Bill Golden's PrinceWilliamLife.com

By Alan P. Alborn
The Alborn Foundation

I like Wally Covington… I really do. If I lived in Brentsville, I’d vote for him. He strikes me as a reasonable man trying to do the right thing and navigate his way through the part time position of County Supervisor. I support his positions on the dias most of the time. This isn’t one of those times.

I would like to say I found it first; however, I’ll give credit to many of my Facebook friends for bringing my attention to an agenda item on the 29 November Prince William County Board of County Supervisor agenda, DONATE $100,000 FROM FY2012 BRENTSVILLE MAGISTERIAL DISTRICT FUNDS TO THE RAINBOW THERAPEUTIC EQUESTRIAN RIDING CENTER.

I’m sure Wally thought this was a good idea at the time. I was an executive with a fortune 200 company for a number of years and recognize that sometimes what I considered a “good idea” didn’t stand up to peer review. The Rainbow Therapeutic Equestrian Riding Center serves a worthy cause and provides a worthwhile service to our community. I truly believe that Wally’s heart was in the right place; however, his judgment in this case… not so much. The idea that no one would object to giving $100,000 of “our money” to a private charity where his wife is President of the Board of Directors, and it is outside of his Magisterial District (a “principle” thing) to boot boggles my mind. Doing it right after the votes are counted strikes me as a bit cynical.

I always review the BOCS Agenda to see what’s going on. I am particularly interested in who the BOCS is giving “my money” to in the form of discretionary fund distributions. I have always been against the use of discretionary funds (otherwise known as “our money”) to support private groups and charitable foundations chosen by our Supervisors. That being said, I “bite my tongue” as I read about $500, $1000 or perhaps more going to groups which I may or may not support. I can write my own checks to the groups I chose, thank you (and do regularly) and enjoy the tax break for my contribution. I DO NOT support the use of “our money” to make purely discretionary donations to private groups. My Supervisor, Coles District Supervisor Marty Nohe, is well aware of my feelings on this issue.

After pondering this a bit, it occurred to me that Supervisor Covington might have done Prince William County a great service. Most people are against discretionary funds; however, not enough to force change. This rather egregious misuse (IMHO) of public funds might just be the catalyst for change we need to finally reform the use and distribution of discretionary funds (or, more to the point, eliminate them).

The unintended consequence of this particular request might be a critical review and revision of County policy on discretionary funds. Office, staff, and operational expenses should be submitted and reimbursed as actual expenses. A reasonable cap should be established. Any distribution to a private group or charity should be managed by the County as a grant (application, Review, ROI to county, etc.). Supervisors may support a grant request; however, approval should be after staff review and recommendation (this could be a citizen committee).

One of the lessons we learn in the Military is that the “appearance of impropriety” is just as damning as actual impropriety. A reasonable person would certainly consider this use of “our money” to be inappropriate regardless of the honorable intentions that perhaps motivated it.

Prince William County ended the last fiscal year with an extra $400,000. Many of us suggested that perhaps a fiscally conservative Board of County Supervisors should return some of “our money” to… well… us. After the laughter subsided, the money was spent like extra change found in sofa cushions on things that weren’t actually planned for this year. While I realize this is mixing “apples and oranges” (a longer conversation), the simple fact is that our County Government appears to be under the impression that all of our salary, retirement checks, interest, dividends, etc. actually belongs to them… and we may keep what’s left.

It’s all “our money”! If the County doesn’t need it, “we” want it returned to us! You an write us checks or use it to reduce next year’s taxes… but don’t, as an alternative, think of creative way so spend (wait for it…) “our money”.

I believe that Government at all levels should be run like a business. We are its shareholders. Our “Board of Directors” (BOCS) should be good stewards of our money. They should spend as little of “our money” as possible on the business of Governance. If there is any left over, they should return it. Right now… I’m getting the feeling… that just isn’t the case.

If this passes, it will probably be the end of discretionary funds as we know them. It will provide months of conversation better spent on more important County issues and focus public attention on something that, to date, has only been a minor “irritant”. It has the potential to create a groundswell of public outrage that will force change to the process. Actually, that might just be worth $100,000 in the long run.

Thank you, Supervisor Covington, for finally bringing discretionary funds to the public’s attention and perhaps galvanizing the community and your fellow board members to review how they are distributed in the future. I strongly suggest you fix this now and withdraw your request. This isn’t a story that will get better with age.