By Taylor Boyd
The timing is right for Doug Perry to throw his hat into the ring and seek the Smith River District seat on the Patrick County Board of Supervisors in November.
Perry, a Woolwine native, is preparing to retire from the Virginia Army National Guard Counter Drug Task Force.
“My position there is a civil operations specialist. What I do in that position is go all over the state to work with communities to build a healthy community, because that’s a big part in substance abuse and drug prevention. So, all those aspects of healthy community, which is healthcare, jobs, mental health, just all those pieces and parts that make a community healthier are what I am trained to do,” he said.
Perry said he has seen what other communities are doing and compared them to Patrick County in terms of jobs and healthcare.
If elected, his priority is “using the resources I have and working with the county to improve our overall community health. I’ve got so many connections across the state, and I’ve seen action plans improve all those healthy aspects of a community. So, coming off that job and having those connections, I feel I can bring that to Patrick so we can grow,” he said.
“I’m a little ashamed because I’ve gone all over the state, and I know that I’ve gotten at least $6 million in grants for various communities around the state and really haven’t done much here in Patrick,” he added.
If elected, he said his main goals would be job and healthcare, because “they’re the biggest thing that we’re needing in the community.”
Perry said he has already started working to improve the healthcare of the county by being part of the Healthy Patrick County Initiative.
“We’re in the middle of building the infrastructure and our rescue squads. So, people in the community can go to the rescue squads and you’d have an EMT there to get vitals to share with the doctor. Then the people would have the streaming internet where they could have a good telehealth visit at the local rescue squad, and it’s not always easy especially if you’re not computer savvy. Sometimes it’s kind of tough to get to,” he said.
Perry said he would also work to address the food deserts, which are areas that with limited access to affordable and nutritious food, by “working with agencies and organizations to improve those healthy community aspects.”
Perry said he would be able to use the reasoning he used in his work to help the board make decisions. “We can’t control what goes on in D.C. or Richmond, but as things happen politically, I can take those things, look at them from a broader view, and figure out how we can best help Patrick County by looking at data and strategic planning,” he said.
Regarding the county’s budget, Perry said, “Budgets are a very tricky thing. It’s kind of a chicken or the egg type thing. Without businesses, how do you get the income. You know we can’t keep taxing landowners to get that money to have a budget with.”
But he currently doesn’t have a big enough perspective to comment.
“Without having the big picture, it’s hard to state specifics, but a budget to develop the infrastructure to bring businesses into the county” in his estimation would include “healthcare, education, and law enforcement are key, and of course bringing businesses in here.”
