank you. And we’re going to break from the way I have it on here. I’m going to ask Miss Wolff if you take a minute to respond, okay,
Susan Wolfe 1:12:39
right now we have a service downtown instead of a retail downtown, when back in the day, it was retail, but now we’ve got Dennis office, doctor’s office, lawyers, insurance agents, physical therapy, and we need to Get with the chamber and get with economic development and see what kind of grants are out there, and just see what kind of business we can entice to come in downtown, and also keep the historical factor as well. But our downtown now is basically service rendered instead of retail.
AJ Panebianco 1:13:30
All right, thank you. The next question would go to Mr. Hunter. I don’t see Mr. Hunter, so we’re going to shoot that question to and again, sorry, it’s going to load up on some of y’all. Mr. Rowe, you get this one too. And so there’s been discussions in some circles about reverting to a town. What’s your position on this issue, and why do you feel that way?
1:14:01
There’s a lot of legalities there. Clifton forge did it here quite a few years ago. That will need a lot of thinking, plus that would have to be voted on by the the citizens. But going from city to town, you go lose a lot of identity. I don’t know this for a fact, but I’m sure you’ll lose a lot of government funding. The county will take over all of your police force. They will take over pretty much everything, and you report to them. When you do that, you’re pretty much going to be stuck that for the rest of your time on this earth, because coming back from a town to city would be meaning that you have turned something around, that you had to go back to the town to start with. So I. Would it ever happen? Possibly Clifton forge had the railroad. Covington used to have Hercules and many other industries. Times change. Maybe you’ll have to adapt to the time to survive. But I don’t know that would be a question. I would have to have more legal or input of what? I can’t answer that question 100% here because you don’t know what you’re losing going from city to town, but 100% know that you lose a lot.
AJ Panebianco 1:15:35
Thank you, Miss Wolff, do you have one minute
1:15:39
I’m not for reverting back to a town status. I feel like you’ll pay taxes in the county. You’ll pay taxes in the town. That’s double taxes. And it just feels like if you revert from being a city back to a town, you’ve taken one giant step backward in time. And I’m just not bored whatsoever. I don’t find anything good about it.
AJ Panebianco 1:16:07
And Ms Crowder,
1:16:09
thank you. So like Susie over there, totally against us going back to a town I know that we had been a town like many, many, many years ago and became a city again, and I’d like to see it stay that way. Where I used to live was on the eastern shore of Virginia, and it is all towns, basically. And so there was two counties and all towns up and down. And living in a town, we were constantly trying to make sure that there was enough revenue in order to have all the essential needs that we needed in the town. And we couldn’t always have things that we necessarily needed without with having to ask other asking the county about money for it, because the money was always being used in other areas, so our town was basically taking care of itself. It’s trash, it’s police force, it’s fire department and rescue and working primarily in Clifton Forge, actually work. Sorry,
AJ Panebianco 1:17:18
that’s alright. We thank you for what you did say, I want to do one little, quick follow up question. And the reason the question was asked is there is an interest in some of the constituency to look at it. So we would hope that you would commit to doing the research, because some of what was said is not factual. You don’t lose your control of your police force. Code of Virginia says if you have a police force, it is the primary law enforcement agency, so the sheriff would still have jurisdiction in the town, but the police department would be the primary law enforcement agency, so you wouldn’t lose any of that. You would lose some other monies. But I believe it’s really worth looking into, just to see if somebody asks that question, you have answers that are factual answers and not, you know? And again, this is a pop up question where you didn’t have time to research it, but I think to consider some of the constituency would like to see you research that. So if you get elected, take the time to look into see what the benefits that are actually the benefits, and what are actually the downfalls. So the next question is for Mr. Seibold, but he is not here. Is it Seibold or Seibold? Okay, Mr. Seibold, and he’s not here. And this is a long bring to the question, but these are the concerns that were on the poll, and then we’ll shoot a question to miss Wolf. That’s different, a little bit different, despite Mr. Seibel’s claim that over half the stories told on 410 main were from the imagination over the past year, significant concerns have emerged regarding the city’s partnership with 410 on Main Street Corporation. Notably, there have been concerns related to construction and renovations that were alleged to have been done without proper permits. Additionally, under his administration, there appears to have been safety regulations that were ignored, allowing hundreds of children and people to attend events and events in a building that was classified as a serious fire hazard. Consequently, the Commonwealth fired Marshal ordered an immediate shutdown of the building and the department that issued permits. And on top of that, there also appears to be some water treatment plant issues that occurred that actually have resulted in three state violations, 13 violations from the EPA. His violation list. So the question that would have been asked for him is, how do you reconcile the previous statements and assure the voters that you are truly prioritizing safety, the alternate question? And if you guys see the mayor, please ask him that question. The alternate question would go to miss Wolf. And it’s not quite as long. This past spring, the water treatment plant incurred three violations that were state and 13 federal violations from the EPA serious violators list. What does that say to you about the leadership of the town?
Susan Wolfe 1:20:37
Well, it says they’re not doing their job, because you have to have certain credentials in order to be in that water plant. I don’t know what schedule that you have to be, but I know that certain facilities mean that you have to have a certain level of qualification for water treatment license, and apparently that wasn’t done, and therefore we had all those violations because we did not file a state and federal protocol on it. And it seems like if they knew this, then they should have been pushing or prompting the people that worked in the water plant to go to school and upgrade their water license for that facility so they wouldn’t be in the mess that they’re in now with all these fines and whatnot.
AJ Panebianco 1:21:43
Thank you. All right, so Wolf, Miss Crowder, you have a minute, please.
1:21:48
So my understanding of the situation is that the basic trouble that we were getting into was not filing our paperwork on time, but that our water levels, everything seemed to be fine. So it seems to me this might be a better thing, a better situation, that we should be talking to our city manager about to find out if we got the first violations, why they continued, instead of making sure that people who were working and do and supposed to be doing their job, were qualified to do what they were supposed to do, and understood their job well. Maybe they needed a little bit more training, but they needed to make sure that the people that were in the position to be getting the reports in on time were doing their job. I Okay, Mr. Rowe
1:22:48
I believe the but what I have asked the water in Covington, I guess, should be put out there. There’s always been fine. There’s never been any trouble with the water. It’s more of a people need to be trained to be doing the testing and also paperwork trails, which also can lead to other things that people aren’t doing them. To be qualified as a treatment plan operator, you have to do a lot of schooling. Also in there, I think there was some deaths that come to some people that was in the plant, that was these top jobs had done the supervision of it, and maybe they dropped the ball on getting people to be trained. Maybe there’s one thing to make sure we have people sent to be trained, and have people on backups at more than one operator, and maybe incentives to bring people in here, to train within. But if it all needed to be, we’ll have to train without. But that all comes down to money also.
