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Sullenberger seeks fifth term on Highland board of supervisors
BY ANNE ADAMS • STAFF WRITER
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MONTEREY - Robin Sullenberger has spent the last seven years at a job centered on regional economic development in 14 counties and cities in the Shenandoah Valley area, but his love for Highland County has kept him seeking reelection to its board of supervisors, where he has served for nearly 16 years.
This year, he hopes to be elected to his fifth term. "I think it's important to have people in positions of public authority who are knowledgeable, experienced, well-connected, and that is especially true for a small rural county like Highland that has a number of challenges it faces," he said. "From a personal perspective, I just have a great love for Highland County and want to do my part to assure it remains the wonderful place it's always been."
Sullenberger believes he is still a strong candidate for the board. "I can assure (voters) objectivity related to any issue, and that I make my decisions based on analysis and facts, not on personalities. I think I represent the county especially well to the outside world. I recognize that the face of Highland County is changing, and that we must determine ways to merge varying, competing interests and stabilize the economy of the county for the long term," he said.
The county faces "challenges to agriculture, new people, difficulty in having strong economic, job opportunities for the folks who live here - I probably would have said the same things (as in past years) except the competing interests are coming from every angle, (and people are) much more vocal and outspoken about their views than they ever have been before. That's complicated in Highland County by the fact that everyone makes everything so personal," he said. "So you have to be good at balancing and promoting compromise and working toward the best interests of everyone and often making very, very difficult decisions that have an effect that some people are not going to like."
Sullenberger characterizes his leadership style as "calm, rational, articulate and willing to compromise.
"The only thing that potentially is always an issue for me (as a conflict of interest) is my job responsibilities, but in fact, the likelihood is stronger that something of benefit to Highland County could pose a conflict," he added. Sullenberger's wife serves as a board appointee to the Highland County Recreation Commission, but he says that rarely affects his actions as a supervisor. "We're in a small area where … there are overlapping influences in practically every aspect of life in Highland County," he said. "You simply have to be able to differentiate between people and issues and I think I bring an extraordinary ability to do that to the table."
Occasionally, he says, he can be "a little too conciliatory" on certain issues. "I tend to look at the personal circumstances of people in Highland County in many cases, and have let that influence decisions because I know there are certain elements of the county that have some very distinct challenges.
"It's much more important for me to feel that people respect me than that people like me," he added. "To some people that would seem a bit crass, harsh … in a decision-making process, it is of paramount importance that you let your principles and strength of character come through as opposed to letting personal prejudices or feelings influence decisions.
"I do tend to remain a little isolated and somewhat of a loner, so some people interpret that as I'm being aloof ... So I know there are people who think I'm arrogant and if anything, it's more insecurity than arrogance."
Sullenberger said he and incumbents Lee Blagg and Jerry Sullenberger have forged a working relationship in spite of a challenging term over the last nearly four years. "It's hard to describe how the three of us are, because we certainly are three very different personalities," he said. "We have been able to make decisions that sometimes we didn't all agree on and yet remain professional and remain friends outside of the decisionmaking environment.
"I certainly will be happy to serve with the same two people again," he said. But Sullenberger recognizes Rexrode and Blagg are nearly always likely to agree on any decision, and when he disagrees with them, he's outvoted. It concerns him, and he says it's "uncomfortable," but, "I think that I'm a strong enough person, and I believe in the democratic form of government strong enough, to serve effectively with any other board members. And nothing could have been more telling about that than the wind thing when I knew damn well, as time went on, that if I took the stand that I took, what I had to do after I took that stand."
In one of the most controversial board decisions this term, Sullenberger voted against issuing a conditional use permit to Highland New Wind Development for its proposed wind energy utility. Following that vote, he said he had to then stand with his board on the decision. "Based on the way the process works," he said, "(I had to) support what the county had to do after that, including the lawsuits and the various things that went along with that. So I made my stand but then I made peace with the situation and supported the county position."
