Friday, June 01, 2007
2 more candidates join the race to be Roanoke County supervisors
The deadline to file is June 12 to be included on the Nov. 6 ballot.
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roanoke.com/politics
Two more candidates emerged Thursday for the two Roanoke County Board of Supervisors' seats that will be up for election this fall.
Retired Roanoke County police Sgt. Jerry Custer will run as an independent for the Catawba District seat, while real estate agent Charlotte Moore will seek the Democratic nomination for the Cave Spring position.
The filing deadline is June 12 to be included on the Nov. 6 ballot.
Custer made his announcement at the Roanoke County Administration Building on one of its busiest days of the year, the deadline for paying personal property taxes and buying motor vehicle decals.
"I have a concern for the people," he said, "who are concerned about higher taxes, county spending and public safety."
Custer retired a year ago after 24 years as a patrol officer, first in the county's sheriff's office and later in its police department.
"I've been on every street in Roanoke County," the 54-year-old said as a constant stream of taxpayers moved in and out of the administration building. "I've talked to a lot of people. I want to listen and learn, and that's what I've been doing so far. And people are saying their voices are not being heard at the board of supervisors."
Custer, making his first bid for elected office, said he wouldn't criticize incumbent Joe "Butch" Church, who announced his re-election bid last week. "I'm sure Butch has done the best he can do. But I think the people need to be better served."
Custer, who is married and has two children, said he was running as an independent because "I thought as an independent I could get support from both parties. I've always voted for the best person," not according to party labels, he said.
Church was elected to his first two terms as a Republican, but left the party two years ago. He is now an independent.
Later Thursday, Moore proclaimed her candidacy for the Cave Spring seat in front of Clearbrook Elementary School -- just across U.S. 220 from the site of a proposed new Wal-Mart Supercenter.
Supervisor Mike Wray chose not to run for re-election to the seat after one term. Republican Rodney McNeil, a retired roofing contractor and currently a member of the county planning commission, announced his candidacy last week. Both Wray and McNeil voted in favor of the Wal-Mart proposal, as well as a couple of other controversial development projects in the district, Slate Hill and Keagy Village.
In an interview just before her announcement, Moore, however, said she would not be dwelling on those issues.
"We can't go back and change those," Moore said. "We can only expand and grow, but we can make more elegance in the community that will make people want to move here."
She will be keying in on the issues of "education, economic development and the environment," she said.
Her decision to make her announcement at the school was "because of my passion for education and this school," which she attended as a child.
She is also a graduate of Cave Spring High School, where the younger of her two children will graduate next week, she said.
Moore, 55, has been a real estate agent for 22 years. She works for Realstar Realtors, owned by former Roanoke County Supervisor Bob Johnson, who represented the Hollins District as a Democrat from 1985 to 2001.
She said she never discussed her plans for candidacy with him, however, and downplayed the importance of party labels in local politics. "I don't think it really matters. The issues matter."
Moore, who is single, also has owned a landscaping business, Dream Scapes, for the past 10 years, and holds a Class A contractor's license.
She said that as a supervisor she hopes to pursue her passion for "cleaning up the environment and protecting it."
"Growth is inevitable," she said. "Growth with vision is desirable."
