A Captains Cove resident has announced his candidacy for the District 2 seat on the Accomack County Board of Supervisors.
Roger DeGeorges said that although he interested in government, he did not see himself as a politician but “as a retired businessman who, many years ago, fell in love with Accomack County and the Eastern Shore of Virginia” moved here from the Washington, D.C., area
In the decade he has owned a home in Captains Cove, he said he “has seen preferential treatment for developers and those who want to remake the county at the expense of its residents.”
While not opposed to development and change, DeGeorges said change must benefit the needs and desires of residents.
County regulations, policies, and services must apply consistently to all citizens, their homes, and their businesses, he said.
More resources should be directed toward strengthening schools, public safety, and infrastructure.
His goals, as a fiscal conservative, are to lower taxes, advocate for an equitable tax assessment structure, and “implement responsible spending of to encourage sensible growth without jeopardizing the way of life that makes the Eastern Shore so special.”
In a prepared statement, DeGeorges said he has “been told that he is un-electable in Accomack County because he is a ‘come-here,’ not a ‘been-here.’”
DeGeorges said he “is here now, as are many others who have made the Eastern Shore their home, all of whom have chosen to leave urban life for the peace of the Shore and have no desire to recreate that life here.”
DeGeorges said he comes from a family of long-time farmers and orchardists in Maryland. The youngest of four sons raised in Montgomery County, he earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing and business administration from Austin Peay University.
After working at Phillip Morris and as an independent seafood salesman in Oregon, he returned to the Washington, D.C., area and began a warehouse job for a family-owned rubber supply company.
He advanced to become a salesman, business partner, and expert in the design and sales of conveyor systems and supplies for road construction, mining, paper mills, and power plants.
He retired in 2018 after 40 years in the industry. His wife, Kathie, is a retired Catholic School librarian. They have two adult children: Trey is a West Point graduate now working in finance in the Atlanta area; and Madeleine is an energy development attorney in Washington, D.C.
If elected, DeGeorges vows that his approach as a member of the Accomack County Board of Supervisors will be in a way that he said sometimes attributed to Thomas Jefferson: The government closest to the people governs best.
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