Windsor Town Council candidate Q&A: Marlin W. Sharp

Name: Marlin W. Sharp

Age: 68

Family: Wife – Ruth; married 43+ years; 3 grown children, 7 grandchildren

Education: B.S. in Bible; Masters in Applied Ministry

Career: 24+ years in pastoral ministry; now working as Field Director for STAND Foundation Inc.

1.) Why do you want to be reelected as a member of the Windsor Town Council?

I like to be involved in what is happening in the community in which I live. Hopefully, I have something positive to contribute.

2.) What would you list as your primary qualifications for being a council member?

• I am a tax-paying resident of Windsor.
• I care about the people and culture of Windsor.
• I want to see Windsor prosper.

3.) What do you think are the town of Windsor’s greatest strengths?

• The people who live here.
• The small-town feel.
• The way that the people here interact with each other.

4.) What do you think are the greatest challenges facing the town of Windsor?

• We have just won a battle with the county to keep warehouses from being built in our neighbors’ backyards.
• Traffic.
• We need to attract businesses that benefit the people who live here.

5.) If reelected as a councilman, what will be your leading priorities for your next term?

• I want to work with the county to help to ensure measured growth.
• I want to see more small locally owned businesses.
• I want to encourage affordable housing.

6.) The town’s real property tax rate remained unchanged at 10 cents per $100 of assessed value from 2005-21. It went up to 14 cents in 2022, down to 13 cents in 2023 and now stands at 15 cents in 2024. What do you think is the best pathway forward with regard to this rate across the next four years, and why?

We need to come up with other sources of funding other than property taxes. I want to work with town staff to avert any more tax increases.

7.) The Tidewater Logistics Center that had been proposed for placement just outside the town stoked discussion on preferred visions for economic development in Windsor. How would you like to see the town’s economy develop across the next four years?

We don’t want Windsor to become Suffolk. We want measured, well-thought-out growth. We also don’t want projects like the TLC forced on us by the county.

I would like to see locally owned businesses along Windsor Boulevard.

I would like to enter into discussion about the possibility of annexing some land for business development, e.g., a business park.

I would like to see professional offices, e.g., medical and/or legal, etc.

People live here and move here for peace and quiet and the rural feel. We want to know our neighbors and to not be afraid to walk the streets. We can grow without losing the culture that makes Windsor the wonderful place to live that it is.

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