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The Virginia Supreme Court found five first-term Democrats on the Prince William Board of County Supervisors violated Virginia's open meetings laws on May 31, 2020, in the wake of riots outside Manassas.

The state's high court ruled a meeting of the county police department's Citizen Advisory Board held at 1 p.m. that day, less than 24 hours after police in riot gear, being pelted with rocks and bottles at Sudley and Sudley Manor roads, used tear gas to regain order at an unlawful protest following the May 25, 2020 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

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I interviewed Karla Justice, whose running for the Prince William Board of County Supervisors Occoquan District Supervisors seat on Twitter Spaces on May 15, 2023. During the interview, I asked her about the growing politicization of local politics, about the county's controversial meals tax, and her position on the proliferation of data centers in the county. Justice, whose running as a Republican, aims to replace Kenny Boddye, a Democrat who has held the seat since 2020. Here's a portion of our interview: PLN: Why did you want to run for the Prince William County Board of County Supervisors Occoquan District Supervisors seat?

Justice: It's several different issues. My two reasons for running, number one, to be a voice that the Occoquan District can count on. Our current supervisor has broken more promises than I think we can all keep track of. And the second reason is I know that I can serve the Occoquan District better.

PLN: When you talk about so the current supervisor, Kenny Boddye, who's been in office since 2020, what are some of the specific things when you talk about promises, what are they that have been broken?

Justice: Well, let's talk about the biggest one. Before getting elected, he went to the County Board of Supervisors meeting and made promises about the rural Crescent and ensuring that that was preserved. He made promises to protect our environment. And then, shortly after that, you can look at his voting record. It's not just one vote. It's multiple votes that he's done where he's voted yes to do just the opposite of that. I think a lot of people were counting on him to do the right thing, and he didn't. So when I sit down and I look at something as huge as that, the environment is hugely important to me. Making sure that our drinking water is safe, that's a huge issue for me. So that was big for me because you've got to have people in office that you can count on. You've elected them to be your voice.

Boddye took heat from residents and fellow supervisors in 2021 after voting in favor of rezoning land in the Rural Crescent for 99 new homes as part of the Preserve at Long Branch. About a year a before the vote, Boddye vowed to preserve the Rural Crescent, an area between Quantico Marine Corps Base and Manassas National Battlefield. PLN: The Democrat majority on the Board of County Supervisors has shown through their actions that they support rezoning more rural land for data centers to increase the county's commercial tax base. The data centers are being built in the western part of the county, while those who live in the east don't see the construction, as that area is mostly built out. Where do you stand on data center development?

Justice: It's a good question because if you live on the east side, it's "not in my backyard.". But there are a lot of people from the east side of the county that travel to the west side of the county. They visit the Manassas battlefield. There's a lot of hiking out on that side. So they're definitely out there, and they're definitely enjoying that open space. And don't get me wrong, I'm pro-smart growth, but I think on a case-by-case basis, as long as we protect the environment and are doing the right thing by our residents, I'll always listen to the community input to ensure that I'm representing the best interests of the community. A lot of people in the Occoquan District are very concerned about the Occoquan Reservoir and about protecting our drinking water. So that's an issue that impacts everybody in the county.

The proliferation of data centers in the county has sparked concerns about electricity and water. Server farms use large amounts of both to power and cool the servers.  PLN: Do you think the Rural Crescent is as relevant today as it was when it was created about 25 years ago?

Justice: It's completely irrelevant now, I guess, because they decimated it. So there is no Rural Crescent anymore. And I would say as the county grows, we'll have to grow with it. But I think that there's a smart way of doing that. And again, I think we're going to have to look at these on a case by case basis. I had a meeting where somebody was sitting and showing me some of these data centers and how they're going right up against our [Manassas National Battlefield]. There's a lot of people who live all over the county that I think would have serious concerns about that.

PLN: Since the current Board of County Supervisors took over in 2020, the board has become highly political. This past week, Gainesville Supervisor Bob Weir presented a resolution to provide property tax relief to the Willing Warrior Retreat near Haymarket. Afterward, Supervisor Ann Wheeler At-large lumped in CASA in Action for tax relief, which has donated more than $24,00o to her campaign. Has the Board of County Superviosrs become too political?

Justice: It's crazy because growing up in the county, obviously we had essentially the same supervisors...and they would have fundraising events or cookouts. And as a family, we would go to most of them. And I can tell you, I don't think there was ever a discussion about he or she's a Democrat, he or she's a Republican. 'We don't like them. We're not going.' Everybody just kind of got along with each other. And they would have differences of opinions, obviously, sometimes very tense differences of opinion on the deus. But I know at the end of the day, they would all be out to dinner or they would find common ground and work with each other. I'm running to represent all residents. That includes Democrats, Independents and Republicans. I think running in a community race, I don't think there should even be an R or a D next to anybody's name, right. Because we're not running on national issues, we're running on local issues. And then it's important that we listen to everybody's input, work for the public and serve everybody. And the only way you can do that is by listening to community input.

