This article gives great insight into the mismanagement and incompetence that pervades Chesterfield County government, in its Board of Supervisors and Garrett Hart - the Director of Economic Development. In all fairness, the recently departed Administrator, Joe Casey, also deserves a fair share of blame. Taxpayers, bend over and kiss your ass goodbye!
The dadgum Chesterfield Board of Supervisors has orchestrated another of their underhanded dirty tricks. They just published the Consent Agenda for the BOS meeting on July 22nd. The Consent Agenda is where they announce a motion, and wih NO citizen discussion or notification, they vote on that motion. Here's Item h: Resolution Requesting the Circuit Court of Chesterfield County to Order A Referendum Election on the Question of Whether Chesterfield County Should Be Authorized to Levy a General Retail Sales Tax Not to Exceed One Percent (1%) to ProvideRevenue Solely for Capital Projects for the Construction or Renovation of Schools Serving Chesterfield County in Accordance with Virginia Code §58.1-605.1, as Amended. Here's the meeting link https://chesterfieldcova.portal.civicclerk.com/event/2028/files/agenda/4171
The reason this is being done is that the order for a referendum needs to be entered at least 81 days before the next general election, where the question would appear on the ballot. So without any public discussion, and at the very last minute in the middle of vacation season, Chesterfield is trying to push this through. And in a way you won't notice!
The county will tell you, "Oh, we're asking for a 1% additional sales tax, but we plan to give everyone a 2-cent reduction in residential property taxes this year to make up for that." Well, a 1% increase in sales tax would generate $75.6M in revenue, while a 2-cent reduction in residential property taxes would eliminate $10.8M. The sales tax would hit everybody. The property tax reduction would benefit only homeowners. On top of that, the increased net revenue in this
scheme would enable Chesterfield to keep its Quad-AAA bond rating and allow them to borrow more money. Debt obligations already eat up close to 25% of the total revenue the County receives! At no time since the current Board has held office has the county done anything to reduce spending! Even with population growth, the county this year will spend $5,996 per resident! Compare that to $3894 per resident in 2019! Roads and schools have languished because the
County has thrown away our money in stupid EDA projects that return ZERO on the investments! Spending has increased 74.6% since 2020, while CPI inflation for the same period is 26.4%, and population has grown by 13.6%. Before the County is allowed to even consider raising the sales tax, it needs to come up with some plan to substantially reduce spending. One reason why the schools need money is because the County has not been funding schools at or above the
inflation rate. Our schools have been seriously UNDERFUNDED, in spite of all the increased spending. Taxpayers are not a freakin ATM!! And should not be called on to remedy irresponsible spending and inadequate school funding that's the fault of the current BOS!
If you agree, email your supervisor and tell them to remove this item from the consent agenda, and
schedule the matter for public discussion. Removal from the agenda IS possible, if you get them the message before 7/22. Here's a list of addresses. You can email one or all of them:
Jim Ingle, (Bermuda) IngleJ@chesterfield.gov
Mark Miller (Midlothian) MillerMark@chesterfield.gov
Kevin Carroll (Matoaca) CarrollKevin@chesterfield.gov
Jessica Schneider (Clover Hill) SchneiderJES@chesterfield.gov
LeQuan Hylton (Dale) HyltonL@chesterfield.gov
Thanks to ccrg-va.org for the spending and funding info!
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The folks at Chesterfield Citizens for Responsible Government (CCRG) have posted some information on their website about Shoosmith Landfill that may be of interest. There's a report on how things got to this point, who the players are, and quotes from the bankruptcy trustee. There are pictures of the conditions at Shoosmith, taken from DEQ documents, that show some of their inspection violations. There's information on Elevated Temperature Landfills, and how coal ash plays a role in raising landfill temperatures which, in turn, generates greater quantities of leachate. In case you didn't know, coal ash was used to build a lot of Shoosmith berms or cells - the pits where trash gets dumped. Yep, coal ash! AKA, fly ash. The surprising part is using coal ash like that wasn't illegal, and still isn't! In spite of known contamination by heavy metals like cadmium and other cancer-causing things. So now we have to wonder if any of those contaminants have leached out beyond the Shoosmith boundaries, into other properties or into Swift Creek or Piney Branch Creek. There's some documents that explain a lot about coal ash, and pictures of it being used at Shoosmith. Anyway, it's way too much to post here, but you can see it on the CCRG website at https://ccrg-va.org/blog/ .
