A crowd gathered in the colonial courthouse Tuesday night at the Gloucester County Board of Supervisors’ meeting to protest the board’s 4-3 decision in late March to terminate the employment contract of County Administrator Carol Steele, which went into effect on April 1.
Ashley Chriscoe, Nick Bonniville, Shannon Hanson and Joe Leming voted to terminate her contract, while Chris Hutson, Tony Nicosia and Robert “JJ” Orth voted against termination.
Many residents expressed their outrage over the termination, calling board members who voted for the termination to reveal their reasons as to why they voted that way.
Among those who spoke were former Petsworth District representative Ken Gibson and former at-large member Kevin Smith who both completed their terms in December.
“You were pushed by tired, rejected leadership of the past and a tiny group of angry dead-enders on social media who revel in tearing others down and fighting against any mention of improvement in our county,” said Gibson.
Gibson said that Steele had informed the previous board about her intentions of retiring in 2027, which would provide the county with an opportunity to smoothly transition to another county administrator. He spoke on his fears that the county will not be able to find a top-quality county administrator due to the divisiveness of the current board and plummeting staff morale.
“The four members who fired Carol Steele should state publicly why they made this decision,” said Gibson. “You cannot hide behind the cover line of, ‘it’s a personnel decision.’”
Smith echoed his former fellow supervisor’s sentiments. “Carol was a highly productive administrator who consistently achieved results, while maintaining a strong, collaborative relationship with her staff,” he said. “Even when faced with difficult decisions, she demonstrated genuine care for her team.
“Throughout her tenure, she received excellent evaluations with her only critique being that she worked too hard,” he continued. “Tell me why was she fired for working too hard.”
Other Gloucester residents in attendance expressed similar feelings to Gibson and Smith.
“I know that what you did was cruel,” said Chris Applegate. “I wonder what was taken into consideration.”
“I think we have a right to know,” said Brent Heath, asking for answers as to why Steele was terminated. “Please clean up your act.”
“I feel like you were serving a personal agenda,” said Margaret “Peggy” Bowditch. “Shame on you. I’m sorry you did what you did.”
“I found her to be hardworking and conscientious in her leadership,” wrote in Donald Parker.
Dr. Lourdes Travieso-Parker also wrote in for the public comment period, stating that Steele helped Gloucester achieve its mission of being “the land of the life worth living.”
“Let’s keep it that way and reinstate Carol Steele,” said Travieso-Parker.
None of the board members who voted to terminate Steele’s contract responded to those asking for the rationale of their votes.
Food truck ordinance
The board held a public hearing to consider an amendment to the zoning ordinance that would allow the operation of permanent food truck venues in the county. The ordinance received unanimous support from the Gloucester County Planning Commission.
Mobile food trucks are allowed to operate under the current ordinance so long as they continuously move around and are not required to have a specific zoning permit. The proposed ordinance amendment would allow food trucks to establish a permanent location through a conditional use permit application process.
Small Town Burger owner Jay Wolfson, who has expressed interest in bringing his food truck permanently to Gloucester, spoke during the hearing.
“Our communities love us,” said Wolfson, who currently operates on a permanent basis in Kilmarnock and Urbanna. “We love our communities.”
The business can also be found on a regular basis at the Gloucester Brewing Company and Flat Iron Crossroads and is also a recurring vendor at the Gloucester Daffodil Festival. This past weekend, they set up shop at Mathews May Faire.
Leming, who has been to the food truck’s Kilmarnock location, sang the business’s praises. “It’s always been clean,” said Leming “It’s always been well-organized.”
Orth said the implementation of the ordinance would allow the county to become more “business friendly.”
“This isn’t about Small Town Burger or any other food truck,” said Hutson. “This is just giving us the opportunity.”
The board unanimously voted to approve the ordinance. Any mobile food truck vendor that would like to operate in the county at a permanent location, including Small Town Burger, will need to apply for a conditional use permit.
New Station 1
Supervisors also voted to accept Chesapeake Bank’s loan proposal for the Gloucester Volunteer Fire & Rescue Squad’s new Station 1 construction project. Bids from interested construction companies are due to the county June 1.