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every other breath. Ruled out of order again and again by school board chairman Beverly Massie, he refused to be silent. He shook his fist in her face, leaned across the table and shouted at her, even accused her of lying and attempting to railroad the board into applying for the special use permit he so objects to.
Through it all, Mrs. Massie never once raised her voice, never once replied in kind. Instead, she tried over and over again to explain the reasons behind her actions to the irate representative from Wakefield District. And he wasn’t listening. He was too busy trying to intimidate.
In the past, milder version of these same tactics have worked. But not last Tuesday, at least not in the final vote.
After Eastham had stormed from the meeting room. Nelson Lane apparently found the courage of his convictions and voted with Beverly Massie and Nancy Reeve to apply for the special use permit in accordance with county law.
There’s no question about it. Rappahannock’s zoning ordinance of 1973 clearly states that schools, public and private, need a special use permit on agriculturally zoned land. And according to the indications from the planning commissioners, that provision will be retained in the ordinance when ongoing revisions are completed.
It's the law and if anyone should be held to a high standard of compliance, it’s the arm of the local government which was responsible for writing the law in the first place.
Just as county governmental units must set an example in upholding county laws, the individual members of those boards, and commissions have an obligation to do the same. Eastham has a right to express his opinion on the need for a special use permit but he went far beyond acceptable bounds in doing so. His actions undermine the credibility of the school board with teachers, parents, administrators, local officials and students in the public schools. Robert Eastham — not an application for a special use permit — is hurting Rappahannock’s educational system and the children who depend upon that system to prepare them for the future.
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