AJ Panebianco 1:23:54
All right. Thank you, sir. I guess just on this, I think what we’re we’re looking at is, if each of you are elected, are you committed to looking into this and making sure that it doesn’t continue to incur yes or no? Yes. Next question is for Miss Wolf. I know it’s without people. You bounce around a lot. I apologize, when considering your background in parks and recreation, which two projects do you think need the most attention and why? Also, how does your experience in this area translate to handling other projects like infrastructure?
1:24:40
Okay, first of all, my tenure with the Parks and Recreation was more or less being the underpaid babysitter for the city of Covington. I oversaw football games, and I made sure that you had the right personnel there to do the. Ballgame, somebody to do the door, to do the chains. The rec department itself hired the clock, and that was a glint and and the basketball, I saw that somebody did the door, somebody did the book, somebody did the clock, and if they didn’t show up, then I did that, along with making sure that these kids didn’t run around crazy and be fighting and carrying on, or bring basketballs into the gym during a basketball game, and if you did, that was my ball until you left, because you didn’t want it rolling out there while the children were playing basketball. But I did do one project. While I was in parks and rec, they had a project for the downtown and business vitalization project. And I went around and to every business in Covington and give them the flyer from where the city would match 50% of what they put into their building and storefront to revitalize it. And so I was part of that project when they started that back in 99 or 2000
AJ Panebianco 1:26:11
and real quick, just to get the question that we were looking for, do you think that experience translates into you being able to handle projects like infrastructure and bigger project,
1:26:20
yes, because I was a maintenance supervisor, but Jerry’s run for 17 years, and I watched how the state spent the money. I also helped the state spend some money, and I got bids for things that got fixed up there and whatnot. So yes, I do think that I’m qualified. All
AJ Panebianco 1:26:41
right. Thank you very much. Crowder, sorry. Yes, I’m sorry. Go ahead. Well, you got one minute trying to make sense of my notes here. I apologize.
1:26:58
I guess what I would like to see done. I have no experience really in parks and recreation, but I would like to make sure that we have more activities for our children and our seniors. I know that those, those parts of Parks and Recreation are super important, and I want them to be not just I want the things for the children to not just be sports related, maybe like after school programs where you can do clubs, as in gardening or pottery or art or stem projects and cooking classes, tutoring classes. So the kids have more things to do in our area, and also more things for our seniors to do they do. We do have a nice senior citizen, but it would be nice thing, nice if we could have a little bit a few more activities, dancing classes, gardening classes, things for them as well, and maybe even combine the two groups together, the seniors and the kids together, so that the kids can have the experience of the seniors in order to help them with projects. Mr. Rowe,
Lee Roe 1:28:11
could you repeat the question? Just
AJ Panebianco 1:28:13
really looking to see how your experience in life translates to being able to tackle some of the harder projects, like infrastructure and so forth like that.
1:28:23
Well, I’ve worked at the mill 35 years, maintenance, pretty much all of it. I’ve been doing some contractor work with helping on people. I’ve did a lot of projects in the area with keeping up with some of the building codes and articles of that nature. Also, you know, I follow a lot of sports. I try to go to the council meetings to keep up to date on the ins and outs of the infrastructure, of what legally you can do, can do. Also, I’ve been in area. I have two businesses that I’ve tried to successfully run. I’ve never had any problems with any of the state organizations that you have to be licensed through. So I’ve tried to run them, you know, the best I can. You know, trying to study and learn different laws on restaurants and somewhat on remodeling other places. So my history gives a little bit on knowledge of infrastructure and things like it. Thank
AJ Panebianco 1:29:29
you, sir. Next question is from Ms Crowder, when discussing the possibility of raising taxes, you stated that it should only be a last resort, after all, options have been explored and but and the budget has been carefully evaluated to cut any unnecessarily expensive expenses. That’s a powerful statement. Have you conducted a thorough review of the budget to identify any areas of waste? If so, which specific items. Or expenses do you consider to be excessive or unnecessary? You have 90 seconds.
1:30:06
So I have been reviewing the budget for the last couple weeks, but it’s the general budget, and it compares year to year to year as to how much we have delegated to certain areas. And it appears that by looking at the budget, that the majority of the time that the budget is increasing is when it’s kind of like a cost of living area of it. So I kind of understand that there’s a few questions in there, as far as, like leasing equipment and vehicles. I’m not so sure while we’re leasing vehicles. But I feel in order to be able to be able to cut the waste that is needed to be cut that will probably have to look at department spending, Department Budgets in order to check out everything that they are spending money on and see what things are being not properly. Properly spent properly. I was kind of hit a word in my head anyway. I would just want to make sure that we’re not wasting any money on frivolous things. In the last year, we have bought multiple police cars and we have bought multiple public work vehicles. And I don’t know if there was a reason why we were buying so many vehicles at one time, or if it was something that we could put off some things for another year and repair. So I’m trying to look into things. But I think in order for me to know where we can actually cut waste, I’m going to have to have more information from other from the departments themselves.
AJ Panebianco 1:31:44
All right. Mr. Rowe, you have a minute please?
1:31:48
Yeah, the budget we had, we looked over. We actually only had one copy. So one of the ladies here got one, and then we kind of shared it, one, one day, one person would have the next day they let the other taken. So with the budget we had it, it didn’t go a line item, per se. You had to go back and look up numbers. So, and given BB a little credit, he did say anytime we needed to come down there, but with the only daylight hours, I’m sure he would have let us, if we need to come down another time, he would have met with explain a little better, which, if elected, we will sit down and have hours of conversation with him to make sure we know exactly what we’re doing. We are spending our money, the city’s money, so it’s our due diligence to make sure we know what we’re doing. As far as frivolous spending, we didn’t see anything directly. It comes out overall, but there’s going to be a lot of expenses in there that we don’t know directly, like the tanks they had to spend. We don’t know that directly in the in the budget.
