This opinion is special to the Mirror by Jason Van Marter.
This speaks so poorly of how our town is handling situations.
Our police officer has been removed from his position for almost 2 weeks with no investigation or word of how this may move forward or end. And in the process we are being told that the Northampton County Sheriff’s office will be patrolling our town……
This council has done nothing but try to railroad the Marc Marshall and the Cheriton Police from the very beginning even after they voted it in! And the only thing I saw before from the Northampton Police was them sitting on the highway writing tickets and then speeding through our town themselves.
I have been to multiple Council meetings before the department was formed where I strongly voiced my concern over the safety concern for my children with the reckless traffic through town. When Marc Marshall was put into position the speeding through town slowed down tremendously and I personally felt better about walking my children around town. We live in a small area and as soon as word got out that Marc was not in his position the speeding picked up again. The only action the town made was to put Northampton Police back on the highway to source income from the town and allow them to speed through our town again. How is this keeping our citizens and children safe?
This town is not looking to protect its citizens! This town is looking for a piggy bank through ticket writing and seems to be trying to accomplish this by disrupting not only a man and his family but a town full of families and children that are potential victims.
What will it take for this Council to wake up!?
The timeline and overall context of the Cheriton Police Department saga is not being accurately reported.
The Cheriton Police Department was created in September 2017 primarily to generate revenue from traffic violation fines since the town’s primary revenue source–a voluntary overtime program with the Northampton County Sheriff’s Department–was ending. For years Cheriton had relied on money from this grant-funded program in which Sheriff’s deputies worked voluntary overtime to run radar on Rt. 13. Over half–56%–of the town’s revenue in fiscal year 2016/2017 came from a handful of deputies choosing to work overtime running radar on Rt. 13.. Cheriton’s FY 2017/2018 budget list 22% of revenue coming from the Northampton County Sheriff’s Department, and 25% from the newly-formed Cheriton Police Department.
Here are some dollar amounts to go with the percentages given above. It’s worth noting that Cheriton has no real estate or personal property tax. I’m not arguing for or against any sort of tax; just stating that there’s no major revenue stream from taxation.
FY 2016/2017 Budget
Revenue from Northampton County Traffic Enforcement $147,513 (56% of total)
Revenue from Cheriton Police Department Traffic Enforcement n/a
FY 2017/2018 Budget
Revenue from Northampton County Traffic Enforcement $47,172 (22% of total)
Revenue from Cheriton Police Department Traffic Enforcement $54,150 (25% of total)
FY 2018/2019 Budget
Revenue from Northampton County Traffic Enforcement 0
Revenue from Cheriton Police Department Traffic Enforcement $150,000 (52% of total)
For anyone wondering, Cheriton’s cash cow before traffic violation fines was bank franchise fees. Since FY 2016/2017 they’ve mde up about 6% of town revenue.
Here’s the timeline of events covering the creation of and apparent demise of the Cheriton Police Department.
9/11/2017: Special Meeting of the Cheriton Town Council
Three motions were passed to create the Cheriton Police Department.
Motion 1. To Develop a Resolution/Ordinance to establish a police department for the Town of Cheriton, Virginia based on Virginia Code 15.2-1701, effective September 11, 2017.
Aye: Dan Dabinett, Barry Downing, Mary Lena Mears, Norma Spencer, Wesley Travis
Absent: Robert Lewis
Nay: None
Motion 2. To hire Marc Marshall as Chief of Police for the Town of Cheriton.
Aye: Dan Dabinett, Barry Downing, Norma Spencer, Wesley Travis
Absent: Robert Lewis
Abstained: Mary Lena Mears
Nay: None
Motion 3. To Purchase car & equipment not to exceed 40,000 and get a preliminary budget.
Aye: Dan Dabinett, Barry Downing, Mary Lena Mears, Norma Spencer, Wesley Travis
Absent: Robert Lewis
Nay: None
I started hearing enough gossip about the Police Department and who was for and against it that I started going to town council meetings in 2018 and requested copies of meeting minutes from 2017. The combination of first-hand experience and offical records is eye-opening.
What’s not reported in the 2/7/2018 Town Council meeting minutes is how Norma Spencer spoke at length and in circles going over figures from the Police Department budget. Mayor Joe Habel pointed out inaccuracies and contradictions in her statements. She continued to argue. From what I witnessed at the meeting, Councilmembers Spencer and Mears were trying to get rid of the department they voted to create, claiming that the town can’t afford it. The other councilmen were quiet. Spencer and Habel did most of the talking.
On 2/20 three-term mayor Joe Habel resigned. Former Northampton County Supervisor Larry Lemond was appointed interim mayor on 2/26.
Arguments over the Police Department and its funding continued to dominate official and unofficial town business. Ask anyone who regularly attended Town Council meetings or attended the Candidates’ Forum in April 2018. Some of the councilmembers who’d voted to create the Police Department continued to attack it despite the fact that Chief Marshall consistently brought in revenue. The department literally paid for itself as well as other town expenses.
May 2018 General Elections (* indicates incumbents)
Mayor: Larry Lemond
Town Council: Jacqueline Davis, Barry Downing*, Robert Lewis*, Norma Spencer*, Wesley Travis*, Matthew Yancy
On June 27, despite continued arguing through May and June over the Police Department and its budget, the Town Council adopted the proposed FY 2018/2019 budget by unanimous vote. Included was approval to purchase hardware and software compatible with the Sheriff’s and other local law enforcement department’s systems. None of this was a surprise to the Town Council.
Things seemed to quiet down. Revenue was being collected. Then on 8/17 the Police Chief was put on administrative leave. No notice given to residents. Some of us noticed the squad car sitting outside Town Hall. Chief Marshall had been tasked with bringing in 52% of town revenue. What on earth was going on?
On 8/27 the media began reporting about Police Chief being on leave. Mayor Lemond gave no details.
Two days later the Town Council held a Special Meeting. After a two-hour closed session, the Council announced that Chief Marshall’s employment had been terminated by near-unanimous vote. Only Councilman Travis voted nay.
Late last week the town announced a work session for 9/5 at 7 p.m. The primary item on the agenda is “Discuss options to replace lost revenue stream.”
It sounds like the Cheriton Town Council, after nearly a year of infighting and turmoil, has decided to do away with the one-man police department it created to replace the revenue that had been coming from a handful of sheriff’s deputies working voluntary overtime.
The lack of leadership, planning, and culpability demonstrated by Cheriton’s elected officials is impressive.
Correction to my earlier comment: the Sheriff”s Department voluntary overtime program wasn’t ending in 2017. It was not bringing in as much money as it had previously due to deputies working less overtime and one deputy retiring.