by Neil Richard
In doing research for an upcoming article, it was brought to my attention that a resident of the County that had been appointed to a committee by the Board of Supervisors was convicted of a felony several years ago. A quick fact-check of court records proved that was true, however the resident had already stepped down from the committee and had been replaced by another resident. Out of respect for this individual's privacy, I will not disclose their name.
Because of the felony conviction, and the potential for ensuing issues with residents, I took it upon myself to research everyone else that was currently serving on a committee or board that was appointed by the Board of Supervisors. These are the various groups researched:
These are the two primary resources that were used to complete my research:
In all of my research, in looking up nearly 100 people, my results came to four main conclusions. First, searching for information on these websites is incredibly difficult and time consuming. Second, without knowing personal information, like a date of birth, it was difficult to determine if the person I was looking for was the person I found. Third, the number of traffic infractions was much lower than expected. Finally, there were no outstanding cases that gave me any cause for concern. In all, the sum product of all this research was that everyone representing the County on these boards and committees is an upstanding citizen with little to no experience in the justice system.
[EDITOR'S NOTE - Neil Richard, a co-founder of Project94, is a member of the Service Authority Citizen Budget Advisory Committee and is the Secretary of the Landfill Advisory Committee.]
In doing research for an upcoming article, it was brought to my attention that a resident of the County that had been appointed to a committee by the Board of Supervisors was convicted of a felony several years ago. A quick fact-check of court records proved that was true, however the resident had already stepped down from the committee and had been replaced by another resident. Out of respect for this individual's privacy, I will not disclose their name.
Because of the felony conviction, and the potential for ensuing issues with residents, I took it upon myself to research everyone else that was currently serving on a committee or board that was appointed by the Board of Supervisors. These are the various groups researched:
- Economic Development Authority (EDA)
- Electoral Board
- Landfill Advisory Committee
- Smoot Library Board of Trustees
- Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee
- Planning Commission
- Tourism Advisory Committee (TAC)
- Wetlands Board
- Citizen Budget Advisory Committee
- Service Authority Citizen Budget Advisory Committee
- Board of Supervisors
- School Board
These are the two primary resources that were used to complete my research:
- King George Circuit Court (both Criminal and Civil Courts)
- King George General District Court (both Traffic/Criminal and Civil Courts)
In all of my research, in looking up nearly 100 people, my results came to four main conclusions. First, searching for information on these websites is incredibly difficult and time consuming. Second, without knowing personal information, like a date of birth, it was difficult to determine if the person I was looking for was the person I found. Third, the number of traffic infractions was much lower than expected. Finally, there were no outstanding cases that gave me any cause for concern. In all, the sum product of all this research was that everyone representing the County on these boards and committees is an upstanding citizen with little to no experience in the justice system.
[EDITOR'S NOTE - Neil Richard, a co-founder of Project94, is a member of the Service Authority Citizen Budget Advisory Committee and is the Secretary of the Landfill Advisory Committee.]
Did the citizen step down because of the past felony conviction? Did he do this on his own initiative, or was he asked to step down? If he (she?) has "paid his debt to society", isn't our goal for folks like that to be able to re-enter society and become a productive and participating citizen?
ReplyDeleteWe weren't able to independently verify the reason why the individual stepped down but we were told it was their choice. As for paying their debt to society, we felt it was inappropriate to pass judgement in either direction.
Delete