Bryce Whitlow throws a baseball. He's been unable to play the game he loves for several years due to a genetic arthritis disorder, but has recently received treatment that's improved his condition. He hopes to play in a men's league next year.
Bryce Whitlow throws a baseball. He's been unable to play the game he loves for several years due to a genetic arthritis disorder, but has recently received treatment that's improved his condition. He hopes to play in a men's league next year.
A formal complaint filed earlier this month is alleging several instances of misconduct from three members of the Franklin County Board of Supervisors going back several years.
The 71-page complaint was filed July 1 by three Franklin County residents who have asked to remain anonymous. It claims Franklin County Board of Supervisors Chair Lorie Smith, Vice Chair Nick Mitchell and County Administrator Steve Sandy violated state law and county policy in decisions made.
Franklin County Board of Supervisors Chair Lorie Smith, from left, and Vice Chair Nick Mitchell listen to public comments and discuss the impact of a potential data center on the county's water supply during the board's July 21 meeting.
"The evidence presented herein documents a consistent pattern of conduct in which significant decisions about public money and public business were made outside of public meetings; in which the agenda of the full board was controlled by two members and the county administrator to the exclusion of the remaining five; in which individual supervisors issued direct instructions to county staff in violation of the county's own rules and procedure and the county's administrator's employment contract; and in which a board member with an ongoing appointment to a government-funded regional body voted on that body's funding without making the on-record disclosure required by Virginia law," the formal complaint read in its introduction.
The matter was first reported by WSET (Channel 13) and WSLS (Channel 10).
The complaint alleges, based on information drawn from Virginia Freedom of Information Act records and board meeting minutes, the three public officials broke the Virginia Open Meetings Act, the State and Local Government Conflict of Interest Act as well as Franklin County rules of procedure. Those accusations come from documents and allegations going back as far as February 2023.
One claim of the formal complaint is that Smith made decisions while holding a dual role of Gills Creek District representative on the Franklin County Board of Supervisors and member of the Tri-County Lakes Administrative Commission that oversees Smith Mountain Lake. She stepped down as chair of TLAC last year and became board of supervisors chair in January.
According to the complaint, Smith made decisions as a member of the board of supervisors on TLAC funding without disclosing what they claim as a conflict of interest. The three counties surrounding Smith Mountain Lake, including Franklin County, provide funding for TLAC.
The formal complaint also alleges county budget decisions made by email, outside of a public meeting. It shows documents sent out between May 5 and May 15 on a series of budget issues along with email votes between supervisors. Votes are supposed to take place in public meetings.
Other allegations in the complaint include unilateral decisions restricting public access to meetings, unilateral decisions on board communication policy, systematic control of information flow to the full board and suppression of a board member's motion. The board member whose motion was said to be suppressed in the complaint was Union Hall District representative Dan Quinn, who requested a moratorium on solar development but was said to be blocked by Smith, Mitchell and Sandy.
Smith did not respond to calls for comment on the allegations in the formal complaint.
County Attorney Jim Guynn, in an interview with WSLS aired Friday evening, disputed the conflict of interest allegation against Smith, saying participation in a regional governmental organization does not pose a conflict because there is no financial gain involved. He also said Virginia law allows elected officials to discuss county business in pairs, as long as it does not constitute an official meeting.
Franklin County resident Dennis Crumpler is not involved with the filed complaint, but he has been pushing for more oversight of supervisors for more than a year. That effort has increased with documents showing the county in discussions to possibly bring a data center to the Summit View Business Park without public input.
Opponents of "Project Flash," a data center proposed for Franklin County's Summit View Business Park, packed the board of supervisors meeting July 21 in Rocky Mount.
More than 200 people packed a board meeting last Tuesday to complain about the county's lack of transparency on the data center project, known as Project Flash in county documents obtained by data center opponents through FOIA requests.
"Decisions or votes involving taxpayer money have been done outside of what is legally required," Crumpler said of the complaint. "The law is clear. Anything to do with commitment of taxpayer dollars in Franklin County by those supervisors have to have their butts in seats voting on the record. Period. Full stop."
The complaint has been moved to review by a special prosecutor, Bethany Harrison, who serves as commonwealth's attorney for Lynchburg. Franklin County Commonwealth's Attorney Cooper Brown asked to move the complaint citing a potential conflict of interest because the board of supervisors provides funding to his office.
Jason Dunovant (540) 981-3324
Opponents of "Project Flash," a data center proposed for Franklin County's Summit View Business Park addresses the board of supervisors during…
Virginia's 9th Congressional District stretches from Bedford and Franklin counties all the way to the Tennessee border.
BLACKSBURG — U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, has received nearly six times more campaign contributions in 2026 than his three Democratic challengers combined, according to July campaign finance disclosures.
Joy Powers, Adam Murphy and Douglas Crockett will compete in an Aug. 4 primary for the Democratic nomination to challenge Griffith as he seeks a ninth term representing Virginia's 9th Congressional District, which covers most of Southwest Virginia.
