Athey elected to 26th Circuit Court Judgeship

Clifford L. “Clay” Athey, Jr. commented today on his election by the Virginia General Assembly to fill the current Circuit Court vacancy in the 26th Judicial Circuit.

“I am overwhelmed and humbled by the support of my former colleagues on both sides of the aisle in the General Assembly. I intend to work very hard to deserve the trust my former colleagues have placed in me,” he said.

Athey added, “I am particularly appreciative of the efforts of my former colleagues in the Shenandoah Valley Caucus and look forward to working with Frederick County Circuit Court Clerk, Becky Hogan, and her diligent and professional staff to protect and serve the citizens of the 26th Judicial Circuit.

As I begin this new endeavor, I am comforted by the quality of the outstanding attorneys who will be practicing before me in the 26th Judicial Circuit.I would be the first to acknowledge that although I may be succeeding Retired Circuit Judge John Prosser, I can never hope to replace someone of his caliber. Certainly, as I begin this new challenge, I will be relying upon my new colleagues including Judges Prosser, Wetsel, Hupp, Lane and Wilson who are among the most distinguished Judges in the Commonwealth of Virginia.”

Athey concluded, “I would not have been able to serve in any position of public trust without the steadfast love and support of my beloved wife Stacey, and our twins, Madagan and Clayton. In addition, I have greatly benefited from the loving guidance, advice, and support of my sister and law partner, Kimberly M. Athey, and my parents, Lynwood and Phyllis Madagan Athey. Without question, it is my family, Madagans and Atheys alike, to which I owe a debt of gratitude for my upbringing and faith in God. My family’s prayers and hard work along with the support of so many of my constituents has afforded me an opportunity to serve the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia throughout my adult life.”

From a release.

Front Royal Police Chief to retire

Richard H. Furr, Front Royal’s Chief of Police, announced today that he will be retiring August 28 after 30 years of service to the citizens of the Town of Front Royal. He began his career with Front Royal on April 22, 1982 as a patrol officer and rose through the ranks to become Chief of Police on April 13, 2009.

“This past week I was recognized for my 30 years of service and contributions to the Town of Front Royal, serving as Chief of Police for the past three years. It has been a dream come true and an honor for me to serve in this position beside the great men and women of the department. I have delayed my retirement for the past five years for this opportunity and I feel that God has richly blessed me for it. I now plan to spend more time with my wife and family, catch up on my “honey-do” list, and do some travelling. Beyond that, I am confident that God will direct my path.”

Furr stated that his decision to retire was based solely on his personal feeling that the time was right to retire and was not based on any disagreements with any Town Staff or Town Council. Furr said he has had a very good working relationship with several Town Councils and two Town Managers. “They have been instrumental in the achievement of the goals that I had made for myself and the department when I was appointed as Chief of Police. I had set twelve goals in 2009 and the

Department has achieved ten of those goals.” Furr listed the goals achieved as:

• Maintain the current level of services during the economic downturn with anticipated less funding.
• Continue utilizing Volunteers In Police Services (V.I.P.S.) to supplement officers for special events, thereby reducing overtime costs to the department.
• Reduce turnover and keeping experienced officers on the street.
• Scheduled replacement and maintenance of equipment.
• Continued training opportunities in specialized fields.
• Increase Community Policing initiatives.
• Upgrade and remodel dispatch office.
• Initiate a Master Police Officer Program (will occur in FY 2012-2013 budget).
• Reorganize Administrative staff, to include a Chief, one Captain/Deputy Chief, and two Lieutenants (Reorganization Plan will occur in FY2012-2013 budget).
• New police department facilities (Currently under discussion by Town Council).

The two goals not achieved were re-obtaining state accreditation and a revised pay scale for police officers, both of which may be on the horizon according to Furr.

An achievement that Furr had not anticipated was the recent completion of a departmental firing range. “We needed to have a range to keep our officers proficient in the use of their firearms. With the assistance of Town Council, we were able to identify a location on Town property and used Town equipment and manpower to construct a range that met standards set by the Department of Criminal Justice Services. This will save the town money by officers not having to go to other ranges outside of Warren County for state-required qualifications,” Furr stated.

