Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 28, 1990 TAG: 9004270209
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: FLOYD LENGTH: Medium
Incumbent Mayor Gino Williams, who has served since 1982, and Carrol T. Lane, who was mayor from 1974 to 1982, are once more running against each other for the town's top office.
Two council positions also are up for election. Only one of the incumbents, Councilman Otis D. Howell, is among the field of four.
All offices carry four-year terms and begin on July 1.
This year there are 248 registered voters in Floyd. The town of about 500 is the economic center of Floyd County, with about half the county's businesses within its corporate limits.
Williams, 30, is a Floyd native and a lawyer in the town. He serves on the Public Service Authority and the Recreation Authority. He wants another term as mayor to continue ongoing projects.
"In general terms, economic development and beautification are some of the projects," said Williams, who served on council for a year before becoming mayor. "And there's the park going in. I wanted to see it finished. I felt like these were something I ought to be working on."
Lane, 62, has lived in Floyd for 40 years and recently retired from the Radford Army Ammunition Plant. He is active in various civic organizations including the Veterans of Foreign Wars, where he is the county post commander. He is running for mayor again because he sees the town decreasing in stature.
"Everything is moving to the outskirts [of town]," said Lane. "In a small rural area like this, it hurts the town when businesses move out. They are still close, but we don't get any money from them."
Williams defeated Lane in the 1984 election, 88-61.
Howell, 58, decided to seek a third term on council for reasons similar to Williams. "I want to try to finish some of the things we're working on," said Howell, who owns his own business, Electric, Plumbing and Heating. "I'd like to see things finished, like the park and the beautification."
Gayle M. Griffin, 53, feels planning needs more emphasis. "What I don't want to happen to Floyd is a lot of empty buildings caused by uneven development," she said. Griffin, a registered nurse, is coordinator of the seniority program at Montgomery Regional Hospital in Blacksburg. She is the wife of School Board member Olin Griffin.
Thomas V. O'Neill, 47, wants balanced growth. "I'm not out to preserve everything in the town, nor am I out to destroy it, either," said O'Neill, who worked on the architectural review board that designed the historic district ordinance council defeated in December. O'Neill works in sales at Graham-White in Salem.
Rebecca Sweeney Harman, 20, hopes to bring her dual perspective to the council. "Some people might think I'm a little young," she said. "But since I have a house in the town of Floyd and a business, I can see both sides of things." Harman is a saleswoman and office manager at her father's business, Bob Sweeney Auto Sales.
by CNB