Time for answers from Vance
Lincoln County Commissioner Charles Vance has a long history of public service. From his days as a member of the county board of education to service as Lincoln County's Democrat chairman to his tenure as a member of the county commission, Vance has served the people of Lincoln County in various capacities for several years.
We would think it is safe to say that a man of Vance's history and record is fairly knowledgeable concerning the inner workings of politics. As the former chair of the county Democrat committee, Vance routinely worked with committee members to appoint poll workers, etc. for elections held throughout the county.
While some of the aspects of the recent controversy regarding Vance's residency could be laughable, as we've noted before, serious questions arise from a commissioner who apparently served without knowing what magisterial district he represents.
In discussing the issue of where he lives with our reporter, Vance offered the response that he once used the address of a utility pole as his filing address for public office. While we can understand this possibility given Lincoln County's rural situation and the fact that the 911 center has changed addresses in the county several times during the past few years, as an experienced politician it is difficult to see why Vance would not understand that using a utility pole for an address might create a problem.
On the humorous side, we are reminded of the old "Green Acres" television show where the Douglasses routinely climbed a power pole to talk on the telephone that, for some reason, could never be installed in their house. On the serious side, we still wonder how Vance could use a utility pole when he filed for office.
Be that as it may, Vance also asserts that he was not aware until recently that there was any contention that Lincoln County had consolidated its eight original magisterial districts into six. We certainly hope by now that this experienced public servant has heard that Lincoln County's four high schools have been consolidated into one.
In point of fact, The Lincoln Journal's printed pages that reveal election results have shown six magisterial districts in every election since at least 2000. It is difficult to think that not once in that decade an experienced politician like Vance noticed that the printed page showed six districts -- not eight.
Vance says that when he paid his taxes not too long ago, "somebody" mentioned that Jefferson and Union districts had been made a part of Duval District. That caused him to "mention the possibility" to Commission President Charles McCann that he (Vance) "might live in Duval District." That conversation occurred in October 2009, according to an affidavit filed by McCann.
So, despite ten years of printing the names of six districts with every election result sheet, Vance never heard of six districts until 2009? Perhaps that is so but it certainly stretches the credibility factor to the limit.
We hope that Vance now sees what a mess his failure to report this problem has caused for the citizens he was elected to serve. A candidate who filed for office has now been declared ineligible, after she spent nearly $50,000 to run for the office. Citizens are questioning whether actions taken by the commission while Vance served with another resident of Duval District are legal since state law prohibits more than one person from serving from the same district at the same time.
All of this and Vance's best defense is that the address he gave is a utility pole and he didn't hear of six magisterial districts until 2009?
It is time for Commissioner Vance to step forward and totally explain what has happened here to the people of Lincoln County. There should be no rapid-fire responses; no crafty affidavits; no efforts to "answer without answering."
We look forward to hearing from Vance, at the next commission meeting. We suggest he tell the citizens of Lincoln County exactly where he lives and what he thinks the solution to the questions his residency raises should be.
