City of Manassas Needs a New Treasurer

The city of Manassas Treasurer is an incompetent nightmare! If you care about how YOUR money is handled, PLEASE do not re-elect Patricia Richie-Folks.

I’ve lived in Manassas my whole life and my business has been located in the City for nearly 20 years. In the Spring we learned the City overcharged many businesses on prior personal property tax bills. I was assured I’d either see a refund or deduction off the next bill. Months went by and I heard nothing. Then the Treasurer had the audacity to send out the new bill – with no mention of a credit or refund.

I called her on September 7th when I received the bill. She assured me that her office was working diligently, but if I had any questions or concerns to contact the City Manager. After a number of phone calls and emails I learned the files were given to her 18 weeks prior and she was only 10% done. It’s a one week job for any competent manager, but that isn’t Patricia Richie-Folks. And don’t forget these accounts are accruing interest at the taxpayers’ expense every single day.

Several days later, confronted by the Finance Committee, she couldn’t answer simple questions about what caused the delay, how checks were being processed, or her plan to resolve it, only blaming others.

Miraculously, just 3 short business days later, she handed over the refunds to the Cashier to process the checks.

I wish my story ended there. But once again no check came. Seems our crackpot Treasurer confused my company, E. L. Blackwell Electric, Inc. with E & L Builders and took it upon herself to apply my refund to their unpaid debts. After the City Manager investigated further, my company is the ONLY ONE of 2,000 businesses that this error happened to that prevented a refund. And remember I’m the one who made senior management aware of this entire unresolved issue. Coincidence? You be the judge.

The goal should have been to have the refund checks back to the businesses in time for them to be deposited before the current bill was due. Because of her lack of commitment to productivity and accuracy, that didn’t happen for me. Ultimately I picked up my check on October 6th.

Voters need to understand that the elected officials in the City don’t have a boss or manager. They are only accountable to the voters. There’s no disciplinary action, an imposed deadline means nothing, they can just basically do what they want. So make sure your vote on November 7th is for someone who has the internal fortitude to do the right thing, has the aptitude, and truly cares about being part of the solution. PLEASE vote for Russell Harrison!!! He’s far more qualified, experienced, and committed to serving as our next Treasurer.