During public comments at Thursday’s Town Council Meeting, citizen Claudette Lajoie, President of the Cape Charles Historic District Civic Leagueraised concerns about the inconsistent application of town policies and procedures by staff, citing the ongoing five-month discussion surrounding Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and Short-Term Rentals (STRs) as a central example. She expressed frustration that despite consistent community attendance and participation at all meetings, town staff failed to provide timely input, with the building official unable to submit written comments for the staff report. Ms. Lajoie outlined several troubling procedural issues, including unauthorized insertion of language into draft ordinances by town staff without Planning Commission or Town Council approval, missing meeting minutes and recordings, and what appeared to be deliberate stall tactics. She emphasized that these lapses in transparency and consistency have eroded public trust in town governance at a critical time, as Cape Charles embarks on its largest master planning effort. Ms. Lajoie called for the development and enforcement of agreed-upon professional values and accountability measures for town staff and council, arguing that without adherence to these standards, initiatives will lack merit in restoring public confidence and ensuring fair, predictable, policy-driven processes that serve the community’s best interests.
The full comment is published below:
The issue with the application of town polices and procedures of town staff and government, which is highlighted in the staff packet of ADUs as STRs, in which the building official has issues that he would like to raise, he could not get his written comments in time for the staff report. The ADU and str discussions have been going on for 5 months. We, the community, have taken the time to show up for every meeting and have participated in all the discussions. Town staff have had ample time to be part of the discussions to express any concerns, including last week’s planning commission public hearing. Over the last 5 months, we as the community have shown up and endured the overstep of self-direction with the insertion of language by town staff into draft ordinances not discussed or agreed by the planning commission or this town council. Missing meeting minutes, recording s for those meetings, and deceitful appearing stall tactics, including this one tonight. Citizens rely clear, consistent, and transparent government. When policies are subject to self-discretionary interpretation by town staff, it becomes difficult for residents to understand how decisions are made or how they can meaningfully engage in the process and it ultimately undermines our confidence in town decisions, processes, and governance as a whole this erosion and trust negatively impacts confidence not only in town staff but also in town management, boards, commissions, and ultimately town council. This issue is specifically troubling at this time as our town is emerging on the largest master planning effort is has every undertaken.
The strategic core values, planning and zoning processes, and the development standards of our town require open dialogue and transparency to preserve the long-term character of this community. It is most important that the evident cracks in the foundation of our town government, this topic is one example and cannot be ignored. The development of an agreed upon professional values by our town staff and town council is very important. Regardless of the acronym, right now, if it’s par or cape, they have no merit in restoring lost confidence in town governance and reinforcing the commitment to public trust. If there is no accountability for when those values have been neglected or ignored. Addressing the lack of adherence to these values is critical to restoring public confidence and ensuring fair, predictable, and policy-driven processes that serve the best interests of this community.
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Awesome! Thanks for posting!
We submitted ours (2) on the first day it came out. I guess council is looking for "better" answers!