“I strongly feel that this department is filled with very capable staff and I would encourage that the next Chief of Police come from within the department. I sincerely hope that in the next four months the Town Manager will be able to make a selection and we can achieve a smooth transition to the next Chief,” Furr concluded.

From a release.

Middletown, Va. under new leadership

Middletown Continues to Sort Itself Out

By Sue Golden
Frederick County Report

At a special meeting on Tuesday evening, the Middletown Town Council appointed two members: Clarence “Trip” Chewning and Thomas M. Simon. The council also appointed Charles H. Harbaugh IV as interim mayor.

A close to capacity crowd filled the council chambers. Many of the attendees applied for either one of the council positions or the mayoral position. The meeting began with each applicant for the council openings making a brief statement.

Gilbert “Gil” Barrington started by apologizing for resigning from the council. “I let my emotions get the best of me.” Although, he added, he was not alone. He stated that normally, no one comes to meetings. And he exhorted the crowd to stay involved, saying “it’s about time you got involved.”

Trip Chewning went next. Trip explained that he got involved about a year ago, when there were items in the budget he did not agree with. At the time, he said, he was very upset and vocal, calling on the council to dissolve the charter, and return to Frederick County. Now, Chewning says, he is starting with a clean slate. He called dissolving the charter “impracticable”, and said he would not go after any of the jobs of town employees. Chewning’s starting over means getting along, listening, and discussing issues thoroughly. He understands that people are angry that the comprehensive plan has not been followed, and that the water and sewer rates continue to rise. While he hopes to “serve the people of Middletown,” he also hopes “people will take more interest.”

Kathryn “Kathy” Corderro moved to Middletown three years ago. She said she made Middletown her home because she loves history and tradition. She wants to use the history and tradition as the stepping stone for economic growth and development. She wants to “move forward and change.” Corderro wants to be a voice for Middletown, saying she would go door to door to represent the people.

Gerald “Dave” Sinclair was succinct; he has been on the council for sixteen years. He always “goes with what the people want.” He has worked with the current council, while serving as an appointed member after John Owings resigned. “I want to do it again.”

Thomas M. Simon is an eight year Middletown resident. He said he was sitting on the sidelines watching all of the activity over the past year. Finally, he knew he had to get involved. He likes the small town of Middletown. He is raising his family here. “Growth is unavoidable, but do it the right way.”

Carol Snyder came to Middletown with her husband. When he died, she chose to stay. “I love Middletown.” Snyder was a program manager at a major company, and has sat on lots of committees. She knows how to listen and how to get things done. She thinks she can be an asset to Middletown.

Councilor Mark Davis effused that he felt good that so many people applied for the council positions. He also mentioned that a number of seats will be voted on in November. He said the town hired an attorney for the day to file a writ for elections, which also was due today.

Councilor Davis explained the voting process. Each of the four councilors would rank each candidate. Town manager Joan Roche and Treasurer Sharon Fadely would add the votes. The two lowest vote getters would be eliminated. In the first round Barrington and Corderro were eliminated. In the second round Snyder and Sinclair were eliminated.

As the voting and counting took place, there was a palpable sense of suspense in the crowd. Then nervous chatter ensued. Councilor Donna M. G. Gray said she felt like the theme music on “Jeopardy” should be played, which Councilor Davis immediately took up humming. All joking aside, Councilor Davis said he did practice ballots in advance, to make sure the system worked.

The winners of the balloting, Chewning and Simon, were asked to go to the Frederick County Court to get sworn in as soon as possible.

The council then turned its attention to the mayoral appointment. John Copeland has been a resident of Middletown for forty years. For over twenty of those years, he has served in some capacity on the council, whether as councilor or mayor. He said he was seeking the office “whole heartedly.” And he thanked the crowd “for showing an interest in your town.” He then had Councilor Davis read from his resume, because he did not want anyone to think he was “embellishing.”

