Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Economy, jobs key issues in 7th District
Peggy Frank and Dave Nutter are both focusing on jobs in their campaigns for a seat in the House of Delegates.
Photos by MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times
Moderator Robin Lawson (left) listens as candidates Peggy Frank and Dave Nutter make opening remarks during a candidates forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters on Thursday in Christiansburg.
Photos by MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times
Moderator Robin Lawson (left) listens as candidates Peggy Frank and Dave Nutter make opening remarks during a candidates forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters on Thursday in Christiansburg.
Photos by MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times
Moderator Robin Lawson (left) listens as candidates Peggy Frank and Dave Nutter make opening remarks during a candidates forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters on Thursday in Christiansburg.
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roanoke.com/politics
Del. Dave Nutter, an economic development specialist at Virginia Tech, hopes to sit in the General Assembly for another two years.
But he will first have to defeat a recurring challenge from Peggy Frank, a career prosecutor seeking her first elected office who says she can do better on the issue of jobs.
Nutter, a Republican, is seeking a fifth term as the New River Valley's 7th District lawmaker in the House of Delegates, saying there's still more to accomplish. He's got a track record on such issues as employment, health care and education.
Frank, a Democrat, says it's her turn. She wants to improve state politics with what she says is her forte -- consensus-building -- and to implement a couple of ideas to generate jobs.
"I think there is definitely room for change," said Frank, who is on unpaid leave from her job as an assistant commonwealth's attorney in Pulaski County while she campaigns.
Two years ago, when offered the same two choices, the district's voters chose Nutter. It was a close race decided by fewer than 700 votes out of 12,644 ballots cast.
This time around, the new dynamic is voter concern about the economy. The district's residents are struggling at different degrees. The district is diverse, covering the city of Radford, as well as parts of Pulaski and Montgomery counties. It is under the influence of two large universities, Radford University and Virginia Tech, but it also feels the effects of manufacturing layoffs at Volvo Trucks North America and a host of automotive suppliers.
On the issue of jobs and the economy, Nutter said he preserved money for Dublin-based New River Community College to operate a branch at New River Valley Mall in Christiansburg. The mall branch opened in 2007 after having outgrown a smaller location.
Its funding was pegged for elimination in 2008. Some 1,400 students attended at least some of their classes there.
In addition, Nutter said he hosted talks that led Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield to alter a practice that had held up payment of some patients' claims.
Nutter said "bringing people together to solve problems" is the way he operates.
His candidacy has garnered several endorsements -- including the Virginia Education Association, the National Federation of Independent Business, the Virginia Farm Bureau and the National Rifle Association.
Nutter, whose role at Tech is to research, write reports and guide communities in the area of economic development, distinguished himself from Frank in an interview in that he was familiar with the New River Valley Commerce Park -- a major economic development initiative in the New River Valley --and its challenges as a large, vacant facility.
He shared insights into government purchasing procedures -- which take place with the assistance of a Web-based procurement system that connects state and local government agencies and suppliers -- and said he has a way to make it better.
Nutter said that, if re-elected, he will propose a bill to decrease the fees collected from suppliers. That will be an effort, he said, to try to encourage more small businesses to use it. He said 300 companies in the 7th District use the system, called eVA.
He also said he wants to bring in experts to assess whether older, vacant buildings would have economic value if rehabilitated.
An example is the large, idle factory owned by Intermet in Radford, he said. To pay for the assessments, he proposed reallocating money already budgeted.
One constituent concern about Nutter is his vote -- with scores of fellow Republicans -- under which Virginia forfeited $125 million in federal stimulus money. The money could have been given to unemployed people as jobless benefits.
"What he did is just absolutely wrong," said Penny Franklin, president of the local branch of the International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine and Furniture Workers at Hubbell Lighting in Christiansburg.
"I've got over 100 folks that I personally worked with for years that no longer work with me that could have really benefited from those benefits."
Nutter said those 100 people probably qualify for jobless benefits under Virginia's existing payment program.
The $125 million would have given benefits to other, uncovered categories of jobless people, such as part-time workers. Nutter disagreed with the proposal to add more categories because the state's employers -- who fund the jobless benefits program -- would have had to pay these benefits after the federal cash ran out, he said.
Nutter said the General Assembly extended the benefit period to 59 weeks and lowered the out-of-pocket cost of health insurance purchased under COBRA, lending his vote to those moves.
Frank said that if she were elected, she would focus on ways to create jobs. She said more trade between local businesses and area institutions of higher education could help boost employment -- such as a database of locally available goods and services.
Frank said she also supports more spending by the Governor's Opportunity Fund in order to draw more companies to the area. Frank did not say how she believes the state would pay for enlarging the incentive fund, but she ruled out taking the money from education, transportation or public safety programs and also ruled out a tax increase.
Her strategies, she said, would operate against a backdrop of regional cooperation.
"We just got to get everybody working together," she said. "My approach to being in office is to try to build consensus and communicate with everybody."
She said the region may need to create a commission charged with economic development, even though it is already served by the Virginia's First Regional Industrial Facilities Authority, which unites the efforts of 15 municipalities. Frank was unfamiliar with the authority-owned, 900-acre New River Valley Commerce Park when it was mentioned by name.
Frank's candidacy has garnered multiple endorsements -- including from many of the Democratic constitutional officers in the district.
Nutter did not volunteer any specific comments about Frank. Montgomery County Republican Chairwoman Patty Manthe, asked in what areas Frank might be weak or vulnerable, said, "She has no experience as a legislator."
In contrast, Manthe said, Nutter is an experienced legislator who supports education and low taxes and has shown integrity.
Nutter said he is ready to engage for another session and shares Frank's focus on the economy.
"I have a record of getting things done," he said. Asked how long he wants to be a representative, he said, "I've got some more time in me where I want to accomplish some things, but -- I will tell anybody -- it's a challenging life."
