In the first meeting of the new year, King George County Supervisor Cathy Binder batted .500.
Binder, who represents the Shiloh District on the board of supervisors, nominated herself as vice chair, but lost that bid, 3-2, to outgoing Chair William Davis of the Dahlgren District.
However, Binder’s next motion passed by a 3-2 vote. She requested that the board revisit its “gentlemen’s agreement” from 2016-24 that permitted the board to rotate the chair each year by district — this time putting it in writing.
Davis and Ken Stroud of the James Madison District voted against the motion, which was supported by newly elected Chair David Sullins (at-large), Binder and first-year board member Bryan Metts of the James Monroe District.
While Binder said all residents should have the opportunity to have their representative serve as chair, Davis spoke emphatically against the proposed rotation, stressing that the role of chair should be earned, not given.
“I think if you can’t win the respect of your peers to vote for you, I think that goes a long way,” Davis said. “It’s not just something given to somebody just because they’re in that seat. You do your job well; you win the respect as a leader and someone who handles themselves well and able to lead … then you get voted as chair.”
According to Stroud, the role has already rotated. Since 2024, the board voted for former member T.C. Collins, Davis, and now Sullins as chair. But there is no requirement that everyone gets a turn. Binder’s motion will edit the bylaws to ensure each district’s representative gets a shot.
“I can’t find the word ‘rotates’ anywhere in the bylaws,” Metts reminded those opposing the motion.
Stroud said adding the stipulation to the bylaws opens a “can of worms.” An incredulous Davis told Sullins after he cast the tiebreaking vote that “you just voted to rotate the chair by district.”
“Now you’ve got to figure out the sequence for that and what the rotation is going to be,” Stroud said. “Is it going to be alphabetical? … Is it going to be by height or what?”
Sullins said the board is smart enough to figure that out.
“We were smart enough to figure it out before having it in writing,” Stroud fired back.
In other business, the board appointed county farmer Tom Joakum to the Tourism Advisory Committee overseeing Agritourism. Joakum defeated Dragan Kurbalija, who owns the Gardening Gays farm in the county, along with his husband, Kevin Graham, by a 4-1 vote. Metts nominated Kurbalija and cast the lone vote in his favor.
Gardening Gays held a fall festival in 2025 that brought in more than 1,000 people one weekend. The farm also has approximately 275,000 followers across multiple social media platforms.
“He’s in the business that we’re trying to grow within the county to maintain that rural character,” Metts said.
Metts went on to nominate Kurbalija to serve on the TAC as the lead on lodging. That motion passed unanimously.