Councilor Gray spoke next. She is a forty eight year resident of Middletown. She raised her family here. She worked for the town for nine years, and has been on council for two. She loves Middletown, and the people that make up the town. She knows that she is a minority voice on the council, but she tries to listen to the people who elected her. She wasn’t intending to “upset the apple cart” by running for mayor. She thinks Councilor Harbaugh is a “real nice guy,” but she thinks she has more experience than Councilor Harbaugh, and therefore would be a better mayor.

Councilor Harbaugh spoke of growing up in Middletown. He has worked for the town. He has multiple degrees. He played three years of semi-pro football. He began running the July 4th festivities in 2009. He was elected to council in 2010. He became vice mayor in 2011. He wants to “build a team” to “get things back on track in Middletown.”

Councilor Harbaugh was appointed mayor. Councilor Gray was next in line in the voting, ahead of Copeland. Councilor Harbaugh relinquished his council seat, so he will be out of office unless elected again in November.

The council was asked numerous times during the meeting about not having four elected officials to vote on financial issues. Councilor Carl Bernhards, Jr. responded that “we will cross that bridge when we come to it.” Councilor Davis said it was “a grey area.” He said “technically it is not appropriate. We cannot raise taxes, spend new money or sign big contracts. For the budget we are fine. We will hire an attorney soon, who will guide us in the right direction.”

The council is looking for applicants for the open council position vacated by Councilor Harbaugh. Applications can be picked up at town hall and are posted on the town’s website www.MiddletownVA.gov. There also are vacancies on the planning commission. The council will vote on a new appointee at its next meeting on April 2nd.

Mass resignations in Virginia. Middletown now has a 24-year-old acting mayor.

From left are former Middletown, Va. Mayor Mark Brown and new Mayor Charles H. Harbaugh IV, age 24

By Sue Golden
Frederick County Report

It was a capacity crowd for last night’s Middletown Town Council meeting, and the council did not let the crowd down. The meeting started with Mayor Mark Brown reading the letter of resignation from the new Town Attorney J. David Griffin. Mr. Griffin began representing the Town on January 1st. Then the mayor read his own letter of resignation. True to form, the mayor did not go quietly into the night. The mayor read from a prepared statement that blasted Councilors Mark Davis, Carl H. Bernhards, Jr. and Donna M. G. Gray, calling them egotistical, deceptive, and vindictive in turn. He also had harsh words for members of the planning commission, accusing all of the above of preventing doing what was best for the community.

The mayor then turned to Councilor John Blaisdell. Councilor Blaisdell read his letter of resignation, again with harsh words for the council and planning commission. Then it was Councilor Gil Barrington’s turn. Barrington, who ran for a vacant seat on council saying he was going to be a conciliator, blasted the council for being totally dysfunctional and a laughing stock. All four resigned effective immediately. The now former mayor and councilors quickly left the dais.

Some in the crowd were clearly delighted; the antics of the council were beginning to wear thin for residents. Others, and the remaining members of council remained respectfully silent throughout. Councilor Harbaugh moved to the mayoral chair and resumed the meeting.

Councilor Gray expressed surprise, but wondered about the commitment of the aforementioned since they walked out without consideration for the Town. Councilor Davis said he had tried to talk the Councilors out of resigning, calling them good people. He disavowed a number of the former mayor’s contentions, and hoped council could get back to work. Councilor Bernhards had heard there might be resignations at the meeting, but assumed the former mayor would call for his resignation. He said the remaining three councilors had its work cut out for them, seeing as a new budget needs to be drafted in the next 30 days. The new Mayor, 25 year-old Charles H. Harbaugh IV, vowed to bring “stability and civility” back to the council. “I always wanted to be mayor, I just never thought I would be the mayor this young.”

The remainder of the meeting was almost light hearted. There was not much on the agenda, and council and the audience bantered with the new mayor. At the close of the meeting, there was a round of applause from the crowd.

The media (except this one), had been called in advance. Channel 3 TV was there, as well as the press media. The evening police shift was in attendance, which is irregular. After the meeting, the employees made for the door. Citizens inside the chamber discussed the surprise events. The former mayor and councilors appeared to continue to hold court in front of town hall.

As predicted, it was worth being there. Now let’s see where we go from here.

Oh, and it goes without saying, that there are openings on both the council and planning commission. Anyone interested should contact town hall.

