Thursday, June 11, 2009
Democrats gunning for Roanoke County supervisor spots
Two last-minute Roanoke County challengers entered the race Tuesday.
Related
roanoke.com/politics
Roanoke County Democrats smell an opportunity for a wholesale change on the board of supervisors this year as they are fielding candidates for all three open seats.
At least one new name is certain already after Windsor Hills District incumbent Republican Joe McNamara stumbled in Tuesday's primary.
But just before polls closed on that election, and the deadline for candidates passed, county Democrats entered two last-minute challengers.
One, Sarah Goodman, will be making a bid to keep the victor of the Windsor Hills GOP primary, Ed Elswick, from ever taking a seat on the board.
The other, Charlene Waybright, will challenge Republican incumbent Richard Flora in the Hollins District.
The two join Pat Patterson, who earlier launched his campaign against Vinton District Supervisor Michael Altizer.
Both Flora and Altizer earlier announced they would seek re-election.
Waybright, a clinical laboratory scientist at Carilion Labs, made her formal campaign announcement Wednesday afternoon at the Hollins Branch Library before a small group of supporters.
Roanoke County Sheriff Gerald Holt, a mainstay of the party, introduced Waybright and said she was "right in tune with the citizens of the Hollins District."
In an interview before her introductory speech, Waybright said she has no particular gripes with Flora, but, "I think incumbents need to be challenged" periodically.
She called for "better transparency and citizen input," saying she'd like to set up regular citizen meetings similar to those now held by the board's only Democratic member, Cave Spring Supervisor Charlotte Moore.
While Waybright said she believed many North County residents are happy that the new aquatic and recreation center is being built nearby, she questioned why it didn't have a competition pool that could have been used by county school children and as a revenue source for competitive swimming.
Waybright already has a Web site up and active -- charlenewaybrightforsupervisor.com.
She is a native of the Roanoke Valley. After graduating from William Byrd High School, she graduated from Virginia Western Community College and Roanoke College, earning a bachelor's degree in biology. She and her husband, Simon Adkins, have two grown children.
Goodman is a real estate agent and former teacher.
In a telephone interview, she said education would be a priority for her on the board.
"I was a teacher before, and having four kids, education is of the utmost importance to me. The budget cuts that are going on are very troubling.
"I have a lot of teacher friends and have seen directly what has happened -- larger classroom sizes and increased workloads."
Goodman said she has not set a date for her formal announcement yet. She conceded that "the filing deadline crept up on me," and she was pushed to get her paperwork in on time.
Like Waybright, however, Goodman said she had considered such a run for some time, and it just seemed like the right time.
"My youngest is 4, and I'm ready to get involved. I was active again with the county committee last year and worked hard for [President] Obama."
Dawn Erdman, treasurer of the Roanoke County Democratic Committee, said she believes both women will be strong candidates and urged both to run this year.
"We're seeing some changes in the county that told us maybe this was a good time to run," she said.
Although party politics are not supposed to be a factor in them and all candidates run as independents, there also will be at least one contested race on the Roanoke County School Board this year.
Vinton District representative Mike Stovall is being challenged by Jason Peters and Russell Wise.
Chairman Drew Barrineau, the Windsor Hills District member, and Jerry Canada of Hollins, are unopposed so far.
All three of them were unopposed in 2005.
