By Juliette Sohonage
Five candidates are competing for two seats on the Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors.
Voters will choose between two candidates for the Kerrs Creek seat. They will also decide on Nov. 4 whether to re-elect the incumbent who represents Walkers Creek—or replace him with one of two other candidates.
Here’s a look at what the candidates said in interviews with the Rockbridge Report about their views on issues in the county:
Kerrs Creek
Boyd Brown, a defense contractor and retired U.S. Army officer, said he’s not worried about the county’s debt.
“If we had an $87 million debt with nothing to show for it, then that would certainly be a problem,” he said. “But you have school improvements, public facility improvements, so forth and so on, to show for it.”
Rockbridge County has reported over $87 million in debt for the fiscal year 2026, said Spencer Suter, the county’s administrator.
Brown also said any citizen interested in the county budgeting process should watch meetings on YouTube or attend them in person to get information.
“All the financial reports are there,” he said.
He said he is concerned that the working population in the county has continued to decline, and many young workers are leaving the area in search of better job opportunities.
Brown said he would propose an incentive program to keep younger workers in the area. He said if a business grows by a certain percentage, the county should reduce or eliminate its business license or property tax fees in the following year.
He also said he would not make licensed childcare facilities pay business license or property tax fees for the first three years. After that, he would cut their fees by 50%.
“We’re a childcare desert here,” he said. “We really need to incentivize people to open licensed, reputable childcare facilities.”
Brown has served on the county’s Economic Development Authority for the past eight years and is its chairman. He said the authority has gotten better at attracting new businesses to the county.
He also said the county cannot afford to wait 10 or 12 years to save enough cash for major infrastructure developments.
“It is not fair to students. It is not fair to workers to have them work in rotten conditions,” he said. “When, you know, in reality, the county has $29 million in our cash reserve. Earning interest.”
Steve Hart, a farmer and retired U.S. Army officer, has a different approach to the county’s debt issue.
Hart said he would limit the supervisors’ borrowing to “zero dollars” and just pay cash for county needs and projects. He said the county can get out of debt in 12 years if it does not make any major improvements or projects.
Hart said he decided to run last year when he watched the Board of Supervisors pass two 30-year bond issues totaling $42 million.
“When a government passes a 30-year bond issue,” he said, “It taxes people that don’t exist.”
“It taxes people that don’t exist.”
He said agriculture regulations also need to reflect modern farming.
“A farmer’s allowed to grow feed, but I can’t sell it unless I have special permission to establish a feed store,” he said. “Make it dirt simple for them to connect to their customers.”
He also said the county needs more fire department volunteers. Hart said volunteer training should be easier and shorter to get people involved.
“As a volunteer, I don’t have to be trained on everything to contribute,” he said. “If … I get trained on one thing, I can contribute on one thing.”
Hart said the county will never have enough money to replace the volunteers with paid staff.
“Everybody’s got to understand, if we don’t have volunteers, nobody’s coming,” he said.
Walkers Creek
Toria Brown, a beef cattle farmer, said she decided to run for the Walkers Creek seat to help shape what kind of community her children will grow up in.
Brown said she would bring a fresh perspective to the board.
“Any type of position like that, if it’s held too long, kind of gets stale or you get set in your ways.”
Brown also said the key to balancing infrastructure costs with keeping taxes low is broadening the county’s tax base.
“We’ve spent decades … not wanting to explore broadening the kind of commercial business aspects,” she said. “We’re going to have to bring in some new industry and focus more on business development.”
Brown said she supports growth that also preserves the county’s rural character.
“I by no means want us to look like the explosion that’s happened in Stuart’s Draft or Augusta County,” she said. “If we are very focused on exactly what we think would fit here, then that will help keep us from expanding too far and too wide.”
Brown said she plans to prioritize economic development and volunteer support if elected. She said she has spoken with several fire departments to understand their needs and wants to keep those conversations “forefront as we move forward.”
On trash collection, Brown said she supports the move to staffed sites.
“Once that project is fully completed, all residents in the county should have access to a dumpster within five miles of their house,” she said.
She also said the county must balance maintenance on rural roads.
“You ask one person, and they love their dirt road, and you ask their neighbor, and they hate it,” she said. “You definitely have to find a balance of the roads that need the most attention and when they need it.”
Steve Reese, who works for Ensemble Health Partners, said he is running for the board because he wants to help improve the county.
“I wouldn’t say they are lacking anything now,” he said. “I just think there’s always room for improvement.”
Reese has been involved with emergency services for 37 years and said he thinks the county needs to increase volunteers rather than career staff.
“Education of our students is a high priority. That’s our future.”
He also said the county should continue to offer incentives like personal property tax reductions to bring in more volunteers.
Reese said dumpster sites in the county need attention.
“They definitely need to be expanded and additional sites offered for our citizens to make it more convenient for them.”
Reese also said the county should continue economic development in areas along the Route 11 and interstate corridors because they can support new infrastructure.
He also said he views a tax increase on citizens as a last resort.
Reese said the board of supervisors and school board need to collaborate to meet student, teacher and parent needs. Education of our students is a high priority. That’s our future.”
Walkers Creek incumbent Jay Lewis did not respond to numerous emails and voice mail messages seeking comment.