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Vol. 37, No. 41 | Richmond Suburban News | January 19, 2022
Kelly-Wiecek elected board chair; vice chair remains open Chickahominy Pipeline official fields questions By Jim Ridolphi For The Mechanicsville Local
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somber mood permeated the atmosphere at last week’s Hanover Board of Supervisors meeting as fellow board members and other colleagues remembered recently-deceased Beaverdam supervisor Aubrey M. “Bucky” Stanley. Stanley’s longtime seat on the panel was draped in black fabric accompanied by a floral tribute to the fallen supervisor. The board stood silent for 38 seconds in memory of Stanley’s 38 years of service to the county. The board approved a framework designed to fill Stanley’s open seat as soon as possible, and authorized county attorney Dennis Walter to petition the court for a special election to fill the seat in November. In the meantime, Hanover supervisors will appoint a temporary replacement to fill the seat at its February meeting. Board members will receive suggestions for qualified candidates through Jan. 19, and candidates or advocates for that interim position should contact any supervisor to submit a name. After candidates are interviewed by supervisors, the board will choose a nominee on Jan. 26 and the interim supervisor will be sworn in and seated at the Feb. 9 meeting.
Jim Ridolphi for The Local
A chair usually occupied by Bucky Stanley sat empty at last week’s meeting as his fellow board members honored him with 38 seconds of silence, one for each year of service he provided to the county. Stanley, 77, died Dec. 31, 2021.
After establishing a process to fill the board seat and certify a special election, supervisors held their annual reorganization meeting. Chickahominy supervisor and current vice chair Angela KellyWiecek was elected chair for the upcoming year, but controversy arose regarding the vice chair position. This is her second term KELLY-WIECEK as chairman and she replaces outgoing chair Sean Davis. Kelly-Wiecek was nominated by
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South Anna supervisor Sue Dibble and elected unanimously. “She is a proven leader in our community and has a proven skill set to run our meetings in a productive manner and speak on behalf of the board and the county as a whole,” Dibble said. Ashland representative Faye Prichard placed her name in nomination for the vice-chair seat and offered an explanation why that action was necessary. “What I want to say here is that in my six years on the board it has been our practice to rotate in terms of who would be members of the leadership team,” Prichard said. “In those six years, I certainly did not expect to be included in see SUPERVISORS, pg. 9
RSN welcomes new editor By Jim Ridolphi For The Mechanicsville Local Richmond Suburban Newspapers (RSN) is proud to announce the appointment of Christina Amano Dolan as the new editor of The Mechanicsville Local and the Ashland-Hanover Local effective immediately. A native of Northern Virginia, Amano Dolan graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a dual major in journalism and English. Her interest in journalism peaked during her college career, but Amano Dolan knew early in life where her true passions lay. “Whether from drawing little picture books in kindergarten to writing short stories or novels on our family desktop computer, even when I was a child I could never stop writing. As I grew older and college applications rolled around, with the daunting question of ‘what do I want to do?’ hanging over my head, it became almost instantly apparent: I wanted to be a writer,” Amano Dolan said last week. That dedication to the written word led her to Richmond and fostered a commitment to community journalism that has only intensified. “My interest in journalism first sparked on my college orientation day,” she said. “There, I had spoken to a student who was majoring in both English
CHRISTINA AMANO DOLAN
and journalism, and it had suddenly dawned on me that I could do so much more with writing.” She discovered that a career in journalism offered the opportunity to pursue her love of writing and provide a meaningful public service. “Rather than writing stories that would sit forever in my computer, I could instead use my love of writing in a more proactive way, write pieces that would make a difference, whether small or large, and meet countless new people, learning about their communities and how I could help,” Amano Dolan said. “I couldn’t deny my passion for reporting once I added my second major of print journalism, and I had decided long before graduation that I wanted see EDITOR, pg. 6