By Sean Tubbs
Charlottesville Tomorrow
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Duane Snow
has entered the race for the Republican nomination for the Samuel Miller seat on the
Albemarle County Board of Supervisors
. Flanked by members of his extended family, Snow said he would bring a “common sense approach” to the Board if elected in November.
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 Duane Snow was surrounded by family and friends during his campaign announcement |
Snow’s grandfather founded a “market garden” in 1912 which eventually grew to become Snow’s Garden Center. In 1970, Duane Snow returned to Charlottesville to work for the family business after graduating from Brigham Young University in Utah. He retired from the company in 2005 and he and his wife Rena recently completed an 18-month missionary trip to the Phillipines. Snow decided to run shortly after returning home.
Snow thanked outgoing Supervisor
Sally Thomas
(I-Samuel Miller) for her 16 years of service on the Board. He said he had been approached many times over the years to run against
Thomas
, but wanted to wait until she left office.
Snow, who will be sixty-four on election day, and his wife have five children, all of whom attended Albemarle County Public Schools. Ten of Snow’s 12 grandchildren were behind him as he read his campaign announcement to the media.
“As you can see, we have a sizeable investment in Albemarle County,” Snow said. He said he has overwhelming support from his family to run. Joining Snow’s family on the steps of the County Office Building was childhood friend
Rodney Thomas
(R-Rio), another candidate for Supervisor, who is challenging incumbent
David Slutzky
(D-Rio).
Prior public service in the community includes a term on the
Architectural Review Board
, service on the board of the local chapter of the American Heart Association, as well as ten years on the Virginia State Agricultural Council. He also co-hosts a radio show about gardening and landscaping that airs Saturday mornings on WINA
Snow listed taxes, transportation, education, growth and land use as issues he is concerned about. He said as a Supervisor, he would first listen to his constituents, collect facts, make decisions based on common sense, and then take action. He offered no specific policy recommendations during his speech, but did suggest a position on the water supply plan.
“It is my opinion that we’re moving in the right direction and we don’t need any more studies other than finding out how much water is actually behind the dam,” Snow said. “I know that we have one dam that is faulty and that dam needs to be fixed as soon as possible. We need to look at additional water supplies. But one thing we need to continue to do is to conserve the water that we have.”
Snow’s opponent for the Republican nomination is
Dr. Phillip Melita
. The nomination will be decided at a Republican caucus to be held at one of McIntire Park’s picnic shelters on Tuesday, May 26, 2009. The Democratic Party has nominated former School Board member Madison Cummings to run for the seat. Independent John Lowry is also a candidate to replace Thomas.
See Charlottesville Tomorrow’s
Election Watch page
for complete coverage of the County’s 2009 elections.
