POWHATAN COUNTY, Va. -- The Powhatan County administrator has been asked to step down after a report said that he violated state law and the county's employee handbook.
Powhatan County supervisors asked for county administrator Ned Smither's resignation on Tuesday night, with one board member saying citizens have lost trust in Smither and the board of supervisors.
This all stems from a report issued by the county attorney in September, investigating the handling of the county's employee classification and compensation plan by Smither.
Tom Lacheney's report, which the board asked for, concluded the plan had been severely compromised. 20% of county jobs had been impacted by improper, unauthorized or illegal personnel changes and significant raises last fiscal year.
Lacheney said he was concerned the county no longer had a fair and equitable system of compensation and promotion and an entirely new plan should be created.
According to the Richmond Times Dispatch, some on the board felt there were grounds to fire Smither, but a vote to do so failed. In response, Lacheney resigned in protest.
"How deplorable that the county attorney resigns as a matter of principle because the elected board ignores the ramifications of his review that they asked for? And most shameful was the arrogant and condescending performance of the county administrator," a Powhatan County resident said during public comment on Tuesday night.
A similar vote to fire Smither in July also failed. At that time, he was given nearly a $17,000 raise and an enhanced severance package.
Right now, Powhatan's Deputy Administrator will step into the head job. As of now, Lacheney is set to leave his position in late November.