AJ Panebianco 1:32:55
And Miss Wolf, okay,
1:32:57
I went up and I spent like half of the afternoon with BB and half a morning with BB going over this budget thing. And we’ve got nine lines of areas that where we spend money, and a lot of expenditures are that we share with the county, such as the jail, the sheriff’s salary, the deputy salaries, and that takes a good chunk of it, of the budget. And then you know, you have your treasurer and the departments, their salaries and whatnot. That goes all in there, but nothing jumped out at me to where we were spending money frivolously that we didn’t need to spend.
AJ Panebianco 1:33:51
Thank you. And just so you know any of the citizens as well as you guys, if you want a copy of the budget, all you have to do is ask for it. Freedom of Information Act. They have to give it to you. They can’t tell you. Have to come up there and read it. They have to give it to you. So if you want a copy of any of the budgets, please make sure you ask that little statement about budgets. 35 years in working with local governments, and always, the overwhelming majority of the budget is exactly what you said. It is cost of living and it is salary based. You’d be surprised how little of a budget actually goes to the equipment and stuff that you actually buy. It’s mostly your people. Next question would be for Mr. Crozier, who is not here, but we’ll read his question if you see them, please ask them, and then we’ll give the alternate question to miss Crowder, Mr. Crozier, you’re the chairman of the Allegheny covenant Department of Social Services, and by virtue of your position on the city council, given the numerous complaints of. The past year from the former staff and constituents about the department’s shortcomings, the poor performance metrics from the Virginia State Department of Social Services and the current $5 million lawsuit for unlawful termination and retaliation. Over the past year, public concern about your leadership has grown significantly. So the question for him would be, how do you justify your continued leadership in both the city and DSS, given the seriousness serious scrutiny, what concrete steps would you take to ensure that the department meets its responsibilities to the community and, prefer prevents further neglect misconduct and or even conflict of interest with his position on council. Now your question is known as hard. Ms Crowder, what is your perspective on the appropriate course of action concerning Mr. Crozier and his positions considering the pending lawsuit? Do you believe he should remain in his roles, or do you think he should resign from one or both?
1:36:07
Well, my personal opinion is that it’s totally been a conflict of interest for David Crozier to be a not a board member, but an officer on the board for DSS, since the Covington City Council does give money to them, I don’t have a problem with them being on the board to watch over spending, but being being an officer, I feel is a conflict of interest. And have been going to Covington city council meetings for a little over two and a half years, and I’ve seen them handle situations differently. When the treasurer had an issue where basically she was in trouble, they took her like wouldn’t let her work until after the court date. But then I saw where Mr. Dressler had court cases against him, and they let him work, and now there’s court cases coming against Mr. Crozier, and they’re letting him work. So I feel that we need to have a plan in action, being on council as to how we’re going to handle the situations and handle everyone equally, the exact same way, because it’s only fair as citizens, and we’re looking from the outside, looking in it doesn’t see it seems to be unjust if you’re not treating everyone the same.
AJ Panebianco 1:37:32
Miss Wolf,
1:37:34
well, I feel like it’s conflict interest period for you to be on one of these boards and be on council, because you’re already a part of the decision making for the city, and then if you’re on some of these boards, then I just feel like it’s conflict interest because and he’s went and got himself in a pile of trouble being On this board for the Department of Social Services, and I just feel like it’s conflict interest to be on anything that is involved with city council. It’s just, I just think it’s wrong. I don’t think you should be involved.
AJ Panebianco 1:38:22
And Mr. Rowe,
1:38:27
getting in personal is always a bad step. Some of these boards, we have to have advisors on. You are a we give money to them, and we have to have somebody there to overlook as an advisory step, as being a president or something on these boards, that’s possibly that could be a conflict of interest, but we do need people there to make sure the money is being spent appropriately. And through time, there’s been a lot of representatives have been on boards as advisory or as members, if you have major conflicts like some people have, sometimes they might need to take a leave of absence. And then if there is legal matters, it gets taken were convicted, or, you know, found guilty of some things, then yes, you know, automatically would be suspended, you know, taken off the board. But sometimes we need to maybe police ourselves and say, Hey, we need to take back and till this is over with, I’ll just take a leave of absence and make sure the committee stays functioning well.
AJ Panebianco 1:39:31
Thank you, sir. And those conclude the actual questions that we have. I don’t have a follow up there. We’re gonna get the odds so we
Bruce Young 1:39:41
we get to move out into the audience. Now, if anyone has a question, they have a microphone out there for you. Just raise your hand and we have someone in the in the far back, if we could get that to her,
Audience Question 1:39:58
state your name and what your. Question is, thank you all for putting this on for us tonight. I appreciate these three folks stepping forward and trying to help our city. I want to go back to 1744, when President George Washington built a fort in Covington. It is the oldest locality in our area, 1744, second, I want to thank the ladies for standing up and presenting that we need to stay as a city. I want to remind you all that we voted on that three times and three times. The city wants to be a city. We need to be independent. We’ve been independent for a long time. I appreciate you all standing strong, ladies. I appreciate Mr. Rowe as well pointing out things that need to be changed. One thing that I would like to see changed is the auditors when I worked, and I worked there 40 years for the city of Covington. So I know what I’m speaking of. Auditors used to be changed. We had three or four different groups. And so my question is, would you look and see about changing auditors for the city every four or five years?
Bruce Young 1:41:21
So let’s start with Ms Crowder. Since you’re you can bring in some new ideas with your challenge.
1:41:29
I’ll be honest, I didn’t know that. They didn’t use the same people. I’m not really sure who is the auditing company that comes there and does it, but I’m willing to look into anything and any concerns that any citizen has, because the citizens, to me, are the people who are in charge of our government. They’re the people who pay the salaries for the people in our government, and I feel like the citizens and city council need to work together in order to make sure that we are all moving forward in the in a positive direction. And I see Miss Eunice may have something else she wants to ask me.
1:42:07
I was just going to say right now, currently, we have farmer Robertson Cox, and we’ve had them for many years. But before that, we had Mr. White, and I think they were from Stan. And before that, we had Mr. Fireball, who had his office in Roanoke, so it’s something that is put out to bid. And then you look at, you know, you put questions to them, of course, and I’m sure that you all will find a very capable group. Even if you cannot change the firm, you already be able to change the staff members that are coming so that they don’t get in routine and not looking at other questions that might arise that need to be looked at.
