By Debbie Adams
Tim Greenway and Tammy Shepherd are running in the Republican Primary on June 18 to win
the nomination for a seat on the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors representing the Vinton
Magisterial District. The winner of the primary will represent the Republican Party on the ballot
in the General Election on November 5.
Who can vote in this Republican Primary? Any registered voter residing in the precincts of the Vinton Magisterial District–North Vinton, South Vinton, North Lindenwood, South Lindenwood, Bonsack, and Mount Pleasant. You do not need to be a registered Republican to vote in this primary.
Voters have three options for voting in the primary:
- Early voting in-person
- Mail-in voting
- Voting in person on Primary Day, June 18, from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Early voting begins on Friday, May 3, at the Roanoke County Elections main office, located at
900 Chestnut Street in Vinton and at the satellite office at the Brambleton Center (3738
Brambleton Avenue) in Roanoke. Voting hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
through June 14.
Saturday voting hours are offered in both locations on June 8 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on June
15 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. After that date, all in-person voting must take place on Election Day at
your assigned polling precinct.
Virginia no longer requires voters to provide an excuse to vote early; any registered voter who
wants to cast their ballot before Election Day is eligible to do so. You must provide your name
and address and show an acceptable form of ID. No application is required to vote early in
person.
Tim Greenway and Tammy Shepherd have agreed to answer some questions about their backgrounds, views, and goals.
1. What do you like about the Vinton area and why have you chosen to live here?
Tim Greenway: This is an easy question for me– I love everything about Vinton, Mt. Pleasant,
Bonsack, and East Roanoke County. I’ve lived here my entire life– born and raised in the
Timberidge section of Vinton, where I had a wonderful childhood, growing up in a community
full of kids and good neighbors. We later moved to Bonsack where I enjoyed my teenage years
and graduated from William Byrd in 1982. Again, numerous childhood friends and great
neighbors.
I tell this story all the time. I had the chance as a young adult to be hired and move to Atlanta for
Norfolk Southern in the accounting department. Sometimes the best decisions you make in life
are the decisions you turn down for lifestyle over financial gains. We started our married lives in
the lower unit of a triplex on the 400 block of West Cleveland Avenue. We had three beautiful
children who enriched our lives tremendously and we later bought our first house on Bowman
Street.
For us, living in Vinton, walking to Vinton Baptist on Sunday mornings, raising three kids,
working hard, was just our way of life in Vinton. I think this is why we have chosen to live here
for our 40 years of adulthood. Paula (my wife) and I have made friendships to last a lifetime.
We love our now thriving little community where everyone knows your name and where you can
still make a difference in the lives of your friends and neighbors.
Tammy Shepherd: The Vinton area is a small tight-knit community that my husband and I have
grown up in and both graduated from William Byrd High School. We have always loved living
here and wanted to raise our family here as well. Presently all my children and grandchildren still
live in the Vinton community and look forward to raising their families here.
2. Why are you running for Board of Supervisors?
Shepherd: This position was never in my thoughts until recently when the position became
available. After applying and going through the interview process, I was selected to fill the interim position left by Jason Peters. Growing up here, starting my business here, I have earned
my living from the local community. I have grown up in the Vinton area and this is a way that I
can best serve and give back to the community. I want to make sure we use our citizens’ tax
dollars wisely to provide and improve the many services offered to our citizens. After serving on
the William Byrd Booster clubs and other various volunteer positions, representing the Vinton
District on the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors is another way I can help my community
continue to grow and make sure that we use our citizens’ tax dollars wisely. Supporting our
public safety workers and economic growth will be a major focus. I recently have spent a lot of
time in the Mount Pleasant community and have enjoyed getting to know many of the residents.
Being involved in their community events as I spend more time visiting with local groups and
listening and understanding their needs, I will be able be help them with various situations they
need as well.
Greenway: Because I want to make a difference for the people that have enriched my life so
greatly. You’ve heard the ol’ saying, it takes a village to raise a child? I’m that child! As a kid,
neighbors took me to practices and ballgames, they kept me after school until my parents got off
from work, they fed me, they looked after me when my parents were away, and most
importantly, they shared with me the values of loving thy neighbor. Vinton has raised me,
supported me, and essentially made me the person I am today. I owe everything to this
community! I want to give back to the community that has given me so much!
3. What are the biggest needs in Vinton and Roanoke County and how will you go about
answering these needs?
Greenway: I think we’ve (the School Board) already solved some of the most important needs
in our part of the county. I’ve championed the need to get William Byrd and W.E. Cundiff
renovated. These schools were so in need of renovations, it couldn’t have been delayed any
longer. We’ve also gotten the new Career and Technical Training school off the ground to be
built starting this summer. It was a five-year challenge to get Cundiff and CTE approved and
through the Board of Supervisors approval process, but we did it! Now, Vinton and our East
Roanoke County residents will benefit greatly from the hard work the School Board put in to
bring these projects to reality.
