“Thus Always to Tyrants”

Dick Grice forces some changes at WTF...

Official Disclaimer:  The views expressed by the Windsor Transparency Forum (WTF) are mine only and not those of the Department of Defense.

In this forum, I have never gone out of my way to hide my identity. Likewise, I have not gone out of my way to disclose it either.  I haven’t directly associated my name because I want the focus to be on the topic I am addressing.  However, I have explicitly referenced in this forum letters of mine that the Smithfield Times published when those letters overlapped with WTF material.  Additionally, the Department of Defense requires me to include a disclaimer (see above) whenever I write publicly and my affiliation with active military service is “reasonably identifiable.”  Until now, there was no need to be concerned with my military affiliation impacting this forum.  Avoiding overt identification gave me a healthy gap between my public writing on local issues and my military profession.  I understand why some people have not been a fan of this forum’s anonymity, which has occasionally led to a wild rumor or two.   However, I have never denied responsibility for anything I have written, never asked anyone to avoid disclosing my identity, and am always willing to discuss any view I have expressed in this forum.

For those who don’t know, my name is Lewis Edmonds.  I have proudly lived most of my life in Isle of Wight County, a “From Here,” as we are sometimes called.  The only years I have spent living outside the county are the 16 years I was at the United States Naval Academy and then serving in various places while on active duty (2000-2016).  During that time, as service members are allowed to do, I retained my residency in Isle of Wight.  When I transitioned from active duty to the reserves, I moved with my family back to Isle of Wight, deciding to settle in Windsor instead of my original home of Smithfield.  Although I am now a reservist, I currently serve on active duty and have done so for the past four years at the request of my current military command.  As an active duty service member, I voluntarily give up a portion of my right to free speech as a condition of wearing our country’s uniform.  This includes restrictions on engaging in partisan politics, so I don’t write or publicly comment on national politics.  However, my rights under FOIA are not constrained by being in uniform, nor is my ability to publicly write and comment on the various shenanigans of our local governing bodies and political officials who all serve in non-partisan positions. 

The Little Known Connection Between Genitalia and FOIA According to Dick Grice

In an April 2024 column, Smithfield Times editor, Steve Stewart, wrote about Dick Grice’s attempts to intimidate a local Smithfield citizen over her opposition to a controversial development in Smithfield (The Grange).   Being the curious person I am, I submitted a FOIA request for Mr. Grice’s official emails during the time in question to see the source document for myself and any other documents that may provide additional context to the issue.  This irritated Mr. Grice and he confronted me directly at a local meeting in May.  Mr. Grice said, “I should have called him if I had questions, but I didn’t have the balls to call him.”  He then insinuated that if I didn’t stop, he would contact my military command about “my activities.” 

Even a frivolous complaint (which this most certainly would be) presents the risk of an official inquiry that could cause an unnecessary distraction for me and those I work with.  Mr. Grice, also a former military officer, knows this, so he made the threat in an attempt to stop me from digging further, or intimidate me from exposing anything I might have found, or maybe he is just a jackass.  The answer is probably a combination of the three.  I offered him my command’s contact information, but he walked away disgusted, and I have not had contact with him since.  

Now, I would like to address Mr. Grice’s comments.  First, Mr. Grice’s assessment of my genitalia is incorrect; it is intact and just fine.  Secondly, I didn’t call him because a) I don’t owe him a call for anything, and b) I doubt I would have received a fully informed, honest answer if I asked, “Dick, why did you infringe on one of your constituent’s rights by violating 2.2-3103, paragraph 10 of Virginia State Code?” 

Below is the email Mr. Grice sent to silence one of his constituents.  You can decide for yourself if it violates the above state law. 

Mr. Grice’s purpose was to not so subtly suggest to Towne Bank that random citizens would close their accounts if Mrs. Bevan didn’t shut up.  The email achieved its intent because Mrs. Bevan did not make public comments the night of the final vote on The Grange despite repeatedly speaking on the issue over the previous year (while never, to my knowledge, invoking her employer in those comments).  I was told Towne Bank was professional about the matter and did not do Mr. Grice’s bidding (i.e., direct Mrs. Bevan to stay silent).  Still, Mrs. Bevan made a personal decision to avoid any chance of inserting her employer into the middle of a controversial issue. 

