Sunday, February 08, 2009
Henry Showalter: Stepping up to Town Council
Some residents say they're impressed with Henry Showalter's character and the way he's stuck to the issues he campaigned on.
Photos by Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times
Henry Showalter and his son, Reece, 8, attend a recent Virginia Tech women's basketball game. Showalter's wife, Kelly, and daughter, Paige, 6, also went to the game.
"If you get tired of what's going on, step up and do it. And that's what I did," says Henry Showalter about running for town council.
Photos by Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times
Jim Vanhoozier serves food that his wife Gerry (left) prepared for them and their son, Chris, in their Christiansburg home. Jim Vanhoozier says family remains the No. 1 priority in his life.
Jim Vanhoozier says he "did an awful lot of walking" to meet as many residents as possible while campaigning for town council.
"If you get tired of what's going on, step up and do it. And that's what I did," says Henry Showalter about running for town council.
Henry Showalter
- Age: 38
- Family: Wife, Kelly; son, Reece, 8; daughter,Paige, 6.
- Profession: Mortgage broker
Take on key issues
- Aquatics center: Showalter wants to see Olympic summer camps and other types of programs for children. He said the town should take advantage of the Virginia Tech affiliation, since the university is nationally known, which will help draw events and programs to the area. He said he wants to see liabilities for Tech added into the contract to protect the town.
- Open government: Showalter said the town’s openness with residents can improve. “You should be willing to speak your mind or you’re in the wrong position,” he said. He said being more open would save the town officials some heartache in certain situations and that the council shouldn’t always be inclined to operate “the way it’s always been done.” Fresh faces in town government, like any government, will make things more progressive, he said.
- Curbside recycling: “It’s been over a decade since Blacksburg rolled theirs out, it’s a no-brainer,” he said. He said that a good program would eliminate waste and add landfill space, and should be implemented as soon as possible.
- Other ideas: Showalter said he would like to see the council have workshops periodically because it would help with the decision-making process and make meetings flow more smoothly. Other town employees, such as the aquatics director, would be able to attend these workshops to issue reports and receive input from the council.
Jim Vanhoozier
- Age: 66
- Family: Wife, Gerry; daughter, Belinda, 46; son, Chris, 35
- Profession: Retired, formerly employed by Northrop Grumman
Take on key issues
- Aquatics center: “I want to be sure that I, along with the rest of the people in Christiansburg, recognize that this is a Christiansburg Aquatic Center first,” he said. Vanhoozier said as liaison on the town’s Aquatic Center Committee, he is working to ensure that residents’ concerns are taken into consideration. Aside from this, he said that the new facility will be “a real boon to the area.”
- Open government: He said he firmly believes that government should be transparent and residents should be included. “If people are not involved they do not have ownership,” he said. Vanhoozier said that the town’s new Web site provides a lot of information to better inform people. He also said that he tries to read community blogs once a week and that while he may not always agree, they have “some good information in them.”
- Curbside recycling: He said that he believes in curbside recycling and that it is becoming more important. If funds are available, he said he would like to see the town do what it can to implement it.
- Other ideas: With the town recently acquiring 153 acres in a boundary adjustment with Montgomery County, he said there may be opportunities for some other businesses that might be significant sources of revenue for the town.
CHRISTIANSBURG -- Kelly Showalter learned just how much her husband, Henry Showalter, loved Christiansburg during a house-hunting trip when they married 13 years ago.
They both lived and worked in Roanoke, she said, and had looked at about 40 houses all over Roanoke and the surrounding area.
"He didn't like any of them, none of them," Kelly Showalter said. "We come to Christiansburg, we look at one house, he says, 'This is the house.' "
So the two moved to Christiansburg. Henry Showalter, a Christiansburg native, admits that he may have been biased in his selection.
"You know, you get a feeling," Showalter said regarding his love for his hometown.
That feeling, he said, is what led him to run for the Christiansburg Town Council last year.
