Questions for Board of Supervisor Candidates, Accomack County

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Respondent:  Tammy Bolding James, District: 5 Date: 8/27/07 1. In your opinion, what are the top three problems for the county? A. Protection of natural resources B. Planning for growth C. Public Services 2. Why are these problems? A. Fundamentally, without adequate natural resources the county will not be able to physically sustain its residents. Accomack County (and the Eastern Shore as a whole) has a fragile ecosystem. At this time, the county does not have a long-term plan for dealing with the growing impact on the county’s natural resources. B. Growth means change, and change nearly always creates problems. Besides the obvious burden on our county’s infrastructure caused by growth (see item C), there is the clear delineation of opposing viewpoints regarding a vision for our county’s future in terms of the character of our rural, historic landscape. C. The growing cost of education, public safety services, and the looming prospect of wastewater/sewage treatment facilities is disproportionate to the county’s ability to generate revenue. Recent discussion about the salary impact of the rising cost of health insurance for teachers and the escalating cost of fire and emergency services has brought to light the crisis in our public service funding. 3. What would you do about them if elected to the Board of Supervisors? A. I would seek to make informed, data-driven, proactive decisions that protect our natural resources for residential and business use and for the promotion of agriculture, agri-tourism, aquaculture, and eco-tourism. I would encourage more public participation and dialogue with county leaders so that the ultimate actions of the Board would be a truly collective effort to improve the management of water and natural resources. B. As I have been in the past, I would take an active role in the planning process by working closely with county citizens and the Accomack County Planning Commission to ensure that planning for future land use is within the scope of county resources and is viable for sustaining long-term improvement to citizens’ quality of life. C. I would support and adopt decision-making that best utilizes the county’s available human and fiscal resources. Our government agencies must adamantly enforce fiscal responsibility and accountability so that we can meet the needs of our current workforce and citizenry. Additionally, I would support suitable economic development initiatives that improve workforce opportunities in the county. 4. What do you think about water in the county – Storm water, Ground water, seawater, bay water? Many people consider this an esoteric topic due to the scientific nature of water study. There is a need to educate people about the ecological and economic effects of storm water runoff in our sea and bay. As citizens in this county—a county with an indisputably important and unique ecosystem—we need to become water experts. Recent media coverage of failing wells in Somerset and Wicomico Counties again reminds us of our desperate need to adopt water management practices that protect our ground water supply. 5. What do you think of the recent (June, 2007) report on the Accomack County Public Safety System? The report provided to the county by AHC emphasizes the need to coordinate emergency services county-wide using accurate data. The report also clearly defines the backbone of Accomack County emergency services—volunteers. The depth and scope of the report provides a tangible tool for stakeholders to begin planning and implementing improvements to our communities’ emergency services so that everyone’s needs are met—volunteers, emergency personnel, and, most important, citizens in need. The immediate value of the report is that stakeholders now have objective, qualitative information on which to formulate a long-range plan for improvement. If you have questions or comments or would like to respond please click here.