Jones, Woodward join Colsey in Louisa District Board of Supervisors race
A current and former member of the Louisa County Planning Commission will seek the same seat on the Board of Supervisors this fall.
Greg Jones, who served on the commission from 2017 to 2020 and Manning Woodward, the man who replaced him, will both run for the Louisa District seat as independents.
Eric Purcell (I), who currently represents the district, announced in mid-March that he won’t seek re-election.
The pair join Republican Christopher Colsey in a three-man race that pits two long-time Louisa residents, Jones and Woodward, against a newcomer in Colsey.
A public school teacher in Fluvanna County who moved to Blue Ridge Shores about three years ago, Colsey held numerous positions in local government in Northern Virginia and New York. In a late April press release announcing his candidacy, he said that, as an experienced public official who holds “no Louisa County obligations to affect his objectivity,” he believes he would be “an effective and reliable representative” for the district. (Read more about Colsey’s announcement in the May 7 edition of Engage Louisa).
Jones and Woodward have both touted their deep ties to the area as reasons they should be elected. In an email to Engage Louisa, Woodward said that a lifetime in the community has given him “the ability to know where we, Louisa, have been and what direction we need to go” while Jones said in a written statement that, during his years living and working in the community, he’s built a strong connection to his potential constituents.
“With 27 years of business experience, managing personnel, working with multiple levels of business, managing resources and serving this community for almost a lifetime, I believe I have a pulse for the people I would be serving,” Jones said.
Over the last four decades, Jones has built both a family and successful career in the county. He and his wife of 41 years, Carol, have raised two sons here and established a pair of small businesses, a laundromat in the Town of Louisa and a commercial cleaning service. Jones is also a pastor at Fluvanna Community Bible Way Church in Fork Union.
Beyond his career, Jones has served in several community organizations. He’s the past president and current vice president of the Louisa branch of the NAACP, a former board member of the Louisa County Chamber of Commerce board of directors and spent 15 years coaching youth basketball.
Jones has also worked both in and with local government. In addition to his three years on the Planning Commission, he’s a member of Louisa County Public Schools’ Safe Schools Task Force, serves on LCPS Superintendent Doug Straley’s parent-community advisory committee and chairs Community Strong, a panel of local leaders that works to foster positive relationships between the community and law enforcement. After a Minneapolis police officer killed an unarmed Black man in 2020 sparking nationwide protests against police brutality, the group led an effort to equip all Louisa County sheriff’s deputies with body cameras.
If elected, Jones would be the fourth African American to serve as a Louisa supervisor and the first to represent the Louisa District. Patrick Henry District Supervisor Fitzgerald Barnes is currently the board’s only Black member.
Jones said that his diverse experience as a businessman and community leader would enable him to bring “a fresh set of eyes” to board but also mesh well with current board members.
“I already know all the BOS members pretty well and they know me. I believe we can work well together,” he said.
Jones pointed to several issues he’d focus on should he win in November including ensuring that Louisa County Public Schools has the support it needs. While the School Board directly oversees the division, the Board of Supervisors allocates its funding through the annual budget process. In the coming fiscal year, spending on local schools comprises more than 60 percent of the county’s $147 million operating budget. According to its long-range Capital Improvement Plan, the county could spend more than $80 million to expand school facilities over the next decade including $25 million for a Career and Technical Education Center as soon as next year.
“Our school division is thriving and I’m very proud that Superintendent Straley asked me to serve with his team. We must continue to help our school division moving forward especially with our CTE program growing so rapidly. We know education is the great equalizer and we want to give every student the best possible opportunity to learn,” Jones said.
Jones also said that the county needs to focus on providing elderly residents with the services they need and address the dearth of affordable housing. Supervisors have taken a small step toward increasing the availability of affordable rental units by partnering with the Fluvanna/Louisa Housing Foundation to build a 25-unit apartment complex adjacent to the Louisa County Resource Council. FLHF will own the property and rent the units to income-eligible elderly residents and essential workers. Supervisors committed $775,000 in federal grant money to the project earlier this year. Jones said the county already has “some pieces of the puzzle” in place to begin to address affordable housing and should expand on those efforts and look at what’s working in other localities.
