Henhouse antics

What do chickens and Rappahannock’s Board of Supervisors have in common? They both lay eggs! The major difference is that the Board lays its eggs in full public view.

Unfortunately, the Board’s recent vote to table a watered-down proposed Code of Ethics and Conduct is but the most recent example that the County is being led by a bunch of chickens.

Unable or unwilling to act affirmatively, the Board’s vote left a scrambled mess that should leave citizens of the County scratching their heads. Indeed, the Board’s latest egg is hard to digest.

Given that this flock of elected officials faces multiple legal and ethical challenges one would have rightly assumed that the Board would have hot-footed to adopt a Code of Ethics and Conduct designed to facilitate civil behavior, productive debates, greater cooperation and, ultimately, to finding the currently missing common ground on which to build consensus and solve the very real problems facing the County. Adopting the Code would

certainly not have solved every issue or problem but it would have done much to repair the Board’s fouled image.

Regrettably, at their last gathering, a majority chickened out on their public responsibility to restore faith and confidence in our local government. Thus, instead of attempting to distinguish themselves from their feathered relatives, the majority pecked at their colleagues, puffed their chests, clucked protests and crowed for “respect”. In the end, the majority (Frazier, Parrish and Smith) voted to kill this simple, common sense approach for one single reason: They chickened out!! Consequently, Supervisors, who act and sound like chickens, deserve neither our respect nor our support.

Should this game of, and with, chickens continue, which is likely, voters would be well advised to consider dropping these birds into the electoral stew pot this November and starting over with a group that is capable of doing more than just making noise and fluttering around the henhouse. Mike Ferrell Amissville