"If you get tired of what's going on, step up and do it. And that's what I did," he said.
A passion to run
Showalter said his entry into local politics was a break from the norm. He said the way many earn a spot on the council is by knowing a council member who can help get them appointed to the Christiansburg Planning Commission and work their way up to a council seat.
Showalter never served on the planning commission, but decided to give running for the town council a shot because he'd been reading about the council's handling of certain issues in the newspaper and thought he could contribute. Chief among them was the town's then-proposed aquatics center being touted as a lucrative institution, which puzzled him.
Showalter, a mortgage broker, said he was taken aback by assertions made by council members during a period that financial analysts called unstable.
"Being in the financial industry, the forecast on the private side was we were going to come to a head and the bubble was going to burst, and we knew it," Showalter said. "You start asking questions, I just wanted to get in there and see what was going on myself. ... I've never heard of a public institution making money on the private side."
He said issues like that sparked his passion to run for the council seat, but when Showalter came home and told his wife, she was less enthusiastic.
"I was like, 'He'll never do it,' " Kelly Showalter said.
She began taking her husband seriously, however, when he came home with the form to get resident signatures to become a candidate.
On election night, May 6, Henry Showalter hastily went around town gathering up his campaign signs to kill some time and anxiety. He thought he might have a good chance at winning but knew that other candidates had worked hard going door-to-door and posting signs. Six candidates were competing for three seats: himself, Jim Vanhoozier, Steve Huppert, Michael Barber, Bill Chafin and Sam Bishop.
He had also seen his brother, Joey Showalter, run for commonwealth's attorney in 1995 and lose despite indications he would apparently win, Henry Showalter said. His brother ran again in 1999 and won. Today, he is a circuit court judge.
When Henry Showalter came home from collecting signs, it was his brother who broke the news that he had won a seat. Vanhoozier and Barber also won.
"Anything can happen," Showalter said.
Sticking to the issues
Some residents say they're impressed with Showalter's character and the way he's stuck to the issues he campaigned on.
"He is certainly living up to his campaign promises of keeping people informed and keeping government open," said Carol Lindstrom of Christiansburg.
Terry Ellen Carter, also of Christiansburg, said she was sold on Showalter after hearing him speak at a League of Women Voters candidate forum last year.
"One of the questions asked was, 'Do you think Christiansburg is a better place to live now than it was five years ago?' Henry Showalter was the only candidate with the courage to answer, 'No,' " Carter said.
He then went on to specify what needed to happen to improve the quality of life in town, she said. Carter said he talked about green space, increasing and improving parks and about increasing public participation in government.
Family lessons
Showalter lost his father, Joe Showalter, at the age of 13, but said subtle life lessons keep his memory alive.
Joe Showalter was active in the community, yet Henry Showalter said he had no idea until after his father's death. To this day, people will come up to Showalter telling him about how his father would donate money for certain causes, he said. Once, while jogging, Showalter came across a memorial with his father's name on it that he didn't know existed.
He said that teaches him lessons in humility.
"That's the type of person my father was," Showalter said.
Showalter now tries to impart those lessons to his two children, to "create a habit" for them to live by.
He recently brought the need for curbside recycling before the council.
At home, Showalter makes a point to recycle and get his kids involved by making trips to the high school to collect recyclables. He also took his son to help with the "Cardboard Cruise," a free cardboard recycling collection done by Valley Curbside Recycling shortly after Christmas.
"It's fun for them," Showalter said. "I try to make it for them where they learn something," he said.
'Everyday guy'
"I'm not trying to make a legacy for myself," Showalter said.
He said he doesn't peg himself a career politician, but "an average, everyday guy," who is enjoying his wife and kids.
Earlier in his life, Showalter said he had gotten out of the habit of regularly attending church. Now that he has a family with young children, church is high on his priority list.
When he retires from work and politics, Showalter said that he will still focus his energy on giving back, probably to the church and other community organizations.
