The Shadow
Dear Editor,
The Letter to the Editor from Betty Johnson on Thursday, April 23, brings up some questions.
1.) If the driving reason for replacing Darlene Burcham as town manager is that “her salary is too high,” is hiring a new manager at a “savings” of about $4,000 truly worth it? What is the long-term return on that salary?
You hire a new manager with less knowledge and experience, who doesn’t know Clifton Forge, and much valuable time will be spent getting up to speed. Making relevant contacts and knowledge of fundraising and available grants for towns in our situation takes years to acquire. Darlene is worth every penny of her salary and more, for the $11 million in grants she brought to the town in 10 years.
2.) According to the town of Clifton Forge, Darlene’s position (and that of several others at town hall) is paid from water/sewer funds commensurate with the amount of time they spend dealing with water/sewer issues. These have been time-intensive matters, and water/sewer rates did not increase because of her salary.
I would like to hear from town council how they plan to pay the new manager’s salary. Where will the funding come from to equal the salary they’re offering? And while we’re on the subject of plans, what is council’s plan for Clifton Forge after Coronavirus?
I think Darlene’s salary is a side issue (red herring). I think the “new direction” wanted by Ms. Johnson and the townspeople who voted in the “new council” members is in the rear view mirror. When mentioning “new businesses with good jobs,” is she talking about another WestRock or better yet, something that will take us back to the glory days of the railroad?
Since Clifton Forge is part of the Alleghany Highlands, working together with Alleghany County, Covington, the chamber of commerce, economic development agencies, and other local and regional authorities is of utmost importance.
If you want to go in the direction of attracting new industry, Darlene (working hand-in-hand with the above organizations), has been very industrious. In multiple efforts to bring companies to the area, there have been some successes, but on a smaller scale.
According to the Alleghany Highlands Economic Development Corporation, there have been several attempts to market industrial sites and properties in our area: Innovation Park; Cliftongate Commerce Centers 1 & 2; Regional Commerce Center; the Low Moor Mines; Clifton Forge Business Park (EZ-Pass) where a much-needed access road was recently completed; the Clifton Forge Railyard, where the Houff Corp. constructed their transloading warehouse (salt storage).
New companies, such as Balchem and Schaefer Rolls have come, and even newer technologies, such as drones, have been recruited through the Alleghany Highlands Drone Zone initiative.
However, going in this direction has not yet landed the “big fish,” the company with hundreds of jobs that will solve all our problems. Could this be because we’re lacking the infrastructure, land and utilities needed to support a new large employer?
Why not try looking in a different direction? Darlene (and her local and regional contacts) saw that Clifton Forge was attracting more people into the area. They fell in love with the town, its people and its beauty; tourists spent money at local businesses while they were here, and some of them moved here with ideas for improvement.
In recent years, while some of the older businesses of Clifton Forge continue to thrive, a variety of new businesses and activities have attracted both tourists and new residents to our area: restaurants, shops, renovated parks, B&B’s, outdoor venues, annual festivals, trailways, Historic Masonic Theatre and Amphitheatre, Clifton Forge School of the Arts, C&O Heritage, markets, etc.
These establishments and events have been supported by existing organizations such as Main Street, and by volunteers who have helped to keep the town alive. Darlene Burcham was instrumental in nurturing and finding financial support for many of these enterprises.
Clifton Forge saw that other rural towns in our situation all over Virginia and the country were looking at tourism, the third largest industry in the USA. It is not the instant money-maker/job-bringer that a large factory or Amazon warehouse would be, but let’s be realistic. We can use tourism income and attractions to build our population and tax base, while continuing to try to attract larger employers.
Many small towns flourish with small locally-run businesses. [From the Clifton Forge: Just the Facts Facebook page: “Excluding real estate and personal property taxes, businesses paid $646,266 annually in taxes.”]
Yes, it’s a slow process, but you may have noticed a trend: that some large companies have employees who are attracted to scenic outdoors areas (“Clifton Forge: Top Adventure Town”) with a thriving arts culture like ours. Living in such places is considered a “benefit.”
We also have a community college that’s primed to train local people along with others in the new technologies that businesses are looking for.
We have had good progress in this direction, but many of the advances that have been made in the last 10 years or so will have to be painstakingly rebuilt. We haven’t solved all our problems, but we have momentum. Do we really want to start from scratch, as opposed to picking up where we left off?
One more year of experienced leadership to get us through an unprecedented crisis is not too much to ask — and Darlene Burcham is worth it.
Sincerely yours,
Carol Almarez
Clifton Street, Clifton Forge
