One government: Several opinions

An informal survey of prominent town residents who signed Joe Daniel’s One Government petition reveals a range of perspectives when it comes to abolishing the town of Culpeper.

One Culpeper native says he embraces the change, while a newer town resident feels he was misled into signing the petition. Two respondents say they like their town the way it is. Another declined to say how he would vote on the matter, adding only that he supports a citizen’s right to weigh in on issues through petition.

As Culpeper Town Council continues its court challenge of the process by which the One Government petitions were filed, questions remain about the outcome.

In the meantime, there are opinions aplenty about what consolidation means.

* ‘IDENTITY CRISIS’: Culpeper native David Leckie Gilmore says he willingly signed a petition sitting on the counter of his family’s Main Street auto shop because he felt consolidation of Culpeper’s governments could lead to better efficiency and fewer costs.

He said it makes no difference to him if the town becomes “a shire,” as proposed under the consolidation plan being developed by Town Council.

“I’ve always said Culpeper has an identity crisis,” said Gilmore, a musician. “This is the epitome of that.”

He advocates for more “simplicity” and less intrusion from the local governments.

“Especially when you play music, you are always trying to keep things simple,” Gilmore said, comparing government to a rock band with “way too many instruments and way too many rules.”

Gilmore says he would vote for consolidation when and if it comes to a referendum because “it would be a total move into new territory.” He was not concerned about losing municipal services like trash pickup, but admitted that he was probably not “the norm.”

“I am for change,” Gilmore said. “I have never fought it. I have always tried to embrace it.”

* A VOTE TO KEEP THE TOWN: The Rev. Bradley Hales, pastor at Reformation Lutheran Church on South Main Street, signed a document circulated by one of Daniel’s petition takers. Hales has lived in the town of Culpeper for about four years.

He says he signed the consolidation petition because it supported less duplication of services from the town and county. But now he’s having second thoughts.

“It was an opportunity to look at whether the town and county could cooperate with each other,” he said. “I had no sense that one municipality would be taking over the other.”

Per the draft plan developed by the town and now under review by the county, Culpeper town and county would be re-formed as a new Culpeper County. Town services like police and public works would be reorganized under the new government format with a newly elected governing body.

Hales says he had no idea the town would “go away” under the consolidation proposal.

“I would not support that,” he said. “I would probably vote to continue the town.”

Hales likes his town-supplied trash pickup, snow removal and electric system. “I just really like the town feeling,” he said, mentioning that, perhaps ironically, Culpeper Town celebrates its 250th anniversary next year.

* TOO MUCH TAXATION: Town native Tim Fant, owner of Fant’s BP on Bus. 29, doesn’t like having to pay a business license tax to the town.

That was the main reason he not only signed the consolidation petition but circulated a few as well. Yes, townsfolk receive more services, but they also pay more taxes, Fant said.

He argues that the town’s Business, Professional and Occupational License (or BPOL) tax is unfair, especially for his line of work.

“I haven’t ever figured out what I get for it,” Fant said, adding that the tax is based on gross sales and not net sales.

There’s a big disparity between gross and net when it comes to selling gasoline, he explains — as gas prices rise, the gross increases … but not the net.

“That has made my BPOL increase in comparison to another business type,” Fant said. “Where I might pay $2,000 a year for a business license, they might only pay $200.”

He also supported the consolidation initiative for its potential to streamline town and county services like building functions and parks and recreation.

“Maybe with these petitions being signed, it might make our elected officials look at some of their problems,” Fant said. “Apparently, it helped with the water and sewer issue,” he added of recent, renewed talks between the town and county about creating a regional water and sewer authority.

Fant says he thought the whole idea of One Government was to let the voters decide on it. And that’s just what will happen, eventually, in a referendum.

* SUPPORTING THE PROCESS: Tom Calhoun, owner of the iconic Calhoun’s Ham House on East Street, says he signed the consolidation petition last year because he supports the process of citizens “having the right to say whether they want it or not.”

Plus, the 45-year town resident says he knows firsthand how hard it is to get signatures on a petition, having run for House of Delegates and supporting his daughter Terry Yowell’s successful bid for county commissioner of the revenue.

“How I will vote on (consolidation), I won’t tell you,” Calhoun said, adding that he wished to acknowledge how hard local government works. “I don’t want to act like I’m telling the town and county what to do; as much as I criticize, it’s a tough job.”

As for the decades-long impasse between the town and county over the provision of water and sewer — a problem many people believe drove Daniel, a developer, to start the consolidation process — Calhoun thinks that issue should have been resolved years ago.

“They have come to the brink three or four times and then backed off,” Calhoun said. “So I think they ought to work toward something and leave the personalities out of it.”

* MISLED? Five-year town resident Jon Krawchuk, station manager at Channel 21, said he felt he was misled into signing a consolidation petition.

“When it was proposed to me,” Krawchuk said, “I asked, ‘Is this in favor of consolidation?’ and (the petition-taker) said, ‘No, but it can’t hurt to look into it.’ ”

In actuality, the 15 percent of town voters who signed the petition last year — just less than 1,000 — was enough to spark the consolidation process, per state law. The ultimate decision, however, lies with voters from both the town and county.

A date for a referendum has not yet been set, as the town is challenging the process by which Daniel turned in the completed petitions, namely the fact that Town Council and the circuit court never received a copy.

The town’s special consolidation lawyer, Carter Glass IV of Richmond, said Friday he hoped to set a date for a court hearing on the matter next week. Daniel said he is waiting on his attorney to decide when he will follow a response to the town’s motion to dismiss the consolidation effort.

At the time that Krawchuk signed the petition, he said, he had no idea it would mean the dissolution of the town of Culpeper as it exists today.

“I would not support that,” he said, “especially when we’re getting ready to celebrate our 250th anniversary.”

* FRIENDLY FAVOR: Town resident Nancy Cannon, owner of Cannon Properties, says she signed the petition as a personal friend of Mr. Daniel.

The 28-year resident of the town favors consolidating services that would benefit town and county residents, but she adds that many details need to be flushed out before she decides how to vote on One Government.

Asked how she felt about the town becoming a shire, Cannon replied, “That’s a tough one. I love our town.”

Allison Brophy Champion can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 101 or