Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 13, 1994 TAG: 9401130325
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: N-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE HUDSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FINCASTLE LENGTH: Medium
Booze, who represented the Buchanan district for 10 years, decided not to run for re-election last fall. He retired with the longest service of any member on the board at the time. The board's December meeting was his last.
Supervisors Chairman Robert Layman said Booze will be missed.
"He was certainly a stabilizing force on the board," Layman said. "He had experience, and he was conservative. That, plus he had knowledge of the county.
"You mentioned somebody's name, he pretty much knew who it was. Or if he didn't, he probably knew who lived beside them."
Also, Layman said, Booze "spent county money like it was his own. Somebody would bid something, and we'd call them up and see if we could talk them down another $100."
County Administrator Jerry Burgess said that while Booze was fiscally conservative, "he didn't hesitate to spend money on things like school construction," if he believed it was important to the county.
Burgess said Booze's advocacy of industrial development in the county will have an impact for years to come.
Fincastle District Supervisor G.C. Thompson joked at a recent meeting that while he was old enough to be Booze's father, Booze was always a "father figure" to him.
Booze will be succeeded by John Shiflett, a Republican who defeated Democrat Lewis "Gibby" Smith in the November election.
During the campaign, Shiflett portrayed himself as the candidate of change, maintaining that the county government had not done enough to protect the environment or improve the schools.
Shiflett retired from the Army in 1964 with the rank of major. In the past, he has been part-owner of the former Botetourt Galleries in Buchanan and sales manager for the former York Forestry and Land Co.
Because of the Martin Luther King Holiday, the Board of Supervisors will meet next week on Tuesday instead of Monday.
by CNB