COL Ivan Gene Mieth, USAF (Ret.) 1/19/34 – 3/12/12

By Dan McDermott
Warren County Report

A beloved grandparent, husband, military officer and inspiration to a generation of young students died today at 78 following a fire near his home in Amissville, Va.

Family members report that retired Air Force Col. Ivan G. Mieth was discovered by his son-in-law following a sweeping brush fire around 5 p.m. today. An autopsy will be performed in Manassas.

Col. Mieth was perhaps best known locally as the Commandant and Chief of Staff of Randolph-Macon Academy, a co-educational boarding school with a strong Air Force JROTC program which Mieth headed from 1984 to 2005.

Prior to moving to Virginia, Col. Mieth served in the Air Force for 29 years including a tour in Vietnam from 1966 to 1967.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

Cuccinelli announces settlement with Salahi’s Journey for the Cure charity

Charity made false statements, failed to keep true financial records, solicited without being registered with the state

RICHMOND (February 28, 2012) – Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli announced today that a settlement has been reached with the Journey for the Cure Foundation and its chairman, Tareq Salahi, for allegedly making false statements and submitting inaccurate financial statements to the commonwealth’s overseer of charities, among other offenses.

Journey for the Cure Foundation (JCF) is a Fauquier County-based fundraising organization that was formed to support individuals struggling with diseases such as multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, leukemia, and lymphoma. JCF would conduct fund raisers to raise money for charities that helped individuals afflicted with those diseases.

According to the attorney general’s complaint filed with the settlement, JCF allegedly violated the Virginia Solicitation of Contributions (VSOC) law by:

• using misleading statements in connection with solicitations for charitable donations. Specifically, JCF claimed on its Internet web site that “[p]roudly, 100% of our financing goes directly to find the cure and we have no paid staff.” Based on bank records obtained through the Virginia Office of Consumer Affairs’ (OCA) investigation, the attorney general alleged that only 33% of JCF’s expenditures in 2007, and 0.6% of its expenditures in 2008 went directly to disease prevention-related charities. Significant amounts were instead spent on fund raising overhead;

• knowingly making false statements in a registration statement filed with the OCA, among other things, submitting inaccurate financial statements to OCA as part of its registration statement;

• soliciting charitable contributions from the general public from 2004 to 2009 without first being registered with OCA;

• failing to keep true fiscal records in accordance with the VSOC law; and

• failing to provide OCA with required financial statements when it ceased soliciting charitable contributions in the commonwealth in 2010.

The attorney general further alleged that Salahi himself violated the VSOC law by:

• certifying in a solicitation notice filed with OCA that JCF was registered with the state office when it was not;

• falsely certifying on JCF’s 2008 registration statement that JCF had no financial history; and

• certifying inaccurate numbers for charitable contributions on JCF’s 2009 registration statement.

The settlement includes the following key terms:

(1) The commonwealth is granted a permanent injunction prohibiting JCF and Salahi from engaging in any further violations of the VSOC law;

(2) The commonwealth is granted a monetary judgment against JCF in the amount of $25,000 for civil penalties for JCF’s violations of the VSOC law;

(3) The commonwealth is granted a monetary judgment against Salahi in the amount of $2,500 for civil penalties for Salahi’s alleged violations of the VSOC law; and

(4) The commonwealth is granted a monetary judgment against JCF in the amount of $7,500 to compensate the commonwealth for its attorneys’ fees and costs.

The attorney general was able to obtain injunctive relief directly against Salahi, not just the charity. If Salahi were to form another charitable organization and then commit similar violations, the injunction could make him subject to civil or criminal contempt of court charges, in addition to further civil penalties.

In December 2009, the OCA announced an investigation into the practices of JCF. In May 2011, OCA referred its investigative findings to the attorney general for potential enforcement action.

The settlement, which is in the form of a consent judgment, has been filed for approval with the Fauquier County Circuit Court.

