Ford swamps Hotinger
in Kerrs Creek race
By Jessica Shaw
Challenger Rusty Ford easily unseated one-term incumbent Harvey Hotinger tonight for the Kerrs Creek seat on the Board of Supervisors.
By nearly a 2-1 margin, Ford, 57, beat the man who had voted three years ago with other supervisors to eliminate Ford's seat on the county Planning Commission.
Ford had stressed in his campaign that the county needed change, including a capital improvements program to keep expenses in check.
"The capital improvements program is just a way to make sure that we don’t have any terribly expensive capital outlays all at once in the future," he said.
Ford, in his campaign, advocated increasing the quality of education in county schools, improving environmental conservation and establishing control over comprehensive zoning.
"How much I get done depends on who else gets elected to the board," he said. "If I’m elected, and I have a sympathetic board, then we can get a lot done." Two other incumbents -- Maynard Reynolds in Natural Bridge and Monty Fix in Walkers Creek -- also lost tonight.
Ford was born in Lexington, attended local schools and graduated from Yale University. After college, he held several jobs in the northeast before returning to Lexington.
In Lexington, he taught at local schools for 22 years. He also served on the county Planning Commission for eight years. He lost that position when Hotinger and other supervisors who were elected in 2003 voted to cut the size of the commission.
Ford now works for the Virginia Outdoors Foundation, an organization that raises money to preserve the natural landscape of the state.
Hotinger, 76, had said he was satisfied with the way the current board had handled issues this year. He advocated the expansion of small businesses and keeping taxes to a minimum.
Hotinger said he thought communication between the board and the community was healthy, facilitated by board meetings that are open to the public.
"I think it’s pretty good," he said. "Any call we take, we try to get an answer for."
Hotinger is a third-generation Lexingtonian who attended the old Lexington High School. He subsequently earned a degree in industrial engineering from Virginia Tech. After college, he worked in customer service engineering for the Norfolk Southern Railway.
Produced by Washington and Lee journalism students.
Lead supervisor: Prof. Brian Richardson
Reporting supervisors:
Technical supervisor: Michael Todd