Accomack County District 5 Supervisor Harrison Phillips III has announced his candidacy for re-election to the Accomack Board of Supervisors in the Nov. 7 election.
“Serving my friends and neighbors of District 5 over the past eight years has been a great honor, but there’s more to be done,” said Phillips.
Phillips called himself a big supporter of the Mary Nottingham Smith Cultural Enrichment Center.
“After seeing many former schools in our county having fallen into disrepair, it’s great to see the amazing work the Alumni Association has done with that building,” he said.
Previously, as a member of the Mary N. Smith project management team, and in his current roles as a supervisor and as chairman of the Accomack-Northampton Planning District Commission, Phillips has been working to help obtain funding to continue renovations and maintain the property.
Phillips said he has “has kept true to his campaign promise to fight against tax increases and to fight for the citizens.”
“I proposed the tax rate decrease we approved last year and will continue to do everything possible to keep our taxes low,” he said.
When Riverside Health Services announced it was closing Shore LifeCare in Parksley, Phillips said he and other supervisors were able to facilitate a sale to Saber Healthcare, which renovated the property at an estimated cost of $3 million.
“We saved over 100 jobs and kept a long-term care facility for our seniors here in Accomack,” he said.
Phillips said he believes public safety is the most important service that local government provides. He said he has worked to retain firemedics, who provide a critical service to our citizens, with salary increases and enhanced benefits. Over the last year he has also fought to offer tax relief to all active fire and rescue volunteers.
“We need to do everthing we can to incentivize these hardworking men and women, because without them the cost to the taxpayer would be outrageous,” he said.
Phillips is a third-generation businessman at Jaxon’s in Parksley. He recently was selected, along with his father and aunt, as small businesspersons of the year by the Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce for their years of service and dedication to the community.
Phillips, born and raised on the Eastern Shore, grew up in Parksley and now resides in Modest Town. He graduated from Arcadia High School in 2000 and holds a computer electronics degree from ECPI University in Virginia Beach.
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