MCQUIGG PARK NAMING INVESTIGATION: Public shows support for name; Commission restarts process

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY — A steady stream of people who knew Michele McQuigg came to speak in favor of her.

They talked about the former elected House of Delegates ‘members’ ability to reach across the aisle to and work with constituents of both political parties to solve problems.

When McQuigg served on the Prince Willam County Board of Supervisors, they talked about her charity work, often spending Thanksgivings distributing food to the needy.

And when she was elected Prince William County Circuit Court Clerk, those that spoke talked about her devotedness to the rule of law.

McQuigg passed away in 2017 at age 69. At the time, she was still serving in as Clerk of the Court. She was first elected to public office as the Occoquan District Supervisor in 1992, and later to the Virginia House of Delegates.

She was the center of a discussion at Wednesday’s Prince William County Park Commission meeting. It is reviewing a request from Ruth Anderson, who represents Occoquan and Lake Ridge on the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, to name a new park for McQuigg.

It was the only name the Park Commission was charged with reviewing. County policy doesn’t require a park naming committee to seek alternative names.

The park is located at the intersection of Old Bridge Road and Oakwood Drive in Lake Ridge.

“I consider this a very small way to honor what she did for her county,” said Lake Ridge resident Steve McKinnon, who moved to the area the same year McQuigg was first elected to serve.

Others credited McQuigg for working on getting money to widen roads, and to pave ones that, at the time in the early 1990s, were still gravel and dirt. She “protected slugs,” advocating for the HOV lanes used by Interstate 95 commuters, though she found it to be an “unusual form of transportation,” one person said.

“Michele McQuigg was very much a part of the people,” said Occoquan resident Mike Bizik, who supported naming the new 15-acre park for McQuigg.

The Park Commission, an advisory group that reports to the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, opened its meeting for about about a half-hour to any resident who wanted to speak about the park naming. All residents who had signed up to speak addressed the commission, including Cathy Schneider, of Stafford, McQuigg’s daughter.

No resident spoke in opposition to naming the new park for the late circuit court clerk.

The process starts over again

Next, the Park Commission, in a 6-2 vote chose to go back to the drawing board and start the naming process all over again.

“I appreciate that people live their principles, but you must consider that you represent everybody whether they voted for you or not,” said Sharon Richardson, who represents Woodbridge on the Park Commission.

McQuigg was a principled conservative, said many who spoke. And for her, that meant standing by her belief that marriage was to be between a man a woman. When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to allow gay marriage, Virginia’s constitution still banned it.

As Clerk of Court, McQuigg signed on as one of the multiple lawsuit plaintiffs challenging a decree that Prince William County must issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples.

A court ruled against McQuigg and others. Then, overnight, she instructed her staff to begin issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples, Bob Fitzsimmonds, McQuigg’s former Deputy Circuit Court Clerk told Potomac Local.

She issued an order to 11 celebrants to who performed marriages on behalf of the courthouse that they were to begin performing ceremonies for gay and lesbian couples or that they would need to resign. One did, added Fitzsimmonds.

“She made her personal feelings known on hot-button issues,” said George Delimba, the At-large Park Commission member. “No one in this county should be short-changed because of they have differences… lifestyle differences.”

Neabsco District Park Commission member Victoria Cole-Rolon commended each resident who came to speak in favor of McQuigg. However, she said that not everyone’s opinions were represented.

“It would have been favorable to have the other side of the argument here,” she said.

Parks Commission Chair Jane Beyer, who represents the Coles District, counted and said she requested more chairs for the public meeting in anticipation for more people, including those who may be in opposition to the name, to show up to speak.

“I thought they’d be here,” said Beyer, who spoke also spoke in favor of McQuigg.

Additional names not required 

Brentsville District Park Commission member Brian Vargo made the motion to restart the naming process. “It’s a touchy decision, and it’s unfair to discount opinions of those in our county,” he said.

This past spring, