For the first time since their unanimous closed-session Sunday-night vote to fire Town Administrator Mike Casey, Mayor Betsy Davis, the Town Attorney and several members of Council responded publicly to questions about the affair at their Thursday, August 10, regular meeting. At the same session the Town Attorney Liz Whiting ruled that the June 19, 2006, resignation of Council Member Helen Hyre, an early proponent of Casey's dismissal, was null and void, and that her July 17 letter requesting that she be allowed to withdraw her "letter of resignation" and announcing her "plan to resign on January 1, 2007" was not binding.

Background: The Sunday Surprise

In a closed one-hour, forty-five minute session on Sunday night, July 23, the Middleburg Town Council voted 7-0 to dismiss veteran Administrator Mike Casey. Three days earlier, at the July 20 session of Council, Casey had told the Eccentric that he had been surprised by Council's vote to enter closed session, ostensibly to "review his performance", and that he was sure that their only concerns were some "procedural matters" which could be easily worked out.

Council Member Helen Hyre had called for just such a closed session earlier, during the administration of former Mayor Tim Dimos. Her surprise July 20 motion to enter closed session, seconded by Bundles Murdock, passed without opposition at the very first meeting of Mayor Betsy Davis's new council. Only minutes earlier, Hyre, Murdock and the rest of the Council had passed a Mark Snyder motion to appoint Casey "Acting Town Clerk."

The Rumor Mill

The 7-0 decision to fire Casey, three days later, thus came as a great surprise to many citizens of the Town and the source of wildly divergent rumors about Council's reasons for the dismissal.

Town Attorney Liz Whiting, facing the dilemma of conflicting responsibilities as an officer of the court, advocate for the people of the Town, and attorney for the Town Council, advised Council Members from the very first days of the affair to refuse to comment on anything directly related to "personnel matters" covered by Virginia laws designed to protect public employees and their employers. Addressing the public's right to know, Whiting made her view of the law and Council's duty on August 10.

"I can assure you that I will make sure that those discussions that should take place in public, will . . . . even when different things may reflect on the performance of individual officers and employees," Addressing the Mayor and Council Whiting warned that "If the topic is one that is appropriate for open session, it is going to be my recommendation, and direction to you, that you cannot go behind closed doors for those discussions simply because some aspect of those discussions might shed light on, or implicate, someone's performance. I'm giving that assurance to the public." Whiting, the Mayor, and Acting Town Administrator Dornin all confirmed that records were still being assembled by town employees, and that, in the absence of complete documentation, the Town was not ready to speak publicly. Using the lack of complete information, Whiting's legal advice and the Virginia statute as a justification Council thus remained officially silent on the Casey matter. In the absence of fact, rumor flew up and down main street, fueled by history, old conflicts, off-hand comments, and second-hand reports of leaks from unnamed sources close to Casey and the Council. Some speculated that Casey had problems managing his staff, noting the number of resignations of town employees during Casey's tenure. Mayor Davis, on August 10, suggested that staff turnover had indeed, been high. Others guessed that Casey was the victim of his role in the Salamander negotiations. His work had garnered praise from Council and a raise in November, but was deeply resented by some opponents of the "Memorandum of Understanding" with Salamander. Helen Hyre, critics noted, was one of only two votes against the Salamander agreement. Still others questioned Casey's management of the Town's money.

The Dimos Council

What Did They Know, and When Did They Know it?

With no information forthcoming from the Council's closed session evaluation of Casey's performance, questions about the effectiveness of Town Council's oversight of the Town Administrator and Treasury, became the focus of a number of pointed public questions on August 10, facilitated by a days-old decision to add a "Council Response to Public Comments" line to the regular monthly meeting agenda.

There were money questions. There were rumors on the street that the Town's surplus had been spent down? How far? On What? By Whom? With whose expenditure-by-expenditure authorization? Indeed, who on the Dimos Council was responsible for oversight of such expenditures, and what plans did the new Davis Council have to prevent such actions in the future?

These questions drew no response whatsoever in the formal "Response to Public Comment" portion of the formal agenda other than a remark by Council Member Mark Snyder that the questioner might have " . . . done better by approaching Council Members individually, rather than in public session."

During the course of the Council meeting, however, more details emerged, and the Mayor and other members of the Council spoke publicly.

