Seaton votes against minutes for a second time, cites missing controversial questions

VERONA – A normally routine item, meeting minutes for the Augusta County Board of Supervisors, had an opposing vote for a second time this year.

In January, the supervisors appointed Jeffrey Slaven as chair and Pam Carter as vice chair.

During the March meeting, Supervisor Scott Seaton asked the January minutes be removed from the consent agenda. The consent agenda is a routine list of agenda items no one on the board finds controversial, such as meeting minutes, that the board typically unanimously approves all at once. Any supervisor can request anything in the consent agenda be removed, no questions asked, to be individually voted on. Seaton was then the sole vote against the January minute's approval.

Seaton requested the removal because they did not include questions he asked of the two nominees.

“These questions related to whether the chairman elect would vote for the body cameras, whether he found out that the animal shelter was charging illegal fees, whether he would vote to live stream the BZA and planning commission, and whether he tried to get a government employee fired or disciplined who, as a private citizen, spoke before the board,” Seaton said on Wednesday. “Those questions weren’t included in those minutes on January 3.”

Seaton was the sole vote against the January minutes in March. The discussion following his March request to remove the minutes from the consent agenda once again did not appear in the March minutes, leading to his Wednesday request to remove them from the consent agenda.

“All we’re doing is hiding something that’s supposed to be in there,” Seaton said.

Seaton requested the discussion be included in the minutes for the Wednesday meeting, but whether or not they are included remains to be seen.

The board approved the March minutes in a six-to-one vote, with Seaton voting against.

Lyra Bordelon (she/her) is the public transparency and justice reporter at The News Leader. Do you have a story tip or feedback? It’s welcome through email to lbordelon@gannett.com. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Seaton votes against minutes for a second time, cites missing controversial questions