Prince William Times: “Deshundra Jefferson, the Democratic nominee for chair of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, envisions a county with more affordable housing, that attracts more businesses to reduce residential tax bills and offers programs to keep youth on the right track.”
“Jeanine Lawson, the Republican nominee, envisions a county that restores former protections to the ârural crescent,â repeals the 4% meals tax and provides more funding to hire police officers to crack down on rising crime.”
I’m Nelson Head, owner of Dixie Bones
The Prince William County Supervisors are up for re-election this year.
As part of the campaign, the challengers and I have visited more than a hundred restaurants throughout the county. There they learned firsthand what happened when the meals tax forced restaurants to add a collective $35 million of new charges to their checks. Not surprisingly, their customers found the food suddenly too expensive, and they stopped coming in.
They heard from servers how their tips fell by half. They saw empty dining rooms, skeleton crews, and managers and owners disheartened by the struggle to survive. They listened to customers angry over having to pay yet another tax and this one for simply eating out.
These challengers know they must end the Meals Tax if our restaurants are to survive.
In the other case, only odious, meanspirited persons would attack the livelihood of small, popular restaurants and their employees and then reward themselves with a 70% pay raise. But that is exactly what incumbent supervisors did.
Well, at least these guys can still afford to eat in a restaurant if they dare to show their face.
These incumbents expect us to believe that they gave the meals tax money to schools when anyone can plainly see the $30 million of tax money sitting idle and unused in a surplus account in the county’s coffers.
This crop of self-serving supervisors, masquerading as Democrats protecting the little guy, is way, way past their sell-by dates.
We can fix this.
Please go to endmealstax.com to meet the new supervisors who will clean up this mess.
Voting is already underway. So please go to the polls and vote for candidates who will Save Our Restaurants.
Nelson Head
Founder, Dixie Bones BBQ
Woodbridge
HOA Roundtable of Northern Virginia: “The HOA Roundtable of Northern Virginia, based in Prince William County, is a non-partisan coalition of HOAs, Civic Associations, and independent homeowners who represent more than 150,000 households across the region.”
“Every seat on the Prince William Board of County Supervisors is on the ballot in the November election. Those elected will seal the future of the county.”
“Without a change in leadership, Prince William will cease to be a county for residential communities and families to thrive, and retirees to enjoy…Employment opportunities and
entities providing vital goods and services, will be forced out of Prince William, unable to afford artificially inflated commercial land prices driven by data center development.”
“Given our unique insight, we are proud to endorse the following candidates and encourage the residents of Prince William County to support their strong, consistent campaign message to place residential quality of life and property value as a top priority:”
- PWC Board Chair: Jeanine Lawson
- Woodbridge District: Jeannie LaCroix
- Potomac District: Verndell Robinson
- Brentsville District: Tom Gordy
- Coles District: Yesli Vega
- Gainesville District: Bob Weir
Prince William Times: “Jim Gehlsen, the Democratic candidate for Brentsville supervisor, pleaded guilty to tax fraud in 2000 and spent a year in federal prison. More than 20 years later, he continues to have strong feelings about the IRS, saying he was âharassedâ by the federal agency and that its actions âprovokedâ his crimes.”
“In an interview with the Prince William Times, Gehlsen, 69, called the IRS âterroristsâ and repeatedly said he was âtortured and terrorizedâ by the federal agency. Gehlsen said he is running for the Brentsville District supervisorâs seat in part because he believes Prince William County âdoes tax terrorism as well.â
September 22 is the start of early voting. To prepare yourself, you need to know where the candidates stand on the issues. Some candidates seeking your trust donât think itâs any of your business.
A Bristow homeownerâs group asked all incumbents and candidates for your Board of County Supervisors to state their positions on five contentious land use cases: Prince William Digital Gateway, Devlin Technology Park, John Marshall Commons Technology Park, Potomac Technology Park and Bristow Campus.
Predictably, five incumbent supervisors declined to respond. They were Ann Wheeler, Kenny Boddye, Margaret Franklin, Andrea Bailey and Victor Angry. These are the same five supervisors who voted against a resolution to prevent âlame duckâ land use votes. Do I detect a trend here?
