{"id":94266,"date":"2020-02-20T20:24:20","date_gmt":"2020-02-21T01:24:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/?p=94266"},"modified":"2020-02-20T20:24:28","modified_gmt":"2020-02-21T01:24:28","slug":"fred-shanks-letter-to-the-citizens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2020\/02\/20\/fred-shanks-letter-to-the-citizens\/","title":{"rendered":"Fred Shanks’ Letter To The Citizens"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Fred Shanks submitted both a media release and a letter to the citizens, and I published the wrong one. I’m not going to delete an existing article, so I’m publishing his letter now to be fair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

City Council Statement from Councilman Fred O. Shanks, III: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Thursday, February 13, I filed the required paperwork to run for re-election to a seat on Danville City Council. I ask for your support and, on May 5th, your vote for Fred Shanks for Danville City Council <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am very proud of the business growth, job growth, and the overall progress made by our team over the past twelve years. Based on this success and the numerous efforts and opportunities not yet publicly announced or fully developed, I believe we have a very, very promising future. I hold a tremendous desire to be serving on City Council when these efforts and opportunities come to fruition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My burning desire to seek reelection is also deeply rooted to my desire to continue to serve on several very important and very active committees during what I believe will be an unprecedented (transformational) time. Mostly due to my experience gained from education and experience as a civil engineer, as a small business owner representing local small businesses for 33 years and my years of dedication and service to the City of Danville: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 12 years on the City Planning Commission, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 12 years on City Council, and appointed by Council to serve on; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 12 years on the Danville-Pittsylvania Regional Industrial Facility Authority (RIFA), <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 2 years on the newly created Staunton River Regional Industrial Facility Authority (SR-RIFA), <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 12 years on the Danville Metropolitan Planning Organization Policy Board (MPO), <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 4 years on the West Piedmont Planning District Commission (WPPDC), <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 and 11 years on the Danville Utility Commission (DUC.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Danville has nearly completed a successful transition from an agrarian\/tobacco and textile economy to a diverse economy consisting of automotive, manufacturing, precision tooling and manufacturing, food processing, educational, research, commercial, retail, and medical economy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to the new and existing businesses throughout the City, the River District and Tourist District renaissance, the local work ethic of those local citizens willing to work, the work force development programs in place, and the not-yet publicly announced or fully developed businesses and industries, we are poised to propel our city successfully into the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the next few years, we will need to maintain the momentum rolling for those successes listed and strongly anticipated above. Additionally, I feel the areas of increased concentration should include additional and fiscally responsible attention to public education (assets, personnel and funding,) continued concentration on public safety, development and marketing of the Schoolfield site, and close attention to oversight of public utilities, especially power purchase agreements, system reliability, asset development and transmission\/congestion mitigation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tourism has been highly ignored and has tremendous potential. In addition to the walking and bike trails, there is the potential for a new, privately funded river front park with various water features, possibly a casino with related amenities, additional motels, additional music venues and much needed conference center. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have an unbelievable amount of musical talent in our region and have gone too long without proper music venues to support and feed this local talent, as well as regional and national acts. In recent years a couple of venues have come onto the Danville music scene and as a result of that, the tremendous local talent has been exposed, as well as the ability of these local musicians and music venues to feed the tourism industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Youth sports and recreation is another untapped resource for tourism that has remained untapped, despite neighboring localities\u2019 success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would like to summarize my experience and some of the work done by the committees on which I serve. After serving twelve years on the City Planning Commission, I was first elected by the citizens of Danville, to serve on City Council in 2008, and re-elected in 2012 and 2016. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2008, City Council appointed me to serve on the Danville-Pittsylvania Regional Industrial Facility Authority (RIFA), which is a joint authority that owns the Cyber Park, Cane Creek Industrial Park and the 3500 acre Southern Virginia Megapark at Berry Hill, all of which serve as catalysts for business growth and job creation in our region. I have now served twelve years on RIFA and in 2019 I was elected as Chairman of RIFA. This year I serve as the Vice Chair. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2008, I was appointed to serve on the Danville Metropolitan Planning Organization Board, which is made up of three members from the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors, two members from the Danville City Council, the Danville City Manager, representatives from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation. The Danville MPO develops plans and programs that are subject to approval by federal transportation agencies and Virginia Department of Highways in order for Federal and State aid to transportation funding to flow to our region. I have served on the MPO for twelve years, including as Chair and Vice-Chair of the MPO several times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2009, I was appointed to serve as the City Council representative to the Danville Utility Commission, which is an advisory board to the City Manager, and to the City Council, in establishing policies, power purchase agreements, asset development and management, rates, fees and charges of the various utilities serving Danville and the region. I have served on the Utility Commission for eleven years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2018 I was appointed to the newly formed Staunton River Regional Industrial Facility Authority (SR- RIFA) was created to serve the northern Pittsylvania County region, and includes appointed members from Pittsylvania County, Danville, and the Town of Hurt. The SR-RIFA is actively marketing a several hundred-acre industrial park near Hurt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In closing, I ask for your support and, and on May 5th <\/sup>for your vote for Fred Shanks for Danville City Council. <\/em><\/strong>I believe my education and my experience in civil engineering, small business ownership, years on City Council, the Planning Commission, RIFA, and the Utility Commission, in addition to my dedication to fiscal responsibility, make me uniquely qualified for a position on City Council. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love our community as is witnessed by my return to Danville a few years after college to live and raise a family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I strive to be a team player, never motivated for personal accolades and always recognizing City staff, department heads and other team players for their successes and accomplishments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sincerely, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fred O. Shanks, III <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorized by Friends for Fred Shanks, III\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n


