Our own Tommie Waters interviews incoming chair Karl Busch about the future of WCDC. Washington County residents can reach Karl at chair@washcovadems.org
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Tommie: “Tell us about your background; where are you from?”
Karl: “I’ve lived a lot of places, traveled a lot of places for work, where I lived more often rural than urban. I grew up in Southern Connecticut in a bedroom community to NYC; I’ve lived with my family in Salt Lake City, Chicago, Tulsa, OK, Simsbury, CT…but always out of downtown, I’m not a metro kind of guy. Most recently I lived on Oak Island in the coastal Carolinas for 18 years, where I was co-chair of the Capital Improvement Committee.”
Tommie: “And what brought you here?”
Karl: "You know, Lynn and I were tired of two seasons, we were tired of hurricanes, we were tired of tourists running you off the road riding your bike. Lynn had family [in the area] and I knew Damascus because I had hiked the [Appalachian] Trail years ago. In the end we moved here because - four seasons! Mountains!"
Tommie: (laughs) "And no hurricanes, hmm."
Karl: (sighs) “And no hurricanes."
Tommie: “You mentioned your work with Oak Island Capital Improvement Committee - why capital improvement?”
Karl: “There was a need, for one. And it played into my business and consulting background of leading small teams, being able to spreadsheet things…before we organized it, [Oak Island Capital improvements] were existing on the back of a napkin, basically. And it was, you know, significant projects - $50 million for a wastewater system, $7.5 million for a fire engine. So the idea that ‘I could help town government do a better job’ became very appealing.”
Tommie: “Ok so we understand a bit more about your background…Had you ever thought about running for office? What makes you suited for the Chair role?”
Karl: (laughs) “Never. I had never considered that the Chair was where I should be in Washington County, I just wanted to shine a light on what could be done and how we could do it better.”
Tommie: “Washington County is largely Republican. How do you see us promoting the Democrats?”
Karl:” Democrats and Republicans have both been the majority party [in Washington County] at one time or another...but neither can govern without input from the other. I grew up in a town with a three-party political system and by the time I was 16 I had been exposed to not one but two Independent party mayors. And you know..We were in the middle of busing, integration, all that stuff. And it all went pretty smoothly. People knew they had to be bipartisan to get elected and they knew they had to be bipartisan to get anything done. We need to find common ground, we need to find things we can get done that are good for Washington County, we need to find things that are of interest to our residents while staying true to our principles.”
Tommie: "That's what you hear so much - you need to find common ground, we need to find common ground. Sometimes there is no common ground."
Karl: (thoughtful pause) "Absolutely. Some of the more difficult topics are…actions at the national level that violate our basic beliefs and principles. But we have to be able to turn off [our upset at the national level] long enough to focus on the local environment. We have to figure out ways to stay true to our principles and find things that we can impact here...we have to find the things we can solve, and work at them together.”
Tommie: “So what do you think the Democrats need to do in Washington County in order to increase public support, public engagement with our party?”
Karl: “We have to be…focused on the local issues and concerns of Washington County residents. We have to become more visible in our knowledge and our understanding of Washington County issues. I had a chance to chat with Abigail Spanberger at the Bristol meet and greet a few weeks ago about solar farm zoning and I asked her opinion on [some aspects of the bill currently on the docket in Richmond] and her feedback was that we have to position around what is best for Washington County, county needs need to come first in this case.”
Tommie: “On that theme - what kinds of topics are you looking to hear from Washington County residents about?”
Karl: “Everything! Really, though - two things: what do they like about living in Washington County - what are the things they love, the things they want to protect. And…what do they not like? Where do they have concerns?”
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Karl Busch was nominated to fill the Chair position via Special Election after Susan Stancill’s resignation in November of 2024. Karl accepted the nomination, was elected and will serve a one-year term until the end of 2025.
Karl is originally from Norwalk, CT. His interest in politics was sparked by his mother’s involvement in the League of Women Voters. He has three adult children - Matt, Brianna and Delaney - who live in Australia, Boston and Connecticut and his partner, Lynn. He is a retired consultant and has lived in the Taylor District since 2019 and been a member of WCDC since 2021.
Tommie grew up in Damascus, and has also lived in NYC and Greenville, North Carolina. She is a retired nurse practitioner, and having spent 30+years working in women’s health, she is extremely passionate about women’s rights. She has two adult daughters, and returned to SWVA in 2009 and married her high school sweetheart. She is currently the District Chair for the Taylor District and has led the Newsletter Committee for several years