A copy of this news release may be found on the attorney general’s web site here: http://goo.gl/UP9nr

Join the conversation about this on Google+ here: http://goo.gl/ftOBw

Angle pleas ‘no contest’ by proxy to reckless driving

Texting over pay, rather than alcohol cited as cause of erratic I-66 trip

By Roger Bianchini
Warren County Report

It ended not with a BANG, a body slam or even an appearance by TNA World Wrestling Champion Kurt Angle. Rather, if not exactly a whimper, the legendary wrestler’s reckless driving case ended with a $1500 fine but no jail time attached.

Angle’s attorney Todd Gilbert entered a plea of no contest to Reckless Driving on Nov. 8 in Warren County General District Court. After hearing the prosecution’s evidence presented by Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael Fleming and the defendant’s explanation of his erratic driving down I-66 following an appearance at the Shenandoah County Fair on Sept. 3rd, Judge W. Dale Houff imposed the maximum fine of $2,500, suspending $1,000 of that total. The judge agreed with the defense that the case did not bear any jail time.

Angle was initially charged with DUI by State Trooper Robert Scally after he judged the 6-foot, 240-pound, 42-year-old Pennsylvania resident to have failed a series of field sobriety tests, including an on-site breathalyzer test registering .091.

However the commonwealth’s attorney’s office later amended the charge to Reckless Driving because Angle blew only a .06 in a legally-admissible BAC test at Front Royal Police headquarters between 11:50 PM and 12:10 AM after being taken into custody and charged with DUI. The legal blood-alcohol limit is .08 or below.

The prosecution presented Angle’s driving record which showed a May 2010 reckless driving conviction in North Dakota and several dismissed driving charges in Angle’s native Pennsylvania.

At the time of the traffic stop following a citizen cell phone call from a motorist and passenger, who witnessed Angle’s driving erratically after they pulled onto the interstate behind him, Angle admitted to Trooper Scally to drinking three beers earlier that evening.

Fleming told the court the arresting officer found a 12-pack of beer in Angle’s vehicle, with two beers missing.

Gilbert told the court Angle admitted to driving poorly and inappropriately. However, rather than alcohol being an underlying cause, defense counsel said the cause was texting.

During the summary of the prosecution’s evidence Fleming told the court Angle was texting the promoter of the earlier wrestling show about his payment while driving eastbound on I-66 away from the Shenandoah County Fair appearance.

As for his client’s poor performance in the field sobriety tests, Gilbert pointed to Angle’s long wrestling career during which he has suffered several broken necks and multiple knee injuries.

Angle was a 1996 U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist in heavyweight freestyle and NCAA champion before launching his highly successful professional wrestling career. Wikipedia describes Angle as one of only four people to complete the amateur wrestling “grand slam” of winning the Junior National, the NCAAs, the World Championship, and Olympic title. He was named one of the top 15 college wrestlers of all time by USA Wrestling and has been named the “greatest shoot wrestler”. According to Wikipedia, after initially turning down offers to join the World Wrestling Federation, Angle signed a multi-year contract with the company in 1998. After leaving WWE, Angle joined Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he became the second wrestler in TNA to win TNA’s Triple Crown and the first man to hold all three TNA championships simultaneously.

Gilbert challenged the prosecution’s contention Angle’s offense was a particularly “egregious” example of bad driving in arguing against any imposition of jail time as part of the sentence for his client.

“Were this not a high-profile defendant it is to likely the prosecution would have produced the North Dakota abstract or have had out-of-county witnesses present for this hearing,” Gilbert told the court. “His insurance will be impacted – it will go up – and his license will be impacted in his home state. And there is a stigma to his career and public image … but ultimately it is a case of someone driving poorly while using a phone.”

Judge Houff called the case unusual in his experience due to the length of time and distance of cell phone or texting use causing erratic driving. However, in the end he agreed the offense and evidence did not meet a standard to require jail time as part of the sentencing of the defendant.

And those out-of-county witnesses – nah, they weren’t Angle’s arch-wrestling nemesis Jeff Jarrett and his wife and Angle ex, Karen. They were identified in court as Mr. Mallory and Ms. Knight, who were present but not called to testify. They are believed to be Loudoun County residents, and pretty snippy ones at that … Hey, maybe it was the Jarretts in disguise … NO, I’m just getting sucked into that wrestling soap opera scenario again … I think.

rogerb@warrencountyreport.com

Murray wins three-way supervisor squeaker

By Dan McDermott
Warren County Report

Republican Dan J. Murray, Jr. has won the North River District seat on the Warren County Board of Supervisors by a margin of 18 votes.