Bills Unauthorized and Unpaid

Some of the financial issues linked to the Casey firing had begun to emerge earlier in the month, in Council work sessions, open to the public, but rarely attended. In a memorandum dated Tuesday, August 7, Acting Town Administrator Claudia Dornin reminded the Mayor and Council that $17,000 due to three vendors and to the County Government on July 31 had not been paid and that none of the expenses in question had been properly reviewed and authorized by the Council. "Individual invoices over the $1.000 threshold for Council review and due for payment on or before July 31, 2006, were presented to the Finance & Personnel Committee on August 1, 2006," Dornin wrote. "These services were contracted by the previous Town Administrator."

In effect, Dornin was asking the Mayor and Council to authorize, retroactively, both contracts for service and payments due totaling $17,000: $3,375 to Whitman Requardt and Associates for "water engineering consultation for the new waste water treatment facility associated with the Salamander Resort project." $6,372 Logics, LLC, in payment for their "Maintenance and Support Contract for Financial and Utility Systems." $5,699.70 to Dawson's painting for work on the Street Department Building and the well house on Landmark School Road. $1,553.97 to County of Loudoun for "expenses associated with the May, 2006, Town Election.

Later that night Council approved payment of the bills, with Helen Hyre asking for confirmation that the Council was, indeed, required to provide approval, in advance, not only for payments exceeding $1,000 but for contracts for goods of services exceeding that amount.

Acting Town Administrator Dornin confirmed the policy, noting that it also applied to any non-budgeted expenditures. She also assured the Council that its policies would be adhered to strictly "from this point forward."

No Treasurer's Report on August 10 - $500,000 Line of Credit Requested One Week Later

Further implications of the Dimos Council's lack of oversight became apparent at a Town Council Special Session on Thursday, August 17. No Treasurer's report had been forthcoming at the Council's regular monthly meeting on August 10. Mayor Davis, at that time, told the Eccentric that the Town was still looking into its post-Casey financial status, and that a full report would soon be forthcoming. A week later, at a meeting initially scheduled to draft Middleburg's official response to a pending County Comprehensive Plan Amendment, Claudia Dornin requested formal authorization to borrow money to cover near term expenses. Documents made public at the Special Session indicated that the relevant Town Accounts now contained roughly $6,100. At Dornin's request the Davis Council authorized her to "pursue short term financing for the town." Middleburg Bank reportedly responded with a $500,000 line, at 4.5%.

Mayor Davis Promises Full Report

With town records, financial and non-financial, reportedly in some disarray, Mayor Davis promised that a full report to the people of Middleburg would be forthcoming as soon as possible. "Before we speak," she said, "we want to make sure that what we're saying is appropriate . . . and everyone here is working extremely hard to get everything in order." "We're not hiding anything," Eura Lewis added. "I think you've gotten right to the bottom of it," Bundles Murdock noted, "we are responsible to the taxpayers and don't think anyone who sits here is not totally cognizant of that fact." Mayor Davis concluded, "If there are any fingers to be pointed, I do believe the taxpayers voted for us. We have made some movements in some very good directions and we'll get back to you on the rest of it."

A Raise for the Acting Administrator

Mike Casey's sudden departure from the Town Administrator's office was filled, almost immediately by Claudia Dornin, the Town's experienced and highly successful Director of Economic Development. On August 10, Council voted to raise her salary to $70,000, the same amount the Town had been paying Mike Casey. Dornin also received unanimous approval of her recommendation that Dianne MacMillan be appointed Town Clerk, and praise for the success of Middleburg's Second Annual Celebration of Dog Day.

Salamander and the Street Grid

Earlier in the evening, at a special 6:00 PM session, Ian Lockwood and Raj Mohabeer of Glatting Jackson Associates Council presented their preliminary views on how access to the new Salamander Resort should be integrated most effectively with the existing town street grid. Glatting Jackson, which reports to the Town, even though they are paid by Salamander, focused on the importance of avoiding single-entrance bottlenecks, and suggested, among other things improvements to Pendleton Street and a thorough redesign of the intersection of Marshall Street and Foxcroft Road.

CPAM Resolution

Facing still another vote on the County's development plan, Council voted to meet in special session on August 17 to consider the Town's position on Loudoun County CPAM 2005-0003 & 0007 Comprehensive Plan Amendment for Upper Broad Run and Upper Foley Subareas and the Arcola Area/Route 50 Plan.