The vote last week to make Joe “Butch” Church Chairman of the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors was viewed as an upset by some who anticipated that the custom of rotating the chairmanship amongst the five members would be observed once again. However, Church says that “I was not surprised by the vote but I never took for granted it was going to happen until it happened.” The other votes came from Charlotte Moore (D) and Ed Elswick (R), who both claim that they are hoping for more bipartisan leadership under the new chairman.
Church did not want to speculate as to why Elswick cast the deciding vote for him instead of Republican Richard Flora, other than to say that the “underlying tone is that citizens all around Roanoke County wanted a nonpartisan local government.”
Church, who began his 11-year stint on the Board as a Republican, is now an Independent primarily because of an incident back in 2005. According to Church, “a member of the Roanoke County Republican Committee came into my personal office [at his place of business] saying ‘you’re rocking the boat; we need a more solid Republican vote’” and that Church was not following the committee’s direction. Church felt that was uncalled for and asked the member to leave his business; he recollects saying that “no one tells me how to vote other than my constituents.”
Changing his party status to “Independent” reflects his strong conviction that “I will be an independent person and vote what I think is best for my district and the entire county.”
There are three issues he has voted against that, according to Church, have frustrated many citizens who now want new leadership on the Board. He feels people want “not only to be heard, but actually listened to,” and he says he plans to be one of the people doing the listening.
• Walmart / Clearbrook – The Board had passed a “Clearbrook community overlay” in which Church says “I felt we gave our word not to build [a facility] over 50,000 sq. ft.,” primarily because of safety with a school so close to that area.”
• Keagy Village – “Again, I felt we had a very intense disruption of the community as it was.”
• Regional Jail and the Asphalt Plant – Church claims he was not entirely against these proposals except the asphalt plant was proposed in the wrong location. Regarding the jail, it was “the manner in which it was handled –some behind-closed-doors meetings, and too much discussion that wasn’t in the public eye.”
It comes as no surprise then that Church says “the watchword for my leadership is ‘transparency,’ and to restore the citizens’ faith and trust in representation on our Board.” Church has observed a recurrent theme with unhappy constituents who believe their opinions are not likely to be heard by the Board – that many issues “looked like a done deal” to them. Church is disturbed by that outlook, saying “It should never be a done deal before the fact.”
The issue of land use garners Church’s full attention; “Any time [there is a] vote on land use I try to honestly put myself in that person’s shoes to see if they will be adversely affected.” Church would not directly comment on the Burkholder case pending in Roanoke City, but did say that “it [eminent domain] is not an option in his eyes.”
A native Roanoker, Butch Church was born in Roanoke City, had a business in Salem City and lives in Roanoke County. He grew up very poor; his father left the family when he was only two years old. When he was 21, Church had “hot water put in my mom’s house,” something he is grateful he could do for her. He speaks highly of his late mother Ruby, saying she only had a “fourth grade education and was smarter than anyone I’ve ever known – she taught me so much. Anything good I am is because of her.”
Church has spent many years coaching and refereeing several sports, with basketball topping the list; his career began as a basketball player for Jefferson High School. When his two sons were young, he coached Rec league sports nonstop for ten years. He also traveled the country as a referee for Division I college basketball for over 25 years, often working Virginia Tech Games in the Metro Conference.
These days, Church’s favorite pastime is golf; he has a group of golfing buddies he has kept up with for years. In addition to staying active, Church sees the sport as a way to really get to know someone. “If I really want to evaluate someone for a post, I will learn more about that individual during a round of 18 holes of golf than I would knowing this person for six months.”
He adds “you can tell who’s honest – seeing who will move the ball with their foot … what kind of temperament they have… how they handle adversity… Do they throw clubs?” He laughs saying, “Golf will make you go insane if you let it!”
Looking to the year ahead as Chairman of the County Board, Church acknowledges there will be challenges. “This year will be a tough budget year…I am very confident that we will work through it – we’ll be fine. Over the years Roanoke County has positioned itself to deal with the toughest of times and we will.”
By Cheryl Hodges [email protected]