New director of Virginia MVDB conducts first meeting

New director of Virginia MVDB conducts first meeting

William Childress, who was chosen last month as the new executive director of the Virginia Motor Vehicle Dealer Board (MVDB), held his first meeting in that capacity March 14. He replaces MVDB stalwart Bruce Gould, who is retiring after more than 30 years as executive director. Gould joined the agency soon after it was created. Childress, an Air Force veteran, spent nearly 15 years at Department of Motor Vehicles and eight with the Virginia Department of Transportation.

The Board briefly discussed its review of Tesla, which has sought a hearing for a proposed Richmond location. The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, Rick Holcomb, who is also MVDB Chairman, said he would have to recuse himself from consideration of that topic because VADA has sued Tesla and the DMV, challenging DMVês authority to consider the proposed location. The matter was tabled until the next meeting of MVDB.

Commissioner Holcomb and Executive Director Childress also reported on the activities of Shift, a Web-based company that seeks to match buyers and sellers. Noting that the company engages in activities as a dealer, Childress said MVDB staff would continue to investigate the groupês activities to ensure that they comply with Virginia laws.

In addition to MVDB chairman Holcomb, the 19 member dealer board is comprised nine franchised auto dealers, one motorcycle dealer, 7 independent–used auto dealersãand one consumer representative. The nine franchised dealers from across the Commonwealth are: Gardner Britt, Jr., Ted Britt Ford, Fairfax; Geoff Malloy, Malloy Auto Group, Vienna; Liza Borches, Carter Myers Automotive, Charlottesville; Jacques Moore, Jr., Moore Cadillac Company & Subaru of Richmond; David P. Duncan, Duncan Ford-Lincoln-Mazda, Blacksburg; George Pelton, First Team Auto Group, Roanoke; Clay Huber, Huber Motor Cars, Fredericksburg; Hamid “Senior” Saghafi, Dulles Motor Cars, Inc., Leesburg; Ronald Kody, Richmond Ford, Richmond. For the entire list of MVDB leaders, click here.

At the meeting, outgoing director Gould was given a plaque in recognition of his many years of service with the Board. WANADA was pleased to recognize Bruce Gould similarly at its Annual Meeting and Luncheon last December.

Thanks to Kindred-Line member and attorney Michael Charapp of Charapp & Weiss LLC for his input to this article.