
DATE: Tuesday, November 4, 1997             TAG: 9711040278

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B6   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: 

DATELINE: CASTLEWOOD                        LENGTH:  104 lines

APPALACHIAN TOWN DIVIDED OVER CAMPAIGN TO ANNUL ITS CHARTER CASTLEWOOD VOTERS, OUTNUMBERED BY COWS, WILL DECIDE TODAY ON COMMUNITY'S FUTURE.

Greek Boyer and the rest of the politicians running this tiny Appalachian town have dismantled the police department, stopped all construction, canceled all parades and, to beat it all, refunded taxes.

Now they want voters to boot them out of office.

``We don't need to be here,'' councilman Boyer said inside a town hall that overlooks a funeral home. ``We don't need to be a town. There are more cows than people around these parts.''

In an unprecedented anti-government revolt, the council members and their supporters have put a referendum on the ballot for today that will decide whether Castlewood, population 2,800, remains a town.

There are 191 towns in Virginia, and none has ever tried to repeal its charter, Municipal League Director Michael Amyx said.

At a time when most people stay home on election day, nearly 100 percent of the adults in Castlewood have registered to vote.

``There's a lot of interest, sure, but this thing has torn the community apart,'' said state Del. Clarence ``Bud'' Phillips, who has a law office in town but is refusing to take sides.

The revolt has caused hard feelings within businesses, churches and even families because it divides people into two inflexible camps, illustrated by the signs lining the main highway through town.

The sign in Anna Glovier's yard, next to the campaign posters of statewide candidates, frames the issue in simple, dramatic terms: ``Save Our Town. Vote No For Our Children's Future.''

The sign across the highway is also provocative: ``Vote Yes on Nov. 4 to Anul Charter, Abolish Taxes and Politicians.''

The ironic part of the dispute is that just six years ago, the majority of voters signed a petition calling on the General Assembly to let the community become a town.

Towns are not to confused with cities, which are larger and must provide a school system, social services and police and fire protection. Unlike in any other state, cities in Virginia are completely independent from surrounding counties. Towns remain under county jurisdiction.

There are about 20 businesses in Castlewood, including a few restaurants, gas stations, a shopping plaza and a post office, but most of the surrounding land is devoted to cow pastures. Coal mining is the area's primary industry.

But with coal mines steadily closing, and no sewer system or local government to help attract industries, residents decided Castlewood should be more than a community run by Russell County's board of supervisors.

``It's the only way we can get some industry in here so our children won't have to leave here to find work,'' Anna Glovier said.

They elected a council and formed a committee that drew an 8,900-acre boundary, making the new town the second biggest by land mass in Virginia. Only Blacksburg, with about 12,000 acres, is bigger.

The council members built a town hall, started work on a baseball field for kids, held the first Fourth of July fireworks display, formed a police department, and began trying to get a sewer system extended from a neighboring town.

The council also started raising taxes. They put real estate and personal property taxes on top of what Russell County was already demanding. They taxed utilities and telephones and demanded that businesses obtain licenses. They taxed meals at restaurants and overnight stays at the town's only hotel. They also made the local utility and cable television companies pay franchise fees.

By last year, the town had an annual revenue of more than $500,000, almost $400,000 of which came from the new taxes.

When people started getting tax bills and traffic tickets, the revolt began.

``I voted for it (incorporation) to start with, and then they just started spending too much money,'' Frank Skeens said.

So this spring, Boyer and five other men ran single-issue campaigns for spots on the town council. The essence of their campaign pledge: elect us to dismantle your town. All six were elected with more than 60 percent of the vote.

``There is nothing that being a town will benefit me or my children in any way during our lifetimes,'' Boyer said. ``Being a town won't bring the coal mining back.''

Ernest Kennedy, a former town councilman, said some people are beginning to change their minds again and realize that Boyer and his allies lack foresight. About 130 people attended a potluck supper last week at which townhood supporters gave away free hot dogs.

But opponents are giving away more than hot dogs. In what Anna Glovier called an unfairly timed campaign tactic, the anti-town council had their anti-town manager begin refunding $88,000 worth of taxes to more than 1,400 residents this fall.

Skeens said his tax refund was ``tiny' and didn't buy his vote.

``I just don't want to pay taxes and never get nothing back,'' Skeens said. ``I don't think there will ever be any industry here.''

Phillips said Skeens may be right, no matter how the referendum turns out. Industries want to move into areas that are cohesive and progressive, he said.

``This has formed a black mark on Castlewood. It will forever scar the town, . . . or community.'' ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS photos

Councilman Greek Boyer and Town Manager Nancy Light Hall go over a

list of Castlewood's taxpayers from 1992, the year the town was

chartered. Refunds were issued as part of a drive by some council

members, including Boyer, who wanted to dismantle the tiny town's

government.

Former Town Councilman Ernest Kennedy is part of an opposing group

that wants to keep Castlewood's charter in place. Voters will decide

the community's future at the ballot box today. No other Virginia

town has ever tried to repeal its charter, a state official says.