Background: I am 41 years of age, single (divorced) and have one son who currently attends DCC. I am a 1984 graduate of Dan River High School. I have worked with the Postal Service for the past 17½ years as a Letter Carrier. I have been a resident of the Danville area my entire life, and I currently serve as the vice president and shop steward for the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 595.

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

I am running for a seat on City Council because as a life-long resident of Danville I care about my city and have a desire to not only be a recipient and beneficiary of someone else’s effort but to be an active participant and contributor myself. I want to "step up to the plate" and start working to continue the progress that has already begun and help lead Danville and our citizens into what I believe will be a bright and successful future.

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

When elected, I don’t want to go into my term on City Council with my own "personal agenda". I do however have a few core issues that are of particular interest to me and I believe a good foundation on which I can build. (i.e.: Jobs and Workforce Preparedness, Senior Citizens and Retirees, Public Safety, etc.) I will work to gain the needed support from the public and other Council members to move ahead with these core issues as soon as possible and keep Danville moving in a forward direction.

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?

(a). I would like to work with our director of utilities and other council members to ensure that we are providing our citizens with the most efficient and cost effective means of improving our utility system and passing any available savings on to our customers.

(b). I am in favor of a well managed program that would provide utility rate relief for our most disadvantaged citizens.

(c). I would also like to see every one of our residential utility customers share in whatever savings can be created through skillful management of our utility systems and benefit from across-the-board rate cuts. 

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?

(a). I support any effort to improve our present system and I do believe that joining with AMP-Ohio is a step in the right direction.

(b). I won’t step out on a limb and say that this is our best or only chance to stabilize electric rates but I believe we will be better off than had we not joined with American Municipal Power-Ohio.

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

(a). I personally believe that you can’t ever give too much money in support of schools, teachers or the education of our most prized assets, our children.

(b). If there is available funds to increase local support of public schools I would support it.

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?

(a). I think it’s great that our city is working in cooperation with Pittsylvania County. 

(b). In today’s ever-changing and diverse economy I think it is important for us to expand our cooperation and partnerships with other localities, drawing from one another’s strengths and lending and receiving support where there may be weaknesses.

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

(combined answer). Mr. Gwaltney has a tough job. Being a city manager is one of those jobs that no matter what decisions he makes he will be praised by those that agree with his decisions and condemned by those that oppose them. I think it’s important to keep in mind that he works along-side and with City Council and not apart from them. I truly believe that he has our city’s best interest at heart.

Although there is always room for improvement, we have experienced a significant measure of success in Danville and it’s largely due to the effort and hard work of our city manager in cooperation with city council.

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?

(a). Our young people are a key element that I feel is essential in reversing this trend. We must focus on creative ways of providing our graduating high school and college students with new and high-tech jobs where they can succeed right here at home and not have to leave Danville to seek a "better life" somewhere else. Beyond that, what else is there really for young people to do here in Danville. More recreational and entertainment options are a must for us to focus our attention on if we intend on giving them reason to stay and make a life here at home. 

(b). I would like to think that it would be possible to recruit some former residents back home. I guess that would really depend on why they chose to leave in the first place. I do believe that Danville should actively market ourselves to retirees that may be looking to downsize and relocate to a smaller city that offers the many features that appeal to seniors and retirees.

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?

(a). I definitely support Danville’s retail hub strategy. Finally we are starting to attract stores and businesses that folks would have to travel out-of-town to shop at. 

(b). I think that success is often contagious and I’m believing that this is one of those times. To quote a familiar saying, "If you build it, they will come."

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?

(a). It is important to keep our workforce informed, on a regular basis, of what companies are coming to our area, what type of jobs they will be bringing with them, what the educational and skill requirements will be needed to be considered for those jobs. We need to also make the public aware of what training programs are available and where they can call to get additional information.

(b). Members of City Council are in a great public position to inform and compel our available workforce of the need to take charge of their own destiny and seek to better prepare themselves by taking advantage of educational and training opportunities. However, some of the complaints that I hear constantly from unemployed and underemployed people that have been looking for a job is that they were unaware that such programs even existed, or they don’t know who to contact to find out about a job at a particular company, or that they have registered at the VEC and never heard anything back from them either. Certainly we can serve our people better than this. I want to work on finding a method of getting all the information into their hands necessary for them to be fully informed and succeed in today’s job market.

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?

(a). I believe that tourism is an area that Danville, in the near future, will be able to capitalize on to a greater degree than we have thus far.

(b). Our city is rich with history and not just for one reason. Danville offers an appeal for those interested in our place in Civil War history, not to mention our long standing heritage in textiles and tobacco. Fine old homes with wonderful architecture line many of our oldest streets and neighborhoods. 

(c). However, on the subject of whether the city should spend more or less on tourism I will say that perhaps now isn’t the time to increase spending in this area until we have satisfied some of the more pressing needs facing our city and residents.

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?

I touched some on this subject in my response to question 8. I think Danville has a lot going for it and if we’ll just stay the course and continue to reach outside our city limits with excitement and enthusiasm people will come to check out what’s going in Danville. And the ones we have will be glad to continue to call Danville their home.

13). What is your proposal for revitalizing downtown?

Our downtown area seemed to be on life support for quite awhile. But it is slowly beginning to spring to life once again. To continue this turn-around, I propose to attempt to promote available downtown spaces to a variety of unique stores, restaurants and businesses to offer our residents and visitors an eclectic shopping and dining experience that nowhere else in town has to offer. However, with increased interest to this area will come the demand for increased parking spaces, which at this present time seems to be very limited. This is an issue that will have to be addressed if we intend for this revitalization to be successful.

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

I support our city’s landscaping program because of the simple fact that it shows that we are taking pride in our city and want it to look the best that it possibly can. I think it gives our citizens a sense of pride and it shows visitors that we care about what Danville looks like.

15). How should City Council attack the problems of crime in general, and gangs in particular?

I believe that one of the best ways for City Council to deal with problems of crime and gang activity in our community is to, first: Have regular reports by the Chief of Police to city council on crimes and police activity so we can have a realistic idea of what’s going and how to respond. Secondly: In order for the Police Dept., Fire Dept. and Emergency services to be able to do their jobs effectively they have to have our support. Thirdly: No one knows better what’s going on in any given neighborhood than the people who live there. We need to just listen and respond in the appropriate manner to deal with what illegal and harmful activities citizens are reporting in their community. I think Neighborhood Watch programs are great. After all, we are the eyes and ears in our communities (even if it’s in our own homes).