PLN: During the county budget session that ended in April, multiple business owners asked county supervisors to repeal its meals tax created in 2022. They said rising costs on almost everything and fewer people eating out have negatively affected their business and that repealing the tax would help them. They were met with silence. What is your stance on the meals tax?

Justice: If you look back historically, it used to be that to do a meals tax, and this is my understanding, there would have to be a referendum. And years ago, the community was asked, and the community overwhelmingly said no. So now a referendum is not required. And then our current board decides it would be a great idea to smash restaurant owners, even though they've overcome COVID. Then they got hit with inflation. So why not hit them with a meals tax. Let's kick them while they're down. And the argument that the board members have right now is that the restaurant is not paying the tax. The customers are. In reality, who's really getting hurt the most with the meals tax is our waiters, servers, busers. Because the customer gets that bill, it immediately turns into an argument. They're not aware of what it is or why they're being given this extra 4%. It reduces the tips that those servers and busers and everybody working within the restaurant would have gotten. Right. Another thing is, I support tax breaks for families. Families right now are being crushed by inflation, rising costs of living, just gas, groceries, and supplies. They're more expensive now than they ever were before. So my goal as a supervisor is to reduce the cost of living. To that end, I can tell you, Uriah, my first act will be to eliminate the meals tax. The current board just gave themselves a 67% pay raise. That's absurd. How are we bringing relief to our residents while giving themselves that is a massive pay raise?

Justice was born and raised in Prince William County. She attended elementary, middle, and high school there. Justice graduated from George Mason University, earning a Bachelor of Arts in International Politics and Business. Justice is the single mother of a four-year-old girl and operates a local small business. Hear the full interview: https://twitter.com/PotomacLocal/status/1658205538562220065  

Tiziana Bottino, an elected official on the Prince William County Water and Soil Conservation District, has a new role.

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A new data center proposed for the Prince William Digital Gateway would come with an expanded Pageland Lane, a street once identified as key to building a new bi-county parkway between Interstate 95 and Dulles International Airport.

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Following the Prince William Board of County Supervisors’ vote to approve the Comprehensive Plan Amendment for the Digital Gateway last November, I urge the Planning Commission and Board of County Supervisors to continue moving forward with efforts to implement the transformative vision of the project.

The Prince William Digital Gateway aligns with the county’s strategic plan. It provides an array of benefits through an increased tax base to fund opportunities for schools, affordable housing, parks, trails, public health, transportation, and other services.

The data centers that it would bring also offer significant national security advantages. These facilities are built to operate when power has been disrupted, ensuring their functionality in a national emergency, if required.

It is critical to our national security apparatus that data management and its recovery from natural disasters or acts of terrorism remain vibrant and at the ready. Prince William County is at the center of this strategy as we take measures to harden against any threats through a multi-layered redundancy system. Additionally, data centers pave the way for cooperation between local, state, and federal entities in identifying terrorist threats or coordinating in response to them.

Our county has been presented with a tremendous opportunity to initiate wide-ranging
benefits to its residents and lead on the national security front. I hope that the Prince William County Planning Commission and county supervisors will take the necessary steps to allow the plans for the Digital Gateway to continue moving forward during the coming months.

Eugene (Gene) Stefanucci
Prince William County

PLN accepts letters to the editor on issues of local importance. Submit your letters to [email protected].

The Prince William Board of County Supervisors approved a $2.2 billion budget on Tuesday, April 25, 2023.

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You can tell it’s election season.  Our elected officials are busily covering over the misdeeds of their tenures and re-packaging themselves as faithful servants of the people.

Look at the creative ways they try to exploit your inattention.  Did you know that our board of county supervisors has authorized a water study of the Occoquan watershed, a Sustainability Commission Report, development of a revised noise ordinance, and considering enhanced building code standards for data centers?

The results are due back about the same time as they finish pouring cement for the millions of square feet of data centers they already rushed to approve.

You’d think if they were really interested in what they claim, they might have looked into these issues before sealing our fates with their pre-determined decisions.  After all, there were certainly enough informed citizens lining up at Public Comment time pleading for them to do so.  They finally got the message after the damage was done.  Better late than never.

For the next few months of election season, you will hear nothing but accomplishments from this board. Just don’t look too closely out your car window, and for some neighborhoods, don’t even look out your back door, or you will see the reality of their “accomplishments.”