My FOIA request did not reveal any official emails or text messages to Mr. Grice from these “concerned constituents.”  Of course, there are other legitimate ways concerned constituents could have reached out to Mr. Grice.  I suppose a massive groundswell of anger at Towne Bank was possible, but color me skeptical.  Furthermore, I don’t understand why these people couldn’t contact their bank to make a complaint if it was that serious to them. Nor can I fathom the legitimate reason Mr. Grice would have for inserting himself, in his capacity as a Supervisor, between his constituents and their bank.  Maybe I just underestimated the extent of Mr. Grice’s constituent services to the people of Smithfield during his time as a Supervisor.

The timing of the email is also an essential point.  The email was sent two weeks before the final vote on The Grange.  Due to Wayne Hall’s resignation, Mr. Grice already knew his like-minded allies on Smithfield Town Council had enough votes to approve The Grange.  There is also the fact that Mrs. Bevan supported a late write-in candidate during the November 2023 election who was opposing Mr. Grice’s hand-picked successor, Renee Rountree.  However, this email was written two weeks after Rountree’s election win.  From a political standpoint, it made no sense for Grice to send this email in either scenario (let alone the obvious unethical nature).  So, it seems the email was sent to punish Mrs. Bevan for holding an opposing view, or maybe to discourage future public opposition, or to seek petty revenge for the write-in campaign that garnered over 40% of the vote against someone Mr. Grice sees as his political protégé.

This Happened in May, Why Write About It Now?

For two reasons, I have avoided writing about my run-in with Mr. Grice until this point: 

1) Like Mrs. Bevan, I had no desire to risk getting my employer involved in Mr. Grice’s petty games.  I continue to have zero fear that I have done anything to violate Navy policy and have reverified this with my command’s legal advisor.  Still, a complaint from Mr. Grice would potentially create an official inquiry that would create an unnecessary distraction for my military command during a time of significant global upheaval.  I won’t go into the details of my command’s work, but it is safe to say it is far more important than Mr. Grice’s small town political games.  However, it has bothered me that, in some ways, Grice was able to achieve his desired effect up until this point.

2)  Anyone who has known Dick Grice for any amount of time knows that he has a short temper and is occasionally prone to lash out (i.e. a jackass).  A bad temper and inability to control his emotions certainly don’t excuse any of his actions.  The night of the incident, I was asked by a friend of his to show him some grace.  I gave this serious consideration and as time went on, I started to think it would be best for all involved to let this go since he was no longer in office.

However, a few recent events drove me to change my mind.  Last week, Jim Collins, who is running for a full term on the Smithfield Town Council, decided to double down on the preposterous idea that the majority of the current Smithfield Town Council is above reproach and the real problem is “keyboard warriors” weaponizing transparency for “personal gain.”  I wrote about this in this week’s Smithfield Times.  This relates to Mr. Grice because at the same meeting Mr. Grice threatened to “report me to the Navy”; he also introduced and endorsed Jim Collins for Town Council.  I don’t know Jim Collins personally; I had heard good things about him leading up to his appointment, but his brief time on Smithfield Town Council has been disappointing in the same way Steve Bowman’s tenure has been disappointing.  I want to assume that Mr. Collins does not know this side of Mr. Grice and would disapprove of his actions.

Additionally, the Board of Supervisors recently appointed Mr. Grice to their new Financial Audit Committee.  On the surface, this would appear to be a reasonable choice; he understands the recent financial history of the county and how local government financing works.  However, when you realize the ease at which he is willing to make threats against people who disagree with him and his lack of belief in the First Amendment rights of individual citizens, that institutional knowledge and access becomes a weapon that he has shown a clear willingness to use.  I believe his behavior makes him unqualified to represent the county in any capacity.  I will again assume that people (in this case, the Board of Supervisors) were unaware of his behavior and would have considered other options for the appointment if they had been aware.

Lastly, the past week has reinforced my belief that if people aren’t forthright about the problems within our local governments, then those officials will never have incentive to change.  There is an influential group of political leaders in Isle of Wight who have ties to Dick Grice.  To borrow one of Mr. Grice’s favorite phrases, “Isn’t it interesting that” most of the controversial issues in our local politics over the past year or so have involved officials who are politically aligned with Mr. Grice?  Many of them, I believe, would be better leaders if they moved on from Mr. Grice and instead put their trust in themselves and their constituents.  Years ago, Mr. Grice was part of a significant movement within the Board of Supervisors to get Isle of Wight back on track after years of poor fiscal management.  However, since then, he has become more petty, less tolerant of opposing views, and more concerned with trying to wield influence as a wannabe political boss who believes the people of Isle of Wight are too stupid to govern themselves.

Sic Semper Tyrannis…