Bruce Young 1:42:49
So Ms Wolf, I guess you’d had to deal with a few audits yourself over time.
1:42:56
Well, Eunice, I’ll be more than if I’m elected, I’ll be more than happy to look into it and see what we can do to change it. But I guess it all has to be agreed on between all the council, but I’m willing. Mr. Rowe,
1:43:19
first thing, I’m not for changing the city. I must have mis worded there, so I’m with the other two ladies here of guskeeping a city. I just want to make that clear, after what she misunderstood or I said it wrong. But as far as the other, if it’s put out for bid, then it should be, you know, multiple people checking it, because, like you said, you don’t want to get in complacent and then have something wrong, or somebody thinks this is the same way it always been. But yeah, I’m for making sure we make sure we have the right people there.
Bruce Young 1:43:51
So we have about a minute if anyone else has a question, yes, down, about halfway down there. So we’ll be quick, hopefully in our answers. Maybe not a complicated question.
1:44:01
I know I’m not a resident of Covington, but I’m a member of Clifton Forge. But from what I a common theme across all of Allegheny County, just like the school systems money. So my thought is, at one time, I heard that Covington, Clifton Forge and Allegheny was trying to be like Jackson city or something. Why can’t we do that and then not have all the moneys put in one pot? Because Covington is very blessed to have the paper mill where they get all that money from the paper mill, and it doesn’t get spread evenly against the county
Bruce Young 1:44:39
or the other accounts. You seem uniquely placed to answer that
1:44:45
the meal is in somewhat the county, so they do get some tax money off of it. Now, how it’s divided up, I don’t know. Right off hand is does on the land valued and the machinery, tax and things like that. That’s not something that I would have. Of you know, right off the hand. But what I was thinking about earlier is what you’re saying, not necessarily, maybe, of joining the governments together, but all the businesses we have here, we bound to be able to get we have so many events we’re having now that we could get together and have a lot of our locals come together, where we can start having vendors or people that would be able to set up and have a more communication of events going on to where everybody can be involved in them. Covington, Irongate, Clifton, wherever it’s at, whether it be in your roles, y’all have two or three, maybe four big events a year where they would come down. Covington, same thing where they have them downtown or at the Jackson river complex, they should be able to put out networks of your vendors or your merchants and let them know what’s going on, and if they would want to be involved in it, and have some kind of a network. Ms Wolf,
Susan Wolfe 1:46:00
well, I’ve heard that the production part of the paper mill is done in the county, because part of the paper mill is in the county, part of it’s in the city, and that it’s cheaper to produce in the county, so that’s why the production is done in the county instead in the city, and the taxes on the equipment is cheaper there, but I guess I agree with Lee. I mean, you know, collaborate with the others and see what we can do to get together to have more money in the area.
Susan Crowder 1:46:45
So I’m completely with Lee as well, because I do know that part of the paper mill is in the county and part is in the city, but what percentage of each I’m not sure, and who gets what amount of money, I’m not sure as well, but I kind of feel the same way that both of them are feeling. I feel like there are different types of events that we can get together with and organizations, even with economic development, we can get more more participation and with all of our areas, and maybe get a marketing committee even together so we can with all of our with Irongate, Clifton, forge, the Allegheny Highlands and Covington, we should be able to afford a good marketing company so that it can basically let everyone know in multiple areas, all the great things that we have here, and maybe actually make tourist attractions better, because we can talk about things that are going on in Clifton forge with the Art Council, and things that are going on in Covington with different events that we have going on, and things that are going on in the Allegheny Highlands, with all of the activities in nature, especially. And we can make like little packages to make make it so that we’re actually we seem like a team in our area, even if we keep our government separate.
Bruce Young 1:48:06
Well, on that lovely note of agreement amongst the three of cooperation, we’ll move to our panel discussion for a few minutes and let you all continue on with with your lives and your campaigns. Thank you
AJ Panebianco 1:48:21
again. We want to thank each candidate. It’s important to show that they cared enough to be here, and that says a lot to us. So we appreciate you and your time. And as they make their way down, we’ll kind of do a informal discussion about some of the things. You know, I like the plan where you look at the hold the city manager and the city leadership accountable for some of the issues that they are and building those succession plans. And I think that was a very important thing to talk about. Every city must have a succession plan. We were just talking about regional cooperation, and I’m going to throw Loudoun County under the bus. Bus here, because I spent the last 11 years as a chief of police in Middleburg, and Loudoun County has a very good working relationship with all the towns. And we have a are we? We we used to, I don’t go there anymore, but they have a really good regional economic development plan. So as the candidates, maybe you could investigate other localities and what they do, where they make it regional. I know Loudoun counties works really well. Anybody have any thoughts?
Julie “JT” Stanley 1:49:40
One of the common threads I noticed with this last discussion the Allegheny Highlands economic development. We do have a regional partnership. And in the first the first question that went to Mr. Rowe publicized and market the retail merchants. You know, that’s something that that board could do. For Covington and Clifton Forge and the whole, the entire region. And it sort of ended up the last question ended up on that same note, as far as you know, how could we, you know, with Mr. Moser’s question, you know, how can we share the wealth? How can we spread things out a little bit? That’s another way. And again, it comes back to that collaboration factor that we’re talking about. So there are joint resources that we have in place. And, you know, those are the things that we need to work through. And perhaps the folks that were up here on the stage, they’re ready to get together, and, you know, work with those elements and make those things happen.
