{"id":6087,"date":"2026-04-02T00:10:05","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T00:10:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/02\/tension-at-botetourt-county-board-meeting-over-citizen-comments-wsls\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T00:10:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T00:10:05","slug":"tension-at-botetourt-county-board-meeting-over-citizen-comments-wsls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/02\/tension-at-botetourt-county-board-meeting-over-citizen-comments-wsls\/","title":{"rendered":"Tension at Botetourt County Board meeting over citizen comments – WSLS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Monica Johnson<\/a><\/span>, Community Journalist
Published:\u00a0Monica Johnson<\/a><\/span>, Community Journalist
BOTETOURT CO., Va. <\/strong> \u2013 A tense exchange between a local resident and the Botetourt County Board of Supervisors raised questions about public participation at the board\u2019s March meeting.
Chloe Johnson, a Blue Ridge native and member of the Southwest Virginia Data Center Transparency Alliance, said she was shocked and emotional after the encounter with Board Chair Mac Scothorn.
\u201cIt was shocking to me. I did get a little upset, emotional, like crying,\u201d Johnson said.
Video from the meeting shows Johnson attempting to give a citizen comment, only to be interrupted and deferred by Scothorn.
\u201cChloe, what I\u2019ve been doing is after this, we\u2019ll get together and you can speak, but let me get done with all this first,\u201d he said.
Johnson said the interaction felt dismissive and \u201cinfantilizing,\u201d raising concerns that young residents might be discouraged from participating in local government.
\u201cYou expect to be heard through local government, and you\u2019ve gone to a place where you\u2019ve spoken before. You\u2019re expecting them to listen,\u201d she said.
Botetourt County guidelines allow anyone to provide citizen comments in person, by email, or through a comment form, but they do not specify a separate time for non-residents. Johnson, who recently moved back to the Blue Ridge area, said she felt singled out.
\u201cI kind of think if it were someone else, would they be dissuaded from participating in local government after that?\u201d she said.
Scothorn said in a statement in part: \u201cWe value hearing from those who take the time to attend and participate in County meetings.
In this case, there was some confusion regarding how a speaker identified their residency on the comment form versus what was shared verbally. We prioritized hearing from Botetourt County residents first, with the intention of hearing all remaining speakers after Board Comments.\u2026.
It was never our intent to exclude anyone, and we remain committed to ensuring voices are heard, especially on issues that draw interest from both within and outside our County.”
Copyright 2026 by WSLS 10 – All rights reserved.
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