Growing Highland's economy
Sullenberger has been a longtime proponent of diversity when it comes to bringing business and jobs to Highland. "I think the county has got to recognize our strengths and our deficiencies in order to move the economy forward …. We often hear we need more jobs and we need more opportunities for our young people. That is certainly the truth," he said. "However, there are many, many facets to that. I do believe we need to create an environment that will nourish growth of businesses from within the community, and that means a certain strength of community in regards to a comprehensive program that includes excellent education, technical capabilities, recreation, strong health care, certain amenities, additional amenities we currently don't have.
"I studied the communities that have thrived and grown. Rural communities all have the same challenges. They all are unable to provide the various incentives and things that businesses want in the region. But the rural communities that thrive have a very strong sense of community and a very well-defined overall program of who they are and what they're trying to promote. We do seem to have different factions with varying views about that in Highland at the moment and I think that certainly needs to be addressed and worked on," he said.
"It's all about compromise and coming to a common understanding of what your value system is and what things are important - where you can make your way into the niche markets and various things that are happening today. There are certainly opportunities in today's business world with technology-based businesses that can operate from anywhere and that is something that we have the basic infrastructure in place to expand upon. We have people here now who are savvy enough to know what we need to do," he said.
"The biggest challenge having businesses come here, recruiting them to come here, is that we show no labor base whatsoever," he added. "All the analysis now for new business is done via the Internet, and we are eliminated automatically from any search for a business location because before we ever knew we were being looked at, we had no statistics to show that we have a labor force."
By contrast, he said, part of the reason Harrisonburg and Rockingham are thriving now is because their job force and statistics related to the area are easily accessible to companies seeking locations. While some would not want that kind of exposure and influx of people, Sullenberger said, Highland has "natural barriers and other things that will prevent a lot of that from ever happening - out of control growth issues. We have our own set of assets here that help us to assure that we're not going to face those kinds of challenges, at least to the level that most jurisdictions do," he said. "Nevertheless, we've got to figure out ways to take advantage of the fact that so many in today's world, specifically the ones who are technology savvy, can live anywhere and would dearly love to live in an area like this and work from here, remotely, or produce from here in various forms of business.
"There are certain types of people who covet Highland County as it is, and would come here anyway. The people who would make decisions about moving to a rural area in their younger years with families have a totally different set of values, and that has to include the opportunity to make a living, and to have benefits, and have a thriving community that they can feel comfortable with … We have several of those components that are naturally in place; some of them we have got to add."
Community pool "The swimming pool has taken on a life of its own and it shouldn't be doing that," Sullenberger said. "It's a program, not a swimming pool. We need a recreation program that is comprehensive in nature. The swimming pool is part of that to build on and that's not just for youth, that's for everybody in the community including the elderly. Any number of things can be positive about that. We have tried really hard to make sure that no county money has been associated with this at all, but you know at some point in time, the county has got to make some investment in where it's going in the future.
"It's a natural phenomenon in rural areas to be skeptical of anything the government is doing and also of change … change in general scares people."
Wind energy
"I think we have to assume at this point in time that we are very likely to see wind turbines in Highland County," Sullenberger said, "and that our mission at this point, based on the likelihood of State Corporation Commission approval and settlement of pending lawsuits, which I personally think will both occur, the mission at this point is to make sure this project is the best possible project that it can be, that it adheres to all the standards that we expect and that we continue to live our lives and move forward.
"That makes no assessment of any additional possibilities for wind," he added. "One of the things that has never been fully is explained is that with the exception of the current project, there is no easy way to do a project anywhere else in Highland County. You can, yes, from West Virginia, but even that's an astronomical topographical challenge. It's an issue we have to continue to grapple with and remain on top of and come to some form of agreement as to what our long-term position is."
