Supervisors-elect ready to serve

By CAITLIN SULLIVAN/Staff

New Washington County Supervisor Joe Straten said he will not sign an oath of secrecy when he joins the board in January.
“It is one of my goals that our actions are public and people know what’s going on, particularly when we’re discussing spending millions of taxpayer dollars,” Straten said. “I truly believe we represent the people.”
Straten won District E by just 16 votes last week, unseating incumbent Jack McCrady, who was seeking a second term. Straten ran on a platform of bringing jobs to the county and took a decidedly pro-development stance. Although McCrady won more votes in the Damascus and Green Cove precincts, Straten had a big lead in the Rhea Valley precinct with 623 votes to 420. Straten also had a six-vote margin of victory in absentee ballots.
“I’m glad it’s over,” Straten said. “I felt like it was going to be a close race, but I had no real idea whether I was going to win.”
It’s not quite over. McCrady said he’ll likely ask for a recount, since the vote was so close.
“In order for an outsider to come in there and unseat an incumbent, people had to be unhappy with them, and I think the truck stop was the biggest issue,” Straten said. “Jack did a disservice to his constituents by not allowing a truck stop to come in here.”
Although he “absolutely” does not regret his vote against the truck stop, McCrady said that he thinks it may have affected the election results.
“More so, I think the momentum the Republicans had on a state level caused a lot of people not to turn out and vote,” McCrady said. “I had a lot of friends that said they didn’t vote because they thought (that I was going to win).”
McCrady said he’s been in politics all his life and said this election won’t stop it. He said he’ll continue to be very involved in the Washington County Democratic Party.
“I think my biggest concern with the results of this election is that I’d hate to see Washington County take backward steps,” McCrady said. “We are a progressive county.”
Like Straten, new Supervisor-elect Nicole Price said open government is a main concern.
She won District B, which includes Clinchburg, Greendale and Hayters Gap, with 1,214 votes.
“(During the campaign) I got a sense people don’t feel a part of what’s going on in county government,” Price said.
She said she wants to allow people more access, including having meetings broadcast on local access TV or on the Web, and she wants to upload more documents to the Internet before a decision is made. Among the items she’d like to see online: proposed budgets, bid requests, bids received and who gets the contracts.
“We should all strive to make this as open as possible…people should have access to what goes on with their money,” Price said. “The board’s been elected to make the decisions that affect the county and to spend the taxpayer’s money so I think we need to make the process as transparent and accessible as possible.”
She also said she’d like to see the county planner position filled. The position has been vacant since 2006, when Wally Horton accepted a position in Fauquier County, Va.
“Meaningful planning for growth and development is lacking in Washington County,” Price said.
In District G, which includes High Point, Wallace and John Battle precincts, incumbent Dulcie Mumpower beat Vernon Smith 1,285 to 851 votes.
Smith said he’s proud he received 800 votes. He said he learned a lot during the campaign and plans to stay in politics.
“Now I’m a politician; I wasn’t before,” Smith said. “I was a green bean before.”
Peters, who lost to Price, however, isn’t a politician.
“I was just giving people a choice,” the write-in candidate said. “I’m through with politics.”
To contact Caitlin Sullivan e-mail csullivan@wythenews.com or call (276) 628-7101.