ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, November 6, 1996 TAG: 9611060059
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BEDFORD
SOURCE: JOANNE POINDEXTER STAFF WRITER
Bob Bashore, a community college administrator, won the Forest District seat on the Bedford County Board of Supervisors in a special election.
Bashore beat John White, a businessman, carrying both precincts in the county's fourth district, a seat which Supervisor Wayne Newcomb vacated.
Bashore picked up 52 percent of the vote.
Citing time pressures from his business, Newcomb resigned. He was appointed to the Board of Supervisors in February to fill the unexpired term of Henry Creasy, who also resigned.
During their campaigns, both Bashore and White said they favored abolishing the county's Land Use Guidance System in favor of traditional zoning in growth areas such as Forest.
They also said they supported more funding for schools.
Bashore, dean of student services at Central Community College, was one of eight applicants interviewed when Newcomb was appointed to the Board of Supervisors. He said supervisors told him then "that I know what the problems are in the county, and they thought I could help them figure out the school system budget."
He has served on the executive committee of the Virginia High School League and was a founding board member of the Central Virginia Governor's School for Science and Technology. He also served on the Campbell County School Board.
Newcomb supported White, a real-estate developer, in the special election.
White, chairman of the Bedford County Board of Zoning Appeals for the last eight years, also campaigned on broadening the county's tax base and expanding the county's library system.
White, who said in an earlier interview that he normally votes Republican, was upset Tuesday because Republican party literature supporting his opponent was being distributed to voters.
Traditionally, candidates for the Board of Supervisors, including Bashore, run as independents. "[Party affiliation] doesn't have a place in a local race. You should vote on the individuals and the issues," White said.
LENGTH: Short : 46 lines KEYWORDS: ELECTIONby CNB