THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 24, 1994 TAG: 9411220162
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
Over the last several months, the Isle of Wight County Electoral Board spent untold hours trying to relocate the Pons voting precinct from the Old ``Bub'' Little Store to a better facility while preserving as much convenience to area voters as possible.
The old site had not met minimum standards of the State Board of Elections for many years. Finding another building, centrally located, of proper size and with handicap accessibility, proved impossible. A very reluctant Board of Supervisors agreed that a permanent building on purchased or leased land was the last and only option.
No more than a month before the election, a lease agreement was finalized for a wooded parcel on Whitehouse Road. Two weeks before the election, ``The (Smithfield) Times'' ran a picture and story implying doubts that this precinct could be ready by Nov. 8.
The efforts of many public employees and private citizens proved that bureaucracy and red tape can be overcome if we simply aim for the same target and make it happen.
A lot of people have our deep and most sincere thanks for taking this parcel of woodland and turning it into a very nice, well organized voting precinct, at the least cost to taxpayers. All this happened in a matter of a few weeks.
Nothing could have happened had not Kirk Timber and the county agreed on a lease. Charles Rose of Kirk Timber, at some additional expense and personal sacrifice, saw our need and pulled one of his logging crews off a more pressing site to log and clear the lot.
County Manager Myles Standish promised, ``that precinct will be ready if it's the last thing I do for this county.'' It almost was. Mr. Standish (now Suffolk city manager) made the commitment, developed a plan, and set into motion the events leading to the successful completion of the project.
Lud Creef handled the overall management of the project. John Boone temporarily came out of retirement to help. Willie B. Copeland cleared and graded the lot. Vernon Winslow moved the surplus modular classroom onto the lot, set the building, and performed all the necessary repairs just days before the election. Farmers Service of Smithfield donated the landscaping, and Public Works employees set the plants out.
This community effort was successful because we all joined together and made it work.
To the Board of Supervisors, the county attorney, county employees, all the private individuals, and anyone else who joined in this effort, we of the Isle of Wight County Electoral Board say a big ``thank you'' for helping to make possible that which makes this nation great - democratic elections.
Franklin E. Hall
Isle of Wight County Electoral Board by CNB