Montgomery County Board of Supervisors Chairman Chris Tuck said he will not be seeking the head position in 2019, and is considering not running after his term is up next year.
He shared the news with his fellow supervisors and other county officials at Wednesday’s meeting, which was rescheduled due to Veteran’s Day on Monday.
Tuck’s reasons for not seeking the chair position for a fourth year were pretty straightforward.
“In recent times, the longest anyone has served as chair is three consecutive years,” he said. “Having one sit as chair too long can cause complacency, stifle new ideas and positive changes.”
Tuck (District B) also said that he didn’t believe it was a good idea for someone to serve as chair during their election year as it could tempt the person to use it for political advantage, which he believes is wrong.
He also said that the chair could be attacked for political reasons, which he said was equally wrong.
Following that announcement, he then stated that there is a possibility that he would not run for reelection next year at all.
Tuck said that he would not be making a decision on that until after the chair and vice chair are elected in January, a process that is done at the first organizational meeting of the year and decided by the seven supervisors.
Tuck said that his main reasons for possibly not running again have to do with spending more time with family and his “strong belief” in term limits.
He said that he was making the announcement now so that those who would like to seek the chair position or his seat on the board have the time to research the position’s commitments.
Tuck pointed to the way former supervisor Gary Creed gave advanced notice that he wouldn’t be seeking re-election well before his term was up, allowing multiple candidates to seek the position that Steve Fijalkowski (District C) ultimately took over in 2018.
Tuck said that he should have his mind made up about seeking another four-year term by February or March at the latest.
Current Vice Chair April Demotts (District G) said that she respected Tuck’s decision.
“As he said in his statement, I agree that new leadership on our board will allow us to consider new ideas and pursue different initiatives and will reinvigorate the direction of the board of supervisors,” she said.
Demotts also noted that she hopes she has shown herself to be an asset to the board and would like to continue as vice chair next year.
Tuck said that he is not sure who might want to fill the chair position, but he has not ruled out voting across party lines, referencing the fact that he voted for former supervisor Bill Brown, a Democrat, to fill the chair position previously.
Tuck also said that he wanted to propose a few changes that he suggested be decided upon at the beginning of 2019.
The meetings are currently run under Roberts Rules of Order, but some portions are not strictly enforced, like the amount of time citizens and supervisors have to speak.
Currently, supervisors get 20 total minutes per issue to ask questions and comment. Tuck believes that should be shortened to make meeting more efficient and not have supervisors making important decisions late into the night. He also floated the idea to have citizen comments reduced from five to three minutes as is done in surrounding localities.
Demotts shared her feelings with the News Messenger in a phone interview Thursday evening.
“I would be interested in hearing discussions about the proposed changes from my fellow supervisors as well as from citizens who would be affected.
“It is important to me that the board of supervisors continues to remain efficient in our handling of the business of Montgomery County, but equally important is our ability to remain transparent and receptive to the input of the citizens we serve.
“As we grow as a County, the amount of business before the board also grows, so it is reasonable to at least consider ways to increase efficiency during our meetings,” she said.
The next meeting is at 7:15 p.m. Monday, Nov. 26 at the Montgomery County Government Center (755 Roanoke St., Christiansburg).
