Former police chief wears many hats

By Allison Brophy Champion

Published: May 16, 2008

Three months after stepping in as the town’s interim environmental services director, Boring has added the title of — and this is not a typo — temporary interim town manager. In addition, Town Council announced his appointment this week as consolidation project manager.

In that capacity, Boring, 61, a seven-year resident of the town, will collect data regarding the citizen-led proposal to do away with the town of Culpeper in favor of a larger, county-run government. Council appointed him to the position, effective June 16, for 60 days.

“We offered the position to Dan after seeing what an incredible job he did as the interim environmental services director,” Mayor Pranas Rimeikis said. “Essentially acting as project manager, overseeing the ongoing plant upgrade, ongoing operations and assisting with the hiring of a new director.”

Boring will serve as temporary interim manager until June 2, when previous interim manager Tom Huggard returns from vacationing in Europe.

“I was asked to try to help, and I am to the extent that I can,” Boring said in a phone interview Wednesday from Town Hall. “Again, we have a great town staff. They don’t need an awful lot of supervision.”

He said the town was “blessed” to have former Councilman Huggard step in as manager following the departure in December of former Town Manager Brannon Godfrey.

“I will just hold things together until he gets back,” said Boring, who served as the town’s police chief from 2001-06.

Boring came to Culpeper following a four-year stint as police chief in Vienna. Before that, he spent most of his law enforcement career — 26 years — with the Arlington Police Department, retiring in 1997 as deputy police chief of the agency.

During that time, he also stepped in for a year as interim director of Arlington’s massive water and sewer system.

These days, Boring runs a home-based police management consulting service, a business he said he would put on hold to concentrate on consolidation.

“I feel the consolidation process will take up most of my time,” Boring said. “Hopefully we get a product everyone can agree on and I can get back to retirement.”

As required by Virginia law, Town Council has until January to develop a plan that would, in essence, fold the town into the county. Businessman Joe Daniel initiated the process last year, collecting nearly 1,000 signatures in support the proposal.

However, the ultimate decision lies in the voters’ hands; council hopes to put the question of consolidation and its plan for it on the November ballot.

Besides collecting applicable data so the town can come up with a consolidation plan, Boring, as project manager, will seek input from the county. That’s because the Board of Supervisors has to endorse the town-generated plan before it goes before voters in the referendum.

Further, if the plan is to be considered by voters in November, it has to be finalized by September — or 60 days before the election, during which time a circuit court judge will set the wheels in motion.

If the town and county cannot agree on a consolidation plan by January, the duty falls to a judge-appointed citizens panel.

The immediate next step, Boring envisioned, would be Town Council getting together in the near future for organizational meetings in order “to get back up to speed on the process.”

“Consolidation basically is their project,” Boring reiterated. “I’m just trying to help them document the plan they will come up with and to kind of do some of the legwork.”

He said Town Council, the town attorney and the town’s special legal counsel, Carter Glass of Richmond, would work together with county officials to draft the actual plan.

Town Councilman Chris Snider felt confident Boring could get his part of the job done, and effectively.

“I think council is very comfortable with Dan because of our first-hand experience with him,” Snider said. “He’s dependable, pays attention to detail and is results-oriented — exactly what we need for this undertaking.”

Allison Brophy Champion can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 101 or