Saltville Councilman Resigns / Border Collie Added to Payroll
In a surprise move at the Tuesday Saltville Town Council meeting outspoken and flamboyant Councilman Stephen Campbell announced his resignation. Campbell has apparently taken a job as a special education teacher in the City of Roanoke and found out that commuting between the two places was too difficult. Campbell was the key organizer behind the first SaltFest held back in July. This information is according to the Saturday edition of the Smyth County News & Messenger. A replacement for Campbell will be selected by the Town Council since a special election is not allowed by Virginia law for towns with a population of less than 3,500. Campbell indicated that he would like the council to appoint his sister to his seat. If will be interesting to watch and see how this plays out. Saltville has a history of knock down drag out fights to fill vacant seats. Last time their mentality was that the person who received the next highest number of votes at the previous election should be offered the seat. If the Town Council cannot select a replacement after a set amount of time by law, the Chief Judge of the Smyth County Circuit Court will fill the seat by appointment.
Also it was announced at the same meeting that a border collie will be put on the job in September to try and help control the geese population in Saltville. The dog will be on the job twice a week to see how it works out. The dog is specially trained and supposedly will not harm the geese. The town has also applied for egg addling permits to use in any egg addling that might take place in the Spring of next year. You may remember the huge controversy of the controlled geese hunt held back in March of this year that had tempers flaring. I think the situation was handled very badly by the Town of Saltville. All the time spent in controversy over this could have been used constructively in economic development which the town needs very badly.