WATCH NOW: Legislation that would put reversion to a vote by referendum passes first hurdle

House Bill 173, filed by Del. Danny Marshall (R-Danville) in the House of Delegates, will now go to the full committee in the House.

“That means that it moves from the subcommittee to the full committee on the House side of the Counties, Cities and Towns,” said Henry County Administrator Tim Hall to Horsepasture District Supervisor Debra Buchanan during a call-in segment on her live television show Thursday morning on Star News, a Martinsville television station. “So it was the first step in what’s going to be a very long process, but the committee did vote 6-3 to move the bill forward and that vote was a bipartisan vote—six votes; five Republican and one Democrat.

“This is good news for the folks who want to see a referendum by the city residents. There are multiple steps, but this is a first step, a baby step.”

The subcommittee did amend Marshall’s bill before approving it. The original bill required majority approval of a referendum by all registered voters in the City, and the amended bill only requires approval by a simple majority of those voting.

“Reversion has been discussed in Martinsville for about 40 years, which is the same amount of time that the structure for reversion has been in place without a referendum requirement for a city of our size,” said City Attorney Eric Monday during testimony at the subcommittee hearing. “We hope that you will leave the statutory structure in place as we are currently engaged in litigation that’s already been started with Henry County.”

Hall told the subcommittee members that he was representing the Board of Supervisors.

“The Board asks that you vote in favor of HB173 and move it on,” said Hall. “We think this is a simple question, and the City residents deserve a say in their future.”

Former Martinsville School Board member Lawrence Mitchell also spoke in favor of the bill.

“I think this should go to a vote by the citizens of Martinsville,” said Mitchell. “Our school board and schools are very important, and I think the citizens of Martinsville should have a say in how this goes about.”

While Mitchell, Monday and Hall appeared virtually, Martinsville Commissioner of Revenue Ruth Easley made the trip to Richmond and appeared in person.

“The residents of Martinsville have not been afforded a voice in this process, and there hasn’t been full vetting of the current reversion action,” said Easley. “On Tuesday, Martinsville added a last-minute ordinance to their agenda without public notice to petition the Circuit Court to move forward with the reversion process. I don’t think this demonstrates a willingness of Martinsville City Council to engage their stakeholders.”

Stephen Piepgrass, Martinsville’s legal counsel on reversion, also appeared in person before the subcommittee.

“We filed two years ago, and we got to the one-yard line and Henry County reneged on the agreement thinking it could come before this body and change the rules to favor Henry County,” said Piepgrass. “This is bad politics and a bad precedent.”

Martinsville council member Tammy Pearson was the only council member to vote against the ordinance Tuesday night and appeared before the subcommittee virtually.

“I was the only dissenting vote,” said Pearson. “I voted ‘no’ primarily due to the City’s process, lack of transparency and failure to ... seek input from a broad base of our citizens.”

State Senator Bill Stanley (R-Moneta) has filed a companion bill in the Senate that will appear in committee for the first time on Monday after the regular session adjournment for the day, and it is expected that Marshall’s bill in the House will be scheduled for a hearing before the full committee within the next two weeks.