Who decides things

Board of Supervisors (seven districts)

How this board behaves. Several of the year's biggest calls passed on split votes with little or no public debate. Jeremy Ward, a lifelong resident and 20-year schools employee, was hired as economic development director at $96,000 a year by a 5-1 vote after a closed session, with no public discussion beforehand[4]. The law-school bailout was approved, rescinded, rerouted through the Town of Grundy's IDA, and amended again within about a month, with officials offering few public explanations[5]. One conflict-of-interest question worth knowing: Supervisor Jeff Cooper also works as a production manager for Diversified Energy, the company behind the Twin Valley energy proposal, and has spoken publicly about the project[6].

State and federal representation

Delegate Will Morefield (R) holds House of Delegates District 43[7], and Senator Todd Pillion (R) holds Senate District 6[8]. In Congress, the county sits in the 9th District, held for 16 years by Rep. Morgan Griffith (R)[9]. U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D) is up for re-election Tuesday.