Bah, humbug

If you are going to slam the town council (“Open house,” Dec. 23) for doing something “forbidden” (using state preservation tax credits) and “wasting their time over something they are not entitled to,” you should be on the right side of the facts.

These are the facts. As the owner and lessor of a certified historic site, we as a local government can benefit and be a party to a syndication that would allow proceeds from the sale of state tax credits to flow to an entity, i.e. Partnership or Grey Ghost LLC, to be used for operating expenses of the historic site.

This is not just my opinion. This is the opinion of the person who counts, the one in charge of the state preservation tax credits, Elizabeth Tune, of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, who told council at a recent meeting that they could do exactly what we have done.

So did three highly qualified experts in this field at separate meetings where they were grilled by the council to make sure it was not forbidden and done correctly.

We did not devise, as you stated, a convoluted series of agreements as “an end run around the rules.” Instead, we used boilerplates recommended by the attorneys and worked with Ms. Tune and her staff every step of the way.

The answer to your question, “do we really want our elected town government spending this much time and effort” should be a resounding yes, not a rhetorical no.

We will save more than $100,000 from a state program that has been used by other governments for the last 15 years.

Also, it is clear from your editorial that you believe the Mosby museum project has been a waste of time and money.

As you say, why waste time creating a museum for a small-town lawyer who was a consul to Hong Kong.

Fair enough; you are entitled to your opinion, although the late owner and publisher of your paper thought it was a great idea, wrote a check to support it and served on the board.

Yes, the Mosby museum has been controversial and has taken much longer to get the doors open than anyone expected. Controversy started immediately, and continued as board members struggled on how to present Warrenton’s complex and multi-layered history during the years of the Civil War in which Warrenton changed hand 67 times; what the museum should include, what should be highlighted and who should run it.

Different boards had different ideas and agendas. Changes cause delays. So does raising large sums of money from private sources for the restoration.

Whether it will realize one of its goals of bringing 25,000 tourists to Warrenton — as projected by the Virginia Depart - ment of Tourism and museum experts — remains to be seen.

The tax credits, not town funds, will be used to find that out.

Whatever happens, the taxpayers own a valuable asset, worth more than what we have in it. I’ll write more on the history and plans of the museum later.

Right now, I want to say you have done a great disservice to all those people who contributed more than $500,000 for the restoration and conversion to a museum and to all those volunteers who gave so generously of their time to make it happen, as well as the town council for finding a way, not forbidden, to pay for the operating expenses of the museum. And at this time of year — bah, humbug.

George Fitch

Mayor of Warrenton