ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 12, 1996 TAG: 9601120030
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: PULASKI
SOURCE: NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
Joe Sheffey, with two terms behind him as the Cloyd District representative on the Pulaski County Board of Supervisors, will be its new chairman in 1996.
He said he was accepting the position only for a year, and not for his two-year term. That means there will be another election at the start of 1997.
The regular board meeting date will remain at 7 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of each month.
Sheffey, a Democrat, was chosen Wednesday to succeed Robinson District Supervisor Jerry White, a Republican, who was elected vice chairman.
The vote had Sheffey and White, in effect, switching positions. White had been chairman for the past four years while there was a 3-2 GOP majority on the board. The Nov. 6 election changed that majority to favor the Democrats by the same margin.
Sheffey is financial aid and veterans affairs coordinator at New River Community College, and has made education one of his priorities in his previous races for the board. He is the first black to be elected to the board, and now the first to be elected chairman.
He first ran in 1983 when he lost by 96 votes. He was elected in 1987 and re-elected in 1991 and 1995, the last time without opposition.
Sheffey, White and Ingles District Supervisor Bruce Fariss all are starting their third terms on the board. Fariss and White are now the only Republican supervisors, since Democrat Charles Cook unseated Republican Ira S. "Pete" Crawford for the Draper District seat.
The remaining Massie District seat went to former sheriff Frank Conner, a Democrat who won a close race for the seat with Republican Andy McCready. Democrat Mason Vaughan, with 16 years on the board, did not seek re-election.
LENGTH: Short : 40 linesby CNB