Stafford Supervisors Presented Citizen with Settlement Agreement
Before publicly addressing questions surrounding decision to remove Mary Becelia from library Board of Trustees, supervisors asked her to sign a confidential settlement agreement; she did not sign it.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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Prior to ever publicly addressing questions about the removal of Mary Becelia from the Central Rappahannock Regional Library’s Board of Trustees for alleged misconduct, the Stafford Board of Supervisors presented Becelia with a “Settlement Agreement, Release, and Covenant Not to Sue.”
Becelia received the settlement—which she did not sign and which she shared with the Advance—on December 2, 2024, from Chair Meg Bohmke.
If signed, the settlement would have prevented Becelia and her “predecessors, successors, and assigns” from bringing any legal action— “whether present and future, whether known or unknown” — against the Board “absolutely, fully and forever.”
The settlement would not have acknowledged any wrongdoing by the Board, stating, “The Board agrees that the Corrective Action and consideration provided herein is intended to resolve any claims and is not an admission of any past or present liability or wrongdoing by the Board, as a whole, or any employee of the Board.”
The only facts acknowledged in the settlement related to the Board’s actions are that Becelia was removed from the CRRL Board and that the Board “desires to strike the word ‘misconduct’ from the minutes of the July 10, 2024, Board meeting and to apologize to Ms. Becelia.”
The settlement would also have been confidential if Becelia had signed it.
The Board agreed to issue the settlement after a November 20, 2024, closed session—the second held in two days for “discussion of the performance of a specific member of the Board, and consultation with legal counsel regarding addressed performance of an appointee of Board,” according to the approved minutes.
Bohmke read a statement on behalf of the Board that addressed Becelia’s removal for the first time at the December 17, 2024, meeting. The statement did not contain an apology from the Board but informed the public that the vote to remove Becelia was based on “inaccurate and misleading” information.
“It is unfortunate that the Board trusted the information presented by Supervisor Gary in closed session to be true and accurate,” the statement read.
The Advance made a request under the Freedom of Information Act for all draft versions of the statement, to include digital and handwritten versions. In response, the county provided 16 documents, two of which are redacted in part as “written advice of legal counsel … protected by the attorney-client privilege.”
Some of the draft versions of the statement do contain apologies.
The following language is found in nine of the documents provided: “We deeply regret any misunderstanding or harm this may have caused Ms. Becelia and the community. We sincerely apologize to Ms. Becelia and all those affected by this situation as we work to correct the record.”
These nine drafts also do not refer to Gary specifically.
The authorship of each draft statement is not made clear.
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Sometimes, all we want when we are wronged is an apology. Insurance companies tell us never to admit that we caused an accident and never to apologize. Lawyers say the same thing. I understand why they do this but I firmly believe that an awful lot of litigation, heartache, and animosity can be avoided with a few simple sentences. “I/we made a mistake and I/we are very sorry for what I/we did. Please accept my/our sincere apology. What can I/we do to make things right?”
Makes you wonder how many other items of public interest get hidden in the same manner.
I'd be okay with laws on both the state and national level that prohibit such activity unless it can be shown to be a direct threat to security.
Public business should be public.