Chair Ann Wheeler is the chief practitioner of the drive-by photo op and the innocuous “proclamation.”  Throw in buttering-up a few select community members with appointments to commissions (our equivalent of ambassadorship), and you’ve built a superficial following.

How’s that working for us?

Paula Daly
Gainesville

PLN accepts letters to the editor on issues of local importance. Submit your letters to [email protected].

Updated 1 p.m. April 19 — Former Gainesville District Supervisor John Stirrup collapsed at tonight’s Prince William Board of County Supervisors meeting on April 18, 2023.

According to sources, Stirrup, who is running for the House of Delegates District 21 seat in Haymarket, was rushed to Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center, where he’s lying in intensive care.

His condition has improved, according to a post on his Facebook page.

John is now feeling much better, resting and even telling a few dad jokes to the hospital staff. He and Heidi are incredibly grateful for the first responders, medical team, and all those who have reached out and offered prayers and support.

Fire and rescue crews resuscitated Stirrup at the board meeting before loading him by stretcher onto an ambulance. Stirrup was speaking during public comment time, talking about the county’s violent crime rate, which has increased 70% since 2019, and the jail board’s abolishment of the 287(g) program, which had county jail officers partner with federal immigration and customs authorities to hand over jail inmates suspected of being in the U.S. illegally.

Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chair At-large Ann Wheeler called a meeting recess until 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 20, 2023. Supervisors were in the public comment portion o the meeting and then were to engage in budget markup when leaders were to decide what to cut from the fiscal year 2024 budget.

After returning from recess, County Executive Christopher Shorter said, “What we witnessed here tonight was a medical emergency. The response from our first responders here was amazing.”

Stirrup, a conservative, served on the Board of County Supervisors for two terms from 2004 until 2011. Stirrup left the county government and later lobbied on its behalf.

Stirrup has a Republican challenger in Josh Quill, who is also seeking the party’s nomination in a June 20 Primary.

Here’s a transcript of Stirrup’s speech, delivered just before he collapsed:

Read More

Tomorrow, Tuesday, April 18, 2023, we’ll see what Prince William County Supervisors leave in and what they cut out.

Elected leaders will hold a public meeting at 7:30 p.m. at the county government complex, 1 County Complex Court in Woodbridge, for budget markup. During a series of back-and-forth discussions and straw polls, supervisors will decide what programs to fund in the upcoming Fiscal 2024 budget, which takes effect July 1, 2024. You can watch the meeting online here.

A few residents spoke about the proposed budget during a public hearing on Tuesday, April 11, 2023. Some wanted more investments into the public schools for robotics programs, while others cried rising taxes are displacing seniors on fixed incomes from their homes. Others said they want more police after the county’s violent crime rate increased by 70% since the current Board of Supervisors was elected in 2019.

According to the agenda for tomorrow’s meeting, no public comment time is scheduled.

Supervisors are mulling the budget that would increase the average homeowner’s Real Estate tax bill to $4,905 Real Estate tax bill, up $72 from last year.

County Executive Christopher Shorter dropped the proposed tax rate by one cent, to .966 cents on every $100 of assessed home value, from when he first proposed his 2024 budget on February 28. While the proposed rate is lower than the current $1.03 rate, increased property values mean homeowners will pay more.

One of the budget drivers is a new crisis receiving center, which will take in mental patients when it opens in what was a Gander Mountain store next to Potomac Mills mall in Woodbridge. It’ll cost about $3.8 million a year to operate, with $2.1 million coming from the state.

Other budget priorities supervisors told Shorter they would like to see in the budget is $500,000 for landscaping projects across the county. There’s another half-million dollars to fund a new community events department to continue to help organize events like a Christmastime lights show at the Neabsco Boardwalk in Woodbridge and a series of Friday evening community parties at the government center.

The boardwalk lights event began last year and was funded with $150,000 in coronavirus relief funding given to the county by the state government, said county parks and recreation director Seth Handler Voss.

The county schools will benefit from the higher tax bills, adding about $13.4 million to its $1.5 billion annual budget. Prince William is one of at least two jurisdictions in the state that automatically gives more than half of its local government budget to its public schools.

The higher rate will also create a $10.4 million budget surplus. Meanwhile, the county is flush with cash after introducing a new meals tax last year that generated about $35 million, about $11 million more than anticipated.

County Budget Director Michelle Atreed said overall tax revenues are up $34 million, with a 19% increase in industrial tax revenue and a 15% data center tax revenue increase. However, most of the increases came from personal property taxes, as used cars appreciated in value over the last year — a stark change from when used cars typically lost value.

If the budget is approved without significant changes, it’ll be the third year in a row Real Estate tax bills have increased for county residents.