Board of Supervisors Incumbent Moore hopes to be “listening ear” for citizens
CAVE SPRING–Charlotte Moore first ventured into politics when she was in her fifties. Faced with an issue she couldn’t get an answer to from local officials, Moore decided to run for office herself. She wanted to be a listening ear for the citizens of the Cave Spring District, providing them with real answers in a timely fashion. In her words, “If you want to make a difference, you need to run yourself.” She hopes to continue on the Board, because she enjoys the interaction with citizens and believes she still has things left to accomplish.
Moore is a long-time Cave Spring resident and a graduate of Cave Spring High School. She worked for the Sheriff’s Department in the mid-70’s, and then became a realtor when she was pregnant with her oldest child. In 1996 she opened her own landscaping business, Dream Scapes. Both of her children (ages 24 and 25) attended Roanoke County Public Schools. One is now in the health care field, and the other is in the Navy.
Moore was elected to the Board of Supervisors seat for the Cave Spring Magisterial District in 2007 as a Democrat. Last fall she became an independent, with the idea that local government should be non-partisan and focus on local issues.
Moore gained media attention in 2010 when her landscaping firm adopted the median and garden at the intersection of Brambleton Avenue and Route 419 after VDOT funding cuts.
In this election campaign, she has been endorsed by the Business Leadership Fund, which is a Chamber of Commerce organization, and the Roanoke County Education Association.
1. If a severe budget shortfall materializes for the 2012-2013 fiscal year, as some have predicted, what steps will you propose to make up for the shortfall?
I think in the last budget year, department heads of every department in the County were asked to cut the budget by 5%, 10%, and were willing and pushing for 15%, to reduce their own individual budgets within the County, so that we wouldn’t have to lay people off. Job attrition has been credited for saving jobs and saving money; and so has just not filling some positions. Services were not cut, and taxes were not raised. I think the same philosophy will carry over in 2012-2013. I think we’ve done such a good job on the budget– the department heads have– that we’re in a lot better shape than a lot of localities are.
2. Do you support tax incentive programs for businesses, such as the South Peak (Slate Hill) project?
Yes, I do. The number of years for the tax incentive has to be determined on a case by case basis, how big the business is, the type of business, what they can offer to the Roanoke Valley, how their business will affect the economic growth of the Valley, how many jobs they might bring. It eventually helps taxpayers by bringing growth and helping the economy.
If we don’t give tax incentives, we won’t be able to compete with other localities or other states. And we won’t be able to provide jobs for our youth so they will be able to remain here to work, play and live.
3. What steps will you take to protect the environment and the quality of life in the Roanoke Valley?
I think economic development, education, public safety, and quality of life all are a chain reaction. I think some possible steps to protecting the environment are that we need to keep an open mind to find solutions; we need to keep involved with ICLEI; we need to keep promoting storm water management; and we should discourage littering, especially with cigarette butts, which go into our storm waters, and can cause mulch and forest fires and cost taxpayers money.
We can do small things. We can limit pollution in the Valley since living in a valley leads to more pollution. We need to really think about our air quality for the next generation, all the things that we can do to help keep it clean. We can’t leave it up to chance. Everything we do is going to make a difference.
We need to think out of the box and support wonderful ideas citizens have, like riding your bicycle instead of driving your car when possible, or weather stripping your home. Weather stripping saves money for the person who owns the home and saves energy at the same time. It’s less harmful to the environment.
I support RC Clear, which is about promoting quality of life in the Roanoke Valley and the little things that we can do that save money and the environment. I think there is a misconception that we want people to give up their air conditioning. It’s not about cutting out air conditioning; it’s about an energy efficient air conditioner, an energy efficient washer, an energy efficient dryer. They use a lot less electricity, and in return save people money. It doesn’t do any harm. It’s not mandated, and it’s helping the environment and helping people’s pocketbooks at the same time. It just makes good common sense to me.
4. What do you see as the important issues in public schools in the Roanoke Valley?
I know teachers work very long hours; they don’t just stop and get off work when the bell rings. So in order to keep good quality teachers in the Roanoke Valley, we need to make sure that they earn enough money to support their families.
I would like to see teachers have more supplies that they need. We focus, a lot of time, on the big issues—like the school budget and school buses; but teachers work very long hours, and a lot of time bring their own supplies for the children to use.
We need to encourage all the good non-profit organizations that already help our children, like the backpack programs and those programs that make sure that our children take food home and have meals, because that helps them to learn better.
5. What policies or plans will you introduce that will encourage young people to stay in the Roanoke Valley once they complete high school?
We need technical jobs. I think there again, we think to think out of the box. There are some wonderful opportunities, with technical companies that we have in the Roanoke Valley, like Synchrony, and Novozymes–who also do great things for the environment. We need to provide not only academic education, but we need hands-on education. A lot of people aren’t academically inclined; they don’t want to go to college, but they have great hands-on capabilities.
We can work with organizations like the Chamber of Commerce and the Convention of Visitors Bureau to try to promote businesses to come here. We need to emphasize finding locations and opportunities for technical jobs to get our youth to stay here.
6. Why should voters choose you to represent the Cave Spring District on the Board of Supervisors?
Because I love Roanoke County. I love living here. I never even thought of living anywhere else. I love representing our citizens. I listen to them. I would like to continue to help promote their ideas, and just to represent them. I am sincere; I try to really listen and follow through, not procrastinate. I don’t like political answers. I want to be a representative of the citizens and to try to make a difference for them.
By Debbie Adams
