Thanks to the Virginia Department of Highways and Transportation,

Thanks to the Virginia Department of Highways and Transportation, Rappahannock voters will have a choice of supervisor candidates in only four districts out of five in the local elections this November. There will be no race in Jackson District.

“Resign or withdraw” was the word from the Department powers that be and so challenger Jack J. Atkins has withdrawn rather than be fired by his employer of 14 years. The word came down from on high, five months after Atkins announced his candidacy and well past the deadline for filing in the supervisor race.

We re all for enforcement of conflict of interest law. We've questioned what we considered enfringement on the regulations in other instances. But the law isn’t involved in the Highway Department's decision on Atkins’ candidacy—that is, unless we recognize the Virginia Department of Highways and Transportation as a law unto itself.

Department Commissioner Harold King, in a letter to Atkins’ attorney, acknowledged that neither state nor federal statutes were at issue. What is at issue is Department policy.

According to King, Boards of Supervisors “play a dominate role” in determining priorities for Highway Department construction and maintenance projects. If Commissioner King actually believes this, we'd like to invite him to attend the series of annual road hearings held by the Rappahannock Board.

The hearings follow a set pattern. The chairman opens the advertized public meeting and then moves around the board table, asking each supervisor in turn if the constituents from his district have any requests or complaints. Resident engineer Don Askew—not the supervisors—responds to all comments. Following the hearing, Askew presents the board members with a prepared resolution, formally worded, adopting the program for the coming year. Richmond—not the Rappahannock Supervisors—decides how much money will be alloted to the