Guest Post from Rick Buchanan of Fauquier County Citizens for Family Farms on the outrageous ordinances restricting family farms there. Worth a read.
Both the Tea Party and the Fauquier County Citizens for Family Farms are taking a lot of heat here in Fauquier County ever since we held our Pitchfork Rally at the August 2nd hearing of the Paris, VA farmer. As a member of both groups, I hereby gladly accept the charge of “demanding action” leveled at us for demanding the dismissal of Kimberly Johnson, the Fauquier County Zoning Administrator. The more I learn about this case, the more I am motivated to get the facts out so all can make their own judgment in this matter. A thorough review of the facts surrounding the actions of the Zoning Administrator, this public servant who is paid by the taxpayers of Fauquier County, is called for.
In a recent letter to the Fauquier Times Democrat referring to the case of the Paris farmer, a prominent citizen suggested we add another position to the county’s payroll, that of Ombudsman. This person, he stated, would “help residents and business owners work through the complicated process of licenses and permits….local governments impose on us.” He is correct and we already have to position funded. The position is entitled Zoning Administrator.
I looked up Administrator in Webster’s and found two very different meanings for the same word.
1) One who manages or supervises the execution, use, or conduct of an organization or entity
2) One who metes out (as in punishment)
If we were to utilize the former definition of Administrator, this describes exactly what the job description of the occupant of the Zoning Administrator position should be. Think of all the taxpayer’s time and money that could have been saved if the Zoning Administrator would take on the responsibility of working WITH the taxpayers of the county, personally insuring that complaints of neighbors are legitimate and working with the “accused” taxpayer to insure complete understanding of their knowledge of a zoning issue and how to settle these disputes in an amicable way.
In the case of the Paris farmer, it is now widely known that neither the ZA nor any of her staff ever visited the farm in question to either assist the farmer in insuring she understood the zoning laws pertinent to these citations or verify that the things she has been cited for actually were occurring. This, actually, turns out to be not quite the truth.
On March 16th, 2012, Andrew Hushour, staff person for the Zoning Administrator, driving a county vehicle, led a posse of four armed Fauquier County Sheriff Deputies, each in separate cruisers, onto the Liberty Farm property and demanded entrance into the barn when it was not open to the public. Since the owners were not on the farm and the Deputies did not have a search warrant, they were denied admittance.
When questioned, Mr. Hushour stated that he was ordered by Kimberly Johnson to call in the Sheriff’s Department to assist him in investigating a zoning violation submitted by a complaining neighbor of Liberty Farm. Is this the conduct of a public servant who is supposed to serve the entire public and not just a neighbor who wields some, as yet, unrevealed power with the higher ups? What could possibly be accomplished by four armed Deputy Sheriffs on a zoning issue? Were there ripe outlaw tomatoes escaping to trespass on neighboring farms or fresh eggs breaking out of captivity and running down the road or jars of honey sticking up passersby?
Seriously, this is obviously intimidation of the highest order. I wonder if the Zoning Administrator’s superior approved of this power move?
So instead of scheduling a meeting with the farm’s owners and sitting down in the Paris Barn, looking over the items exhibited for sale in the barn and reviewing the entire affair in an amicable manner, the ZA ordered the Sheriff’s Department out and when intimidation did not work, sat comfortably in her office and did Google searches to dig up unverified and sometimes personal information while relying on the word of the complainants and the secretary of one complainant to build her case.
I did a little internet searching of my own and discovered this statement from Fauquier County’s website under the Department of Community Development, the department within which the Zoning Administrator works – “Our Mission is to provide quality service in a knowledgeable, informative and courteous manner to our customers.” The customers referred to are none other than the citizens of Fauquier, citizens like, say, the Paris farmer.
This is not the only case in which the ZA has exhibited out-of-bounds tactics to “go after” a taxpayer. See here the Hawkins case where the ZA dragged up violations for buildings constructed over 30 years ago and used similar tactics of internet searches and trespassers to build her case.
As stated in a report posted on Foxnews.com “Fauquier County Zoning Administrator Kimberley Johnson told FoxNews.com Boneta (the Paris farmer) is ‘out of line.’” Really?? We now know why she made that ridiculous statement. In the August 2nd hearing when all five members of the Board of Zoning Appeals upheld the punishment meted out by the overbearing Zoning Administrator, she said “We don’t necessarily get you for everything. We get you for a violation, you come in and we work it out.”
So in the Zoning Administrator’s world, we the citizens serve her. Do you have bureaucrats in your county like “Get ‘Em” Johnson? Do they expect you to “come in” and grovel at their feet hoping they may mete out fair treatment?
As you think on this, I will let Jefferson’s words close this out: “When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.”
