Somebody whose name you didn’t know is going to retire from a position that you didn’t know existed, despite that it’s a position that you may well have cast a vote for just a few years ago. In a press release, Charlottesville has announced that Lee Richards, the Commissioner of the Revenue, will not be running for reelection. Richards has held the position for twenty years. As soon as people figure out what the Commissioner of the Revenue actually does, no doubt we’ll muster a candidate or two to vie to replace Richards, and we’ll cast our votes based on our finely honed ability to judge which candidate will better commission revenue their party membership.
Oh, democracy.
Knowing Lee Richards can enrich your life. He’s easily the most individualistic, iconoclastic office holder in the area. He brought ten times more ability to the office than was needed for the job, and all the integrity anyone could ask. Check out his house in Meadowbrook Heights for an example of green power.
FYI, most holders of small town or rural county “constitutional offices” in the south are not whiz kids, and few of them ever master their office responsibilities. The recent circuit court clerks of Charlottesville and Albemarle are shameful examples of that. Both those offices should have turned over at least one term before they finally did.
@ Council : ditto, ten times over. Among constitutional officers & other city department heads, he is possessed of infinitely more integrity, compassion, & intelligence than his peers. The city has been fortunate to have such a public servant, & his staff has been fortunate to work for him. This guy is that rarity, the real deal in local government, & that’s a tough act to follow.
Whoever takes that slot has to deal with a staff that is devoted and loyal to Lee as well as enjoy stacks of papers that flood that office. Any sucker that goes in trying to “fix” that office is toast. He is the antithesis of the government bureaucrat…
I want to make sure whoever I vote for has been trained on the new money.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/va-politics/bill-to-create-alternate-currency-for-va-inches-forward/2013/01/25/8753b766-66fd-11e2-93e1-475791032daf_allComments.html?ctab=all_&
“Council of the Stone Table”, you referred to office holders in the south as not being whiz kids. Where are they whiz kids then? I used to live in Mass. for many years and many office holders there were parochial, favored relatives, took bribes – what was whiz kid about that?
Your comment at that point seem to be a gratuitous dig. There are good and bad officials, elected and not, everywhere.