The battle lines have been clearly drawn for years now as Dixon Leatherbury has announced his candidacy for District 4, taking on Wellington Neck’s Roberta Kellam.
Leatherbury is the owner of Seaside Hops, grower of hops for the microbrewery industry and manufacturer of specialty hops machinery including hops harvesters.
The embarrassing fiasco that is now known as the 2015 zoning fight pitted Kellam, who apparently was appointed troll to guard the genteel parcels on the Neck from swarthy ne’er do wells, against Leatherbury who, as a member of the Planning Commission, was a proponent of the proposed zoning.
Hopefully, this will be a fun and nasty campaign.
Paul Plante says
And now that the contest has come to the pages of the Cape Charles Mirror, the whole wide world is tuning in to see where this contest is going to go.
Many of us older folks who used to get our entertainment from the National Lampoon, and Fernwood Tonight, and Twin Peaks and Fargo and Green Acres who were lamenting their passing have subsequently discovered the joy of reading the Cape Charles Mirror, which on a weekly basis gives us a nice blend of those five, with real life characters such as “Mr. Willy Dee” Leatherbury, aka William, Dixon and Dixion, which shows the gentleman has panache, having a bunch of names where the average person has but the one, to either hiss at, or cheer, as the case may be.
And with his long and well-documented political history, which William has assembled for all the world to share in an internet site he has titled “MY LIFE William Leatherbury,” an interesting read, indeed, former fans of Twin Peaks have come to see him as the Ben Horne of this political thriller that has people all over the world quite literally at the edge of their seats now that “Willy Dee” has thrown his hat into the ring and announced his intention to crush Roberta Kellum flat, which with his popularity on the Eastern Shore of Virginia as a vital cog in the beer-making industry in America, he may well be able to do, which will gain him the further title of the Man Who Finally Put Down The Wellington Neck Rebellion Against Progress In Virginia, which is sure to earn him a place in the history books of the future.
Speaking of making it into the history books, as his plethora of fans in the world are hoping for with a huge win over his competitor, William D. has been doing quite well in making a name for himself in the Eastern Shore Post as a man of action and discernment, as in the recent story “No Love Lost Over Proposed Northampton Wedding Venue” by Stefanie Jackson on April 12, 2019, as follows:
The Northampton planning commission was left to reconsider the effectiveness of its communication following two long and contentious public hearings April 2.
Eyre Baldwin, of Pearl LLC, received the planning commission’s approval for a minor special use permit (SUP) to convert an old farm shed into a new business he called a “food hub,” where customers can buy wholesale or retail, fresh and prepared local foods.
However, that conclusion was reached after an hour-long inquisition that left Baldwin wondering aloud if keeping people in business “means nothing” to the planning commission.
The Northampton board of supervisors granted the special use permit April 9 and removed several of the 10 conditions set by the planning commission.
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Hmmmmmm, perhaps it was just an off-night as far as communicating goes!
I mean,. let’s face it, they are only human like the rest of us, so why should we expect perfection in them when it comes to communicating?
And with respect to providing entertainment to a world that simply does not have enough hero figures like Dixion Leatherbury to look up to, that story gets better and better, as follows:
The planning commission did not approve a major special use permit for John and Linda Cleaveland, of Franktown, to use their land as an event venue – also after about an hour of discussion.
That matter was tabled until May.
Linda Cleaveland concluded her remarks to the planning commission with, “If you want a good story, we can dig up a lot of dirt on this county.”
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Now, let’s face it, people – we are all adults here, afterall, – that is the kind of rhetoric that draws the folks in, to wit: “If you want a good story, we can dig up a lot of dirt on this county.”
Now, that sentence alone in the minds of the many readers around the world of the CCM has set the stage for what is yet to come in the District 4 race, which the odds-makers have already handed to William D. Leatherbury, and people are wondering now about what kind of dirt is going to come out in this race.
Getting back to that drama, which has set the stage for all the drama concerning Wellin gton Neck that is yet to come, we have:
The former wedding planner had begun by saying she believes hosting weddings on the 65-acre property with a water view would present “a wonderful opportunity for Northampton County” for economic growth and to “show these people how beautiful the Eastern Shore is.”
“I love weddings,” she said.
But Commissioner Janet Sturgis didn’t love the zoning application.
The directions for filling out the application requested an “accurately scaled plat,” but instead commissioners received a marked-up aerial photo.
The notes written on the photo did not include all the required information, such as the distances between buildings, streets, and property lines.
“I can’t accept this,” Sturgis said.
She questioned why a note said 500 guests would need 167 parking spaces, or one space for every three guests, when staff recommended a maximum of 150 guests.
Linda Cleaveland attempted to estimate how many guests she wanted to host, but her husband later balked at the questions.
“Why don’t you folks get together and decide what the limitations are … make it simple, not like Washington,” he said.
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And whoa, people, was that a low blow thrown there at the Planning Commission, comparing them to the mess in Washington. D.C., or what?
