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Board candidates debate at chamber forum
Early risers who wanted a quadruple dose of local politics were in luck on Tuesday: 12 candidates for the Prince William Board of County Supervisors showed up for a marathon debate sponsored by the Prince William Chamber of Commerce.The forum, which ran from 8 a.m. to noon, was divided into four segments featuring the Gainesville, Brentsville, Coles and chairman's race.
The forum was mostly designed around the upcoming Republican primary, set for Aug. 23.
The Gainesville race features Steven Botello, Peter Candland, Martha Hendley, Michael High and Suzanne Miller all vying for the GOP nomination. The winner will face Democrat Ann Wheeler in November's general election but Tuesday's Gainesville forum was for Republican primary candidates only.
The Gainesville seat is being vacated by Supervisor John Stirrup (R), who is giving up the post in order to run for state Senate instead.
In Brentsville, incumbent Supervisor Wally Covington (R) is facing a primary challenge from Jeanine Lawson, who is considered the more conservative of the two.
In the Coles race, incumbent Supervisor Marty Nohe (R) also faces a challenge from his right; Bob Pugh is seeking to unseat Nohe in the Republican primary.
The chairman's forum was the only one that was open to all parties. Incumbent Corey Stewart (R) has no primary challenger but has two declared candidates for the general election: Independent John Gray and Democrat Babur Lateef joined Stewart in a general-election forum as part of the chamber series.
As the forum was a chamber-sponsored event, all of the candidates focused on economic development, each positioning themselves as the business-friendly choice.
Two taxes in particular were featured heavily in the forum.
The business tangible personal property tax is levied on general office equipment, including furniture, machinery and computers.
The BPOL (business, professional and occupational license) tax is levied on all businesses making $100,000 a year or more and it runs from 5 cents to 33 cents per $100 of gross receipts, depending on the type of business.
Both taxes are unpopular among business owners and candidates were quick to oppose them.
“I'm paying taxes for equipment that I bought eight years ago,” chairman candidate Lateef said, suggesting that the business tangible personal property tax be waived for Prince William companies who buy their equipment from other Prince William companies.
In the Gainesville race, High had a similar view.
“You need the stuff to produce jobs in Prince William County so why do we have to keep taxing you year after year?” he asked.
Covington pointed out that he and Nohe have both been strong supporters of eliminating the BPOL tax and that they, along with Stewart, were instrumental in getting the threshold dropped from $200,000 to $100,000 this year.
Stewart argued that while he is a major proponent of tax reform and spending cuts, “we can't just simply eliminate that tax” without making up for it in other ways.
Gray had a slightly different take. He also supports tax reform but mentioned that he takes offense at the county's new requirement that business owners prove they are not illegal immigrants in order to get a business license.
Calling it “an unbelievable violation of my civil liberties,” Gray said he's opposed to illegal immigration but pointed out that no one asked him to prove his legal status before making him pay any of a slew of local, state and federal taxes.
The other major issue of the day was the Bi-County or Tri-County Parkway which would connect Prince William to Dulles Airport.
Only Lawson came out strongly against the plan, saying the road “runs right through the heart of the Rural Crescent and not just through the heart of the Rural Crescent, but through our historic battlefield.”
The other candidates all issued at least theoretical support for the concept.
However, many different versions of the parkway have been proposed, some of which run through Prince William, Fairfax and Loudoun and some of which run only from Prince William to Loudoun.
Most of the candidates supported only one of the many options or supported the parkway only in theory without committing to a preferred route.
Miller, running in Gainesville, did not oppose the plan but said it's not at the top of her list.
“My priority is not faster access to Dulles,” she said, arguing that the more important task is to create more jobs in Prince William “so that we don't have to commute out.”
The Gainesville Republican candidates will debate again next week in a forum sponsored by the Haymarket Gainesville Business Association.
The event runs from 4 to 6 p.m. Aug. 16 at Bull Run Golf Club, 3520 James Madison Highway in Haymarket.
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