Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 23, 1990 TAG: 9005230467
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK LAYMAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Garrett has applied for the seat held for eight years by Charlsie Pafford.
Garrett said Tuesday that he hadn't talked to Pafford, and he seemed surprised when told by a reporter that she had applied for a third term. "I had understood she might be interested in coming off [the board]," he said.
He has no complaints about Pafford's record on the School Board, Garrett said. Pafford "has done an excellent job. . . . I'm not that interested in battling her."
But he won't withdraw his application, he said.
As a county supervisor, Garrett worked closely with the School Board, particularly on financial matters.
When he ran for re-election last year - a race he lost to Lee Eddy - he was endorsed by the Roanoke County Education Association. He hopes that county teachers will support his application for the School Board, too. "Of course, that won't make much difference, I suppose," he said. "I don't know that lobbying does any good."
In Roanoke County, the School Board is chosen by a five-member committee appointed by the judges of the Circuit Court. The Board of Supervisors tried to get the power to appoint School Board members two years ago, but voters rejected the change.
Garrett, 64, is retired from TV station WSLS in Roanoke. He was elected to the Board of Supervisors in 1985 and represented the county on the Roanoke Regional Airport Commission and in consolidation talks with Roanoke.
Pafford said she gave a lot of thought to her decision to seek another term.
She didn't have a full-time job when she was appointed to the seat in 1982. Now she is personnel manager at the Sears Telecatalog Center. But her youngest child will be starting college in the fall, and Pafford said she decided that, even with her job, she still would have time for the School Board.
Her experience is needed on the School Board because "we're going into some hard times the next four years," she said. Money will be tight. And even if voters reject consolidation, it will have a big impact on county schools, she said. That's because the school system has delayed needed capital improvements until after the consolidation vote.
Pafford, 46, is a former teacher and a former president of the Roanoke County Council of PTAs. She was one of eight applicants for the School Board seat in 1982. She was the only applicant in 1986.
The battle with Garrett "will make for an interesting two weeks," Pafford said.
The Windsor Hills seat is the only one that's open this year.
by CNB