Officials' indictments shake rural Gloucester County

GLOUCESTER

In the heart of this rural county is a village with a traffic circle that goes around a cluster of historic brick buildings and flower gardens.

The largest structure, the Colonial Courthouse, was built 10 years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It's no longer a courthouse, but the county's Board of Supervisors uses it for meetings.

It was here that a Jan. 2 meeting set in motion a chain of events that climaxed last week with the indictment of four of the seven supervisors, the sheriff and a politically connected developer.

A scathing and sometimes colorful grand jury report alleged that the supervisors conspired to fire two top county officials and illegally seize their computers in a midnight raid with help from the sheriff. The report said the supervisors illegally pressured the Planning Department director to interpret county law in favor of a developer who supported them.

Three indicted supervisors - Chairwoman Teresa Altemus, Michelle Ressler and Gregory Woodard - have said they did nothing wrong and have no plans to resign. Supervisor Bobby Crewe could not be reached. Sheriff Steve Gentry said he had no comment. They're scheduled to face the misdemeanor charges in Gloucester Circuit Court on July 29.

If found guilty, the supervisors could face a year in jail and a fine of $2,500, said Commonwealth's Attorney Robert Hicks.

"This started out because all anybody wanted was for them to resign," Hicks said. "Now the grand jury has given me my marching orders."

The developer, George Woodhouse II, who faces 10 felony charges unrelated to those against the supervisors, has said through his lawyer that he's innocent. He's charged with forging "certificate of occupancy" paperwork, which he faxed to a bank to close on loans sooner than usual, Hicks said. Each charge carries a maximum 10-year jail sentence.

Meanwhile, some residents plan to circulate petitions to recall the four supervisors.

"The grand jury did their job, and now it's up to the taxpayers," said Garr Johnson, a retired poultry science professor who's spearheading the recall effort. "If what's going on isn't enough to light a fire under us, democracy is beyond hope."

The root of the saga can be traced to November, when the political majority on the board changed after two supervisors running on a "need for change" platform were elected.

The new board, headed by Altemus, moved swiftly - and secretly, according to the grand jury report - to oust longtime county administrator William Whitley and county attorney Daniel Stuck.

The four charged supervisors met at Ressler's house on Nov. 27 - before Crewe and Woodard were sworn in - to arrange the hiring of Altemus' friend, a Newport News man named Lacy Smith, as the county administrator.

At the supervisors' first meeting on Jan. 2, the board fired Whitley and Stuck and hired Smith. Around midnight, Altemus and Sheriff Steve Gentry went to Whitley's and Stuck's offices and seized their computers, the report said.

"We believe these actions... were done maliciously, motivated by Altemus's and Ressler's vindictive desire to seek revenge, to intimidate and harass Whitley and Stuck and to tarnish their reputations," the report said, noting that a search warrant should have been obtained.

The grand jury called the November meeting at Ressler's house to arrange the firing of Whitley and Stuck and the hiring of Smith, an "unlawful transacting of public business... to the complete exclusion of the majority of the board and the public."

Woodard said that the meeting wasn't illegal because it happened before he officially took his supervisor's seat.

Smith started work the day after the firings and distributed to all employees a list of 10 statements under the title, "We Are Team Gloucester."

The sixth said, "If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm."

The grand jury report alleged that supervisors Ressler and Crewe unlawfully pressured former Planning Department Director William Scudder on two of Woodhouse's developments.

The report drew connections between Woodhouse and the supervisors, pointing out that Woodhouse's wife is Crewe's cousin and that Crewe has earned "thousands of dollars in finder's fees" working for Woodhouse.

Woodhouse and Ressler are friends, the report said, sometimes referring to themselves as the "Gloucester Mafia" and sporting T-shirts with those words.

Scudder told the grand jury that he felt "intimidated and pressured" by the two supervisors at a Jan. 8 meeting and that they wanted him to "suspend his best professional judgment" to rule in favor of Woodhouse.

When Scudder refused to change his mind, Smith, the newly hired county administrator, confronted him, asking repeatedly, "Son, is this the hill you want to die on?" the report said.

Smith later told Scudder that he was not a team player and said, "a soldier is expected to take the hill," according to the report. Twice Smith ordered Scudder to resign or be fired.

Scudder stood firm, and on Jan. 24, three weeks after he started, Smith resigned.

Supervisors Ressler and Crewe are being charged with "coercion and intimidation of a county employee."

Many Gloucester merchants and residents interviewed after the indictments said they were afraid to speak out publicly because they feared retaliation.

"Everybody is afraid of them," said a real estate agent, who talked on the condition her name wouldn't be used. "Let's say my septic system goes out and I need a permit for a new one. I might have to go through them."

The president of the Rotary Club of Gloucester, who earlier this year filed a complaint with the commonwealth's attorney about how the supervisors fired the county officials, declined to be interviewed.

The Rotary president, Douglas Vaughan, a nursing home owner, said only, "It's a tough time in the county, that's for sure."

One of the three supervisors not indicted, Rick Allen Jr., said the sooner it all clears up, the better.

"I hope it's resolved as quickly as possible so we can focus back on doing the things we need to do."

Aaron Applegate, (757) 222-5122. aaron.applegate@pilotonline.com