Gene Mundy 1:50:39
You might also consider the Chamber of Commerce. In my opinion, it seems to be a very energized organization, and holds, you know, almost weekly events, does a good job in advertising new businesses ribbon cuttings. So if they’re listening, you know, I just, would just send out a, you know, my kindly regards to what they do. As a new business owner, somebody who just joined in the last few months, I’ve been very pleased with it. So to your point, yeah, I’d say for the candidates, that’s another resource to reach out, to meet with, discuss what they’re doing already, and then, you know, are there other areas we could, you know, we could, we could look at, you know, myself, I’ve met with the Economic Development Commission in the last couple weeks. We talked about the pad site and how it was a joint effort to develop in the county, to develop a product that they could then market, you know, to the state to try to attract businesses. So that’s another thing I would, I would ask them to, you know, kindly dig into a little bit deeper. Pass this back if someone else has another
Corey Bowles 1:51:59
I was just gonna, I don’t have anything to say on those topics, but when we were talking about the water treatment plant, I think it does kind of fall back into things that we’ve already talked about before. And it’s money and getting people here. I do think that it’s really important that we have a plan of, you know, we only have one person that’s qualified make sure we’re training the next person. But obviously some of these positions take a lot of training, and so we should have some idea of how we get trained people here and how we compensate them, because if I’m going to go through the education it takes, and I can get paid a lot more somewhere else,
Gene Mundy 1:52:38
let’s, let’s hold that. You know that thought about licensing and certifications, and also the spirit of collaboration amongst the municipalities here the county Clifton, Covington, and even iron gate. If the city of Covington does not have a license, an individual that does not have a certain certification, does Clifton Forge? Why, if we’re going to do some of these other activities together, Why could we, you know, look, talk to another minister, you know, the mayor sitting right here, you know, can we? Can you, can you’re certified whatever, building code enforcer, water treatment plant operator, whatever that is, can he help us to meet our certification, you know, our requirements? I don’t know whether that was done, and we’re not going to get that answer, because the people that know that answer didn’t come tonight, and that’s disappointing. So I think it would have been, you know, maybe an opportunity to address ways to work together in the future, not so much. Get into the details of why it happened, but how are we going to improve?
Bruce Young 1:53:47
Well, I was once told by a nurse in the emergency room that you never say the word quiet, because it jinxes the place, and I never should have said we are on time, because now we’re four minutes behind. Yeah,
AJ Panebianco 1:53:58
so we’re going to start moving ahead, and we just again, want to thank the people that did come that’s such an important thing. So thank you.
Bruce Young 1:54:05
So if we could bring up the school board candidates, we have three sets places for them here, and they are welcome to come to their spots again, conveniently located, Robert Umstead, Jay Woodson and of Jacob Wright, the incumbent. If y’all could join us who are here as they make their way, we’re not that intimidating, I hope, or maybe I do hope we’re intimidating. I don’t know that’s perhaps the point of the debate. We’ve got your name tags here.
AHPS SCHOOL BOARD DEBATE
1:55:12
Again, we’d like to welcome the candidates that showed up. We do appreciate it. It is an important part of the electoral process is to be able to ask the candidates. We’ll start with the same thing I’ve told every candidate so far. We did not come up with these questions. These questions were brought up by the public, and they were important to the public and their issues that they currently are considering when they cast their vote. First question, Mr. Umstead, school bussing is the issue, and there appears to be a lack of drivers andor coordination that results in long ride times for many students. Often this requires students to board very early and arrive home just as late. Please tell us what you believe are the top two approaches in your mind that would help fix that problem. Can
Robert Umstead 1:56:12
you hear me? Do I need this? All right? To me, it’s simple. We have to have qualified bus drivers that will drive the busses. From what I hear from bus drivers, I think the most thankless job in the school system is being a bus driver. They’re on a bus by themselves, with 20 or 30 kids behind them, with no help. I think we have to train bus drivers, and I think we have to come up with a plan, because it’s my understanding that if you’re a 40 year bus driver and a first year bus driver, you’re paid the same salary. I think after 40 years, I get discouraged if the person that’s been here for two weeks makes the same salary that I do. I think we have to come up with a plan to address the payment scales. I think we have to advertise it in the community to get people to drive busses. When I was in school a million years ago, they had students driving busses. I know the students in our school system, I don’t want I don’t want them driving busses, but I think it’s an issue that a lot of places have after the pandemic, things seem to fall apart, and we’ve become a society that is not very aggressive toward getting work done. Is that a fair way to put it? I think we need bus drivers. We need kids to get to school. How gripe is? Kids aren’t in school. They’re not doing well. They can’t get to school because of bus route change.
AJ Panebianco 1:57:45
Thank you, sir and Mr. Woodson,
Jay Woodson 1:57:53
first owner is this on, I guess? How about now? Thank you all for being here. I appreciate this event. I think it’s always good to hear from the candidates themselves and asking or answering questions that the citizens have. But I think, I think the one thing that we don’t do, that we need to do, is involve the drivers in in the plan. I think no one knows how to do the job better than the folks doing the job, in my opinion, and so more involvement by the drivers to participate in the plan, I think, also support for the administration around discipline, because it is difficult for A driver to drive and keep control of the cargo. Let’s say so. Those are, those are the two actions that I would focus on.
AJ Panebianco 1:58:50
Thank you. And if Jacob, Mr. Wright was here, I’m sorry if Mr. Wright was here, I was going to ask him the question that you brought up, which was, what’s the pay scale? And if that’s the pay scale, you’re correct. It needs fixed. Speaking of question number two, it would go to Mr. Wright, since conduct, but we will, we will give that to you again. I’m sorry you get to back to back. Since the consolidation, the tradition of sporting events seems to have changed. Traditionally, sporting events were held at our schools, which can be argued, Bill school spirit. However, now some games are being played at Casey field and or the sports complex. Where do you stand on this and why? And then lastly, if elected, will you support or oppose continuation of this practice? You have 90 seconds. You.
Robert Umstead 2:00:02
Uh, well, if elected, I support the practice has to take place, as far as I’m concerned, because the athletic fields are playing on now. Other than football games that Allegheny would play in, Covington has been where they’re at now. They’ve been doing for a while. They’ve been doing for quite a while. I think you play at the facilities that protect the students, the best that are the best facilities for athletes to participate. On the football field is fine. The baseball field is fine. They play basketball games and volleyball at Allegheny. I think cross countries ran at the complex. These are things have been going on for quite a while. I think. The thing is, the athletes, the comments made, well, our athletes get on a bus and play 10 away games. No, they don’t. They get on a bus to go to Covington to play five home games. Then they get on a bus to go five other places, if you were an Allegheny coach, as I was, or an athlete, we travel every time we go anywhere, do anything, we’re traveling all over Virginia. So that’s not an it to me. That’s not an issue. The quality of the facilities, sense consolidation, in my opinion, has improved immensely. We do not have a rubberized gym floor. We have a wooden gym floor, and the kids love it. I love it for the 40 years I taught here. I’m glad. I wish it was there 40 years ago. Everything is better, athletic, wise, in my opinion, anyway, so I don’t think we have to change anything.