Though Highland's planning commission has recommended a five-year hold on any further commercial wind utilities, Sullenberger says he doesn't think that's legal to do. "To place a moratorium … you can't just stop the process. What you can do is put up a significant number of obstacles, barriers or guidelines that you know are going to perhaps change the parameters of this," he said. "I'm always willing to look at any proposals. What I would say is, the bigger issue with wind is not going to be where it comes from in the comprehensive plan but, having just served on this statewide committee (on wind energy), the wind issue is part of a big picture renewable resources, an overall program that the state is now getting actively involved in. And the federal government is going to get more involved in, probably to the tune of more federal regulations in the near future, and it's going to change the parameters for everyone. We (Highland) are a natural target because we have better resources throughout this whole Appalachian region than anyone else on the East Coast. So our objective should be to put reasonable guidelines in place that will protect our localities but also recognize the fact that it's inevitable that we're going to be a part of this process.
"I certainly have no desire whatsoever to see extensive wind farms in Highland County throughout the county, and would do whatever is necessary to prevent that. But I don't think that's technically or topographically feasible," he said.
Since his no vote on Highland New Wind Development's proposal here for Virginia's first wind facility, Sullenberger said many of his previous concerns and questions about the project have been addressed. Were the company required to come back before supervisors with another permit request, Sullenberger isn't sure he would vote no again. "I would, in all likelihood, be less adamant about my position, my opposition. Every project is a new project and has to be thoroughly reviewed. I can't honestly say to you that I would vote one way or the other if the project were to start anew. I can tell you that some of my questions have been answered satisfactorily and I would therefore not be, probably, as adamant in my position as I was the first time. That doesn't mean that I would vote in favor. I do think we would some how have to come to terms with the land use implications and public opinion, neither of which I think were ever thoroughly identified," he said.
State legislation passed last year enables Highland to potentially collect upwards of $200,000 a year in taxes from HNWD's project, a figure Sullenberger says is "reasonable," but "I don't think I would say it's adequate, because I don't know how you put a value on what is adequate in terms of what the good versus bad implications are."
Farming in Highland
"Agriculture is certainly an integral part of my family life," Sullenberger said. "It is a constant challenge because the revenues in agriculture are not keeping up with the overhead. Agriculture is becoming more of a business management process than what we used to recognize as pure agriculture. And I'm not sure that some people deal with it in that fashion.
"The tried and traditional ways of doing agriculture just don't work. There's room for niche type agriculture ventures, but that only goes to a certain level and then that market becomes saturated. We need to find better ways to have cooperative ventures. I think it's worth pursuing the idea of a slaughterhouse in the region," he said. Farmers may find it easier to get out of the business now that rural property values have risen, he said, "unless they consider agriculture such an integral part of their life that they can't give it up. It's much easier to just say, 'This is my nest egg, my money in the bank, my 401K. Why fight it? I could live a much more comfortable life with what I make selling the farm than I could fighting the elements.' But I see some encouraging signs, particularly in the Mennonite community. They certainly have a comprehensive, wellorganized view of agriculture, and they seem to make a strong go of it. I think it's a model that does work.
"I think the folks who become more organized, more market-driven, and manage the farm like a business will continue to prosper. For others, it's going to be a continuous struggle," he said.
Open dialogue
The current board has been often criticized for not sharing open discussions publicly on issues. "I think we are increasingly, in today's litigation driven society, challenged by what is legitimate in terms of confidential information and what must be divulged to the public. We (supervisors) have so many sessions that the conversations in the sessions are about things so benign it doesn't seem necessary to do them under that kind of umbrella. But that's the way things are done in today's world.
"It would be so much easier if we could feel totally comfortable talking about every issue as openly as we could possibly do it … public figures tend to be very skeptical of saying some of the things they would normally say in public ... Some people would say I probably talk more than I should, and one of the things I learned long ago working in public relations is that the more information you give people, the less likely they are to be in an adversarial role with you even if they don't agree with you," he said.
About the candidate Robin Sullenberger, 58 CEO, Shenandoah Valley Partnership, a regional economic development organization based in Harrisonburg Lives in Mill Gap with wife, Sherry, where they operate a farm; the couple has two children, a son who graduated last year from the University of Virginia, and a daughter who is a senior at Highland High School Member, Monterey Lions Club, Virginia Workforce Council, Workforce Investment Board, Shenandoah Technology Council, and various board positions
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