Just who is Ed Elswick?
In the September/October 2009 edition of The Roanoker, we take a look at this surprise win of this political newcomer over three-time incumbent Roanoke County Supervisor Joe McNamara.
“It is time that people stood up and said let’s stop this and put common sense into how we should run our government … Rural areas like Catawba and Bent Mountain are still ignored by the county administration. And that’s okay – we want to be left alone. But there are things that happen that show us that we aren’t left alone.”
“They threaten up here to close our schools. At one point they took away our two permanent fire fighters. We want more of a say as to what the county does. The rural areas are so important to the citizens. We get tons of visitors coming to us. We felt like we needed a voice to what the county affairs are all about.”
-Ed Elswick
Read more about Ed Elswick and his campaign for Windsor Hills District Supervisor for the County of Roanoke in the September/October 2009 edition of The Roanoker.
You can also visit Ed’s campaign website at edelswick.com.
I find it interesting that Albemarle County is referenced. Their police have take home cars and are paid considerably more than a Roanoke County officer. Albemarle’s published pay scale demonstrates that government can be run more effectively.
While I agree with Mr. Elswick on numerous things, and believe he could do a lot for the county, there is one thing that bothers me. In reference to public safety. While Fire & Rescue is volunteer based with a core of employeed members, I am sure that they run more calls then Montgomery CO. As far as police I have to argue that even further. On Montgomery CO.’s annual report the Sheriffs Officer responded to 28,000 calls for service. On the other side Roanoke CO Police in there 2008 annual report responded to over 82,000 calls. They show that they have 9 patrol districts in Roanoke County. So, if those districts are staffed 24 hours a day which I doubt, that would be a average of around 25 calls a day for each district officer. Like I said I think Mr. Elswick is on track with most services the county offers, but the public safety side. With his background I think he can provide great insight into the finances and spending in the county. I do however invite him to go do a ride-along with the county police and see what they are all about. Might as well get hands on early instead of playing catch up if elected……
I think J brings up a good point. My question is does Montgomery County and Roanoke County have the same guidlines for what is a "respondible call"? I see here that Roanoke County has a population of 90,867 so J is saying there is one respondible call per year for every man, woman and child in Roanoke County. Does that seem a bit high considering the low crime rate?? My other question would be does the Roanoke County PD say get more resources, more funding based on the higher number of calls?
I am thrilled that a person with the business experience of Ed Elswick is running for county supervisor. Real estate agents, teachers, etc can make good supervisors for sure, but that is not what Roanoke County needs. We need folks that understand market forces, that budgets have to balance, that know how to make a profit in the market, how to make payroll, etc.
Folks I can tell you first hand, the waste at Roanoke County is enormous. When Elmer Hodge first came in I said this guy is going to “Fairfax County” Roanoke and that he did. We are not Fairfax County and dont want to be, but he got us there right up with Northern VA with spending per capita.
We need Ed Elswick and more like him. Look at Montgomery County, same size as Roanoke. Folks in Roanoke County need to wake up and look around. Nothing better than on Sunday seeing a Roanoke County employee coming out of Kroger with a cart full of groceries and he is in his “company truck”. This has got to stop.