Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 26, 1995 TAG: 9510260084
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PRICES FORK LENGTH: Long
"I accepted the challenge mostly because I knew it would be a challenge," said Gordon, the Republican candidate. "It's tough to unseat a legend."
With family roots in the county's rural Prices Fork area that go back more than 200 years, and decades of work in his community, Democrat Long just may be approaching local-legend status. It's not something he dwells on.
"Whether I'm a legend or not, I'm proud of my accomplishments," Long said.
He cites his roles in bringing water and sewer services to rural areas, in finding solutions to the county's trash-collection problems, in the lengthy annexation negotiations with Christiansburg in the 1980s and in the ongoing effort to attract more jobs to Montgomery County.
Long, at age 73 a member of the board's geriatric majority, also is known as a sometimes-imperious, hands-on supervisor who says what he thinks and isn't afraid to clash publicly with fellow board members, appointees and top county employees.
"I think it works to my advantage, really. I reckon I do have a temper, but I control it," Long said. "I flare up, but I don't hold a grudge. ... It's just my way of expressing myself."
When he was growing up, his grandmother, Molly Price, who lived to be 92, stood up for him when others gave him a hard time about his temper. "She's said, 'That's spunk. If you don't have spunk, that's not good,'" Long recalled.
Where Long offers more than a decade of high-profile experience and a fiery personality, Gordon said he's giving voters a chance for a fresh start. "So many people are disgruntled with him," Gordon said. "Because they say he hasn't ... done what he said he would do."
Gordon concedes that he's neither full of new ideas nor entirely up to speed on issues before the Board of Supervisors. He hadn't been to a board meeting until this week. At a recent candidates forum, he could not answer questions about the role of the Planning Commission, the merchants capital tax on inventory and the debate over renovating or relocating Blacksburg Middle School. He said he wants to work to accelerate improvements to Virginia 114 and other roads, but was not clear on what role the supervisors play on road issues.
Gordon said he would take a conservative approach to most issues. "That means not raising taxes, not doing anything that's going to cost the public any more money."
He said, though, that he would consider raising taxes as a "last resort" if it meant being able to build new schools. (His youngest son is a senior at the private Gateway Christian Academy.)
Gordon, a native of Bluefield, W.Va., has lived in Montgomery County since his father moved his family here in 1942 to take a job with the Radford Army Ammunition Plant. Gordon, 60, entered the Army in 1953 and spent the next 24 years serving around the world. He and his wife and their children moved back to Montgomery when he retired from the service. He then worked for 14 years transporting prisoners for the Sheriff's Office until he retired in 1991.
Long was Board of Supervisors chairman for two years and has twice been chairman of the county Public Service Authority, the quasi-independent agency responsible for rural water and sewer systems. He's specialized in utility issues and in improving trash collection in rural areas, including creating a prototype trash-collection station outside Prices Fork.
He also likes to negotiate. He helped shape the annexation agreement that led to the burgeoning growth around the New River Valley Mall; for months this past year he personally negotiated a boundary adjustment with Christiansburg that may speed up development and reduce the cost of the Falling Branch industrial park.
Long said he sees funding for education and economic development as the key issues in the coming four years. The board has already started the ball rolling on building a new elementary school to serve the Riner area. Now, it has to look at how to pay for other school-building needs.
On land-use issues, Long has been openly skeptical of most initiatives. He voted against the 1993 conservation and development amendment, better-known as the "open-space plan." This year, he voted to allow Radford Price, a longtime friend, to build a new gas station on a largely undeveloped mountain side across from the entrance to Pandapas Pond.
"You've got to have planning and zoning, but I don't think you should keep people from using their land," Long said. "We've got people who just want to have acres and acres just to look at. ... They don't want you to use it for anything, that's not right."
Born on Christmas Day 1921, Long can remember the hard times in the county during the Depression. At age 18, after farming and working in the area's coal mines, he went to work for a year in a Civilian Conservation Corps camp in Craig County. He returned and worked at the arsenal for two years before spending three years in the Army during World War II, including time in the Pacific. After the war, he returned to Prices Fork and the powder plant, where he worked until he retired in 1985.
Long said he's running for a fourth term because he still believes he has much to offer the county. That includes his tell-it-like-it-is nature. "I don't think anyone could say there's anything fake about me," Long said. "I'm just what I am and I'm proud of that."
Name: Richard R. Gordon
Age: 60
Occupation: Retired from U.S. Army after 24 years, and Montgomery County Sheriff's Office after 14 years as a jailer
Education : High school
Family: Mary "Imogene" Gordon, wife; four children, Ricky Jr., Lynne, Gary and Ryan.
Community Involvement: Member of Gateway Baptist Church.
Why are you running for office?: "I feel we need a change in this area and I have the time to give in helping our county."
What is the most important issue facing Montgomery County?: 1 . Roads; 2. schools; 3 . growth and taxes.
And why?: 1. Our roads haven't been kept up with our building on Virginia 114, especially in the area of U.S. 460. Also in the McCoy area. 2. Our schools need to be looked into as to the best direction to take and at the same time keep taxes down. 3. Montgomery has grown at approximately 1,000 people a year these past 25 years. I don't feel we have kept up in the first and second areas.
Name: Ira Long
Age: 73
Occupation: Retired from utilities work at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant.
Education : High school
Family: Louise Long, wife; son Ronnie Long and daughter Judy Ridinger
Community Involvement: Been on Board of Supervisors since 1984. Chairman of county Public Service Authority. Member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Blacksburg Masonic Lodge, Prices Fork Grange and the New Mount Zion Lutheran Church. Army veteran, World War II.
Why are you running for office?: "I strongly believe that I have more to contribute to this county and that the knowledge I have gained during my past years of experience will help me to serve effectively."
What is the most important issue facing Montgomery County?: "Now, more than ever, our county requires representation that recognizes the growth that will provide quality services to our citizens today, but will also anticipate our future needs."
Keywords:
POLITICS PROFILE
by CNB