To the Editor:

I have known Billy K. Barlow and his family for more years than I care to count. He grew up on a farm right here in Isle of Wight and that’s important to those of us who still depend on farming. It’s a rare treat for us to have a legislator who understands rural concerns. How many of our public officials have any kind of background in farming?

Barlow also practices law in our community. When he graduated from Virginia Tech and University of Virginia Law School he could have gone a lot of places, but he came back home to work and start a family. He goes up to Richmond to serve in state government, but is as grounded in this area as any person could be. Whether it’s an Eagle Scout ceremony or an event for our local Chamber of Commerce, you’ll see him there and have a chance to talk to him. You can’t say that about many elected officials.

The other thing I like about Barlow is that he listens. He is careful and thinks things through rather than getting distracted by whatever the news of the day is. We need leaders who have a sense of where they’re from and where our community needs to go. What we don’t need is to send to Richmond someone like Supervisor Stan Clark. Clark is a Portsmouth trial lawyer whose actions on our Board of Supervisors have caused so many of us to be upset with him.

We need to send to Richmond someone we can be proud of, and that person is Billy K. Barlow.

Doris Crocker

Windsor