I sat down a week or so ago to see if I could prognosticate the results of last week’s Board of Supervisors elections.
After scratching my head for a half an hour, I had to admit that I didn’t have a clue how several of the races would turn out.
And as it turned out, just a few votes in Henry and Ashland would have turned the whole thing from an election which saw just minor change, to one which might have been looked on as a watershed election in Hanover history.
As it is, even with Jack Ward giving up his seat to Debbie Coats, the Comprehensive Plan, subject of so much passion during its adoption process and the seeming impetus for many of the opposition candidates to enter the race, appears unlikely now to undergo any major revision.
Although supervisors might do well to take into account the closeness of the races and realize that there is a sizeable number of voters who wanted a change, just not quite enough to bring it about.
Perhaps they will want to include more opportunities for public input in any new policy decisions they undertake.
Many candidates, both winners and losers, decried the low voter turnout (about 30 percent in most districts), but that was predictable.
With no top ticket races running ads and buying TV time, some voters may not have known there was an election going on, as Jack Ward said he discovered as he canvassed door to door.
And speaking of Ward, now that he is no longer on the board, perhaps it’s time to consider what his 16 years there have meant for Mechanicsville.
For better or worse, his time has been one of great change for Mechanicsville. We’ll review his career in a future article.
At the same time, we welcome Debbie Coats to the board, and look forward to covering her contributions to Hanover County in the future.
