The primary candidates for the Potomac district supervisor seat – Derrick Wood and Andrea Bailey – spoke to the business community at the Prince William Chamber of Commerce headquarters this morning.
Wood is currently a councilman for the town of Dumfries. The incumbent for the Potomac district seat is Supervisor Maureen Caddigan.
Bailey and Wood are both small business owners in the county. Wood runs a BBQ catering company, and Bailey runs an event planning business.
When speaking to the group, they shared their thoughts on how to improve the business climate in Prince William County.
“I own a company called Affairs Remembered…I’m a small business owner – I do event planning. And I left corporate America to do so…I’ve been in and out of Prince William County since 1976. I’ve studied Prince William County – I know [the county]…I understand that Prince William County is one of the most up and coming world-class communities in this country,” said Bailey.
Wood stated that during his time as councilman, he has voted to reduce BPOL (Business, Professional and Occupational Licensure) tax, and property taxes in Dumfries.
“I’m always thinking from the business perspective. How can the business community make more money? Because as a small business owner, I want to know how we can increase our profits…not so much to have so much regulation. Because I think regulation is the key to a dying society…but just to be able to put some guidance in place, but not make it so hard for business owners,” said Wood.
In addition to their thoughts on business, both candidates shared information about their priorities for the community, including transportation and education.
“We need to build a stronger relationship with the PRTC [Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission] organization – we need to build a stronger relationship with the VRE [Virginia Railway Express],” said Bailey.
“I feel like widening the roads is like loosening the belt on the obesity problem…all you’re going to do is put more cars on the road…I believe we’ve got to study ways on how to bring jobs down here, and bring in pedestrian walking communities and get people out of their cars and off the road,” Wood commented.
During a question and answer session, Wood and Bailey fielded questions from the audience, including a question on the viability of the county board’s revenue sharing agreement as the funding source for the county’s school system.
“I think there needs to be some reform. It’s an outdated system. We can come together to find a better solution. We can bring together administrators and teachers and figure out what’s a better, feasible solution than this revenue sharing program,” Wood stated.
“I think part of [the] solution is sitting down and understanding what the issues are, in terms of managing the budget…I think there is an opportunity for us to build relationships across the county and the school board, to make sure that we are retaining the resources within the county that we want to retain, in terms of teachers and resources in terms of our students,” Bailey said.
They will meet on Thursday night in Dumfries for a candidate debate. The vote for the primary is on June 9.
