Friday, October 30, 2009
Commissioner candidates squabble over certification claim
Douglas Walker: Sherman Holland's certification has expired. Holland: Walker was never certified.
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From The Roanoke Times
Roanoke Commissioner of the Revenue Sherman Holland brags in his re-election campaign brochure that he's "an accredited Certified Commissioner of Revenue attested by the University of Virginia."
That was true in August 1998, when he was awarded that certification by the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at UVa.
But it's no longer the case: Holland's certification expired in August 2002, according to a Cooper Center official.
"That program required the certification to be renewed four years after the initial certification or by August 2002. Mr. Holland did not meet the requirements for recertification," wrote Albert Spengler, the center's director of certification programs.
"He can't really say he's certified," Spengler said in a phone interview. When read the statement in Holland's brochure, Spengler responded, "That is inaccurate."
The issue is being pushed by Republican Douglas Walker, who is challenging Holland for the commissioner's office.
"It's quite clear that the current commissioner was less than truthful about his credentials," Walker said. "He's running on a platform of experience and integrity. It reads to me like his experience is not as significant and accredited as he portrays it to be. The other element of that is integrity. Unless I'm misreading what's going on here, it appears to me to be a blatant lie."
Holland fired back. During an interview in his office he repeatedly pointed to the framed 1998 document from the Cooper Center that awarded his certification.
"As you can see, just like you get a college degree, you can see where it's signed and says I'm certified," Holland said. "You can't take it away. It's just like a college degree."
Some confusion may come from a change in the certification program in 2003. That year, new guidelines went into effect. The new Cooper Center's Master Commissioner of the Revenue Certification Program requires successful completion of required courses as well as earning "points" through participation in events sponsored by the commissioners' state association.
"That's where you make the distinction," Holland said. "My brochure never said I was certified under the Master Commissioner of Revenue Certification."
But according to Spengler, both programs required recertification -- every four years under the old program, and annually under the new. Either way, Holland can no longer claim to be a certified commissioner of the revenue, he said.
Walker -- a former general manager with The Hammersley Group, which owned 11 luxury auto dealerships in central Virginia and the Roanoke Valley before selling its assets last fall -- said Holland shouldn't be let off the hook even if he didn't know his certification expired.
"If he is so ignorant of the program that he doesn't know any better yet I do, doesn't that clarify who the right choice in the race is?"
Holland said Walker has no right to criticize him: "If he's going to question the master's certification, how many courses has he taken? How can you chastise somebody for something you don't have?"
Walker said that commissioners must serve two years before they can enroll in the course, but that if elected he would make certification one of his top priorities.
In Virginia, 128 localities have elected commissioners of the revenue. Of those, 71 -- about 55 percent -- have been certified under the Cooper Center's current program.
Holland's deputy, Greg Emerson, received his master's certification earlier this summer. Holland has taken classes toward his own recertification.
There had been a 9.2 percent salary supplement offered for commissioners who receive certification, but funding for the incentive has dried up. Holland said that change, combined with an increasingly tight budget and difficulty enrolling in classes, led him to temporarily stop pursuit of certification under the new program.
"I'm not going to rush to get that certification because it doesn't do me any good because I can't get any money for the office from it," Holland said.
Walker's attack on Holland's credentials is the latest in a campaign that's been centered upon criticism of the commissioner's practices. He's repeatedly cited a 2005 municipal audit that found Holland's office did not adequately assess personal property and business license taxes in accordance with the law.
Holland has responded that the auditor did not fully understand his office's duties and practices and that he wasn't legally allowed to audit the commissioner's office anyway. He's also pointed to a report by the Virginia Auditor of Public Accounts that as recently as August found that the commissioner of the revenue complied "in all material respects" with state laws and regulations.
Holland meanwhile has criticized Walker's lack of experience in the commissioner's office. He contrasts his 28 years of experience in the commissioner's office against Walker's lack of taxation experience.
Holland has his own criticism of Walker's campaign brochure as well. He cites a section in which Walker suggests that "when the commissioner does not collect all tax revenue due to the city," the council must raise taxes or cut services. Holland pointed out that the commissioner of revenue isn't even responsible for collecting taxes; the treasurer is.
Walker said he was "keenly aware" of the difference between the commissioner's and treasurer's duties, but admitted the brochure was incorrectly worded and said that once the mistake was realized it was too late to reprint it.
"It still comes back to 28 years in the commissioner's office, 12 years as commissioner, against somebody that has no taxation experience," Holland said.
