Nick Rerras In The News

Rerras, Lewis right men for the job
October 20, 2007 - Eastern Shore News

To the editor:

As the election on Nov. 6 draws near, we are inundated with radio, television, newspaper and mail ads. I have come to the conclusion that there is not much truth in most of the stuff we receive and anyone will tell us anything to get us to pull the lever for them. In essence, talk is cheap but performance provides the facts.

I look closely at the incumbents in any race because they have a track record. We know what they have accomplished. For the local elections, I generally don’t care what political affiliation the candidate is, because political affiliation has little or no effect on outcomes of anything in Northampton or Accomack counties.

For example, I am a supporter of Del. Lynwood Lewis, not because he is a Democrat but because he supports us here on the Shore. What I have seen is a man committed to the Shore, not the rest of the state – although he represents us well in those issues, too. I am also a supporter of Sen. Nick Rerras, not because he is a Republican but because he supports us on issues affecting the Shore.

As the project manager for the construction of the Northampton County Government Center, I called on Rerras several times to help us with state bureaucratic red tape that was going to cost the taxpayers of our county big money and create unnecessary delays in construction of our new buildings.

With his help those issues were resolved quickly, efficiently and to the benefit of all concerned. As the past chairman of the Northampton County School Board, we discovered that school-age child sexual predators were entering our state through a foster-care program and being enrolled in our school system without an obligation to inform our school of the person’s past.

In essence our children were being placed in danger through a crack in the laws. Both Lewis and Rerras leaped to our aid, wrote legislation and rode it through into law in record time. These are but two of many examples of how Rerras and Lewis have gained my confidence.

I question why a successful doctor would leave a practice to enter politics? In Dr. Ralph Northam’s case, the only thing I can figure out is that he is seeking revenge for his brother not being appointed as a judge by the Senate Judicial Committee, on which Rerras serves. This is not a good enough reason for me to vote for him.

Being a native of the Shore is important, but since Northam just closed on a million-dollar-plus home in Ocean View in Norfolk, his wife teaches in a Virginia Beach school and his practice is across the Bay, I question at just how attached he is to the Shore.

For the above reasons, on Election Day, I will proudly cast my ballot for Rerras and Lewis. I ask all my friends to please forget all the ugly politics and consider helping these two fine men to continue the great jobs they have done for the Shore.

Jim Chapman
Eastville