By Michael Copley
Staff Writer

No one has been officially appointed to fill the now-vacant District Two seat on the Powhatan Board of Supervisors, but BOS Chairman Bob Cosby said the board has entered into negotiations with Marsell Bustos.

Bustos is expected to be publicly appointed District Two Interim Supervisor at the board’s October 14 meeting, but some Powhatan County residents are upset because the process of choosing Charlie Green’s replacement was not done publicly.

The District Two position was left open after Mr. Green died October 2.

Bustos said October 13 he will “absolutely” accept the board’s offer.

The BOS reportedly chose Bustos after it went into closed session at a meeting October 7 labelled “Board of Supervisors Special Meeting” on the Powhatan County website.

Jason Moore, a Powhatan-based attorney and resident of District Two, said he is “very disappointed” with the selection process and feels “disenfranchised” as a resident of that district.

“This is a closed system with no transparency.”

Moore said the board should have requested resumes from candidates and conducted a public interview and voting process.

According to Virginia State Code, the BOS has 45 days to select a resident to serve as interim supervisor. If no action is taken within that time, the Circuit Court would step in to fill the hole.

Cosby said Bustos will only serve as interim supervisor until a District Two general election can be held 12 months from now.

There was not sufficient time under Virginia Law- 120 days according to the code- between Mr. Green’s passing and the November election period to hold a public vote. 

District One Supervisor Joe Walton said “[There’s] no good way to poll District Two in 45 days in any fair way. You can’t have an election in 45 days.”

“Faced with trying to approximate democracy,” Walton said the board considered Mr.Green’s thoughts and feelings before he died and “tried to do what Charlie [Green] would have wanted.”

Asked about the selection, supervisors also noted Bustos was the runner up to Mr. Green in the District Two election two years ago.

One resident, who asked not to be identified, complained the board’s approach “May be legal, but it flies in the face of good governance…” and “bring[s] Chicago-style politics to Powhatan.”

And Moore takes exception to what he says were beauty-contest rules for selecting an interim supervisor and said Bustos only took second place by 16 votes in the District Two election.

Moore said he will ask the board to open the process at its October 14 meeting; to conduct a selection process he said should be similar to the way The City of Richmond and Chesterfield County handled replacing board members in the past.

He added that Bustos should not accept the board’s offer because of its handling of the selection process.

Bustos said October 13 he intended to accept the boards offer. “I would rather let this pass tomorrow and discuss it Thursday. I understand both sides,” but he said answering questions ahead of the October 14 supervisors’ meeting would be disruptive. 

Cosby said the board’s decision was made “the way we thought it ought to be done.” He stressed that Bustos would only serve “about a 12 month appointment. Not even to fill out” the two years remaining on Mr. Green’s unexpired term.

A special election will be held in November 2010 to fill the Second District seat by popular vote and Cosby said residents should know candidates for supervisor must be qualified voters and residents of the district they represent.