Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 3, 1990 TAG: 9005020330
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV12 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KIM ZEOLI SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
Wohlford, 43, a City Council member for two years and a member of the Governors Alliance for Drug Rehabilitation, spends countless hours beyond his job as an insurance agent defining the term "public servant."
"It hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be. My meetings don't conflict that much because most of the activities I'm involved in meet either once or twice a month on different nights," said Wohlford.
But on the days he does have a meeting, most of his time is spent making sure he gets there prepared.
Council days are the most hectic, and the fullest, with the many memos and other papers. But council meets only twice a month, giving Wohlford a chance to overload his schedule with other things - such as committees.
Perhaps most noticeable is his chairmanship of the City-University Committee, whose goal is to cement, or at least salve, the historically rocky relationship between the city and Radford University.
Also high on his list is CADRE, the antidrug organization. Wohlford is president. Next school year CADRE will sponsor Operation Prom and a drug-free fair as educational and preventive programs for teens.
Operation Prom throws an alcohol-free after-prom party for Radford High School students as an alternative to parties with alcohol.
"We're trying to come up with things to keep the students active so they won't go to parties that have alcohol," Wohlford said, a Radford native, a 1965 graduate of Radford High and an agent for Hill Insurance.
Assistant School Superintendent Virginia East, a CADRE member, said Wohlford also has been active in the drug-free fair that will take place in the fall.
"Guy does a swell job as the president," she said. "We have a very active local CADRE, which helps him get a lot accomplished."
Then there are the board of directors for Radford's chapter of the American Red Cross, the board of directors at Radford First Pentecostal Holiness Church, the local human rights committee for the New River Valley Community Services Board and the Meridian Pride Lion's Club.
And there are issues to consume his time. The state Grayson Commission, for example, seeks to limit the size of independent cities. Such a proposal would prevent incorporation of cities under an optimum size, say, 100,000. This would prevent creation of any new cities the size of Radford, which has about 13,500 residents.
Wohlford's preparation for city business has earned him the respect of colleagues.
"He shows he has done much investigation into the packets we receive before each meeting. He does a very good job," said Councilman David Worrell.
So why does a full-time insurance man get into politics? For Wohlford, it happened during one of the most touchy issues of all - church vs. state.
He decided to run for council when the prayer-in-school issue caught fire early in 1988. Wohlford wanted to keep prayer in the schools, at ball games and baccalaureates.
But his involvement in schools goes miles beyond the prayer issue, primarily because he is an alumnus, and - no surprise here - was president of the student body his senior year.
He is a choral patron now and finishing up bus-driver training so he can take students to extracurricular activities.
While Wohlford seldom lets meals stand in the way of business, he makes no such concessions when it comes to his family. His wife, Connie, teaches home economics at Dublin Middle School. They have two sons, Shannon and Neil. Shannon is following in his father's footsteps by attending the Naval Academy. Neil is a senior at Radford High.
What's in store for the future?
"I can see myself going for a higher office in Radford, but that would be somewhere down the road. I wouldn't rule out the possibility of state-level politics, either."
by CNB