Read all about it: Gibson participates in local candidate forum

Here’s an excellent summary from the Gloucester-Mathews Gazette-Journal of the two candidates for Gloucester Board of Supervisors participation in a recent candidate forum.

Note: Ken Gibson’s opponent and Kevin Smith’s opponent chose not to participate in the County’s only candidate forum. You can also watch Gibson and Smith's part of the the forum yourself by scrolling over to 15:24 through 35:39.

https://www.facebook.com/Gloucestercounty.va.NAACP/videos/376563630873135

In Gloucester: Opponents absent from candidate forum

BY CHARLIE KOENIG ON OCTOBER 13, 2021

In a virtual candidate forum held last Wednesday night and broadcast on Facebook, five local candidates running for office in Gloucester got the chance to take their campaigns to the voters.

Board of supervisors

Benns posed … questions to both of the supervisor candidates, and for the most part Smith and Gibson were in agreement. On the issue of encouraging public input, Smith said all should feel comfortable reaching out to supervisors. Supervisors’ individual email addresses and phone numbers are on the county’s website. He said he doesn’t mind taking a look at constituents’ concerns, from checking out ditches to problems with mosquitoes. Residents can also call the county offices the week before a board meeting and leave a message, or leave emails that can be read into the record.

Gibson also strongly supports keeping avenues of direct communication open, something he’s done during his campaign as well, with his cell number, email address, webpage and Facebook page. He said he’s also knocked on hundreds of doors throughout the district and been “chased by a few dogs, bitten by one … not too bad.

“I’ve been asked a lot of questions about Mr. Winebarger, my opponent,” he added. “Unfortunately, he’s not here tonight.” Gibson said he views running for office like a job interview. “And if you don’t show up for the interview, should you get the job,” he asked.

On growing the economy without raising taxes, Gibson said that one of the focuses of his campaign is creating better, high-paying jobs for Gloucester. Seventy-five percent of county residents go outside the community to work. “That’s pretty out of balance,” he said.

Gloucester does have a business park on Route 17, he said, singling out Canon that employs 150 people. But the park is not full, he said. If the county could attract a few more partners like Canon, “that could be hundreds and hundreds of jobs” which would help lessen the burden on real estate taxes.

Smith echoed Gibson’s comments and added that the former Page Middle School site would be an excellent place for the county to have another business park.

On the question of addressing needs over the goal of blindly favoring lowering taxes, Smith said while he wants to keep taxes as low as possible, it comes down to listening and understanding the needs of the citizens, especially addressing the needs of first responders and the homeless.

Gibson said that, when it comes to making financial decisions, the county board has been “too short-sighted in [its] decision making. And we are often patching problems instead of fixing problems.” He gave two examples. Both centered on the construction of a new Page Middle School after it was destroyed in 2011 by a tornado. First, he said, the county built a gym that’s too small and has no bleachers. As a result, the school’s basketball and volleyball teams have to be bused to Peasley Middle School for its home games, creating a long-term cost and inconvenience.

The second was construction of a baseball field. If it had been built when bulldozers were still on site, it would have cost $285,000, he said. Six years later, the county is finally building it, but at a cost of almost $600,000. “We just didn’t get it right the first time,” he said.

On COVID-19 relief money, Gibson said that we are fortunate to have that revenue stream. At present, only Cox provides high-speed broadband internet to the county. He personally doesn’t have high-speed internet and his children cannot go to school online. Cox is telling him he would have to pay $1,000s to run a line to his house.

Supervisors voted to use some of the money to fund a competitor for Cox to provide access to high-speed internet for everyone in the county. One board member voted no, he said, “my competitor.”

Smith said that current funding priorities include the fire and rescue departments, the sheriff’s department and, of course, broadband. He also voiced concern about the lack of competition faced by Cox. “I just paid $260 for my monthly Cox bill … because they have no competition,” Smith said. Helping the homeless should also be a top funding priority. “That’s just a big issue for me,” he said. “They need to be fully funded.”

Finally, the two addressed the use of the 1 cent sales tax increase approved by voters, with both incensed that some of it is being used for previously incurred debt, not for new school construction/renovation.

“This gets my blood boiling. Thanks for the question,” Smith said. He said that voters were led to believe that the money would only go to new construction. “Sadly, aside from me and one other board member, the tables were turned,” he said. “I believe it was morally wrong,” to use the money this way, he said.

“I share Kevin Smith’s concern about how this was handled,” Gibson said. Gloucester citizens voted by an overwhelming majority to pass the sales tax increase; all the information provided said it would be for new construction/renovation to the schools.

With aging facilities, the new levy was a “great vehicle” for paying for this need. Instead, he said, Winebarger and others voted to divert this to old debt, another example of a short-sighted decision. He also criticized the lack of openness and transparency in making this decision to go against the will of the voters.

During closing comments at the end of the program, Smith made the point that he strongly supports and is an advocate for the residents’ 2nd Amendment rights, “regardless of what has been put out in the public.” He said he voted for Gloucester to be a 2nd Amendment Sanctuary County, as well as two other gun resolutions for the county.