Vern Presley admitted the negative view many Southwest Virginia residents have of the Obama Administration and the current state of things in our nation’s capitol might complicate his effort to run as a Democrat representing the region in the 100-member Virginia House of Delegates.
“However, with that being said, I’m more focused on 2011 than I am on 2012,” the Grundy-based attorney said, quickly steering a conversation about the national political scene back to one about the issues he’ll face as a state legislator.
In an interview about his campaign, Presley said many members of his community asked him to run against incumbent Delegate Will Morefield, R-Tazewell, for the 3rd District seat in the House of Delegates this year.
“One of the reasons I decided to do it was to provide opportunities for our children,” said Presley, who like many Southwest Virginia residents is worried this lack of opportunity forces many of the region’s talented young people to move elsewhere for work.
Presley said he’s been working to improve these opportunities by serving as Grundy’s town attorney and the lead attorney for the Buchanan County Industrial Development Authority, two positions that have taught him a lot about how best he can market what the region has to offer.
If elected to the House of Delegates, Presley said, he plans to make marketing the region a top priority during his first two-year term in office. But he knows most of the time during his first term will be spent saving what the region has as the state takes up its budget in the coming legislative session.
“We can’t sacrifice our values in order to balance our budget,” he said.
This means the region’s lawmakers must work together to ensure the money that helps the region’s public schools, senior programs and infrastructure stays in the state’s budget as its lawmakers tackle their budget in a year when the state will likely not receive any money from a federal stimulus program.
He said the state’s financial situation might be even tighter considering the fact that this year is also when the state must pay back some of the money it borrowed from the state employee retirement system to balance its budget in previous years.
Presley said these two factors mean state government must rethink its spending priorities, including the tax credits it offers businesses like film companies to work in the state.
“It’s been a tough recovery and money’s been tight,” he said, adding that the state government will likely have to make some tough choices as it comes up with ways to spend its money over the coming two years.
Presley graduated from the George Mason School of Law in 1992 and has practiced with the Street Law Firm in Grundy since 1992. If elected this year, the candidate has also pledged to protect Social Security, save Medicare and work with state officials to bring what he calls “wholesale changes to our regulatory statutes” that will give the state government more control in what rates utility companies can charge.
gmclean@bristolnews.com
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