Background: Campbell is married and has two daughters, one granddaughter and one son-in-law. He graduated from George Washington High School, Averett College with B.A. in history and A&T State University with a masters in guidance.

1). Why are you running for a seat on Danville City Council?

I received calls from several Danville citizens and leaders urging me to seek the office of City Councilman. After prayerful consideration and family discussions, I decided to accept the challenge. Being actively involved in civic, church and political issues for many years, I have sought to create effective change for the citizens of Danville. I will bring common sense ideas straight from the people to Council. I will be the bridge to bringing various groups together to achieve a common goal.

2). What would you like to accomplish during your first year on Danville City Council?

As mentioned in the answer to the previous question, I would like to accomplish cooperation between various groups to seek solutions to some of the problems we are facing and will face. I believe people working together can accomplish any goal held in common. I would create a voice for residents and establish a process for each resident to voice there concerns to me. I would also work on stabilizing our utility rates.

3). What would you do about the cost of utilities in Danville? Do you support utility rate relief for the elderly poor and disabled? Do you favor more across-the-board rate cuts for utility customers?

I feel it is very important to stabilize our utility rates. I will work with City government and the utility commission to develop a plan that will stabilize utility rates at the best possible cost. Cost is a major factor. Are our rates higher than other communities? Is it practical to reduce the profits, thus maybe creating a need for increased revenue. I would support giving some relief to the elderly poor and disabled after their homes were energy efficient.
I think that our first step is making homes energy efficient. This in itself would save the tax payer money. I would need answers to many questions before I would support an across the board cut in utilities. I pay utility bills and I know the challenge it is to pay. However, it would not do much good to reduce my utility rate only to have my property tax, sales tax, or other taxes increase. I support the lowest rate we can possible get for our residents, but not at the risk of it hurting more with other increased burdens. Are we willing to reduce services to our residents to pay for the loss of revenue from utility rate reductions? That will have to be studied, evaluated and receive citizen input before I could make a judgment.

4). Do you support the city’s plan to join with AMP-Ohio to build a new electric power plant? Is that our best chance to stabilize electric rates?

I do support generating more of our on power as a partner with AMP-Ohio. I think this will stabilize our utility cost and in the long run be in the best interest of Danville, not only for industry recruitment, but also for our residents.

5). Does Danville Public Schools receive enough money from Danville City Council? Would you support more local dollars going toward the public schools?

I am not opposed to making our schools stronger and reaching higher goals. The cost is an investment in our future. It is difficult to put a price tag on the schools. We must first have a clear defined objective and goal and then we must fund it. I would consider a reasonable request from our School Board after I have been convinced that the need is there and the cost will benefit our kids.

6). Do you support the city’s cooperative economic development efforts with Pittsylvania County? Would you like to see more joint city-county projects in the future?

I definitely support our cooperative economic developments with the County. We must move beyond turf battles and together work on our community problems. I would not limit that to just economic development. Other areas should be considered, especially as it relates to environment, quality of life, and standards of living.

7). How would you grade Danville City Manager Jerry Gwaltney on his job performance? What is his strongest asset? What should he do differently?

Mr. Gwaltney has done a good job in recruiting businesses and industry to our area. He has held our taxes to a minimum without any major increases. He is prompt in his response to Council and he keeps Council informed. Without being on Council and knowing everything, it is difficult to evaluate. I do think that one of the things he could do differently is to be more visible and improve his public relations. Look around our city. You will see beautiful landscaping, variety of industries, and improved services. You will see development of tourism, attractions, and increased retail. These are some of the things an industry considers before locating in Danville. The cooperation between city and county has improved, joint facilities have been developed and the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research is in Danville. Over all, one would have to say the City has improved under our City Manager.

8). How would you address the issue of population loss in Danville? Is this now the time to try to recruit former city residents “back home”? How would you do this?

First we must market our city as one of the best places to live. We must actively seek our young adults to return to the city with improved quality of life and programs and services that our youth would appreciate. We must address the housing issue and develop good housing at affordable prices. As we look at our city, we must determine if we want to become a city that is designed for growth or do we wish to continue the same old things the same old way. It is difficult to be attractive to a new generation when we make decisions based on the way we used to do it.

9). Do you support Danville’s retail hub strategy (to attract retail stores here as part of the overall economic development plan)? Do you think it will work?

I do support Danville’s retail hub strategy. I think we need to become the place where visitors come to enjoy our stores, play in our facilities and visit our attractions. The more visitors we attract, the more revenue we generate. The more revenue we generate the less burden it will be on our citizens to fund our schools, police, fire, and all the other services we enjoy as residents.

10). How should the city help prepare local residents for the jobs that are coming to the community? What role should City Council have in the development of an effective work force development system?

Work force development is one of the keys to our continued success in job recruitment. We should partner with Danville Community College, Averett University, Institute for Advanced Learning and Research, National Business College, City and County Public Schools, and any other organization that can assist in preparing our residents for future jobs.

11). How important is tourism to Danville? Are Danville’s historic sites attractive to outside visitors? Should the city spend more or less on tourism?

Tourism is important to our community. To become a regional hub, we must have more than retail stores. We must evaluate what is important to our guest and why do they visit Danville. Historical facilities in Danville are attractive to our visitors and we have people that visit Danville because of our historical settings. That is not the only reason people visit our City. We need to attract those that are interested in nature to visit our river walks, seek those interested in sporting events, and attract those looking for best value for their dollar. Tourism is not and should not be one dimensional.

12). How would you attract people to the city/retain those that are already here and make it a place that is attractive to people of all ages?

The simplest word would be marketing. We have to communicate what we have and what we will have. We have to improve our neighborhoods, reduce crime, and create an atmosphere that is attractive to visitors. Question 11 relates to this as does all the questions. When people visit Danville, we must convince them to return and stay. We need to be as positive about our City as we are about our favorite team. We are a team and together we can market Danville as the one of the best places in the world to live.

13). What is your proposal for revitalizing downtown?

Many are running out of patience when it comes to renovating downtown. We must continue to be patient. Many cities have been successful in renovating and we should study their success. The key is to get people to our downtown area. If we have people coming downtown, businesses will want to locate downtown. The more businesses downtown, the more competitive they become in making their facility attractive. We need to address parking, tax breaks and other incentives to attract downtown tenants.

14). Is the city’s landscaping program worth the money that has been spent on it?

Yes, the City’s landscaping is money well spent. We must make our City attractive if we expect others to relocate here as residents and businesses. It is my understanding that the cost of these improved areas is done through sponsorships and very little money has been spent on most of these projects. It creates pride in our city and assists in selling our city to our visitors.

15). How should City Council attack the problems of crime in general, and gangs in particular?
According to Chief Broadfoot, the solution is not more police officers. We must energize our communities to become more active in crime prevention. We must have active neighborhood watch programs. We must teach our children that crime does not pay. We must decrease our unemployment rate.