STAFFORD — Tom Coen was appointed to the Stafford County Board of Supervisors in February to replace George Washington District Supervisor turned state delegate Bob Thomas.
Coen was appointed to the board by six Republicans. Today, he announced he wants to keep the job but he’s going to run as an independent in the fall.
From a press release:
Stafford faces many challenges; managing growth, passing an appropriate budget, further enhancing school safety, and preserving the rural character that continues to make our county a truly special place to live.
In order to continue making progress, in is imperative that we work collaboratively and respectfully to successfully address these and other issues.
Unfortunately in Washington DC, and even in Richmond, the important concepts of civility and cooperation have fallen to the wayside. In their place, the focus has been on narrow and special interests, not the greater good. Partisanship has taken precedence over legislating.
With the partisan rhetoric coming forth from so many other sources, it is important for decision makers to look beyond the special interests. It is for this reason that I am running for election to the Stafford Board of Supervisors as an independent candidate.
The length and depth of my experience has also been mentioned. For four years I served on the Planning Commission, addressing the issues of growth, proffers and the impact growth has on our community.
For six years I served on the Agricultural/ Purchase of Development Committee, serving as Chair nearly every year. There we developed the PDR Program which has successfully saved 448 acres of land from being developed.
Serving on the Capital Improvement Advisory Committee for the school system, often as Chair, afforded me knowledge of school construction, enrollment projections and planning.
Throughout my service a major emphasis has been to protect the elements of Stafford we all love; the rural character, the sense of community and our way of life.
Traffic is not a partisan issue. Neither are safe schools, quality police, fire and rescue nor sound budgeting.
I am proud of the work we have done in the time I have been on the Board. We established a policy to manage growth, putting it where the county wants it to be and importantly, preserving the rural areas from development. We have brought school safety to the forefront, resulting in a Task Force created by the sheriff, which has already started addressing the concerns raised by others and myself.
Voters will head to the polls November 6.
