Gloucester County Board of Supervisors’ candidates Nick Bonniville (R, at-large), Kevin Smith (I, at-large) and Dr. Joseph “Joe” Leming (R, Petsworth) and School Board candidates Fred Brewer (at-large), Nicole McPherson (at-large) and Anita Parker (Petsworth) attended the Piankatank League Community’s candidate forum last Thursday to address community members and answer questions.

Brewer served three terms on the Hampton City School Board from 2000-2012 and had a career in retail management. He is serving on the Gloucester school board on an interim appointment. He is the grandfather of two students enrolled in Gloucester County Public Schools.

Brewer said a school board member’s most important roles include the hiring and evaluation of the superintendent of schools; reviewing, revising and adopting policies; and approving a budget that reflects the division’s priorities, while being good stewards of the taxpayers’ money.

Though there are many unknowns facing the future of public education, such as the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Brewer said, if elected, he will always make decisions based on the students and will try to answer the question, “how is this good for students,” honestly when casting his vote as a school board member.

Brewer said he thinks GCPS does many things well, including school safety and workforce development, but would like to improve and enhance these efforts if he is elected.

McPherson, a Gloucester native, works in the claims department for Progressive, an insurance company. “In short, I try to solve problems and I’m usually pretty successful,” she said about her career.

She has two children enrolled at GCPS and has been involved in many youth programs at her church. McPherson is part of the Page Middle School PTA and the Parent Safety Committee with the school division. She is a proponent of programs that support the academic success of students and said that this success is achieved by parents, teachers and students working together. She is also an advocate for athletics and arts in the schools.

“I think they bring so much enrichment to our students,” she said.

McPherson said she would like to support students in any path they choose for their future as a school board member. “That’s not always going to mean a four-year degree,” she said, citing the need for more career and technical programs at Gloucester High School. “My goal is to represent our entire community,” said McPherson.

Parker is currently serving on the school board on an interim appointment for the Petsworth District seat. She has lived in Gloucester for nearly 40 years and all three of her sons attended GCPS. She served on the school board from 2006 to 2021 and has been back on the board since last October.

“I have very much enjoyed my service,” she said.

In her next term, Parker said she is looking forward to expanding more CTE opportunities for students at GHS so they do not have to look beyond Gloucester to achieve their goals. “Think of the time we could save for our students,” she said.

In addition, Parker said she is proud of the strides that GCPS has made in both school safety and academic achievement. “These are improvements we’re seeing in our schools every year.”

Parker has served with the GCPS Educational Foundation for many years to help provide mini-grants for teachers and fund the annual Teacher of the Year reception.

Board of Supervisors

Leming is the Medical Director for Courthouse Family Medicine and has been a Petsworth resident for nearly two decades. He has previously been an emergency medical technician and volunteer firefighter. Before moving to Gloucester, Leming served two terms on the Prince George County Board of Supervisors and was chair of the board from 2005-2007.

Leming said he is also for bringing more workforce development programs to Gloucester. “All of the people doing these trades are vanishing from the area,” said Leming. “I don’t like bussing our kids over the bridge.”

If elected, Leming said his focus will be on public safety, job development and helping to create a more diverse housing stock with various price points.

As for public utilities, Leming does not think Petsworth residents should be required to fund public water and sewer infrastructure costs since these residents have their own systems in place.

Leming said that the board should continue to support Bay Aging, the Gloucester Mathews Care Clinic and the Gloucester-Mathews Humane Society.

Bonniville, a lifelong Gloucester resident, comes from a working watermen family. He is a member of the Gloucester Volunteer Fire and Rescue Squad and a former member of Abingdon Volunteer Fire and Rescue. In his professional life, he has worked as a medic/firefighter and instructor with the City of Hampton.

If elected, Bonniville said that his focus will be on workforce development, public utilities and being fiscally responsible. “It’s time to really dig down deep and see where our taxes are going,” he said.

He is also concerned about the state of the county’s infrastructure. “We’ve got to stop the ‘kicking the can down the street’ mentality.”

Another key issue for Bonniville is affordable housing. “Affordable housing in our area is atrocious,” he said. “Life is only getting more expensive.”

Bonniville said that economic development in the county is a must. “There has to be economic development, but it has to be right for Gloucester,” he said.

He is also a proponent for public safety and the building of the new GVFRS Station 1.

Smith, who is the current chair of the board of supervisors, said he is a big supporter of fully funding GVFRS and AVFR and has supported constructing the new GVFRS Station 1 on Main Street. He is also a big supporter of GCPS and is currently the in-school suspension (ISS) coordinator at GHS.

“We want to hire the best and the brightest,” he said about teaching staff.

Smith said he wants to bring more CTE class options to Gloucester and is supposed to leave on a trip today to check out more offerings at another school division to see how these classes could fit into the CTE offerings at GHS.

In addition to the school district’s teaching staff, Smith said all county employees should receive fair pay.

“I strongly support adequate compensation for all county staff,” he said.

If re-elected, Smith said he will focus on preserving the rural character of Gloucester and continue to serve the people. A preacher, Smith is pursuing his doctorate.