By Taylor Boyd
As she prepares for her final meeting as a member of the Patrick County Board of Supervisors, Jane Fulk both reflected on her service and is hopeful a new board will address a couple of issues that remain on her ‘To-Do’ list.
The first thing is a better system to broadcast the board meetings.
“I’ve had a lot of complaints” that listeners “can’t hear us, don’t know what we’re saying, and half the time, the screen’s black,” Fulk said.
She hopes the two incoming board members – Brandon Simmons and Doug Perry – will take the reins and work to address that issue.
Also, among her regrets is her hope of attracting a Dollar General or Family Dollar store to locate in the Dan River District, Fulk said.
“I’ve worked on that for four years, and we’re no closer to getting that done,” she said. “But who knows” what might happen in the future.
Looking back on her four-year tenure as the Dan River District representative, Fulk said she believes her greatest achievement was voting to not raise taxes.
“I never believed in taxing people to death because we cannot build our economy on personal and property taxes. That won’t work,” she said. “I went in hoping I could make a few changes, and probably I have. I’ve not voted for any taxes, which I told them going in I wouldn’t do.”
Adding more roads in the Dan River area to the county’s six-year road improvement list with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) was another achievement.
Fulk, who joined the board in 2018, did not seek reelection because she felt that someone else could push the county in the direction it needs to go.
“We don’t seem to be accomplishing a great deal, but you know fresh blood, fresh ideas,” she said.
After leaving the board in January, Fulk said she will miss the insight into county happenings.
“I wish more people would become concerned” about issues facing the county. “I know, especially given the atmosphere we have now, that people are more concerned with their own immediate circumstances,” she said.
Fulk also will miss seeing the board members, county staff, and those who regularly attended and spoke at the public meetings, including the ‘pre-COVID-19 regulars’ like Steve Terry, Joanne Spangler, and Charles Vivier.
While Fulk said she enjoyed the first two years on the board, the last two were just “alright. I enjoyed working with some of the board members. The best person I ever worked with was Ricky Fulcher.” Fulcher was a previous member and represented the Peters Creek District.
Fulk declined to specify an outstanding favorite memory of her time on the board.
“You never remember the good stuff. It’s all the little pins and needles that you remember,” she said.
However, she will remember some of Lock Boyce’s dissertations with a smile. Boyce also was a former board member.
She added that she also will “remember some of the things that were said in executive meetings and frown.”
Because of her time on the board, Fulk feels she has gained a lot of knowledge into how the county operates. She also feels it may have made her more tolerant than she was before her service.
While she said she feels a little emotional over leaving the board, she believes it was the right decision. Still, as Fulk prepares to take her leave, “you get a little sadness. But I’m okay with it,” she said.
