BreakDown: The Halifax County Stalemate

BreakDown articles are in-depth articles where I analyze and comment on what’s really happening. They’re opinion based, and I strongly encourage criticism and opposing viewpoints. I’m expecting to ruffle a few feathers on this one.

After going over the latest developments in the Halifax County Board of Supervisors deadlock over naming a new chairman, I’ve connected enough dots to lead me to the cause of this idiotic situation. It’s Doug Bowman.

Here’s our first BreakDown article on the situation (a few days after it happened).

Let’s review the players and the teams in this game:

Team Giordano: Larry Giordano, Doug Bowman , J.T. Davis, Tom West

Team Claiborne: Bryant Claiborne, Barry Bank, Lottie Nunn, Hubert Pannell

This idiotic situation got weirder (yet much clearer to me) when the News & Record published this um… interesting article on Thursday…

Halifax County administrator draws fire from staff

Hello, News & Record? You have the amazing photographer David Conner on your staff. Couldn’t you get a better photo than that? Anyway, let’s talk about the article first on a Big Board.

• I know Kirby Saunders and I give him high credibility. I don’t know Robbie Love, but multiple sources vouched for him so I’m giving him high credibility too. Saunders has nothing to lose with his interview, but Love has a lot on the line.
• The statements from county administrator Jim Halasz and Finance Director Stephanie Jackson don’t do very much in rebutting Saunders and Love’s statements. In fact, their statements come pretty close to affirming the complaints.
• Regarding Earl Womack’s request for a black person to be appointed to his Board of Supervisors seat, I strongly objected to that as well. I didn’t like what was in the letter. I felt the contents were ridiculous. I think Earl Womack should have had the guts to stand in front of the public and read his letter himself. I didn’t think that because I was racist. I thought that because Earl Womack ran (and won) that seat while he knew he was under investigation for felony crimes. I’m not holding that against Halazs one bit.
• Love and Saunders’ statements show that there is a team effort between Bowman, Davis and West.
• Finally, County Administrator Jim Halasz isn’t “Grandpa” George Nester, his predecessor. Halasz’s management style is hands-on and that’s going to piss off a lot of county employees. Halasz has no authority over the Treasurer and Commissioner of Revenue because they’re Virginia Constitutional offices. But if those offices were eliminated and everything ran through the county’s finance office…

So how does all of this deal with the Board of Supervisors? Another Big Board, please.

• Doug Bowman has incessantly came up with ideas to get rid of the Treasurer and Commissioner of Revenue offices. He looked like an ass when he jumped all over them about back tax collections and bills not going out on time. Even after being told that this has never worked in Virginia, Bowman is still holding tight to the idea.
• Doug Bowman would be a poor choice for Board of Supervisors chairman because of his hotheadedness and even he probably knows that he’d never get the votes from Tom West or J.T. Davis.
• Larry Giordano is also a poor choice for chairman. He’s just not up to speed on how things work and has looked foolish at times in his first year. However, he’d be a perfect sockpuppet for Bowman so that Bowman could advance his agenda and stomp on Team Claiborne. A vote for Larry Giordano is a vote for Doug Bowman.

Now that Jim Halasz & Stephanie Jackson’s “partnership” has been exposed, you can why Team Claiborne is digging in their heels. If the Treasurer & Commissioner of Revenue’s offices get eliminated, it makes Jackson’s finance department super powerful. In turn, that makes Halasz and Team Giordano safe until the next election. Team Bowman’s ascent to the power position got derailed with Ray Owen lost his seat in the special election to Hubert Pannell. That turned Team Bowman’s 5-3 majority into a 4-4 tie.

So what’s going to happen? I am quite confident that nobody on Team Claiborne is going to flip to Team Bowman’s side, and I can’t blame them after these new things have been revealed. Claiborne, Pannell, Nunn and Bank are on the “right side” of this issue. Team Bowman controls the finance committee and they’re looking to control much more of the county government. That leaves someone on Team Bowman to defect to the other team. Another Big Board, please.

Who’s likely to defect and why?

• Doug Bowman: He’d have to abandon all of his plans and his ego to leave his own team. That ain’t gonna happen, folks.
• Larry Giordano: He might realize that he’s being used as the pawn in this game, but I’m betting he already knows that and just wants that title of chairman. I’m very doubtful on him abandoning the ship.
• Tom West or J.T. Davis: Ding ding ding! Either of the two could make a deal with Team Claiborne that might just include the vice-chairman position for whoever hits the buzzer and sells out first.

If Team Claiborne wins (and I hope that they do), that’s going to rightfully put heat on Jim Halasz and Stephanie Jackson. They might be packing their bags sooner than they’d want to.  You know we’re living in strange times when I think that Bizarre Barry Bank is on the right side of an issue. Heh.

As I said at the beginning of the article, this BreakDown is only my analysis of the situation and solely my opinion. I could be totally off-base on this, but I’ve connected the dots enough that I hope you consider what I’ve said. I highly encourage people to agree or disagree in the comments section below.

We’ve got more coming up on SouthsideCentral!