AJ Panebianco 2:01:43
And your response, sir? Mr. Woodson,
Jay Woodson 2:01:46
yes, sir. I agree with Mr. Umstead. I think we should utilize the facilities that are best. We are a consolidated system. It would not make any sense not to use the best fields and or gymnasium that we have access to, just like schools. In my opinion. I think that’s that’s another topic, but I agree with Mr. Upst. I think we should utilize the best facilities we have possible for the kids.
AJ Panebianco 2:02:15
And I really appreciate that information, because gathered from the internet poll that we took. I don’t think a lot of people know the reasoning behind it, and sometimes communicating that helps with it so, and I think that’s something we hope that, if elected, you guys will make an opportunity to fix. I Mr. Woodson, no, no, we’re going to bounce it around a little bit. Mr. Woodson, school safety is a huge concern. In fact, we have experienced threats of violence to our schools in the past, including a recent shelter in place. What do you propose that we do to address this threat, and additionally, what impact if any? Do you believe the shelter in place actually has on our students?
Jay Woodson 2:03:13
Great question. I think I was very happy to see the hiring of Mr. Fisher. I think he has a great deal of experience in our system already, and I think a lot of the kids look up to him. I know mine. Mine do to this day. My son’s 20, and my daughter’s a freshman at Allegheny, and they both adore Mr. Fisher and admire him. So I think that that’s a good start. I think you know when, when situations like this occur. I always like to look, look towards ourselves, right? What? What can we do to change the situation? And I think it’s got to start with more focus on, on character building. I think a lot of times some of these, these, these threats, are simply a kid wanting to get out of class earlier, or a kid screaming for attention for a reason. That’s, of course, not always the case, and thank God we haven’t had any tremendously terrible situations happen in our locality, but I think, I think we got to start at a young age, focus on character. Make sure the kids understand that if there is a problem or a situation that communication takes place with with the right people. Thank God we have resource officers in our schools. Both localities have done a really good job of supporting that, and I think we we are blessed in that arena, but again, I think we need more character focus with our students.
AJ Panebianco 2:04:51
All right. Thank you, and give me a second just to get my notes in place. You. Yeah, it goes back to Mr. Olmstead. I’m just trying not to beat you up with too many questions. Hang on. Go ahead.
2:05:15
I agree with everything that Jay said. I think the best thing we’ve done since the consolidation is hiring Chris Fisher to oversee this program, and I really believe that, because of respect the kids have for him, things will change. The environment might even change. The Resource Officers in the building I know, most of them absolutely stand up people, males and females. Kids respect them. I just want to be honest as I can. If something bad happens, let’s tell the community about it. I still make a big deal out of it and hide it. Just tell them, and then we can fix it. We can’t fix what we don’t know exist, and that’s what the people the community are telling me. I’ll help you, but I don’t know what to do, because no one’s telling me what’s going on. Alright,
AJ Panebianco 2:06:06
thank you, and I’ll just do a real quick follow up on Chris Fisher, not only is he regionally respected here locally, He’s respected further throughout the state. I know Chris personally, and I called him last night, actually, when I saw that he had been named, and think that was a really good move in the right direction for your school system, he has all right. Mr. Umstead, it looks like the next question. Again, it’s been suggested that you intend to run for this position until you’re elected. Such a statement can be interpreted various ways. Some may think it implies that only you can fix the issues, while others might see it as a reflection of your ego, and still others may see it as a continuation of your life of service. So which is it? And then, how do you act? How will you actively involve the community in your efforts to address the issues while ensuring your the your actions are perceived as collective rather than self serving.
2:07:09
Well, if my wife was answering this question, she said, it be my ego. I’m 78 I’ll be 78 this month. I have worked with and been involved in public education for 71 years. Started school when I was six. I have two master’s degrees and a PhD. I love working with kids, and I love the community. I have a ton of community support. So if I made a comment that I’m not going to give up if I don’t win. So when I was in college, if I lost my first race. I’d quit. No, that was never my attitude. I’m going to keep trying. I’m going to keep trying. I don’t hold grudges. I don’t get mad at people. My concern is, you can ask anybody that knows me. The bottom line is, the kids, I want the kids to have, what’s right? I want the teachers to have what they need to teach the kids. I want the bus drivers to be safe so they can drive them home. I talk to people all the time. I mean, I’m out of vendetta with my wife right now. I’m talking to everybody that’s home schooling their kids right now to find out why they’re not putting them in Allegheny schools. And I’ve talked to over 100 people, the answers are interesting. I’ll share that another time.
AJ Panebianco 2:08:27
And do you have anything to rebut with that? Sir,
Jay Woodson 2:08:32
not at all. I think got to know Mr. umstead from him coaching my my son and track and my daughter in indoor track. And I don’t think it’s ego. I think he has a vested interest in our kids.
2:08:46
It’s good to know, sir, good to know. All right, next question will be for Mr. Wright, who’s not here, and this is a long preload, and again, are a long question, but it’s what the public wants to know. So if you see him, please ask him, and then we’ll shoot the next question to Mr. Wood, it would be Mr. Wright. The Virginia Department of Education has a code of ethics. It does not specifically address the behaviors of its members while off duty. However, it refers to words like earn the respect, trust, honesty and integrity. The question that would be asked to him, based on what the viewers wanted to know is, do you believe it is important for educators and leaders to display ethical behavior in all areas of our life, and that would be in light of his public arrest record and his recent allegations. And then the question would be, do you believe that your history aligns with the standards as discussed? And again, that was a question that or several questions that people wanted to know led to that. So that’s what that was in there for Mr. Woodson, your question would be, do you believe it is important? For educators and leaders display ethical behavior in all areas of their life.
Jay Woodson 2:10:08
Well, one of the big things I’ve mentioned earlier is is a focus on on on character. You know, there used to be a program, you know, previously served on Covington City School Board. We used to have a program in the county did as well, probably statewide program, but it was character counts. We’re just kind of reinitiating that in the system now. I think there was a lot more emphasis on that years ago, and characters got to start with the board, and an administration, and I think it really needs to be throughout the entire system. It’s, it’s second on my priority list that I have posted on my website is, is the character of not only the the administration, the teachers and and the kids, but also the board. So it’s a huge focus for me.
