Garrett Dillard plans to seek a second term as the Henry County Board of Supervisors’ Iriswood District representative in the November election.
He is currently running unopposed.
Dillard said he decided to seek another term because he believes the role plays an important part in community development.
“Having diverse voices on the board really is important, and I’ve enjoyed working with the board members that are there. I just look forward to continuing to make progress with some of the things that we’ve started working on, especially recently,” he said.
If reelected, Dillard said he wants to find ways to increase recreation opportunities for youth in the community.
“Definitely want us to put more time into some type of Healthy Henry County campaign. We’ve done some things, but I want us to pick the pace up with that some,” he said.
Dillard also wants the board to get a good grasp on the county’s housing issue by removing dilapidated houses and finding ways to creatively address the housing shortage.
I’m “hoping to keep the positive momentum that we as a board have going, and just continue to look for creative ways within our budgetary confinements and within our guidelines as a board,” for ways that we can “make Henry County the best possible place that it can be to live,” he said.
During his first term, Dillard said he worked to ensure the Henry County school system’s 1 percent sales tax was handled properly.
“Initially the funds were going to be used to pay down the debt for Meadowview Elementary School, but technically that’s not what they should have been used for. So, getting on the board and keeping that conversation going so that they would be used for new construction and/or renovation was important,” he said.
Dillard believes he also helped increase the number of conversations the board has had about issues affecting the county, such as drug use, crime, and poverty.
“What we’re hoping with this new budget is that we’re going to allocate a certain amount of funds to each district and that would allow that district supervisor to use those funds at his or her discretion, but you have to have the approval of the board. That’s one of the ideas I proposed to” County Administrator Dale Wagoner, he said.
The creation of the fitness court at the Smith River Sports Complex was another accomplishment, Dillard said, along with being responsive to his constituents.
“People calling and needing things, whether it was grass or VDOT (Virginia Department of Transportation), and making sure I was responsive to those and making sure that county administration and different county departments took care of those things in a timely fashion,” he said.
