Boyd announces he will seek a third term on Albemarle Board of Supervisors

By Brian Wheeler
Charlottesville Tomorrow
Friday, May 13, 2011

Republican Kenneth C. Boyd announced Thursday that he will seek a third term on the Albemarle Board of Supervisors . Boyd has represented the Rivanna District since 2004 and served as chairman during 2007-2008.

Boyd, 63, moved to Albemarle County in 1982 to work for Jefferson National Bank. Since 1991 he has run his own financial planning business.

“I really only decided … just this week, that I will seek another term as the Rivanna representative on the Board of Supervisors,” Boyd said at a press conference held inside the county office building.

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Boyd began his remarks by acknowledging that in 2009 he said he would not run for re-election, as he wanted to concentrate on a run for the Republican party’s nomination in the race for the 5th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Boyd was unsuccessful and Robert Hurt ultimately received the party’s nomination and defeated Democrat Tom Perriello in the November election.

“I said at that time that I would not be seeking another term,” Boyd said. “But this year I have been both honored and humbled by the number of people who have come out asked me to run again… .”

Prior to his election to the Board of Supervisors, Boyd served a 4-year term on the Albemarle School Board. Thursday he said education would remain a priority.

“We’ve accomplished a lot of things over the last 12 years, and it’s something I think we can all be proud of,” Boyd said. “The first is we certainly continue to build on a world class education system.”

Boyd also highlighted recognition that the county has received for its law enforcement, energy-efficient buildings, rural land conservation, the creation of new parks and for maintaining a AAA bond rating.

“We are continuing to be good stewards of the environment and we always will be as long as I am on the Board of Supervisors,” Boyd said.

Boyd said if he had to select one issue as his top priority for his next term, it would be implementation of the community water supply plan and construction of a new earthen dam at the Ragged Mountain Reservoir .

“We must make sure that our community has an abundant and clean drinking water supply, and to do this we have to complete the Ragged Mountain agreement,” Boyd said.

Boyd said the county must also address sewer infrastructure problems that have been “ignored for decades,” and it must complete the Meadow Creek Parkway . Boyd also called for talks on the 1982 revenue sharing agreement with the city of Charlottesville to find a “more fair and equitable distribution of those funds,” which the county pays annually into city coffers.

When fellow Republicans Duane E. Snow and Rodney Thomas were elected to the board in 2009, Boyd was able to lead a conservative bloc promoting an agenda that featured no increases to the real estate property tax rate, as well as development of an economic vitality plan which seeks to increase local revenues through greater economic development.

“We had to hold the line on taxes,” Boyd said. “I am proud to say that we were able to downsize our government considerably without impacting services that much.”

Rivanna residents Allan and Cynthia Collier came to Boyd’s announcement to support his re-election campaign.

“He has saved me a lot of money on my property taxes, and I do appreciate that,” Allan Collier said.

Cynthia Collier said she was concerned about the county’s involvement in the Livable Communities Planning Project, a three-year joint planning project managed by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission involving the county, the city of Charlottesville and the University of Virginia.

“I think too many people are making plans for too many other people without their permission,” said Collier. “I hope [Boyd] will manage to get us out of that deal with ICLEI and Agenda 21, which was started by the United Nations.”

Boyd has asked at two recent board meetings that Albemarle drop its membership in ICLEI — Local Governments for Sustainability. In response to Boyd’s concerns and those of Jefferson Area Tea Party members , the county has scheduled a work session for June 8 to review ICLEI and the Livable Communities Planning Project.

Boyd said he was “blindsided” by the county’s recent involvement in the TJPDC project, which is supported by an almost $1 million federal grant, and he looked forward to learning more about it at the upcoming work session.

“I still don’t understand clearly what they want to do with that money,” said Boyd. “We have spent an awful lot of time, effort and expense on master planning in the county, and I don’t want to drag our community through that process again.”

Watch the video [story continues below] :

Ken Boyd announces re-election campaign for Albemarle Board of Supervisors
from Charlottesville Tomorrow on Vimeo .

The chair of the Albemarle Republican Committee , Rachel Schoenewald , said the party would officially nominate candidates for local races sometime during July and August. She said the November elections for three seats on the six-member Board of Supervisors were “extremely important.”

“There are a lot of extremely important issues facing the board right now,” said Schoenewald. “It will determine a lot how the county develops moving forward, both economically and socially, so I think it’s really something people should be focused on.”

No other candidates have announced that they are seeking to challenge Boyd. Supervisor Ann H. Mallek , D-White Hall, has announced she is seeking re-election. The Scottsville District will have an open seat race as Democrat Supervisor Lindsay G. Dorrier Jr . announced in March he would not run again. No candidates have yet announced that they are running for the Scottsville seat.