AJ Panebianco 2:11:04
Mr. Umstead,
2:11:05
good question. I I believe that my position as a teacher for those many years, I’m a role model. I don’t ask anything of myself. I wouldn’t ask of anybody else. I treat everybody the same and equal. I expect the people to do that. In the 40 years I taught at Allegheny, I never wrote up a student. I learned how to deal with them. And it’s amazing that people I probably should have written up started to respect me a little bit and didn’t become a behavior problem. I think, as a role model, you set down the standards you live by. And I’m going to go religion for a moment. Every time my cross country or my track team, indoor and outdoor win any place, we’d stop and eat, my teams would not eat until I set a blessing for them. Is that a bad thing? I don’t know. I really don’t know. But I think role models are important, because when I turn on the TV, I see a lot of role models. I wouldn’t want my kids or my grandkids to follow. My job as a teacher, other than educating is to teach people how to live and live by the example I set.
AJ Panebianco 2:12:24
Thank you, sir, Mr. Wood you can add anything to that, if you like.
Jay Woodson 2:12:31
Woodson, sorry, no, that’s okay. No worries. No, I don’t have anything to add, and I don’t think praying for your team or with your team is a bad thing. I think it’s it’s important, and something we ought to we ought to allow more openly in our school system. I think it solve a lot of problems.
AJ Panebianco 2:12:53
And, you know, I think we’re excited to see that people running care about being a role model for our youth, because that’s important. Mr. Woodson, you get the next question. Some in the some in the community, believe that this last minute attempt to get back on the board for a third term as a write in is an attempt to stay in a position of power, while others believe it is an attempt to continue to improve the system. So tell the the audience why you’re running and what notable achievements from your earlier terms that you would like to showcase.
Jay Woodson 2:13:31
Well, I can just, I can assure you it’s not not to stay in power. I don’t necessarily see it as a, as that kind of role. I think it’s a it’s a moving forward, making better type of role. There’s a lot of work that goes into being a school board member, if you do it correctly. There’s a lot of preparation, a lot of reading, a lot of time. I have a vested interest in the school system. Obviously, I have a daughter that’s that’s still in the school system. I want to see the system succeed. I have supported consolidation every time I came on the ballot, so I’m thrilled that we’re where we are. I think now is the time that we need to really roll up our sleeves and get in there and make sure that the system thrives, not just survives. And I think that’s going to take a tremendous amount of work in order to make that happen, we’re going to have to think outside of the box, because funding is just not falling from the trees these days, right? So, you know, it certainly is not, I’m not running to have a position of power. It wasn’t a last minute type of decision. I actually talked to the register in March. Unfortunately, it was a miscommunication around the number of signatures I needed. So I’ve put a lot of thought into running, and actually spent some time with MS Fitzpatrick around that she informed me she was not going to run. Uh, because I’m a big fan of Miss Fitzpatrick, and so that’s why I’m here. I do have a vested interest. I have a strong desire to to to make the system thrive, and I have the I’m driven to see that happen.
AJ Panebianco 2:15:17
Thank you, sir. And of course, Mr. Omstead is just basically, why are you running? Sir. Yes, sir, it could be either, but I suspect you know more about why you’re running.
2:15:33
Well, I think I have a lot to offer. I probably talked to I’m going to go to Jay first. I’ve known Jay for quite a while. I can’t imagine him doing for anything other than what’s for the best interest of the kids. The same reason I’m running, I love to coach. I gave up coaching. I gave up being on town council so I could do this. I want to offer assistance to the school board. I want to open the school board’s eyes to things. Sometimes the people that are telling them what’s going on, they’re not misleading them. They’re just not telling them. Education is simple to me. Somebody teaches, somebody learns. They take a test. If they pass it, they move on. We don’t have to make it difficult. If I had an hour, I could explain something to you, I think is interesting, but I won’t do that, because then he’ll ring that bell more than I want him to. Education is simple to me. I have six kids that all did extremely well. They’re doing wonderful things now, and it was because of Allegheny County’s education. Allegheny County is not the same school system that I came here in 83 it has changed drastically. I would like to push to get it back in those same tracks that it was in before.
AJ Panebianco 2:16:55
Thank you, sir and Mr. Woodson, of course, you have an opportunity to say anything else you’d
Jay Woodson 2:16:59
like to say, I’m good.
AJ Panebianco 2:17:01
Thank you. You came in 83 that meant that you spent two years in the school while I was there. Allegheny, yes, sir. 85 Well, you wouldn’t tell by my handwriting.
2:17:14
So at the risk of encouraging Mr. Umstead, we’re actually ahead of schedule now, but we’re at the audience question moment for these candidates. If anyone has a question, yes, about halfway down on the left there, if we can get the microphone,
2:17:36
I have a two part question. One is you were talking about ethics and stuff like that. Do you think that the school board should do background checks on the candidates or who’s going to be on the school board with that second part is, do you think it’s appropriate for members of the school or school board to if they don’t like a parent who’s involved in the school to send the police to their house to do a well visit, to try to get them in trouble, and when it backfires, then ban them from the school system.
Bruce Young 2:18:11
Well, I suspect there’s a story behind that, but at least with background checks. Let’s move to Mr. Woodson.
Jay Woodson 2:18:20
You know, I’m fine with someone doing a background check on me if they wish. I think obviously the each individual has to answer that question for themselves. I don’t think there’s any any written code that requires such a such a check to serve as far as far as the situation you mentioned about the wellness check, I I don’t even know where to begin to answer that type of question, because that was obviously not enough information there.
John Mosier 2:19:01
and not know the background. But know the background when he backfired, because I want to know who said I have three kids, one autistic phone I and I have a problem I want to see like Bob ombs, who knows special ed, to do more for these autistic kids in Allegheny County, who was non verbal, and he’s very verbal. Now they they basically shunned Mindy garzinski from the county, and she is one hell of a woman that does great things for autistic and special needs children that the county will not in their own backyard right there in Covington. She has her own center. Has shunned and now they want to shut me down, but I knew. Henry Millwood in Richmond. So they don’t like that. I invite somebody in Richmond.
2:20:06
I would think that at this point we should probably go to the next question. Great question, but I think it’s something individually that they should answer when they get elected that’s a little more official. I think let the first part of that, there you go. You’re up.
2:20:27
I believe that anybody that works in the Allegheny school system should be fingerprinted and have a background check. Every teacher, coach, bus driver or person selected the school board should have a background check on them, and people say, Well, why school board? I said, well, because they have access. They go into all the buildings. That’s what we’re trying to protect. I think anybody that works for the school system that’s approved by the school board should have a background check.
