By Staff Reports
In his first bid for public office, Keith Puckett said that if elected, he will work to pare down the county’s debt and look for new revenue streams that will not be burdensome to taxpayers.
Puckett, 48, and Denise Stirewalt are vying for the Peters Creek district on the Patrick County Board of Supervisors.
A Patrick County native, Puckett said the biggest challenge facing the county is its financial situation.
He said he would work to ensure the county adopts a balanced budget and does not “affect the taxpayers too terribly bad.”
He supports the Meals Tax- which also is on the November ballot. If that proposal does not pass muster, “then I think we’re going to be in the same situation we are in now.”
The debt service “is something we’ve got to get a hold of. We’ve got to look at different ways of getting some different revenue,” Puckett said, adding that task will fall to the incoming board – regardless of who is elected.
“We’re going to have to sit down and figure that out. I don’t have the magic wand to” address it, “but I think the debt is our main thing, and we’ve got to find some new sources of revenue,” Puckett said, adding “hopefully, we don’t affect the taxpayers too terribly bad by doing that.”
He noted the current board is working on “some possible debt relief type bank deals with” Davenport & Co., and the work that company did on the county’s behalf.
The company recommended restructuring some of the county’s debt, “and I think they’re (supervisors) working towards that,” Puckett said. “I don’t know for sure. Of course, we don’t know everything that goes on in closed session, but I certainly hope they’re taking the advice of Davenport and working to relieve some of that debt of through another loan of a lower interest rate. I hope that’s what they’re working on. Hopefully that will be in place when the next board members take office.”
Puckett said he absolutely supports transparency and would encourage his board colleagues and county staff to be as forthcoming with the public as possible.
“As far as closed sessions, I hope everybody understands there are personnel matters and other things we can’t discuss,” he said.
Puckett added he also would try to seek the opinion of constituents before taking a vote “unless there’s a bona fide emergency and something that had to be voted on that night. There’s no reason we can’t take surveys with the public before we make a big, huge decision. We’re elected by them to make decisions for them, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get them involved.”
Noting that he wants “the same thing as everybody else wants. I want to know what I can know and tell the people legally” what he can share, Puckett said, adding that he also is aware that board members sign confidentiality agreements in some cases, and “there are certain things that they can’t tell, but absolutely, anything of transparency that I can tell them, I will. They’re the ones that put us there” to serve on the board, he added.
The county’s education system is a strong point, Puckett said.
“I may be biased because I work in the education system, but we definitely have that going for us. In my book, that’s the number one thing,” Puckett said.
“What we’re lacking in is promoting” that strength, he said, adding that when the schools were renovated, the improvements and condition of the school buildings were “supposed to be used as a selling point. We’re lacking in getting that out.”
He would work to ensure more attention was focused on “marketing and getting us more out there where everybody knows who we are and what we have to offer,” Puckett said.
Puckett said he would work to reopen the hospital or make sure that some type of 24-hour care is available to residents.
“I would love to have the hospital open for sure. It’s going to take a group effort to address that situation again to get it back open,” Puckett said. “I’m all for getting it back open or some type of 24-hour healthcare. I would definitely help work towards” making one or the other a reality, he added.
He hopes that voters will support him at the polls on Nov. 5.
“This is my 24th year in public schools. I had a public job more than 24 years. I’ve got to know a lot of people in the public,” Puckett said, and explained that duties associated with his job prompt his to travel to various parts of the county and meet with taxpayers county-wide.
“That is something I hope I can use to my advantage,” Puckett said. “I’ve been for the taxpayers 24 years. The taxpayers have been paying my salary. I hope that transpires over and I can continue to work for them as an elected official for the county. … I want to be your voice. I’m working for you. You tell me what we need to do.”
Puckett is a 1989 graduate of Patrick County High School. He earned a Career Studies Certificate and Diploma in HVAC/Refrigeration in 1999 from Patrick Henry Community College.
He also is the owner of Puckett Electric, and operates his small business on the weekends. We do like to hunt and do a little landscaping around the house on weekends not working
His family includes his mother, Virginia Puckett, who lives locally and Benny Puckett, a brother who lives in Sarasota, Fla. Puckett lives with Maverick, a black lab that he adopted from local shelter about four years ago, he said.