Notably, they didnât say they supported these projects either.
You can draw your own conclusions about the reasons for their evasion, but at a minimum it indicates an arrogance of presumed exemption from accountability. Why would you vote for anyone with such an obvious disregard for the electorate they are supposed to serve? If you canât get an answer from someone vying for your vote, how responsive do you think theyâll be should you be foolish enough to elect them? You may have already learned this about the five holdouts.
A recent Inside NOVA editorial lambasted Chair Ann Wheeler for her decision to consider contentious cases during the âlame duckâ period. Now her ducklings wonât even tell you where they stand.
Use your imagination, then use your vote.
Bill Wright
Gainesville
Stafford County Government: "Early voting in Stafford County begins on Friday, September 22, 2023. This yearâs general election is on Tuesday, November 7, 2023. You may request a mail-in ballot from the General Registrar until October 27, 2023."
"Early voting will be available at Conference Room ABC of the George L. Gordon, Jr., Government Center, 1300 Courthouse Road, Stafford, VA 22554. It is available Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. from September 22, 2023, through November 3, 2023. It will also be available on two Saturdays - October 28, 2023, and November 4, 2023, from 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m."
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Hello. My name is Babur Lateef, and I am chairman of the Prince William County School Board.
I am a parent, physician, public servant, and proud product of public schools from kindergarten through medical school. My four children have been in Prince William County schools for their entire education.
I believe we have one of the greatest school systems in the country, and I’ve been proud to serve as chairman of the school board. We have made significant improvements in student success, safety and security, space, and infrastructure, and salaries.
We have more work to do, and that is why I am running for reelection this fall. Please vote for Babur Lateef, chairman of the Prince William County School Board, on November 7.
*Paid for and authorized by Friends of Dr. Lateef.
An article was published entitled, ‘You’re literally setting her up for failure’: Parents accuse Prince William Co. schools of neglecting special education responsibilities.‘ Â In the article, parents are accusing PWC schools of giving good grades in order to pass children through the system rather than educate them.
How many negative reports on Prince William County Public Schools do we have to read to realize it is past time to replace the current school board with more educated-centric leaders and vote out the âwokeâ crowd who are willing to go along to get along despite the damage it is doing to our children.
Tonya McDade, Babur Lateef, Lorre Williams, Diane Raulston, Justin David Wilks, Lisa Zargarpar, and Adele Jackson are failing our children. They have refused, for years, to listen to parentsâ concerns about mandated masking, pornography in our public school libraries, in-person schooling, and now special education policies that are hurting special ed students. At what point do we say enough is enough?
We have all watched as test scores in Prince William County have plummeted, and absenteeism numbers have gone through the roof. We have seen over 300 teachers leave the system, causing catastrophic shortages in teaching staff.Â
We currently have a great field of replacements standing at the ready to take over and make much-needed, positive changes to the education system in our county. Carrie Rist is running for School Board Chair. Erica Tredinnick is running for Brentsville District, Steven Spiker for Coles District, Jennifer Wall for Gainesville, Michael Petco for Neabsco District, Ryan Kirkpatrick for Occoquan District, Mario Beckles for Potomac and Jaylen Curtis for Woodbridge District.
Letâs give them a chance to make the necessary changes parents have been begging for over 3 years. Itâs time for a change. Letâs make that change in November 2023 and get back to the business of educating and not indoctrinating our children. We donât need social justice warriors and victims. We need an educated populace who can come out of Prince William County Public Schools educated and ready for their future.
Leigh Bravo
Gainesville
Potomac Local News aims to share opinions on issues of local importance from a diverse range of residents across all our communities. If you’ve recently spoken at a Board of County Supervisors meeting, send us a typed copy of your remarks for publication to [email protected].
Prince William Circuit Court Judge Kimberly Irving tossed out a challenge from Maria Martin, a Republican who was unhappy about the results of a recount of her June 20 Primary Election loss to Nikki Rattray Baldwin.
Martin argued that one of her election observers witnessed a ballot that may have been improperly marked and that the observer could not review the vote. However, the observer was not a recount official; Irving stated that chosen campaigns before the July 21, 2023, recount occurred and had no right to challenge the ballot.
