Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 12, 1995 TAG: 9505120024
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
"It's time for a change," said Richard R. Gordon.
The announcement means at least two of the four Board of Supervisors seats will be contested this fall. So far no one has announced a challenge to first-term incumbent Nick Rush in District B. And only one candidate, a Democrat, has announced for the District F seat being vacated by Chairman Larry Linkous.
Gordon sums up his philosophy in a sentence: "It'll be mostly a conservative-type approach to everything."
That means "living within our budget and making good use of our resources while our community grows," Gordon said. Also, he favors keeping county tax rates down because he says taxpayers already are shouldering enough of a burden.
Yet, Gordon said he would favor more discussion of a bond referendum to build new schools, an idea floated earlier this spring by Linkous.
Long, 73, last month said he would support such a referendum in announcing his re-election campaign. The Prices Fork resident has served on the Board of Supervisors for 11 years.
Gordon, a Bluefield, W.Va., native, grew up in Montgomery County after his family moved here in 1942 so his father could take a job at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant. Gordon served in the Army from 1953 until 1977, when he retired as a sergeant first class. He served at posts across the United States, including Hawaii, and overseas in Germany and Vietnam.
Gordon started working as a sheriff's deputy in 1978. He spent most of his time with the Sheriff's Office transporting prisoners to and from the county jail. He retired from that job in 1991.
Gordon and his wife, Imogene, have been married for 37 years and have four children and six grandchildren. His youngest son, Ryan, will be a senior in the fall at Gateway Christian Academy in Blacksburg. The Gordons attend Gateway Baptist Church.
District E includes the Longshop, McCoy, Prices Fork and Merrimac communities of Montgomery County. Gordon lives on Raven Lane, located off Peppers Ferry Road above the Radford arsenal, in the house he grew up in.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB