False claims are key to lawsuit by Council Members Rayner and Williams

By Valerie Cury

At the Feb. 14 Purcellville Town Council Meeting, Mayor Stan Milan commented on a petition to the Circuit Court asking for a Writ of Mandamus, filed on Feb. 6 by Council Members Erin Rayner and Mary Jane Williams. The two Council Members directed the “issuance of a Writ of Mandamus to the Town Council.” 

The heart of the matter is whether the Town must hold a special election in November 2023, or wait until the remainder of Milan’s two-year term for his vacated seat terminates in November 2024. Typically, the appointment continues until the end of the Council Member’s term, consistent with the Town’s charter. 

Throughout this time there have been conflicting verbal legal opinions on the matter from the Town Attorney and the Director of the Virginia Municipal League.

Background

At the Jan. 3 Special Town Council meeting, the council voted 4-2 to fill the Council seat vacated by Mayor Stan Milan when he took his position as mayor on Jan. 1, 2023. The two opposing votes were made by Rayner and Williams. The Council chose Ron Rise Jr., who received the fourth highest number of votes in the Town’s November election.

The motion made by Vice Mayor Chris Bertaut stated, “I move that the Purcellville Town Council appoint Ronald Rise Jr. for the term commencing Jan. 3, 2023, and expiring on a date consistent with relevant state law.” 

Williams then proposed a “friendly” amendment to add “that the Town Council has decided or there was a vote that there would be no special election so that they know that the Town Council is looking into the Special Election.” The Town Council did not accept this amendment.

Feb. 14 Town Council Meeting

In the Council comment portion of the Feb. 14 meeting, Rayner defended her petitioning for the Writ of Mandamus to the court, saying she did it to uphold the law and it wasn’t about politics. She said, “The citizens deserve a trusted and transparent government.” 

Aspects of the challenge, however, are not transparent. There is no mention of the lawyer who filed the petition. The Blue Ridge Leader has reached out to Council Member Rayner numerous times, asking who was representing her, but to date has received no response.

We later found out that her lawyer, Mary Gayle Holden, is a campaign donor and colleague of Rayner’s on the Purcellville Business Association Board. Rayner is the president of the association.

Vice Mayor Chris Bertaut questioned whether certain Council Members were “working for the benefit of the entire Town.” 

“Are we promoting transparent and open government that reflects clearly communicated goals and aspirations that are communicated to us by our fellow town residents? Or are we advancing goals we do not care to publicly discuss?” Bertaut asked. “Are we staging stunts for the press and social media? Just food for thought.”

Milan said the past month and a half have been filled with “drama, conflict, and secret meetings befitting an epic movie.” 

“When I first came on Council in 2020, I asked staff what kept them up at night? They eloquently expressed those concerns,” he said.

“I didn’t ask myself this question until this year after I took office as Mayor of Purcellville … I believed that addressing staff concerns – all would be fine. Little did I know that merely addressing staff concerns would not be enough … I had to address the hidden agendas of those on Council which made no sense to me,” Milan continued.

“I have said it before, there are two councils – the formal one that you see before you now – and the other that works in the shadows manipulating staff to do their bidding.”

Milan said there was an election and it did not turn out the way they wanted. The council seat did not become vacant until Jan. 1, and at the first meeting on Jan. 3, the majority on council appointed Ron Rise Jr. to fill the vacancy.

“I am disappointed in the action of Town Council Members Rayner and Williams, but not surprised,” said Milan. “They have launched a media campaign claiming the majority of this Town Council has made a decision not to have a special election, when no such motion was made. 

“We notified the courts of what we had done, and the length of time would be according to the law. There was a supposedly “friendly” amendment made by Council Member Williams saying that the Town has decided to vote that there would be no special election.”

This “friendly” amendment was “denied as it would have made the motion illegal.” Yet Williams and Rayner supported it.

“The Town Attorney failed to say anything about this “friendly” amendment, Milan continued, saying there was no willful intent to implement any illegal action by the members of the Town Council mentioned in the court filing. 

Milan explained that the Virginia Municipal League and the Town Attorney indicated the language referred to in the state code is vague and subject to interpretation. 

“In fact, our Town Attorney – after meeting with Council Member Carol Luke and myself – stated she could argue the point either way. We asker her to do so. She did not.”

He said Council also asked her to call the Virginia Municipal League to verify that what Bertaut, Milan and others present with them were advised during the VML’s Local Government Day, was correct—no special election needed. 

“The Town Attorney did call them, but she stated to us that the person she spoke with said ‘Yes she told us to send the letter to the courts.’”

After further review, however, the VML came back in writing and said it was an error.

“This idea that the Town Council is doing something illegal is erroneous,” said Milan.

Town Attorney Sally Hankins said she has given the Town Council consistent advice at least three times in writing regarding the special election.

“So what you are saying,” said Milan, “is that you were misquoted and what you told us verbally didn’t happen. So only anything you present that is accurate is what you put in writing. What you told Council Member Luke – and that’s why I took someone with me, to validate what was said – didn’t happen?”

Luke later confirmed that the Town Attorney said she could argue the case either way. “She just needed to know what we wanted her to do, as she represented us,” she wrote.

Milan concluded that he would like everything in writing from now on.

As of press time, Council Members Rayner and Williams have filed a motion for nonsuit. 

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Letter to the Court from the Town of Purcellville Jan. 30, 2023

“Please take notice that a vacancy on the Purcellville Town Council arose on January 1, 2023, upon the resignation of Council Member Milan, who resigned his seat to take the position of Purcellville’s Mayor.  On January 3, 2023, the Town Council voted to appoint Ron Rise Jr. to fill the vacancy for a term commensurate with the term allowed by law for such an appointee.  Council Member Rise was sworn-in and took his seat on January 10, 2023.”