A very serious, potentially catastrophic situation is developing in Chesterfield that the public doesn't seem to be aware of. It has to do with the old Shoosmith Landfill in Chester on Lewis Rd., where 400,000 gallons of leachate are being removed from the now-closed landfill every week. When the landfill sought to expand in 2018, the application was denied by Chesterfield County. Lack of available space forced Shoosmith to cease operations at the site in December, 2022 Site closure was done by permit, and evidently complied with permit requirements. With the closure of the site, revenue was drastically reduced. Between reduced cashflow and closure expenses, Shoosmith was in a precarious financial condition. Leachate removal was required by the permit, and was being removed at a cost of $0.02 per gallon. But in 2024, allegations surfaced that a former Shoosmith employee had falsified reports on the chemical analysis and quantity of leachate being delivered to a county wastewater treatmant facility. Chesterfield suspended, and subsequently terminated the disposal contract. Having to move to a private treatment provider resulted in costs increasing to $0.22 per gallon. That proved unsustainable, given Shoosmith's lack of income. In 2008, Shoosmith had been acquired by an investor that was structured as multiple companies, commonly known as VWS Holdco. VWS Holdco is effectively owned and operated by 2 individuals, Larry McGee and Fred Nichols, organized as Volunteer Enterprises. Shoosmith was named the owner and operator of the landfill in all these ownership filings. VWS Holdco and Shoosmith Bros filed for voluntary Chapter 11 in June of 2025 in Delaware. But on July 24, 2025 they converted their Chapter 11 proceedings to Chapter 7 (Liquidation). Essentially they informed the court that they would cease to do business. With that would come a cessation of leachate removal. So the big issue with that is: what happens to the 400,000 gallons per week of leachate being generated by this closed landfill? And who will be responsible for removing it?
I'm told a meeting was held yesterday (5/4) at Capitol Square between some elements of VA state government and elected officials from Chesterfield County. I don't know the subject of that meeting, but I certainly hope Shoosmith Landfill was on the agenda. At this moment, it appears that when Shoosmith is flat out of money - not a dime more available - removal of 400,000 gallons per week of leachate from this site will cease. It will accumulate and flow to God-knows where, contaminating earth, ground water, wells, and aquifers wherever it flows. Contents of this leachate are not fully known, and some old-timers say a lot of really toxic stuff was dumped at Shoosmith, back in the day. It's possible that testing over time has revealed an evolving list of toxic substances, as decomposition progresses. At this moment, it seems that no one is poised to take responsibility for this landfill when the money runs out.
For more detail on the legal history of this fiasco, see https://elevenflo.com/blog/vws-holdco
Chesterfield's Board of Supervisors (BOS) meets this Wednesday, April 22nd. The afternoon session will end with Item 8 on the Agenda - a closed session, where candidates for appointment to the position of County Administrator will be discussed. I'm not sure if the selection will happen at that time or not. In any case, it's my hope that the BOS will choose someone from outside Chesterfield to replace Joe Casey, who is retiring June 30th.
Naming an outsider to fill Casey's position will enable county management to gain new perspective, inspire new ideas, and energize county employees with new goals. Promoting from within will all but guarantee more of the same tax-and-spend mentality, massive tax breaks for new businesses that return no benefit for taxpayers, and unbridled development without commensurate expansion of infrastructure.
This is a unique opportunity to improve quality of life in Chesterfield. Please contact your supervisor and ask them to choose an outsider - someone with fresh ideas, who will listen to residents, engage, and respect the taxpayers who make it possible for this county to thrive. Better yet, contact ALL 5 supervisors and let each of them know how you feel. Please make contact before 2 p.m. on Wednesday! The future of our taxes and our quality of life depend on their decision.
Here's the contact info for the BOS:
| Jim Ingle – Vice Chair (Bermuda District) | (804) 391-3217 | IngleJ@chesterfield.gov |
|---|---|---|
| Mark Miller – Chairman (Midlothian District) | (804) 768-7397 | MillerMark@chesterfield.gov |
| Kevin Carroll – (Matoaca District) | (804) 768-7400 | CarrollKevin@chesterfield.gov |
| Jessica Schneider – (Clover Hill District) | (804) 768-7396 | SchneiderJES@chesterfield.gov |
| LeQuan Hylton – (Dale District) | (804) 768-7389 | HyltonL@chesterfield.gov |
If you'd like, feel free to use this as your message:
Please choose the next County Administrator from candidates who live outside of Chesterfield. I believe new perspective and new vision, offered by someone not connected to the county now, would be the best choice for Chesterfield.