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Seeking reelection to a second term as the Buffalo District member of the Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors, Leslie Ayers said she has been “an active community member for the last 40 years and want to see our community thrive.”
Making good decisions, she said, “is about listening and turning the problem over and taking the time to see the problem from all sides and perspectives. It is about developing good working relationships with my fellow board members and government representatives in other localities.”
Achieving dependable internet service throughout the county is a top priority for her. “So many of our constituents have poor or no internet service,” she said. “While we have been able to improve service to many, there are still many areas that are not served. We have made this a priority. The county will participate in at least five grant opportunities this year alone.”
She said she is supportive of emergency services “so they have the resources necessary to give our citizens the consistent, effective and rapid response they rely on.” She vows to strive for “affordable housing and child care so that families can live and raise a family here.”
Capital projects that are being pursued by the supervisors, she said, include renovations to schools, a new Department of Social Services facility, renovations to the jail, which is having much overcrowding, and investing in significant improvements to the Maury River Service Authority facilities. Protecting the county’s water supply, she said, “is critically important and requires collaboration from all. Clean water is a fundamental right and responsibility of our federal, state and local governments.”
She said the county has done a good job of managing its finances during her tenure on the board. “In the face of rising costs, especially in wages and health care, the county was able to balance the budget without raising property taxes. Our continued sound fiscal policies have put us in even better position than we were four years ago with a healthy reserve that benefits the county in several ways.” She noted that the county was able to equalize the tax rate following reassessments by dropping it from 74 to 61 cents per $100 assessed value.
She points to the creation of the office of economic development as playing a critical role in an uptick of new businesses and expansion of existing ones. “These businesses are revenue generators which are critically important to reduce the local tax burden on our citizens. Additionally, and as important, they are providing job opportunities for our citizens, which is a revenue multiplier in itself.”
Ayers and her husband, John Gunner, spearheaded the development of the Rockbridge Aquatics Center (the “bubble” pool), where she is the aquatics director, and started Friends of Rockbridge Swimming, a nonprofit organization that raises funds for the pool. The couple brought up two children, Grayson and Claire, on their family farm, where they raise sheep and livestock guardian dogs. She is a former middle school science teacher and coached high school swimming for 20 years.