Karen Hult, a political science professor at Virginia Tech, said the fundraising disparity reflects the perception among donors that the district is “uncompetitive.”
Griffith defeated Democrat Karen Baker in 2024 with 72.5% of the vote, reinforcing the district's reputation as one of the commonwealth’s safest Republican seats.
"The three challengers are simply new to the game and are not necessarily seen by anyone inside or outside the district as having much of a chance to get many votes or really to push Mr. Griffith out of office," she said.
Powers, a 33-year-old cattle farmer from Bedford County, leads the Democratic field with about $71,000 raised this year. Murphy, 30, the most progressive of the three candidates, follows with about $39,000. Crockett, 66, a retired pastor and attorney, has raised just under $9,000.
Murphy
Crockett
Powers
A staunch ally of President Donald Trump, Griffith has raised about $643,000 this year.
Hult said the lack of fundraising intensity cuts both ways. Griffith continues to receive routine contributions from longtime supporters and interest groups, but Republican donors also have little incentive to spend heavily in a district widely viewed as safe.
Hult
"There isn't necessarily much of an incentive for anyone to do anything other than give the typical: 'this is my conventional contribution to Mr. Griffith to show my support for him staying in office and to indicate that I want to keep my access to him open for other reasons,'" she said.
Griffith's top donors include statewide associations representing lawyers, Realtors and bankers, along with Dominion Energy, Altria, Verizon, Elevance Health, formerly Anthem, and Republican political action committees.
The Democratic candidates have relied primarily on individual contributions, supplemented by modest support from Democratic committees and advocacy groups.
Powers, the top Democratic fundraiser, has received $4,250 from WinVirginia, a group of business and technology leaders "striving to make democracy work again," and $1,000 from the environmentally focused Clean Virginia Fund.
"In a district like this one, it really is going to be an issue of with whom do people have local, professional, religious and other connections," Hult said. "As well as what kind of efforts has the candidate made to branch out into other organizations and advocacy groups in Virginia and around the country."
The gap widens when looking at cash on hand.
Each Democratic candidate reported less than $20,000 available in July, with Powers again leading the field. Griffith, meanwhile, reported more than $1 million in cash on hand.
Powers reported about $18,000 on hand, compared with roughly $5,000 for Murphy and a $1,000 negative balance for Crockett.
The Republican incumbent is likely holding much of that war chest in reserve until after the Democratic primary determines his opponent. During the most recent reporting period, he spent roughly one-quarter of his available funds.
Griffith's approximately $230,000 in expenditures went toward staff salaries, travel, campaign consultants and media appearances. That total alone exceeds the combined amount raised this year by all three Democratic candidates.
Hult said she expects campaign spending to increase after the primary but believes Democratic donors are likely to prioritize more competitive races elsewhere in Virginia.
She pointed to the 5th Congressional District, where three Democrats and two Republicans are competing in primaries, and Virginia's 6th Congressional District, where Democrat Beth Macy of Roanoke is challenging Republican incumbent Ben Cline of Botetourt County.
"There's a whole range of things that money can be used for, and it can contribute to a candidate being more competitive in a district," Hult said. "Does it guarantee winning? It absolutely does not."
Ethan Hunt (540) 381-1678
Virginia voters won't have to wait until Super Tuesday to pick a Democratic presidential candidate in 2028.
The Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee proposed Virginia as the sixth state on the early presidential primary calendar in 2028, with the election scheduled on Feb. 29 — leap day. It will follow Democratic presidential primaries in South Carolina, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Michigan under the calendar that the committee adopted on Friday.
The decision means that Virginia won't have to compete with other states for the attention of presidential candidates, as it did on Super Tuesday in early March.
"The main thing is moving it up before Super Tuesday," said Sen. Lamont Bagby, D-Henrico, chairman of the Democratic Party of Virginia, after the committee vote on Friday.
"It's a great opportunity for presidential candidates to come and really earn the votes of a particular state," Bagby said.
Bagby
Gov. Abigail Spanberger and leaders of the Democratic-controlled General Assembly formally asked the DNC committee in January to grant Virginia a waiver to hold its presidential primary within the party's early presidential nominating window.
"This is a huge deal," House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, said in an interview on Friday. "At the end of the day, it underscores the importance that Virginia plays in national politics."
Gov. Abigail Spanberger shared the news on X.com, formerly Twitter.
"Virginia's electorate reflects the breadth of the modern Democratic coalition and offers a meaningful test of any presidential candidate's ability to build durable support across diverse constituencies and regions," Spanberger's tweet read.
"We also have robust election administration, extensive in-person early voting, same-day voter registration, and broad absentee voting access, which will ensure that a presidential primary will be accessible, orderly, and reflective of sustained voter engagement," she wrote.
The new primary calendar also makes it more likely that Virginia voters will have their say before a candidate effectively clinches the party nomination.
"It was a great win for Virginia," former Gov. Terry McAuliffe said in an interview on Friday.
McAuliffe argues that Virginia's geographic and cultural diversity, including its large population of active-duty U.S. military personnel and veterans, makes it an important test for presidential candidates.
