Down The Stretch They Come!

This is getting good! Growth and taxes dominated the discussion tonight as voters had a chance to "Meet The Candidates" at Goochland High School, and once again the slugfest between Pat Turner (upper left) and Jim Eads (right) in District 5 grabbed the spotlight. No doubt sensing that he's in trouble, incumbent Eads went on the attack. "I don't believe anybody should come in from outside Goochland County and tell us how to develop it," an obvious referral to Turner being a real estate appraiser. But the challenger hit back hard, noting that he found it amusing for Eads to criticize him when "I know of no residential development he (Eads) has stopped in the last five years." Turner seemed to be challening Eads when he announced that "I am the only candidate to publicly state I will vote against any rezoning application before infrastructure is in place."

Eads never responded, but spoke in general terms about his growth philosophy, noting that "Goochland is the envy of the entire metro area. From the time I was elected eight years ago, my motivation has been to keep people outside from developing Goochland County they way they want to develop it." Eads had no specifics to offer on exactly what he will or will not do to control growth.

The eight year incumbent is in the unusual position of having to attack a political newcomer running as an independent. If Eads was smart he would match Turner's bold pledge to reject rezoning requests with insufficient infrastructure (i.e., Satterwhites strip mall), but he seems to be playing it safe by not making any promises he can't keep.

Meanwhile Turner has the guts to say he would actually "shrink" the scale of the frequently debated "villages." Now, I don't know whether that's a good idea or not, but I give Turner credit for being honest, and based on many conversations I've had throughout the county, honesty is not something the current Board of Supervisors is known for. If I lived in District 5, I would be voting for Pat Turner.

Only two other candidates focused on growth during their opening remarks: Kathy Crockett, running as a challenger in District 1, and challenger Bill Burnet in District 3.

Crockett spoke eloquently about the passion she has for Goochland, noting that growth "is what this election is all about." Crockett acknowledged that development is coming whether we like or not, but "we can't let it outpace infrastructure." "I love the character of this county, but once it's gone, it's gone forever and the way things have been going, we're losing it." I may have missed it, but District 1 incumbent Andrew Pryor had little to say about growth.

Bill Burnet is an independent candidate in District 3 who no one had ever heard of until recently, but after an impressive performance tonight, Mr. Burnet served notice that he is no lightweight. With a mechanical engineering degree from Virginia Tech and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon, you could say the thirtysomething Burnet represents "new" Goochland. He's only lived here four years, but clearly has done his homework and delivered some of the most memorable lines of the night. "I believe the current Board of Supervisors is out of touch," said Burnet. He accused them of "rubber stamping" bad developments and charged that "everything that is great about living in Goochland is being threatened if changes are not made. If we foul it up, there's no do over!" Let's hope we haven't heard the last of this gentleman.

(posted by Jim Hale)