<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n

Fred Shanks submitted both a media release and a letter to the citizens, and I published the wrong one. I’m not going to delete an existing article, so I’m publishing his letter now to be fair.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":94250,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politicscentral","odd"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/fredshanksofficial.jpg?fit=546%2C720&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pwqFk-owq","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":94248,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2020\/02\/15\/fred-shanks-announcement-for-danville-city-council\/","url_meta":{"origin":94266,"position":0},"title":"Fred Shanks’ Announcement for Danville City Council","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"February 15, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"SouthsideCentral is glad to publish all campaign announcements for the local elections. Fred Shanks is up next! Danville, VA. \u2014 February 14, 2020\u2014 Danville civil engineer and small business owner Fred O. Shanks, III announced he will be seeking a fourth term on Danville City Council.Shanks currently serves on Danville\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "NewsCentral"","block_context":{"text":"NewsCentral","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/newscentral\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/fredshanksofficial.jpg?fit=546%2C720&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/fredshanksofficial.jpg?fit=546%2C720&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/fredshanksofficial.jpg?fit=546%2C720&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17160,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2016\/02\/28\/fred-shanks-city-council-announcement\/","url_meta":{"origin":94266,"position":1},"title":"Fred Shanks’ City Council Announcement","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"February 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"On Friday, Fred Shanks announced that he will run for Danville City Council in the upcoming May elections. SouthsideCentral is glad to publish his campaign's statement unedited so that our readers can see it in its entirety. Again, this is from Fred Shanks. On Friday, February 26, I filed the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Danville"","block_context":{"text":"Danville","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/locations\/danville\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/8YHmDyz.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4064,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2009\/06\/03\/thumbs-up-to-fred-shanks\/","url_meta":{"origin":94266,"position":2},"title":"“Thumbs Up!” to Fred Shanks","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"June 3, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"It's refreshing to hear an elected official say what's really on his mind... Lots of people would never have read what Danville City Councilman Fred Shanks said on a Facebook group titled \"Turn Danville Around!\", but I was so impressed with it that I'm posting it here. Somebody named \"Jason\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "OpinionCentral"","block_context":{"text":"OpinionCentral","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/opinioncentral\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17352,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2016\/03\/15\/danville-city-council-live-31516\/","url_meta":{"origin":94266,"position":3},"title":"Danville City Council – LIVE! (3\/15\/16)","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"March 15, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"SouthsideCentral was LIVE! at Tuesday's Danville City Council meeting. The business session happened so fast that we never caught up, but we've edited this article into a complete recap of what happened. Enjoy! We're underway. Buddy Rawley leads the prayer (that touched on the presidential race) and the Pledge of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Danville"","block_context":{"text":"Danville","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/locations\/danville\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/1n0WEz3.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/1n0WEz3.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/1n0WEz3.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.imgur.com\/1n0WEz3.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8775,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2014\/06\/04\/bad-mayor\/","url_meta":{"origin":94266,"position":4},"title":"Bad Mayor!","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"June 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Bad Mayor! Go sit in the corner until you apologize and can play fair with the other council members. I've often poked fun at Danville Mayor Sherman Saunders for his snippiness at times during city council meetings. Now it's time to get serious after his antics last night. Last night,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "OpinionCentral"","block_context":{"text":"OpinionCentral","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/opinioncentral\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"sclogo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/sclogo.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":94407,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2020\/05\/28\/oddsmakers-a-very-special-edition-5-28-20\/","url_meta":{"origin":94266,"position":5},"title":"OddsMakers! (A Very Special Edition) – 5\/28\/20","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"May 28, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"An OddsMakers on one specific topic? With all four options that are the only possibilities that could happen? With content that will make some people uncomfortable and probably upset? What are the chances? 100%, baby. Let's play. Adam Tomer is going to resign from Danville City Council on July 1st.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "OddsMakers!"","block_context":{"text":"OddsMakers!","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/featurescentral\/oddsmakers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/oddsmakers200528v1.jpg?fit=900%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/oddsmakers200528v1.jpg?fit=900%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/oddsmakers200528v1.jpg?fit=900%2C600&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/oddsmakers200528v1.jpg?fit=900%2C600&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94266"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94267,"href":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94266\/revisions\/94267"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}