Editorial: New Kent’s growth is the blueprint for Charles City County

Last week, AutoZone’s Distribution Center broke ground in New Kent County, opening the possibility of 352 new jobs. Along with Quinton Elementary School’s scheduled opening, the county’s leaders have listened to the people and continues to flourish. They continue to make a statement on what it means to be responsible from the fiscal standpoint, as well as flat out getting things done.

New Kent is the blueprint for Charles City to flourish in the next 10 to 15 years. I see changes starting to happen in Charles City, and while they are not making a bunch of noise, I see the impacts of New Kent’s growth effecting their neighbor to the south.

For Charles City, the biggest thing is to start with better jobs to attract people to the county. Charles City’s main highway is Route 5. While it’s not the interstate, it is well traveled. People often talk about preserving history, but I could care less about historical plantations. The statues in Richmond did not bother me. Those statues represented a short feeling of hope that things would change for the better in some people’s thought process.

Charles City County has to think about the possibilities if they no longer had the plantations. I have never been to one and I hope I never have to. That land could be used for so much more, but again this is all fantasy as we know this will never happen. The difference between the statues and the land is that the statues focused on short term beliefs. When you can have land that can uplift and bring results, that is when something can be a real benefit for generations to come and break the curse of old evils.

The future is bright for both counties. We have to make sure we are electing officials based on results and not the emotions of people we may like personally. My advice is for everyone to vote the way you want your future to look.

I love what I am seeing. Let’s continue this momentum. Remove politics from the equation. I hope to see people continue to come first, because any other way is unacceptable.