Buchanan County Commissioner of the Revenue Jay Rife is not a big fan of Virginia’s disclosure form.
It’s not because he hates filling it out. Rife has been on one government commission or another for years, so he has signed dozens. It’s no big deal to him.
But he does wonder about the point of it all.
“The [questions] are so broad you don’t really disclose anything anyway,” he said in a telephone interview.
If only it asked for specifics, he said.
For instance, why ask for landholdings if the address is not required?
For that matter, why allow the parcels to be lumped together instead of listed individually?
People shouldn’t have to pore through land records if they want to know where an official’s property is located, he complained.
“To be honest, they’re not as good as they could be,” Rife said of the disclosure forms.
His most recent form shows that late last year he attended a course in Charlottesville on disclosure law.
It wasn’t memorable, he said. In fact, Rife forgot about the course until prodded by a reporter.
The exam – open book – seemed to lack a point, too, he said.
In Rife’s opinion, both the form and the class on how to file it need more substance.
“I wonder sometimes if the powers that be did that on purpose,” he said, laughing.
mowens@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2549
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