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Remarks to City Council – August 7, 2007

Mr. Mayor, Mr. Vice Mayor, members of City Council, thank you for your time.  My name is Carla Minosh.  It is as a concerned citizen that I have asked that my statement be read for the record today.

On June 5th, 2007, City Manager Jerry Gwaltney addressed the City Council and the public on the matter of the Long Mill.  At that time he made a number of statements that I would like to address.

Statement No. 1

In regard to a June 29, 2006, letter of agreement between River Partnership, LLC – owners of the Long Mill – and David Eagle, then Fire Marshall, representative for the City: the agreement stated that the owners of the Long Mill had contracted with Mark Evans of Sotheby's International Realty to list the Long Mill property for sale for a period of nine months.  According to the agreement, if Mr. Evans was not successful in identifying a buyer within five months (no later than November 30, 2006), the owners stated that they would immediately accept bids from contractors to begin demolition no later than March 15, 2007.

At the June 5th Council meeting, Mr. Gwaltney stated that he met with Long Mill owners and a representative of Sotheby's, saying that the City "will take the attempt to give you [referring to the Long Mill owners] an opportunity to sell that property." He further stated of the Sotheby's listing that the owners "paid an exorbitant cost to do that."

I have several concerns about this statement.  First of all, an agreement between the City and owners of a private property whereby the owners will demolish their own buildings in lieu of a sale sounds like the City is getting involved in a private matter.  Hasn't the City and the City Council repeatedly said that it cannot get involved in matters of private property? At this point, the City Council can no longer ignore the City Administration's involvement in the Long Mill and therefore should, itself, become involved.

The second problem with Mr. Gwaltney's statement is not only that Mr. Gwaltney was wrong in his contention that the owners listed the property with Sotheby's International at great expense, but also that he disseminated this incorrect information at a City Council meeting and asked City Council and the public to rely on this information.

I spoke with Jay Lanigan of Sotheby's International who reported that after extensive searches and involvement with Sotheby's International IT department for confirmation, there is no record of any property in Danville having been listed with them during that time period.

As confirmation, I also spoke with Mark Evans, the individual mentioned in the June 29, 2006 letter as being the agent for Sotheby's International who purportedly listed the Long Mill property.  He told me that the Long Mill listing was put on hold, and was in fact never listed with his company.

If the Long Mill property was never listed for sale, the City should hold the owners to the original agreement to list the property and find a responsible buyer who will develop it in accordance with the protective covenants in the Deed.  The City Council and the people of this city need an answer to why this property was not listed as agreed, and the City Council needs to ensure than everything that can be done has been done to preserve this property before continuing on this course of demolition.

Statement No. 2

On June 5th, Mr. Gwaltney also stated that warrants had been issued for the arrest of the owners of the Long Mill.  He said "Let me tell you, that for many, many months, since last summer, the Fire Chief has had warrants for their arrest." "And I have held those up personally."

In fact, I made a FOIA request for a copy of those warrants.  The response I received from City Attorney Clarke Whitfield states "arrest warrants do not exist.  Arrest warrants do not exist because the Magistrate issues that documentation and to this date, the Magistrate has not issued any warrants."

Statement No. 3

Mr. Gwaltney also spoke about the liability of City Administration and City Council at the June 5th Council meeting.  He stated, "If something happens tonight, not only am I going to get sued, but you all probably are too [gesturing toward City Council members].  But I'm not going to carry that burden any longer."

He continued later: "And I'm not going to jail for anybody. No-one.  Nobody out there has to take that burden right now but me."

And again, he re-stated: "I want to emphasize again, I have carried this burden.  It is my job to carry that burden, if I make these types of decisions.  If something happens there today, if I don't support my people and do what they're supposed to do, I can be charged, and imprisoned for it if something happens."

A September 21, 1990, Virginia Attorney General opinion speaks directly to the issue of public official liability in cases such as this, and directly contradicts these claims by Mr. Gwaltney.  Perhaps he didn't know that he was not liable.  However, shortly after that Council meeting, a copy of the AG's opinion was forwarded to the City Attorney.  Mr. Gwaltney has not retracted those statements in public.

Each of these statements was made publicly by Mr. Gwaltney.  Each is incorrect and Mr. Gwaltney has made no effort to publicly correct these statements.  Therefore, I feel compelled to bring this matter up publicly. It is possible that Mr. Gwaltney was intentionally misleading the public and the City Council.  If the City Manager is deliberately misleading the Council and the public, he should be fired immediately.  Such behavior is totally unprofessional and unacceptable and it is imperative that City Council investigate this matter.

On the other hand, perhaps Mr. Gwaltney truly believes what he stated on June 5th.  If that is the case, then the City Manager as well as the City Council have based their decisions regarding the Long Mill on false information.

Given the importance of the decisions regarding the Long Mill, City Council should now go back and re-evaluate its own actions, as well as the actions taken to date by City Administration in light of this new evidence.  City Council must ensure that decisions which have been made about the Long Mill are being made with the most accurate information available, and in the interests of the people of Danville.

There is yet another statement made by City Manager Gwaltney on June 5th that I would like to mention.  He stated: "I have been told by the Fire Chief that we do not intend to send a fireman, and cannot conscientiously send a fireman into that building (referring to the Long Mill) if it catches on fire of significant burning, now that they know what they know."

Not only is this a most irresponsible statement to be made by a public official, but also it is outrageous.  How can the City Manager and Fire Chief – each sworn to protect the health and welfare of citizens of this City and to protect its structures and assets – say that they will not bother to use the fire department's maximum efforts to put out a fire, should it break out in that complex? How can the people of this City feel safe that any of their property will be protected with such public statements being made.  City Council needs to call for an immediate retraction and apology, as well as assurances from the Fire Chief as well as the City Manager that the Long Mill property will be protected.

This is especially critical, as it has recently become known that the contractor working on the demolition of the Long Mill, Martijn Van Zadelhoff, was also demolishing a Mill in March of 2005, which erupted into a fire that was so suspicious that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms was called in to investigate.

Mr. Mayor, Mr. Vice Mayor, members of City Council, again, I thank you for your time.