WYDaily sent an identical questionnaire to each candidate for the Powhatan seat on the James City County Board of Supervisors. Bob Mandala is the Democratic nominee for the seat, and he faces Republican nominee Michael Hipple Sr. Mandala’s answers are presented here. The election takes place Nov. 5.
View a completed questionnaire from Hipple here.
1. Can you share your age, family and professional background history?
Age – 64, married 36 years to Linda, one married daughter, Nicole
Education – Bachelor or Arts, California State University, Los Angeles (1972); Pacific Coast Banking School Certificate (1984);
Resume:
CURRENT (as a Retiree):
2009 – Present
Board Member – United Way of Greater Williamsburg; Chair – Governance Committee; Co-Chair, Citizen’s Division Fundraising Campaign Cabinet
Operating Committee – Community Leadership Service (CLS) – Williamsburg Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Alliance; Chair – CLS Alumni Committee
Volunteer Management Committee – Ford’s Colony HOA – volunteer management system
Author – What If Something Happens – ePub offered on Amazon and iBooks (limited print) – preparing families for sharing important personal, medical, financial, and legacy information. Bronze Award, eLit Awards, Independent ePublishers 2013 (Category – Aging)
Artist – wire tree sculptures; juried art show An Occasion for the Arts, Williamsburg, VA 2013
Bank of America (1971 – 2009)
Consumer Lending local and Regional, Branch Management, Branch District and Region Management, Marketing, Commercial Lending, Human Resources, Employee Relations, Training (national), Corporate Philanthropy (national and international volunteer team management); Six Sigma Greenbelt
Bank of America – Community Relations
Non-Profit board positions: Orange County CA Volunteer Center member and President, 1994-1998); Orange County Business Council member (1995-1998); Volunteer Centers of California, member and Chairman (2000-2004); Points of Light National Corporate Volunteer Council (2003-2007), CHOICES Education Group, member and President (2004-2009
2. What are your opinions regarding growth in the county? Are there areas within your district you’d like to see protected or developed?
Growth is inevitable. Our choices are, letting growth happen organically with no regard for planning, ultimate build out, and how that may affect the landscape of this community and general area we love so much, or the plan I favor would approve and manage the growth that best suits the landscape of the area, does not violate basic rules of shared space, and balances the changing needs of residents, businesses, rural areas, schools, PSA, and other competing forces. The Board of Supervisors is charged with maintaining this delicate balance of competing, yet ultimately compatible factions, while listening to and measuring public opinion, staff and Planning Commission recommendations, and maintaining sound fiscal responsibility. Doing all this, while attempting to satisfy everyone at the table.
The Powhatan District has areas of significant residential density as well as large areas of rural land. I will look at each proposal for both growth and rural land acquisition only as parts of the whole, NOT as one-off requests. To do so would be a continued violation of a greater master plan that desparately needs updating, study, and discussion.
3. How well do you think the board members communicate with each other and with the public? What policy changes, if any, would you make to improve communication with the public? What leadership skills do you possess that would better unite the board?
Communication with each other and with the public is an area the Board of Supervisors can certainly improve upon. I have personally witnessed many interactions (with each other) where basic civility was been not only overlooked, but in some cases, completely ignored. Public comments are oftentimes-personal attacks rather than constructive criticism. While I will forever defend a person’s right to say what is on their mind, I am often appalled at the lack of professional courtesy and appropriate public meeting demeanor shown to our public officials and meeting guests.
This communication deficit is so broad, I released a Civility Pledge whereby I committed to my personal civil behavior and asked the Candidates and Supervisors to sign on with me as well as asking the general public to put civility at the forefront of their conversation and presentations.
As a corporate executive, all phases of my business life revolved around collaboration, partnerships, consensus building, and civility. Success in working with and leading non-profit boards depends on building partnerships and collaboration. I can bring these leadership qualities to the Board of Supervisors in an attempt at every corner to bring this discordant group together.
CIVILITY PLEDGE
Civility in James City County government is long past due. Its return is needed now. Government will improve, the public’s involvement will be encouraged and the people will be better served when civility is restored. If elected Powhatan Supervisor, I as my commitment to collaboration, consensus building and open communication do hereby make the following:
- I will put civility at the forefront of everyday actions toward my colleagues;
- I will timely respond to emails and phone calls from my colleagues;
- I will keep Board Meetings civil and collaborative for the public good;
- I will ask all Supervisors to adopt this pledge, and
- I will permit this Pledge to become a public record.
In the interest of a more collaborative and inclusive government, I’m asking visitors to the Board Meetings to:
- Put civility at the forefront of all comments and presentations;
- Keep Board Meetings constructive, avoiding unnecessary insults; and
- Remember that we all want what we feel is good for the County.
I’m asking the general population of James City County to:
- Watch for uncivil interactions and hold those violators accountable, and
- Use your voting power to elect those who will support this Civility Pledge.
4. County employees received a 3 percent raise this year after a five-year wage freeze. What is your assessment of morale?
Unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to talk with a significant enough number of County employees to accurately gauge morale. I do know that we have hundreds of long-term, knowledgeable, and helpful employees who want to do a good job for the County and its residents. Those I have met have been extremely supportive, helpful and knowledgeable. If elected, one of the first tasks I will undertake is a tour of all County facilities, meeting with major departments and meeting as many employees as possible, to not only learn about what they do, but find out what issues they may have and most importantly, thank them for their service and their expertise.
5. What challenges do you feel the county will face in the coming years? What do you consider the county’s hurdles to overcome these challenges, and how will you face those obstacles?
Opportunity:
Finding ways to aggressively pursue more non-retail businesses (i.e. light manufacturing and distribution centers) that offer more full-time entry-level and mid-level positions and that contribute significant tax revenues to the county.
Challenges:
– JCC has limited land that is appropriately zoned
– JCC has limited work-force type housing for new workers so that long commutes on already heavily travelled highway can be minimized – and public transportation currently is limited to appropriately zoned area.
– JCC does not have a notably effective marketing plan focused on potential businesses
Opportunity:
Creating a specific plan and execution strategy for the construction of affordable housing for those who hold service-oriented positions within the county (i.e. hospitality workers, police and fire personnel, non-tenured teachers, health care workers).
Challenges:
– Finding suitable land and builders to develop this housing concept while staying within the price structure needed to keep homes affordable
– Countering near-by existing property owner’s concerns about living near a development including these homes and their perceived negative impact on their property values
– Marketing these homes to this specific population (and to near-by developments) without emphasizing the “affordable housing” Label.
Opportunity:
Finding the delicate balance of rural land use including land owner rights, County preference to purchase development rights, and general public understanding of this process and the reasoning behind it.
Challenges:
– General public misunderstanding of the rural land process and the misinterpretations of the purpose of County involvement and the preservation of rights of the owner
– County not having a generally known and understood long-range plan for working with rural lands
– County may not be aggressively pursuing talks with all rural landowners in the county to anticipate potential development rights purchases rather than reacting to one-off opportunities.
6. Talk about the regional goals you would like to see reached during the next four years and how James City County would benefit from them.
– Diligently working to take the politics out of our local government and substituting harmony, partnership, collaboration, consensus, and civility to this often-discordant Board of Supervisors.
– Maintaining the beauty of our county without impeding its essential and inevitable growth.
– Broadening our tax base by encouraging and actively pursuing the growth of small and mid-level business.
Thank you for the opportunity to share my personal vision for the county, current challenges with specific suggestions, and a bit about my background, experience, and expertise that will allow us to move along a positive and productive path while sitting alongside my colleagues and serving our residents.
Respectfully,
Bob Mandala