This year’s race is Jones’ second run for local office. In 2007, he lost his bid for the Louisa supervisor seat to P.T. Spencer by just 15 votes. That race and his work on the Planning Commission deepened his interest in public service.
“That experience along with serving on the Planning Commission gave me a close-up view of how local government works. It also inspired me to want to be a greater part of building our community and making it better for all citizens,” Jones said.
Like Jones, Woodward is a Louisa native who, along with his wife Debbie, has raised two sons in the community. He spent most of his career working in his family business, Woodward Insurance Agency, before retiring in 2021 and handing the reins to his son.
Also, like Jones, Woodward has spent decades serving the county via local charities and other organizations. He’s a past president of the Jaycees, Lions Club, and the Louisa branch of the American Heart Association, a former Chamber of Commerce board member and a longtime board member and coach in Louisa Little League.
Though this is his first run for political office, Woodward is no stranger to local government. In 2020, just after winning election to the board, Purcell appointed Woodward to replace Jones on the Planning Commission. Woodward currently serves as vice chair. He has also served on the county’s Parks, Recreation and Tourism Advisory Committee.
Woodward said that after Purcell announced he wouldn’t seek re-election, he decided to pursue the seat because he saw it as an “opportunity to give back to Louisa County.”
“Louisa County is home. I was born here. I was raised here. I raised my family here. This county has blessed me and my family beyond measure. Louisa County is a special place. It is a small community filled with people with big hearts. We still care about each other in Louisa. I see running for and being on the Board of Supervisors as a calling. A calling to give back to the community that I have called home my entire life,” he said, adding that he opted to run as an independent because he wants to be “a voice for everyone.”
Woodward pointed to his work on the Planning Commission coupled with his deep roots in the county as giving him a broad perspective that would be beneficial to the board.
“Being on the Planning Commission has really opened my eyes to the need for planning in Louisa County. Working with the comprehensive plan, you are looking 40 years into the future,” he said. “With my background of living and being in Louisa County all my life, I feel that it gives me the ability to know where we, Louisa, have been and what direction we need to go in the future.”
Woodward zeroed in on several issues he intends to focus on if elected, all hot topics at recent county meetings. He said he’s heard from many residents concerned about how much they pay in local taxes—a hot button issue during this year’s budget process—and that the county needs to focus on upgrading roads and other infrastructure as it grapples with continued growth.
“Our road systems need work to handle traffic in our growth areas and (the) county at large,” Woodward said.
Traffic safety and congestion along the Route 208 corridor were points of contention when the Board of Supervisors voted earlier this year to rezone 15.2 acres just west of the Route 208 bridge for a condominium and hotel complex in the Lake Anna Growth Area. Neighbors argued that Route 208 is already clogged and dangerous and can’t handle more traffic. Woodward voted against the rezoning when the Planning Commission considered the application last fall.
Woodward also said that he’d focus on addressing concerns about stormwater runoff, a pressing issue in the Tanyard neighborhood where he resides. Tanyard, which sits on the eastern end of the Town of Louisa along Beaver Creek and Tanyard Branch, has been inundated with periodic flooding in recent years. Some community members say the flooding is a consequence of poorly planned development and insufficient development standards. Tanyard resident Vicky Harte won a seat on Louisa Town Council last year with concerns about flooding, inadequate infrastructure and uncontrolled development central issues in her campaign.
Eleven county offices are on the ballot this fall including the Louisa, Jackson and Cuckoo District Board of Supervisors and School Board seats and five constitutional offices: sheriff; commonwealth’s attorney; treasurer; commissioner of the revenue; and clerk of court. So far, only the Louisa supervisor’s race has more than one candidate. Candidates have until June 20 to file to run for local office.