Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
P. O. Box 3711
204 Broad Street
Martinsville, Virginia 24115
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Ken Boyd |
Friday, November 6, 2009
By AMANDA BUCK - Bulletin Staff Writer
Former Martinsville resident Ken Boyd, a businessman and member of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, returned to the city Thursday to announce that he is seeking the Republican nomination for the 5th District seat in Congress.
Boyd, 62, spoke outside the city municipal building on the first day of a three-day tour of the district. His goal, he said, is to meet voters and local officials, listen to their concerns and share his ideas about representing them.
Boyd said he is familiar with Southside, particularly Martinsville, not only because he used to live here, but because his wife, Brenda Brim Boyd, grew up in the area and has many relatives here.
“I think this is an important part of the district” because of the economic hardships that have hit the area, Boyd said. “I want to be close to what’s going on here.”
If he were elected, Boyd said he would work to bring jobs to Southside. The best way to do that, he said, is to reduce regulations and cut back on corporate and business taxes so small businesses may grow.
“The future will be based on building small businesses,” he said, adding that government should create a climate in which residents can “unleash the entrepreneurial spirit.”
Boyd said President Reagan proved that cutting taxes and growing the economy can bring in revenue.
Although he supports small businesses, Boyd said he also has experience attracting a large employer. A member of the Albemarle Board of Supervisors since 2004, he said he was instrumental in bringing a Defense Intelligence Agency office to Charlottesville that will employ more than 1,000 people.
When he lived in Martinsville in the 1970s, Boyd worked for the First National Bank of Martinsville and Henry County. He left in 1977 for another job in banking, an industry in which he worked until 1991.
Since then, Boyd has operated his own small business, Boyd Financial Services. He said his experience in the corporate world and in a small business have taught him how to cut a budget, a skill he thinks is “much in need” in Washington now.
As a member of the board of supervisors, Boyd said he worked to trim $20 million from a budget of more than $300 million.
“And we did that without raising taxes,” he said. “It’s cutting spending as opposed to increasing revenue.”
Boyd, who is described in his campaign literature as a “strong conservative,” said he is “180 degrees against” most of what the Democratic-controlled Congress and Obama administration are championing now, including health care reform legislation, the “cap and trade” climate change bill and the Employee Free Choice Act, also known as the card check bill.
According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, that legislation would allow a union to be certified at a business as soon as it gathered enough signed authorization cards, rather than through a federally supervised secret ballot election.
Boyd said he also has experience working as a member of a minority party because until Tuesday’s election, he was the only Republican on Albemarle’s board of supervisors. Although business on the board is not conducted by party, Boyd said he has honed “the ability to convince people that (he has) better ideas.”
Before serving on the board of supervisors, Boyd was a member of the Albemarle County School Board for four years.
Seven candidates are seeking the Republican nomination for the 5th District seat, now held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello, also of Albemarle County. Among them is state Sen. Robert Hurt of Chatham, whom Boyd said is the only other candidate with experience in elected office.
Boyd believes he is the best man for the job because he has shown, he said, that he can reach out to crossover voters and Democrats to win in an area that generally is considered a Democratic stronghold.
Perriello narrowly defeated Republican incumbent Virgil Goode Jr. in last year’s congressional race. Boyd said his conservative values and experience in business as well as in life make him more qualified than the 35-year-old congressman.
That includes practical things such as raising a family — Boyd and his wife have four children and two grandchildren — paying tuition and making mortgage payments, he said.
Boyd said he believes Tuesday’s statewide election, in which Republicans claimed resounding victories for Virginia’s three highest offices, showed that Virginians want more conservative leadership. He believes that trend still will hold true next year, particularly “if Congress and the administration continue on the path they seem to be on” moving toward what he considers “socialist government.”
Boyd said he plans to visit the area often as he travels the district, which he noted is larger than the state of New Jersey.
“The whole district is important,” he said, “not just Albemarle County.” |
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