The Shadow
CLIFTON FORGE – The proposal to create the city Alleghany Highlands through a consolidation of the Alleghany County and Covington governments may come up for a vote in November 2011.
The poential date was set by the Citizens’ Committee to Perfect a Consolidation Agreement Tuesday night during its latest meeting at Dabney S. Lancaster Community College.
The committee discussed transition issues involving the merger proposal and establishing election districts. The committee will also seek an extension on a court-imposed June 1 deadline for completing its work.
The tentative November 2011 date for a consolidation referendum in Alleghany County and Covington was established after the committee debated transition issues.
If the referendum passes in each locality, the effective date of consolidation would be Jan. 1, 2013. Elections for the new seven-member city council would take place in May 2012. State law says that council elections must be held within 10 months of a successful consolidation vote.
The transition to the new city government would be overseen by a six-member team consisting of the Alleghany County administrator, the Covington city manager and two representatives from the county and city. The representatives would be appointed by the Alleghany County Board of Supervisors and Covington City Council.
Before the consolidation proposal goes before voters, it must clear a legal process that includes the Virginia Commission on Local Government and a three-judge panel appointed by the Virginia Supreme Court.
After the Commission on Local Government completes its process, which will include a public hearing in the Highlands, it will issue a recommendation that will be reviewed by the three-judge panel.
The panel of judges would actually have oversight of the government transition process, including the establishment of election dates, consolidation attorney Carter Glass IV of Richmond said.
Glass will seek an extension for the committee as it works toward completing its work this summer. Glass will ask Alleghany County Circuit Court Judge Malfourd W. Trumbo to extend the committee’s June 1 deadline by two months. Trumbo set the June 1 deadline when he appointed the committee last November.
“I think we can get a draft within the next two to three weeks for the full agreement and the charter [for the proposed city],” Glass said.
Extending the court deadline would allow the committee to review the agreement and charter before granting final approval. It would also allow the committee to complete work on election districts and review existing contracts from Alleghany County and Covington.
“The contracts between Alleghany and Covington would disappear [if consolidation occurs,] but you need to screen these contracts to see if there would be any perceived unfairness if these contracts go away,” Glass said. “The goal would be to see if there is something in any of these contracts that would cause you to put a special provision in the consolidation agreement.”
The committee has already received copies of 25 contracts from Alleghany County. They were distributed Tuesday to committee members for review. Glass said Alleghany County has 10 to 12 contracts with Covington, three with Covington and Clifton Forge, five or six with Covington, Clifton Forge and Iron Gate, and one governing operations of the Alleghany Regional Jail that includes Bath County.
A request will be made for copies of Covington’s contracts.
Information previously submitted to the committee indicates that Covington has 27 contracts with Alleghany County and other jurisdictions.
The committee reviewed two proposed election district maps Tuesday that were prepared by the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission. The maps seek to carve out election district maps for a city that would have approximately 23,000 residents. Each election district would contain approximately 3,300 residents.
Concerns were voiced over the fact that the two election district proposals contained no provision for a district to represent minorities in Covington and Clifton Forge.
Covington currently has a majority district for minorities while Clifton Forge does not. The regional commission will be asked to draft a third election district proposal that will include a majority district that includes areas of Covington and Clifton Forge. The proposed district would be shaped like a dumbbell and stretch through a narrow section of the county that includes Low Moor.
Covington consolidation committee representative Pearl Miller said she sees no need for a minority district because the Highlands has become a more integrated community in recent years. She said minorities no longer reside in concentrated areas of Covington and Clifton Forge.
“I think we have come a long way in integrating our communities, and if we create this minority district, it would go back the other way,” Miller said.
Committee co-chairman George Goode of Clifton Forge agreed with Miller, but he said election districts will be closely scrutinized by the U.S. Department of Justice. The Justice Department will review the election districts to make sure minorities have equal representation, Goode said.
The committee will next meet on June 15 and another meeting has been tentatively set for June 29. A public hearing will be held on July 6 concerning election district proposals and the overall consolidation plan.
“We want to hear comments from the citizens pertaining to the election districts, but we are also interested in hearing any other comments they may have,” said committee co-chairman Joe Carpenter of Covington.
The committee has designated July 13 as the date for giving final approval to the consolidation plan.
Goode said members of the committee should thoroughly familiarize themselves with the plan before it is presented to the public in July.
“I want us to be familiar with this plan ourselves before we present it to the public. It’s just that important,” he said.
The committee will also seek to schedule a meeting with Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Hot Springs, and Del. Jim Shuler, D-Blacksburg, to discuss General Assembly legislation that will be needed for the consolidation, including approval of the charter for the proposed city.
Covington representative Harry Casey Jr. said the charter should designate November as the month for city council elections instead of May. Casey cited low voter turnout in the recent Covington City Council elections. He said holding the council elections in November to coincide with the general election will increase voter turnout and reduce expenses.
