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To The Editor:

Mr. Watson, you are wrong about Mr. (Douglas) Stanley, who did not leave Warren County in shame and was not involved in the embezzlement of anything. The embezzlement occurred at the Economic Development Authority which the county administrator had no authority over or oversight of.

Mr. Stanley was the one who, when things didn’t seem right, insisted that the Board of Supervisors request an audit that came back citing no irregularities by a reputable auditing firm. After some concerns were still related to him, he again requested that they do a vastly more expensive forensic audit which finally uncovered the embezzlement. He was part of the solution, not part of the problem. Our elected sheriff was part of the wrongdoing and committed suicide before he could be held accountable.

I worked for Mr. Stanley as his Director of Social Services for five years prior to my retirement after 47 years of social work, and I have worked for many city managers and several county administrators.

I have never worked for a finer person. He was a consummate gentleman while at the same time the least chauvinistic boss I had ever worked for. Having started my career in 1970, I have lived through a lot of cultural change regarding the treatment of women in the workforce.

His expertise in planning created change in Warren County that was unprecedented. It went from an unattractive little county to a beautiful place to live and work.

Of course since the crimes were so costly to the citizens of Warren County they needed scapegoats, and the majority of the old supervisors were voted out and new ones elected in their place. These new supervisors had promised sweeping change and “no business as usual.”

Mr. Stanley was legally and morally cleared of wrongdoing, but that was not a consideration of the new majority. They wanted to move past the scandal and Mr. Stanley was just a public face that made them feel like they had done “something.”

The email that was brought forward was at least six years old and was a direct quote from a comedic movie. It was a joke written to a friend about another friend. The email was brought forward by a litigious disgruntled citizen who has a lawsuit pending against the county and tries to destroy people with malicious, unfounded claims of wrongdoings on a Facebook page which was removed by Facebook at one point and was brought back under another moniker. She has turned several BOS meetings into shouting contests that rival the Jerry Springer show.

I am glad the BOS in your county has the backbone to choose the best man for the job and stick by their decision where the Lynchburg board, in the wake of the Jerry Falwell Jr. scandal, did not.

Meet the man, talk to the man. You will be impressed by his professionalism and his commitment to community and his sense of humor that may be forever dampened because of one silly email to a friend many years ago.

Trust him with your county’s future and you will never regret it.

Beth Reavis

Norfolk