Update: State Board of Elections has decided to not acknowledge political party affiliation on November ballots. Wayne Hazzard is the South Anna Republican Nominee and the only Republican running in the South Anna District.

Why this election is so important:

(Wayne’s Interview with Herald Progress)

Wayne Hazzard feels that Hanover County government’s current path is unsustainable. “If we continue in the direction that we’re headed, my grandchildren won’t be able to afford to live here,” Hazzard said.

“If we don’t get spending under control and we don’t stimulate some economic development to offset some of the tax base, we’re not going to be able to afford to live here, and I think it’s time that we provided some leadership, especially in the South Anna District, as it relates to fiscal responsibility and economic development,” he added. He said that government growth arises from a lack of transparency, and he cited the budget process as an example.

The proposed County budget is published as a newspaper advertisement each year. “It’s a ream of numbers, but with nothing to compare them to. So the average citizen looks at it and says, ‘What does that mean?’” he said. “This is a waste of time to the citizens, unless you have something to compare it to. This should be comparative back three to five years. Then, there would be a crowd of people standing in there [at the Courthouse],” he said.

Since 2001, portions of the County budget have experienced considerable growth. The County Administrator’s budget grew from approximately $725,000 over a decade ago to $1.23 million this year. Fire/EMS grew from about $4.2 million to $14.2 million. General Services grew from about $309,000 to $3.9 million. (For general reference, according to data on the Hanover Finance Department’s website, the Fiscal Year 2002 General Fund was $123,581,669, and the adopted FY12 General Fund is $202,736,040.)

“We have good, loyal, dedicated, hardworking employees, and most of them are Hanover County citizens, and I just don’t see the need that we have to lay anybody off. There is attrition related to retirements and other things that will take care of that,” Hazzard said. He continued, “There are a lot of other areas that you could save money. … There’s a huge difference between wants and needs, and we have allowed wants to become needs.” Hazzard posed the question, “Are we more interested in revenue, or are we interested in service to the citizens?”

He outlined three philosophies.

“Number one, everything that this County does should benefit the citizens that they serve. Number two, in order for you to have your freedoms, you’ve got to allow your neighbor to have theirs. And number three, rules, regulations and laws that are implemented should be generated by the citizens, not by the bureaucracy,” he said. “Instead, we’ve missed all three of them. Right now, revenue is more important than service to the citizens.”

For example, in the FY11 budget, County staff’s recommendation to reduce spending-which the Board approved-included closing the recycling and trash centers on Wednesdays. “Rather than cut anything in their budget, they would cut services to the citizens,” Hazzard said. By the spring of that fiscal year, the County was projected to have about $1.2 million in additional funds. “If I were supervisor during that cycle and the administrator came and said we’ve got a $1.2 million surplus, first thing I’d have said is, ‘Well, then open the transfer stations.’ We didn’t open them [on Wednesdays] until July when the new budget went into play, so was the revenue more important or service to the citizens?” Hazzard said.

He referred to former Gov. Tim Kaine’s decision to close rest stops in Virginia. “Tell me how that’s different than what Hanover County did,” Hazzard said. Hazzard said that a critical area for Hanover County is economic development. “There are businesses that won’t even come to this county,” he said. “Rick Perry, who’s running for president, says you can move to Texas and in 60 days break ground for your new building. We are a supposedly a conservative county of 100,000, and we can’t get anything done in six months. “I don’t think it’s unreasonable to have somebody standing at the door saying, ‘How can I help you, Mr. Businessman? What do we need to do to get out of your way?’ Instead, we continue to throw obstacle after obstacle after obstacle in their way,” he said. “Ask anybody that’s ever dealt with them [County staff]. And here’s the worst part-it’s not their fault. … The problem is that we have not had the leadership that we need to say, ‘Wait a minute. Let’s apply a little common sense to what we’re doing.’”

Hazzard urged the business community to speak up about its interactions with County government. “I’m going to chastise the business community right now, because if they would come forward with the truth about their interaction with our Planning Department and the other bureaucratic departments in this county, we may be able to change that, and it could already have been changed. … But everybody’s afraid to do it.”

Still, Hazzard considers Hanover a great place to live. Hazzard said, “This is without a doubt the most wonderful county you could live in, raise your children in and, in my case, grandchildren, but I want them to be able to afford to live here, too, and we are not headed in that direction.”

Professionally, Hazzard began work as an electrician and went on to own several businesses, the first being Hazzard Electrical in 1975. He currently is president of Professional Contractors, Inc., and he owns commercial rental property in Chesterfield and Hanover. He is somewhat retired these days, “but I still keep my hands in everything,” he said. “I know how to run a business, and that’s what we need to do with the County is turn it into the type of government that’s run like a business instead of allowing it to be run like most governments are run,” Hazzard said.

“I owe it to the County to try to give back, because this county and this country and this state have been so good to me, it’s only fair. So I’m willing to dedicate the next four years of my life to try to change the direction that this county is going in.” Hazzard said, “Everything they [Hanover government] do should benefit the citizens they serve. The self-serving, revenue-producing side of it does not benefit the citizens.” But he made it clear that Hanover government does provide some valuable services exceptionally well. He said emergency services did a “wonderful” job in response to the recent earthquake and hurricane. “They did good. But at the same time, look at what’s happened with fire and emergency services. It’s grown 336 percent, and now you have to pay to ride an ambulance. “The reason you have to pay to ride an ambulance is because we are more concerned with the revenue. Here’s a revenue stream that supposedly the citizen doesn’t have to pay for because it comes from an insurance company. The trouble is, you can bet the insurance company charges more in Hanover County for the insurance, because they know they’ve got to pay for a ride in an ambulance,” Hazzard said.

He said, “We are blessed. We are strong financially. We have the best police department. We have the best education system in the community, and this is without a doubt one of the best-located counties there is, both for business and for the residential community. You couldn’t be in a better place. “It seems a shame to me to squander that opportunity, especially in the business community. And I think that as good as this county has been to me, I want to make sure that it’s the same type of environment that my grandkids, your kids can grow up in and live in.” He added, “We’ve got the best schools, but where are the kids going to work?”

“The current South Anna representative on the Board of Supervisors feels Hanover County is on the right track, but there is always room for “continuous improvement.” The problem is that he believes government is the source for that improvement and I believe he is dead wrong! We as citizens can improve our County and the business opportunities provided rather than government!

“As your Supervisor, I will put my experience as a successful businessman to work for you. I will continue to fight for lower taxes, less spending, and common sense solutions which will benefit our families and our children. I truly believe our best days are ahead of us! I share your values and I want to be your voice. I will always be available to listen to you and to do what I can to help you.

I would be honored to serve as Supervisor for the South Anna District and I ask for your support.”