Top 20 Issues(in no particular order)
Transportation I have been working with two other Board members on a committee to plan for the execution of the Transportation Plan approved in November by the voters. Identifying Best Business Practices is critical to maximize the actual road work done and not waste money on staff and VDOT. Two projects that were identified by the Youth Driver Task Force are currently underway. A section of Poplar Rd. which will be funded with revenue from impact fees and a section of Mountain View Rd. which will be partially funded by state matching funds are being reviewed to begin preliminary engineering. Over a 5 year period, these projects were selected and approved by 13 past and present Board members, a like number of Planning Commission members, and the now defunct Transportation Commission. Comprehensive PlanI promised in my campaign in 2005 that I would push for a new Comprehensive Plan during my first term. The county Comp Plan had not been thoroughly reviewed and re-written since 1988. Immediately after taking office I set out to the task. A combined committee consisting of a cross section of Stafford Residents was convened and began deliberations. Some of the meetings were contentious, but everyone had a voice. Progress was being made until January 2008 when the newly elected Board and Planning Commission majority hijacked the process. The entire work of the two previous years was thrown in the trash and the radical 4 took control. All opposing views were ridiculed, shot down and dismissed. Their current work is now before the Board for consideration. I completely oppose this document because it was not developed by consensus and proposes to move Stafford in a dangerous direction. At its foundation, it plans for over 14,000 new apartments and a real 150% tax increase over the next 25 years to pay for the infrastructure. It completely ignores the future transportation and parks and recreational requirement over that same time period and it plans for massive growth in county government and buildings. It strangles our once thriving commercial base by grossly reducing the locations businesses can be located. These are just a few of my objections, but they are enough to give you the background of my position. If reelected I will push for a consensus document that considers all Stafford residents’ vision of the future, not the view of a few who think their views are more important than yours.
Fire and Rescue Negotiations are currently underway to purchase the property and we have submitted a request for stimulus funds to begin construction. My goal is to have Station 14 fully operational in 2011. School FundingStafford County was the only county in the region which budgeted level funding from 2009 to 2010. There are several crucial statistics that should be mentioned in any budget discussion: Statistics mentioned in several recent articles are fundamentally flawed. These authors routinely ignore actual dollars spent and use budgeted numbers instead. After a budget year, budget numbers are irrelevant and misleading.The SCPS have routinely overstated the number of students expected each year since 2006. From 2006 thru 2009 the actual number of student declined, while local school funding increased by 14%. When current enrollment is compared to construction design capacity, SCPS currently have about 5,000 empty desks in our middle and elementary schools. Empty desks translate into additional costs for overhead and debt service that managed properly would have easily funded pay raises for our teachers. I am committed to improving the quality of SCPS education by using a common sense approach. It is my obligation to every taxpayer to scrutinize every dollar spent and ask the tough questions. $5.5 million Unspent in 2007Laura Rudy, Stafford Treasurer, uncovered what she believes are several accounting errors in our books caused by erroneous Stafford County Public Schools payroll entries. This may result in $5.5 million that was not spent in 2007. Currently, an independent audit is being conducted and we anticipate completion in September. SPCA Stafford has outgrown its capacity to manage its stray and unwanted animal population. Original estimation to build a modern facility adequate to handle the problem was estimated to be near $10 million. Certainly in these economic times this is unaffordable.. In addition, Stafford’s current Animal Control Program does not operate under a “No Kill” policy as space is very limited. The BOS is currently reviewing a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for a SPCA to be built in the Aquia District off of Andrew Chapel Rd. The SPCA will operate as a non-profit, no kill facility. This facility will be built and operated with NO county capital investments or contribution for annual operating costs. The location is a 10 acre site in a mostly rural setting. The proposed location near an established neighborhood has become an emotional issue that has has been exaggerated by several supervisor candidates who see an opportunity to personally attack the proponent of the project. I do not support the personal attacks from either side that diminish the importance of the subject.
Business Professional Occupational License Tax (BPOL) This tax hurts small businesses the most. I have received many calls from small business owners who will have to reduce staff or go out of business when this tax goes into effect. Another interesting fact: Who doesn’t pay a BPOL tax? Banks, large insurance companies like GEICO, and manufacturers are exempt by state law. Tax revenues from businesses like Rosner Toyota go down because we must eliminate the inventory tax to collect the BPOL tax. It is a proven fact that unemployment goes up when business taxes are increased. Do we need this shock to our economy now? Taxes & Assessments 2010 is an assessment year. We anticipate a substantial decrease in the assessed value of homes and property in the county. The tax rate will rise to the equilibrium rate that will provide the county the same amount of tax revenue as the previous year. This new rate is based on aggregate estimates and may affect different homes slightly differently. In 2007, the $0.14 cent tax rate increase had virtually no impact on tax bills for Garrisonville District home owners. I performed an analysis of every home in my district. More than half actually saw their tax bills decline.
Crow’s Nest A planning group will be constituted soon to plan for the future activities that will be allowed. Also, a third phase is still being targeted and will take considerable work to raise the money necessary to complete the entire deal.
Pedestrian (Sidewalk) Projects I have also received permission from VDOT to install 2 pedestrian cross walks at the intersections of Mine Rd. and Salisberry Rd. and Rt. 610. HOT LanesI do not believe that the HOT Lanes are anywhere close to the solution to our commuting problems, but it is the approach being pursued by the state (no other plan is even being considered). My goal was to negotiate the best deal for Stafford Commuters. Over the last 2 years I have worked closely with VDOT and the Secretary of Transportation to extend the HOV Lanes to Garrisonville Rd. in the first phase, thus providing a more immediate fix to the Dumfries bottle neck. Ten months ago, I saw, for the first time, the actual design plans which included this extension. One potential road block still stands in the way. The final contract is scheduled to be signed in September 09 and VDOT has announced that they are “re-scoping” several aspects of the project that have driven up the overall cost of the project. The extension to Garrisonville Rd. is one of those under consideration. This is the ultimate “bait-and-switch”. I have contacted all of our state representatives to fight this betrayal in Richmond. We should know in August.
Commuter Parking Several School Board members who see a conspiracy behind every tree have stated that they believe that this is an attempt to close Moncure Elementary School. This is absolutely NOT the case. Contrary to what is being passed, THERE IS NO PLAN TO CLOSE MONCURE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL! I also proposed a resolution that passed the Board of Supervisors by a 7-0 vote to return all money derived from the sale of the property to the schools for capital improvements. There is NO hidden agenda here except to build more commuter parking spaces.
Parks and Recreation Stafford owns land that is earmarked for fields, but has not prioritized the resources to actually construct the fields. Also, the geographic distribution of the undeveloped park land does not serve the Northern part of the county. On the November ballot will be a Parks and Recs Bond Referendum that if passed will authorize the Board to borrow the money needed to fix these problems. I ask for your support in passing this important referendum and allow Stafford to upgrade our over crowed recreational facilities. Courthouse Rd. Interchange We still have a long way to go, but we should have a footprint available for planning purposes in about 10 months. Reservoir I will never delay critical projects until the last minute and cross my fingers hoping that nothing bad happens. It’s just bad government!
610 Widening
Aquia Town Center
Rt. 610 Traffic Study
New Courthouse
Control Residential Growth Furthermore, we must be careful to let the infrastructure improvements (roads, utilities, schools) catch up to the current population we have, as a result of unchecked and unprecedented residential sales in the 1990's, before creating more sprawl into our rural areas. There are plenty of opportunities for infill developments and new construction in designated growth areas where the infrastructure can handle it already. |