Supervisors' chairman says Stafford County, already receiving accolades as one of the best places to live, is going to become even better.

By JODI BIZAR

Date published: 8/2/2005

Stafford County is one of the best places to live, says Gary Pash, Board of Supervisors chairman. And just watch, he says, it's going to get better.

Pash says the county's quality of life, from recreational facilities to education, safety and transportation, will improve in the foreseeable future.

Pash made these predictions during a recent interview with The Free Lance-Star. Here are some excerpts.

Q How do you like your job?

A I like it. It's challenging. There's a lot of interaction with the community, and I like to see we're achieving our goals and shaping things up for the future. I like trying to find the common ground in our disagreements to reach an achievable solution.

Q Are there any cons?

A It's difficult sometimes because you can't always give people what they want. Abraham Lincoln said it best: "You can't please all the people all the time."

Q Do you get paid, and how much?

A We get paid, but it's not very much. I think it's about $20,000. We joke that it's about 50 cents an hour. It's not very much because you put in a lot of effort. Generally, you end up working 20 to 40 hours a week, more when you first get elected or are chairman.

The good thing is we have good quality people to work with on the county staff. We also have a good diversity of opinion, experiences and skills on the Board of Supervisors. We each bring a fresh perspective to the issues and no one is shy about expressing their opinions.

If the board was strictly volunteer, it might be tough to get such good people to serve because very few of us can be classified as rich, and we all have family commitments.

Q Where do you see the county in the near future?

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Date published: 8/2/2005