My first goal on the Board of Supervisors will be to get a new fire/rescue facility for the Mt.
Pleasant area. The current facility needs to be modernized and brought up to today’s standards
like the other districts in our county. For instance, the Board of Supervisors just spent $8 million
on the Bonsack emergency services building and now they are planning to spend $5 million on
the Hollins emergency services facility, all while expecting the Mt Pleasant community to wait
for eight more years to get any renovation funds. We have to be vocal to get things done in the
Vinton District. It just doesn’t happen unless we are persistent and let the public know our
situation.
But the overall biggest goal for Roanoke County has to be economic development. Look at the
past decade…no new jobs have been brought to our county other than fast food or expansions.
We need jobs to come here and stay here. Our kids are graduating currently and leaving the area because they can’t find higher paying jobs in our area. I’m sure I don’t need to go into the jobs
we’ve lost in this area. We need to be a leader, not a follower, and not become just a “retirement
community.” If we don’t start creating jobs, we will eventually turn into a dying community.
We have lost 1,000 Roanoke County Public School students over the last decade. This is a direct
result of jobs leaving and new/higher paying jobs not coming to our area. We have to reverse
this trend. We can’t just accept this as the way Roanoke County will evolve into the future. We
have to start creating jobs!
We need to start going to areas we know where the jobs are being created to sell Roanoke
County. The day of waiting for the phone to ring and hoping they come here with jobs is over.
We need to go to them! We need to find businesses expanding and looking for new locations.
We have to be proactive, not reactive. Let’s start building for the future and bring jobs to
Roanoke County!
Economic development has not been our strong suit over the last decade. Once home values stop
rising, we will have to make some hard choices on spending. Our real estate tax dollars continue
to rise, as $11 million was added to the county government this year and the board only gave $2
million back to the citizens. Next year may be a reality check if home values don’t continue to
rise as they have over the last several years.
Shepherd: The locality needs to focus on economic development to bring additional positions to
the area so that our young adults will have the opportunity to stay in the area and raise their
families. I also would like to work with developers to encourage additional housing of all types
to provide homes that we are lacking. Being in the real estate business, I constantly hear agents
and home purchasers complain about the lack of available housing. Recently Roanoke County
has funded remodeling W.E. Cundiff and Glen Cove Elementary Schools as well as building a
new Career and Technical Education Center which will allow students to begin careers locally as
soon as they graduate from Roanoke County Schools.
4. What are your plans for the future of the district? What do you see for the Town of
Vinton in the next 10-20 years?
Shepherd: I will continue to advocate for additional business and development opportunities in
Vinton so that our children and grandchildren have the opportunity to continue to live and work
in Vinton and raise their families here.
Greenway: Did I mention ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT! We are going to lead the region in
job growth, not try to ride the coat tails of our regional counties. I plan to hold meetings for
small businesses to see how we can help them thrive, not just survive. We will remove barriers
and regulations to doing business in Roanoke County. We will make it easier to open a business
in Vinton along our corridors like Washington Avenue or Walnut Avenue or Hardy Road. We
can do this. We don’t have to follow– we can lead!
I see Vinton as a thriving town in a decade. Hopefully, we will see a renewed growth in
downtown Vinton area homes to support downtown businesses. I’m hoping the Water Authority
continues to expand its reach in the Mt. Pleasant area so we can see some development opportunities. We have a piece of property waiting on businesses now to come– the McDonald farm property– or we could repurpose it into other growth opportunities, including housing, an amphitheater, or some other use. We could also bring a new entrance into Vinton via Explore Park and possibly give a new entrance/exit for the Montgomery Village community. I’m not ready to give up on this property for business, but we may be able to tie in the property with the Explore Park property to give us another entrance into Vinton as a destination. Lastly, we need to get the hotel deal done to continue the idea of a destination location. There are many, many opportunities to grow our Vinton district in a way that doesn’t take away from who we are as communities.
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For voters wishing to vote by mail: mail-in absentee ballots will be sent to voters with valid absentee ballot requests on file at least 45 days prior to the Election; the deadline to submit a request to receive an absentee ballot by mail is 5 p.m. on Friday, June 7. The deadline to return a voted absentee ballot is noon on Friday,
June 21.
If you requested an absentee ballot by mail and decide that you would rather vote in-person, take
your unmarked, unvoted absentee ballot with you to exchange for a new ballot should you decide
to vote early in-person or at your assigned voter precinct on Election Day instead.
For more information on voting in this primary, contact the Roanoke County Dept. of Elections at 540-772-7500, visit their website at https://www.roanokecountyva.gov/69/Elections, or visit the office at 900 Chestnut Street in Vinton between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The Vinton Messenger is happy to publish positive letters of support for the candidates. Email them to dadams@mainstreetnewspapers.com.
