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Decision 2000: Colonial Heights City Council & School Board
By Sylvia Moore, VCU School of Mass Communications
Nine candidates are running for four seats on the Colonial Heights City Council. This is an “at large” election: All voters in Colonial Heights can vote for four candidates, and the top four vote-getters win.
      Polls will be open 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on May 2. The polling places in Colonial Heights are:
    Precinct 1 - Community Building, 157 Roanoke Road.
    Precinct 2 - Colonial Heights Middle School, 500 Conduit Road.
    Precinct 3 - Lakeview Elementary School, 410 Taswell Ave.
    Precinct 4 - Colonial Heights High School Technical Center, 3451 Conduit Road.
    Precinct 5 - Tussing Elementary School, 5501 Conduit Road.
    Four incumbents are seeking re-election: J. Wayne Browder, P. “Tricia” L. Cox, Charles E. Townes and John T. Wood.
    Here are the nine people on the ballot, in alphabetical order:
    
  • George J. Bogese, Jr.
        
    Bogese, 76, is a general contractor who says Council needs new talent.
    The $710,000 annual interest on the city’s debt is too high for the city’s 17,000 residents, Bogese said. He also criticized the city’s recent purchase of an $850,000 fire truck.
    “We need someone who can say no, who can improvise and remodel,” Bogese said.
    Bogese is treasurer of the local home builders’ association and a member of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars.
    
  • J. Wayne Browder (Incumbent)
        

    		•
    		    Browder, 55, is a dentist who has been on Council for four years.
        Browder said he consistently has voted against increasing the city’s operating budget: “The last three years, it has been 6-1, 6-1, 6-1. I’m the only one whose vote has reflected conservatism.”
        He said the city budget has grown from $23 million in 1996 and to about $32 million this year.
        Browder served on the Colonial Heights School Board for six years.
        
  • R.V. “Bob” Cawthorne, Jr

    		•      Cawthorne, 68, is a retired surveyor.
        He said his priority is to improve Colonial Heights’ infrastructure. He would like to see a clay cap placed on the local landfill so that the area can be developed for other public uses.
        Cawthorne has been a member of the Planning Commission and Transportation Board.
        
  • P. “Tricia” L. Cox (Incumbent)

         Cox, 41, is a nurse director at John Randolph Medical Center in Hopewell. She has been on Council for four years.
        She said Colonial Heights is a wonderful place to live. If re-elected, Cox said she hopes to build on her record of service and help the city move forward.
        
  • Milton E. Freeland, Jr.

        Freeland, 39, is an associate operations analyst for Virginia Power.
        He is concerned about the city’s rising debt. He said he would bring a working man’s common-sense perspective to Council.
        Noting that both retail growth and resulting tax revenues have increased in Colonial Heights, he said, “We need to practice fiscal responsibility.”
        Freeland is a member of the city’s Wetlands Board.
        
  • E. “Betsy” Gentry Luck

    		•     Luck, 41, is a Colonial Heights teacher. She has been on the School Board, serving as chairman and vice chairman.
        Luck wants to see Colonial Heights grow and prosper while maintaining its small-town image where people help each other out.
        She said one of her accomplishments was presenting a petition for capital improvements on Dana Lane, persuading the city to spend $265,000 on the project. After it was completed, she said, the city won an award for its beautification efforts.
        
  • David A. Salot

    		•
    		     Salot, 32, is a paramedic at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Medical College of Virginia.
        He said the city should “get back to basics” and spend taxes on “needs and not wants.”
        Salot is active in organizations involving rescue efforts and emergency medical services. He provides medical support for two local SWAT teams.
        Salot also is a local telethon coordinator for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and a member of the Colonial Heights Republican Committee.
        
  • Charles E. Townes (Incumbent)

    		•
    		     Townes, 54, is the Council-appointed mayor of Colonial Heights. He served on Council from 1984 until 1992 and has been a member since 1996.
        Townes, an engineer and land surveyor, said the most important issue is “balancing citizens’ wants and needs.”
        He said he is pleased the city has been able to reduce citizens’ taxes slightly. Although debt has increased, he said, the city has taken advantage of low interest rates.
        Townes is a member of the Richmond Planning District Commission and president of the Appomattox Basin Industrial Development Corp.
        
  • John T. Wood (Incumbent)

         Wood, 49, has been on Council the past 16 years.
        A lawyer, Wood said the city needs responsible economic development and growth to increase tax revenues so it can upgrade its 40-year-old infrastructure.
        “We have very old water lines, and we need new sewer, curbs and gutters, as well as money to upgrade bridges and street surfaces, without increasing state taxes,” he said.
        Wood favors building a new City Hall that could house both police and fire departments - a plan he said would save money.
        

          

          

      Colonial Heights School Board


          Colonial Heights voters also will fill three seats on the School Board on May 2. Three candidates, including two incumbents, are running in the election. They are:
          

            
      • Karl W. Christman

      		•
      		    Christman, 49, is an alcohol and drug officer at Fort Lee.
          Christian said he is running for the School Board because he believes everyone should have a say in community affairs.
          He supports extracurricular activities, including music, the arts and sports. These activities will become part of person’s life and are as important as math and reading, Christman said.
          He also would like to see schools use technology - for example, by building Web sites to help students prepare for Virginia’s Standards of Learning tests.
          
    • W.J. “Joe” Green (Incumbent)

          Green, 42, has been on the School Board the past four years.
          Green believes the SOLs need improvement. “Some good students have good grades and for some reason fail the SOLs,” he said. He said these students need help but not necessarily remedial courses and summer school.
          Green said he would like to see a track at the high school available for public use.
          He is a member of the North Elementary Parent-Teacher Organization and a past vice president of the Colonial Heights Swim and Yacht Club.
          
    • William C. “Bill” Reade (Incumbent)

          Reade, 59, is the chief of analysis for the Defense Commissary Agency. He has been on the School Board for 19 years.
          Reade said he will seek to provide the best education possible in Colonial Heights by ensuring that teachers receive the highest salaries possible. “You get what you pay for,” he said.
          He said he is proud that the city’s students have done well on Virginia’s Standards of Learning tests. Reade believes fears about the SOLs are overblown.
          
          


            

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