Every year, when the Town Council debates the annual budget, the discussion focuses on various financial topics such as utility rates, vehicle replacements, capital improvements, tax rates, and user fees.
Yet one of the largest costs rarely appears in any budget document: The cost of incompetence.
The price of incompetence isn’t measured only in dollars. It’s measured in wasted time, lost opportunities, broken trust, declining morale, and the frustration of people who are forced to compensate for someone else’s inability—or unwillingness—to do the job well.
Former U.S. Secretary of State / General Colin Powell once said:
“Competence is a major factor in respect.”
Some members of council cannot understand why the community is “so disrespectful” towards them. Just as implied by Colin Powell, competent performance builds confidence in leadership. When leaders consistently demonstrate sound judgment and effective execution, people’s trust grows. With trust comes respect.
Over the past eighteen months, we have witnessed a series of decisions that raise serious questions about the council majority’s preparation, judgment, and adherence to established procedures. In short, these actions call into question the competence of multiple members of town council.
At this evening’s meeting, Council Members Carol Luke and Susan Khalil voted against moving forward to simply readopt the town’s annual tax rate. Simply, they don’t feel it necessary to pass a tax rate with a “super-majority” of the council. Their negative votes come despite the fact they have likely received guidance from the town attorney, specific recommendations from the Virginia Municipal League, and most importantly, a formal legal opinion from the Virginia Attorney General which was specifically published to address the matter following previous actions by the Town Council.
Town Council members and constituents can disagree about policy, but when legal guidance is ignored, established procedures discounted, or public officials fail to familiarize themselves with staff reports and legal analyses before voting, poor decisions become more likely, and often more risky.
One example is the hiring of a political ally as town manager without a formal interview process. As one of their first actions, the Town Council majority chose to hire former Mayor Kwasi Fraser without any formal interviews, HR processes, or even the inclusion of 3 members of Council in the decision making process.
Instead, Mayor Bertaut and Council Members Nett, Luke and Khalil, added a surprise motion to hire Mr. Fraser. That decision resulted in direct negative impact to the town, including hundreds of thousands of dollars in personnel costs, multiple felony charges against the Mr. Fraser which are pending trial, and ongoing litigation in multiple lawsuits that could expose taxpayers to additional expense.
This evening, the town council voted to use General Fund Reserves in the amount of $130,920 to (finally) bring on a properly qualified interim town manager, who will hopefully bridge the gap until such time that a permanent town manager can be vetted and hired.
This is on top of $166,528.48 paid to Kwasi Fraser since being suspended following his indictment in July of 2025. On top of additional salary paid to interim town manager Tony Sabio (who was also hired without any formal or competitive selection process.) On top of legal fees paid by the town’s insurance for recalls against members of town council.
Before accounting for legal expenses or litigation, benefits, and incidental costs, actions under the leadership of Mayor Bertaul have incurred at least $424,600 in additional unnecessary personnel costs.
Those costs include:
- $166,528 paid to Mr. Fraser during suspension following felony indictment
- $127,152 in budget amendments to hire interim manager Tony Sabio following Mr. Fraser’s suspension.
- An addition $130,920 in budget amendments this evening to hire a professional staffing firm to provide a qualified interim manager through the end of 2026.
Despite promises and campaigning to do so, the town council majority has failed to find significant savings or efficiencies in the town budget. Rather, they have taken actions to reduce town income (resulting in overall higher long term debt), repeatedly drawn from our town’s reserves, and paid unnecessary sums of money to unvetted, unnecessary interim town managers (including nearly a year’s worth of salary to a suspended individual with zero return on investment).
Unfortunately there are many other examples of incompetence and ignorance that can be identified… nearly one for every meeting that town council has conducted.
When elected officials don’t do their home work, make poor or risky decisions, fail to follow established procedure, discount staff, subject matter expert, and legal input, there is a true cost of those actions.
Every dollar spent correcting mistakes is a dollar that cannot be directed towards public safety, infrastructure, events, or lowering costs for citizens.
Incompetence has real costs to our citizens, and residents should not only ask if they agree with a candidate’s promises, but whether that candidate has demonstrated preparation, judgement, experience and competence to accomplish them. Without such scrutiny, we will continue to pay the price of incompetence.