As I have met with many community members in the last few months to share why I’m running for the James City County Board of Supervisors Stonehouse seat, I am often asked: what exactly does the Board of Supervisors do in JCC?

The board is directly responsible for the quality of our lives in this county. The BOS funds our schools, police, firefighters and EMS, parks and recreation, libraries and the county government charged with executing polices and strategic plans designed to ensure the high quality of life we have come to expect in JCC. The board weighs in on local roads, residential and commercial developments. They oversee economic development and social services. There really is no facet of the community the BOS does not impact and that is what produces the amenities we expect and what others move here for. This is what has inspired me to run for the Stonehouse seat on the BOS. Issues currently impacting the upper county profoundly are growth and infrastructure. Upper county has just added a fourth trailer to Stonehouse Elementary School and it is in desperate need of a sixth firehouse. Response times for fire and rescue are outside of expected standards currently. This means upper county residents are paying more for their homeowner’s insurance than those in the rest of the county. There are approximately 2,700 approved new homes to be built in the Stonehouse District in the next few years with another large proposed community behind Hickory Neck Episcopal Church in the works.

I am the former chair of the Williamsburg-James City County School Board, elected twice, and I have lived in Williamsburg over 30 years. I am passionate about all of JCC but I am moved to serve on the JCC BOS to preserve the small-town feel of JCC’s only remaining rural area. I want to see the sixth firehouse built in upper county to improve response times and protect our families. I am a passionate K-12 advocate and I want to ensure that WJCC schools have the requisite resources to provide a world-class education. And I believe that solar energy is the wave of the future for JCC. It is clean, quiet and ensures that rural land owners who no longer want to farm their land traditionally, can still earn income while retaining their land for future generations. I will work hard for JCC when elected. For more information about me and to help me get elected, go to www.ownbyforsupervisor.com.

Lisa Ownby lives in Toano and is running for the James City County Board of Supervisors Stonehouse seat.