McAuliffe
"You've got to have a message for all parts of Virginia," he said. "If you can't win Virginia, you can't win the general election."
McAuliffe was chairman of the Democratic National Committee in 2004, when it shook up the primary calendar to move South Carolina, Michigan and Nevada to the front of the calendar. "This is the next big change," he said.
The former governor, who led the national party committee from 2001 to 2005, was part of the Virginia delegation that lobbied for the change, along with Bagby, former Virginia Democratic Chair Susan Swecker and Mike Henry, chief of staff to U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.
"We brought all assets to bear," he said.
Swecker, a member of the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee, nominated Virginia as the fifth state on the calendar, but the panel voted to add New Mexico at the same time as it juggled the importance of geography and key Democratic constituencies in the party vote.
"We have a very engaged electorate in Virginia," she told the committee. "We have elections every year."
Swecker said that Virginia voters also pay close attention to what's happening in Washington, D.C., under President Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress, and how it affects all parts of the state.
"We are in tune and rigorous," she said.
Virginia Democrats also control the governor's office and both chambers of the General Assembly, which the national party is counting on to ensure that the state agrees to hold the primary election on Feb. 29, 2028.
Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, said the state's elevation on the national political calendar is overdue.
"Our Commonwealth's diversity, economic strength, and political importance have too often been taken for granted in the presidential process," Surovell said in a statement on Friday. "This early primary designation finally gives Virginia the platform it has always merited."
He was among Democratic leaders who wrote a letter to the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee on Jan. 26 — just nine days after Spanberger's inauguration as Virginia's first female governor — to argue the state's case for moving up in the national presidential nominating process.
They cited the state's "demonstrated capacity to administer a rigorous, fair, and transparent presidential nominating contest and its consistent record of national leadership within the Democratic Party," they wrote.
"Virginia's electorate reflects the breadth of the modern Democratic coalition and provides a meaningful test of presidential candidates' ability to build durable support across diverse constituencies and regions," they said.
They also cited the state's expanded opportunities for voters through "extensive early in-person voting, same-day voter registration, and broad absentee voting access, ensuring that participation in a Virginia presidential primary is accessible, orderly, and reflective of sustained voter engagement rather than single-day turnout dynamics."
Michael Martz (804) 649-6964
Watch Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger delivers the Democratic response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address.
Franklin County is one of several Virginia localities that will be putting an additional 1% sales tax on the ballot this November.
The decision comes after Virginia legislators approved and Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed a budget bill that includes giving localities the authority to use a 1% sales tax to address educational infrastructure needs. The measure is contingent on being approved by voters.
The Franklin County Board of Supervisors last Tuesday approved a resolution requesting the referendum be on the ballot this November. The board joined other localities in quickly approving the resolution to give election officials enough time to add the referendum by Election Day.
County Administrator Steve Sandy said Franklin County has joined other localities in recent years pushing for the opportunity to put the sales tax on the ballot for voters. This comes after Richmond approved the measure in only nine localities back in 2019 and 2020, including nearby Henry and Pittsylvania counties.
Giving localities the ability to impose a 1% sales tax was seen by lawmakers in Richmond as a way for localities to better address growing school renovation and construction needs. According to Sandy, Franklin County Public School has more than $100 million in capital improvement needs including the construction of a new career and technical education facility.
"The thinking here is that this helps the board not have to raise real estate taxes for debt related to schools," Sandy said.
Sandy said the county estimates the sales tax would generate as much as $7 million in additional revenue for the county for school construction and renovation needs. The real estate tax rate would need to be increased by as much as 7 cents to generate a similar amount of revenue, he added.
"Rather than raising the real estate tax, this is an opportunity to generate funding to help pay off that debt with a portion of that being provided by folks that don't live in the county. So it is not all on the back of the taxpaying citizens," Sandy said.
Tourists and other visitors who purchase items in Franklin County would share in the sales tax.
At last Tuesday's Franklin County Board of Supervisors meeting, School Superintendent Kevin Siers urged a series a town hall meetings and informational campaigns on the proposed sales tax. He said it would give the school district the opportunity to express their needs in the school system and answer questions from the public.
"I think that we all recognize it is not going to be an easy sell this fall giving everything that has been going on with our regular operating budget and what seems to be a growing distrust between the public and our local government officials," Siers said last Tuesday.
Supervisors are currently considering HVAC replacements at Calloway, Snow Creek and Rocky Mount elementary schools that are expected to cost millions. There is also a new career and technical education facility currently in the planning stage that will require significant renovations of the former Mod-U-Kraf building in Rocky Mount.
Sandy said the county will likely have to borrow funds to pay for the growing school capital improvement needs. Those borrowed funds would be paid back much faster if the sales tax is in place.
If voters approved the sales tax this November, Sandy said it could go into effect as early as Jan. 1. It would also have an expiration date of 20 years, meaning the sales tax would expire in 2046.
Jason Dunovant (540) 981-3324