Murray garnered 374 votes or 36% in unofficial returns.

Democrat Chris W. Holloway received 356 votes or 35% while independent candidate Victor “Tory” Failmezger received 300 votes or 29%.

McEathron handily beats back challenge

By Dan McDermott
Warren County Report

Warren County Sheriff Daniel T. McEathron has won a third term, beating back his first challenger since he was first elected in 2003.

With all precincts reporting, Republican McEathron won 3,455 votes or 68% of the vote to 1,635 votes or 32% won by independent candidate Robbie Seal, a Front Royal Police Sgt.

(Updated at 8:49 p.m.)

Tederick email targets independent

While Matt Tederick, left, never made good on a promise to contribute $50 to Victor "Tory" Failmezger's campaign to assure he would be in the race long enough to campaign against - he did make good on the second part of that promise, campaigning against the North River independent candidate, pictured at right.

Failmezger ‘saddened’ by ‘tone’ and ‘untruths’ of Tederick attack

By Roger Bianchini
Warren County Report

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any weirder – it DID!!!

“IT” is the three-way race for the North River District seat on the Warren County Board of Supervisors in which a recent and still philosophical Republican is running as a Democrat; a philosophical Democrat is running as an independent; a Republican who wasn’t planning on running for anything this fall is running – of all things – as a Republican; and the incumbent Democrat, Glenn White, local Republicans wanted to unseat isn’t running at all.

The assumed weirdness PEAK for us was long-time local Republican strategist Joe Swiger’s Facebook political seduction and slap-down of former Republican and neo-Democrat Chris Holloway (see related story first posted on the Warren County Report website on Nov. 2nd).

The follow-up pre-election weirdness was a rambling, and according to its target, factually inaccurate and intentionally misleading four-page written attack on the character and opinions of independent North River candidate Victor “Tory” Failmezger made by local Republican activist Matt Tederick.

In light of earlier statements, including an unfulfilled publicly-stated promise to contribute $50 to his campaign so that he, Tederick, could assure a chance to campaign against him, Failmezger told us he had been expecting such an attack from Tederick.

Among the allegations Tederick makes are that Failmezger is not from here but would dictate what is best of the community, has been termed an elitist in a 2005 Washington Post article, doesn’t want others to prosper, and is arrogant and wrathful for expressing past opposition to development and expansion of the Crooked Run Shopping Center.

Official responses

Of Tederick’s attack, Failmezger released this statement:

“I have read Mr. Tederick’s letter of November 4th and am truly saddened by the tone, twisted words, untruths and quotes taken out of context with which he attacks me. He used these same negative tactics a year ago when he attacked Bret Hrbek in an attempt to unseat him as vice-mayor of Front Royal. He must feel very threatened by my candidacy to craft such a politically motivated letter. I am sure the voters in the North River District will see through Mr. Tederick’s attempt to affect the election and vote for who they see as the best candidate.”

Asked about his reaction to Tederick’s attack on another candidate, Republican North River candidate Dan Murray told us, “I have stated for the record that I would run a clean gentlemen’s campaign. I have kept my word! I had no knowledge of this letter till it was forwarded to me. He [Tederick] does not endorse anyone as his candidate of choice. This is adding drama at the close of the campaign.”

Fresh off his e-mail ambush by another local Republican activist, Joe Swiger, the other North River District candidate, Chris Holloway, declined to get anywhere near this one.

Elitist conspiracy?

One clear-cut example of what he perceives as Tederick’s distortion of the truth is a quote taken from a 2005 Washington Post article. In his anti-endorsement letter/e-mail Tederick accuses Failmezger of moving to Warren County “recently” with an “elitist” agenda and uses a quote from a 2005 Washington Post article by M.J. McAteer titled “Jeffersonian Ideals” to make his point.

