Official: Orange firing not ‘only’ about Wal-Mart

Orange County Administrator William C. “Bill” Rolfe was not sacked Friday night solely because of an e-mail he sent out regarding Wal-Mart’s plans to open a Supercenter near a Civil War battlefield, but the missive was the “final straw,” one supervisor said Sunday.
“The board made the decision to terminate Mr. Rolfe for a number of reasons. It wasn’t only the e-mail about the Wal-Mart,” said Supervisor R. Mark Johnson of Gordonsville. “That e-mail was just the final straw.”
In the e-mail, Rolfe suggested that the county try to broker a deal with Wal-Mart to locate the retailer’s planned 138,000-square-foot Supercenter further from the Wilderness Battlefield.

Rolfe’s e-mail irked board members, Johnson said, because it was hardly a win-win suggestion. Rolfe’s recommended location was only 300 to 500 yards from Wal-Mart’s planned site. Rolfe’s suggestion, he said, would have made no difference to the project’s opponents, who worry about the threat Wal-Mart and other development pose to the historic battlefield.
Further irritating board members, Johnson said, was the fact that Rolfe sent his e-mail to the media and other interested parties.
Johnson added that there were various other “standard issues” between the board and Rolfe over the years that contributed to the board’s decision to fire Rolfe.

The board voted 3-2 at a special meeting Friday to terminate Rolfe’s employment as the county’s top official, effective immediately.
Supervisors Johnson, Teri Pace and Zack Burkett voted to remove Rolfe from office. Chairman Lee Frame and Supervisor Teel Goodwin voted to keep Rolfe as county administrator.
“I was pleased with him,” said Frame, a Locust Grove resident. “Like anybody in a position of responsibility like that, there were some mistakes made. But I was generally happy with his performance. I don’t think [terminating Rolfe] was an appropriate thing to do at this point.”
Following the board’s vote to remove Rolfe, the supervisors voted unanimously to install Assistant County Administrator Julie Jordan as county administrator on an interim basis. Supervi-sors said they have not yet made decisions about when and how to proceed with finding a new permanent administrator.

“What’s done is done,” Frame said. “Now we’re going to try to work through various issues and move forward.”
Rolfe did not immediately return a call for comment Sunday. The Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star published a statement attributed to him Saturday that said: “I have enjoyed serving the citizens of Orange County. It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as county administrator for the last 4 years. The staff of Orange County is excellent and the county is in good hands. I wish nothing but the best for Orange County.”
Prior to coming to Orange County in 2005, Rolfe served as county administrator in Bedford County for 17 years.
Frame said he does not believe the removal of Rolfe will affect the debate over the proposed Wal-Mart, a controversy that has garnered national attention.

A public hearing on the Wal-Mart is scheduled for July 27. Following the hearing, the Board of Supervisors will vote on whether to issue a special-use permit that is required for the project to proceed.
Rolfe’s attempt to find a new site for the Wal-Mart within Orange County appears to have been met with praise by some of the project’s opponents. “It is nice to see the County Administrator thinking intelligently about this and considering how to reach a win-win solution, and hopefully the Board of Supervisors will realize that moving the Walmart is in the best interests of everyone, especially Orange County,” wrote the NoWildernessWalMart blog in a post last week.