By Cecilia Roberts
The Walkers Creek district representative on the Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors was found unqualified to serve after he failed to take his oath of office, an oversight that has put a proposed recreation center project in limbo.
Jay Lewis, who had been representing Walkers Creek since 2017, was reelected to the board of supervisors in November.
On March 23, the board voted 3-2 to issue up to $15.5 million in bonds through the Virginia Public School Authority to fund construction of a new recreation center and tennis courts at Rockbridge County High School. Lewis voted in favor of the spending, along with David McDaniel and Leslie Ayers. Steve Hart and Bob Day voted “no.”
After the vote, the bond counsel – attorneys tasked with ensuring the validity of bonds – looked to make sure every supervisor was authorized to vote, a process that involved looking through certificates to verify their oaths were taken, according to Rockbridge County Attorney John Dryden. It was then that officials learned Lewis had not taken his oath.
Since Lewis had been reelected to the board multiple times, he didn’t think that he had to take his oath of office again, according to Dryden.
“The first two times he did take his oath,” Dryden said. “It slipped his mind. He did say he was under the impression that he didn’t have to if he was reelected.”
Since Lewis had not taken his oath, that meant he was not qualified to serve, Dryden said. He was no longer officially a board member and his office was vacated.
“Unfortunately, because of a technicality in the process, I feel like they’re being let down,” said David McDaniel, the Natural Bridge district representative.
Rec center project in limbo
Then, at a special meeting on March 30, the supervisors re-voted on the bond issuance – since Lewis’ vote invalidated the majority opinion, according to Dryden. McDaniel and Ayers again voted “yes” while Day and Hart again voted against it, leading to a 2-2 tie vote; that meant the motion failed.
The Rockbridge County School Board and Rockbridge Area Recreation Organization (RARO) have been working on the project since 2024, as part of an effort to provide the county with more gym and recreation space.
The building plans include basketball courts, and a walking track that would be open to the public, as well as office spaces for RARO. They also feature basketball courts, weight rooms, and other recreation space intended for student use.
Now, the project remains in limbo as they are looking into alternative funding options, according to McDaniel.
Chad Coffey, RARO’s executive director, said that the organization is not involved in the financing for the project, but will back the school system and county officials as they decide how to proceed.
“We’ll continue to do what we need to do to support them,” Coffey said.
The school system and RARO are now considering other financing options, while still trying to move the project forward by working on design features, McDaniel said.
One of these options could be waiting until the fall bond sale to finance the project, since the deadline for the spring bond sale has passed. The project could also be paid in for in cash or could be financed by borrowing funds from a bank, according to McDaniel.
“The spring bond sale was the most efficient and cost-effective measure that we could have done to finance the funds to build the rec center,” McDaniel said. “I believe it will end up costing the county more money in the long run because we couldn’t come to an agreement last Monday night.”
Since the first meeting of the year, on Jan. 12, all of the other votes by the board have passed 4-1 or 5-0, meaning Lewis’ now-invalid vote would not change the outcome, according to Dryden. Those decisions remain unaffected.
County circuit court to find interim supervisor
The board had 45 days after that meeting to find a new supervisor. Since the board didn’t learn until March that Lewis was unqualified to serve, board members did not have enough time to find an interim supervisor, according to Dryden. Now, it is up to the Rockbridge County Circuit Court to find a new Walkers Creek supervisor.
The county will be implementing changes to ensure an oversight like this doesn’t happen again.
Under previous policy, it had been up to each supervisor to go to the clerk of circuit court, who is in charge of administering and filing the oaths, and take their oath after being elected to the board.
Now, Dryden said, the county plans to have the clerk come to the first meeting after every election and administer the oaths of office to new supervisors.
The clerk of circuit court, Michelle Trout, did not return two messages from the Rockbridge Report. Lewis also did not return two messages left over the course of the week. Day did not comment on the vacancy.
During the special meeting, the board passed a resolution asking Dryden to request that the circuit court to appoint an interim supervisor for Walkers Creek. The election for an interim is expected to be held in November.
The selection of an interim is now in the hands of the court.
“It is up to the circuit court,” Hart said. “We feel the need to get it done quickly because we think the people of Walkers Creek need their representation.”
At the special meeting, Ayers was also appointed vice chair of the board of supervisors, the position Lewis previously held.
Ayers said she hopes the people of Walkers Creek get a new supervisor soon, but there is no written procedure that the judges on the circuit court have to follow to go about appointing a new supervisor, according to Dryden.
“I’m anxious that the judge makes that decision soon,” Ayers said.
McDaniel says the voters in the Walkers Creek district are being hurt by not having representation, but that he expects an interim supervisor to be selected before November.
“Unfortunately, because of a technicality in the process, I feel like they’re being let down,” McDaniel said. “Hopefully no more than a month or two, but they’re having to go without representation right now.”
Registered Walkers Creek district voters are able to apply to be the interim supervisor by April 15 for consideration by the circuit court.