Getting back to the saga:
Furthermore, Sturgis was perplexed by a letter from the Virginia Eastern Shore Land Trust, which has a conservation easement on the Cleaveland property.
The letter contained awkward wording that could have been interpreted to mean weddings up to seven days long were permitted.
“Maybe you need to go back to English class,” Linda Cleaveland said.
“Excuse me?” Sturgis replied.
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Now seriously, people – name off one TV show today that has those kinds of action lines in it, and good luck is my thought.
That is the stuff good TV drama is made of right there, and in spades, which takes us back for even more drama made for TV, as follows:
Commissioner Glen Anders raised concern about the safety and accessibility of the long dirt road leading to the property.
Later, Sturgis seemed to hit a nerve when she said commissioners also need to discuss a 2017 resource protection area violation on the property, and Linda Cleaveland said she would “open a can of worms” if there were any questions about it.
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And there is what people across the world are now braced for – what will be in the can of worms?
And will it be opened before election day?
People certainly do hope so, as it will add yet another element of suspense to this already suspenseful and lop-sided contest between William Leatherbury and Roberta Kellum, which takes us back to the story as follows, to wit:
Before the Cleavelands left, Chairman Dixon Leatherbury hit them with the news that the SUP for their private air strip had expired because they had sold some of their land and their property had fallen below the minimum area required for the permit.
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As I say, a real take-charge dude in the mold of Teddy Roosevelt, himself, going up San Juan Hill as we all remember from high school history class.
To close, we, the citizens of the candid world who now turn to the Cape Charles Mirror for our news and views of the world sincerely hope that the Cape Charles Mirror will give the contest the coverage it deserves, and thus, our precious democracy in America which has been severely tested by the Russians will not only be served, but will be conserved, as well.
Paul Plante says
I have been a student of politics, defined as the science or art of government or of the administration and management of public or state affairs; as well as the affairs or activities of those who are engaged in controlling or seeking to control a government or its offices or departments; also, the life, profession or area of activity of such persons; and the principles, aims, or policies of a government or of the parties or groups within a government; and the acts or practices of those who seek any position of power, authority, or advantage; and finally, political sentiments or opinions, for over fifty years now, and never in my memory have I seen a contest like this one, where thanks to the Cape Charles Mirror, the issues are now so well framed. and the candidates are so well known that as they go into the campaign season, neither has anything to say, beyond Ms. Kellum running on a platform of “I’m not William D. Leatherbury,” with Planning Board Chairman Dixon Leatherbury countering with “Well, I’m not Roberta Kellum, and thank the good lord for that,” and since Ms. Kellum has chosen a campaign of silence so that the issues can speak for themselves, her half of that debate is not going to happen, which leaves the ball firmly in the court of Planning Board Chairman Leatherbury as to what he is going to do for his campaign, beyond resting on his considerable laurels gained while serving the community as its planning board chairman so as to be able to protect it from having Lear jets screaming low over their heads scaring the bejaysus out of them as they whisk wedding guests from all over the globe to the week-long weddings to be held on Wellington Neck, which saga was very well documented by the Cape Charles Mirror in a dramatic story entitled “Rich, Angry White People go to War on Wellington Neck” on 14 April 2019 where the battle lines defining this present contest were drawn, as follows:
A request to open a wedding venue by Linda and John Cleaveland of 6171 Water View Way has opened up old animosities and put the Wellington Neck crowd on the war path.
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And from there we go to the campaign announcement of Planning Board Chairman Leatherbury which confirms the issues before the District 4 electors in this contest as follows:
The battle lines have been clearly drawn for years now as Dixon Leatherbury has announced his candidacy for District 4, taking on Wellington Neck’s Roberta Kellam.
The embarrassing fiasco that is now known as the 2015 zoning fight pitted the droning Kellam, who apparently was appointed troll to guard the genteel parcels on the Neck from swarthy ne’er do wells, against Leatherbury who, as a member of the Planning Commission, was a proponent of the proposed zoning.
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And there it is, quite explicitly and concisely stated, what is at stake in this up-coming District 4 Supervisor’s race, so what more can really be said?
And with that said, we regular and faithful readers of the Mirror are hoping that the Linda Cleaveland character can get some more screen time in this drama, because by far, to date, she has had the best lines, and people look forward to hearing from her a lot more often for spirited debate such as this:
“Maybe you need to go back to English class,” Linda Cleaveland said.
“Excuse me?” Sturgis replied.
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And how about this: Linda Cleaveland concluded her remarks to the planning commission with, “If you want a good story, we can dig up a lot of dirt on this county.”
Now, let me tell you, that line has people across the world literally sitting on the edge of their seats, just as I am doing right now, sitting there in a state of suspense, wondering if the lost dirt on Hillary Clinton might be in there somewhere, along with the other dirt on the county, which again has people waiting with bated breaths to see where that part of the story is going to go, and will it take Mr. Dixon Leatherbury with it?
Or leave him unscathed?
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