“Having traveled the world, he and his family decided to move to Warren County to show us what we have been doing wrong and as Travis McDonald said in a Washington Post article: ‘Failmezgers are members of an elite group.’ (Tederick’s emphasis)”

“I don’t know if buying property and moving here in 1994-95 is exactly recent,” Failmezger said. “And the Post quote was taken totally out of context from an article about architecture and our efforts to design our home in the style of Thomas Jefferson’s home at Poplar Forest.”

In fact, Failmezger, who with his wife Patricia are former owners of Old House Architectural Parts on East Main Street in Front Royal, notes the referenced article publicized not only their architectural efforts on their own home, but Front Royal and its downtown business district as well.

Failmezger produced a copy of the article from which the quote Tederick used to label him an elitist was taken. The relevant section from which Tederick quoted reads:

“Travis McDonald, director of architectural restoration for Poplar Forest, says the Failmezgers are members of an elite group. The Museum of Southern History outside Houston copied the exterior of the Jefferson retreat, he says, but the inside bears no resemblance to Poplar Forest. Otherwise, McDonald knows of only a handful of projects in which the Poplar Forest plans have been ‘reinterpreted.’ The Failmezgers, he says, are unusual in their fidelity to Jefferson’s vision.”

Poplar Forest was Thomas Jefferson’s private house outside of Lynchburg, VA. He built that home starting in 1806, Failmezger told us. The Failmezger home was designed, both inside and out, to mirror Jefferson’s design.

Counterpoints

However Tederick said he “completely” stands by his letter, including the above quote. While some might view the Failmezgers’ desire to design a home based on one of Virginia’s most prominent architects and politicians as a creative tribute, Tederick sees it more negatively.

“How many people do you know who have a house modeled on Thomas Jefferson’s?” he asks.

Tederick says he believes his portrayal of Failmezger is accurate and for the independent candidate to say he is pro-business is “disingenuous”. Rather, Tederick feels Failmezger has a vested interest in protecting in-town commercial development, where the candidate has his own business interests.

In his campaign, downtown businessman and North River District Planning Commission representative Failmezger has promised to balance the business interests of the county and town. His campaign brochure states, “… the town and county are interwoven. A vibrant downtown and a controlled commercial and industrial corridor in the county are essential to the community.”

While he said he does not totally dismiss the notion of good planning, Tederick sees Failmezger’s use of the word “controlled” regarding north corridor commercial development as code for no commercial growth in the corridor.

However Failmezger counters that notion by pointing out that he once was personally involved in attempting to recruit an outside commercial/industrial client to the county’s north corridor.

“So it is just not true that I am against the creation of jobs or increasing the commercial tax base of this community,” Failmezger insists.

As for Tederick’s assertion he “verbally attacked” Crooked Run attorney Clay Athey during a 2006 public hearing, Failmezger says, “That I attacked Athey at that public hearing – that’s just not true. I said there was a lot of unused commercial land in the corridor that I would like to see used before there was further commercial rezoning. I may have said I liked to see trees on that hill, I’m not sure about cedar (as referenced in Tederick’s letter), rather than additional commercial buildings there. But I made no personal reference to Mr. Athey,” Failmezger says.

As for a commitment to preservation of natural settings, Failmezger said he is not arrogantly dictating anything to anybody. Rather, as he did at the Sept. 25th Candidates’ Forum and in his campaign literature, he points to the result of a 2010 Countywide survey in which citizens listed “rural settings, quiet and peaceful surroundings and current quality of life” as their three top reasons for living in Warren County.

As for Tederick’s assertion he is personally responsible for ongoing delays at the Crooked Run Center, Failmezger observes, “That land (Crooked Run II) is rezoned for development – it was approved by the supervisors. It was the developer who said well, we’re not ready so we will proffer not developing [Phase II of Crooked Run] before 2012. It wasn’t me, it was the economy that has held that development up.”

But Tederick’s not buying it. – “He has selective memory,” he said of Failmezger. “It’s just different visions … Win or lose this battle’s not over … I’m a passionate guy … I’m not arrogant enough to say I’m always right … but I believe what I say,” Tederick told us.

And so it goes on the campaign trail in Front Royal and Warren County as Election Day 2011 approaches.