Bruce Young 2:20:58
Okay, who else do we have any other questions in the audience. We promise we won’t check your background. Yeah, who knows?
AJ Panebianco 2:21:12
Very good well. Thank you very much. I do appreciate audiences. We all appreciate audience participation. I really hope that the voters got something out of this. I know I did, and I appreciate the time that both candidates gave to come here, and we’re going to break into a discussion from the panel here in just a second, but again, we want to thank each of you. It’s an important position, and we appreciate that you’re taking it that way.
2:21:49
I want everybody to know that Mr. Woodson and I are not running against each other. Mr. Woodson is a right in Van from Covington, and I’m on the ballot for Allegheny County, so we have a lot of things in common. I believe the school board would be very well off if both of us were on it.
AJ Panebianco 2:22:09
Thank you again. Appreciate you. Alright, as they walk away, we’re going to just about get ready. We are a little bit ahead of schedule, which is great. And once we do that, we’re going to have our MC break into song here in a second, just to so no, we’re going to we’re going to discuss some of their answers. I like start with the first one that came to mind is, you know, the background checks. It’s interesting. I just read the the Code of Virginia. I wasn’t texting. I just read the code of Virginia on fingerprint requiring for working in school boards and and schools. And it says the school board must require everybody but them. It looks like, however, I did see, I think, where Virginia Beach has something in there that they require the school board to to do that. So something the school board could require at some point, and then it would be what the discretion would be. But it was a really good answer by all of those on that, anybody have any thoughts, any any different or same or,
Gene Mundy 2:23:39
yeah, I would like to you know, I agree, and I think we’re all very familiar with a unfortunate situation that happened in our county here with an educator from a nearby county in the last couple weeks. And I think when you look at the greater concern of safety of our children. Why would we not want to extend that requirement to the board members, anybody that is in contact with our children on a daily basis, if we can? You know, we the Chris Fisher situation of hiring him, one, I think is a is a wonderful thing. I think everybody’s very supportive of that. So it seems like we’re willing to, you know, somebody used the word think outside the box. Well, let’s just stay outside. Let’s just stay out of the box. And let’s continue to look at ways to, you know, improve or enhance security for our schools and our children
Corey Bowles 2:24:44
well, and I’ll just touch real quick, being that I work in the school, anybody that does enter the school is ID and stuff, so the school board members would be ID going in. And there’s a, I believe, a program on the computer that checks for whether they’re sex. Offender or things like that. So it’s not as as thorough as a background check, but there is a checks and balances there for anyone that enters the school. So but background checks on school board members. I mean, we get them for volunteer coaches, and we get them for teachers and, yeah, anybody that volunteers at the school, yep, substitute. So I can see why. It would not be a stretch well.
2:25:20
And as a former educator, I know that the teachers view those inequities. You know, we expect it, we don’t. We don’t like it. We never liked it when the people above us were not held to the same standard. We were so and I’ll leave it at that,
AJ Panebianco 2:25:40
one of the interesting things I took away from this is, and it almost seems shocking, they have trouble getting bus drivers, and apparently they’re really struggling with that based on some of the complaints about ride times, and if that is factual, that the pay grade is the same for somebody that’s Been there 30 years, or somebody has been there five years or five weeks, that’s something I hope, if they get elected to the school board, whoever it may be, would look into that, because it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why you’re not recruiting bus drivers. You’re not paying them and and they can’t, they won’t stay. Because of that, there’s no incentive to stay. So look into those things that will make it easier. I did, did like the fact, because I did as much research as I could into the fact as to reasons why we’re playing at other fields, or they’re playing at other fields. And I think it was a very valid answer to say, the students deserve the best fields. It’s about their safety. I just don’t think that message has been parlayed to the community. Because I was under the impression, with a few people that I talked to that they thought that this was only as a result of the consolidation to appease people in other jurisdictions that were from Covington. I think it’s great that they’re looking at what the actual athlete is at risk by doing or not doing. So that’s that that was so so informative. I think that may be one of the best things that came out of this.
Corey Bowles 2:27:19
And I think that’s across the board, just about everything all three of the debates is being very clear and being willing to discuss why we’ve made choices we’ve made on councils or boards or any of it. Like I said, if people want to be heard, they need to come speak. But then the the people in positions of power also need to be willing to to listen and then respond with why they’ve acted the way they’ve acted.
AJ Panebianco 2:27:52
Any other input for on anything before we turn it over to our MC doesn’t appear to be happy, to know will not sing, we promises, not saying real quickly, I’d like to say thank you to the people that came here. It’s important that you showed up for this. It’s also important that in the future, you show up for other meetings. Be there, because we heard where, I think, the very first Clifton force debate. They said, You know, we might have one person show up, and you know, without that checks and balances, the council believes what they’re doing is correct, because nobody’s complaining. Of course, you always get to squeegee wheel on on the internet, but show up, be there, be hold them accountable for what you elected them for, because you’re responsible for electing them. Hold them accountable.
Bruce Young 2:28:47
Indeed, it works both ways, and you can ask them questions, and it’s all about transparency, but yes again, thank you for people showing up. Thank you for our candidates who came and thank you for our panel. Everyone took some time out, out of their lives, and hopefully improved your knowledge and helped you with your vote in all of this gene and JT and AJ and boy, we’re all initials tonight, aren’t we? I’m going to start going by BK instead. And Corey, thank you. Thank you so much. We had a good range of people and a good range of knowledge here. And we also wanted to thank the Virginia review staff who arranged all of this. And especially, we also want to thank our beautiful location, the historic Masonic theater, and note the and congratulate Teresa Hammond, who is the new interim Executive Director of the historic theater, so you’ll be seeing some new action and a new face in the leadership position here. But thank you for joining us, and we hope we’ve done some help for you with your votes tonight. Have a good evening,
AJ Panebianco 2:29:56
and don’t forget you can go to the Virginian Review Facebook page. It that you can rewatch this and and really delve into the answers that were given. And I know you thank the staff and everything. Specifically I want to thank the Virginian review, Scott, you’ve done a great job putting this together, and I think it was very informative for the public. So thank you. And also that was the format in which the questions came. So thank you, Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel Gene, thank you for pointing that out. It’s important to know that the Virginian Review put out a survey that said, what are your concerns? And every question that was asked was developed from that survey. So these are your questions. Thank you. Applause.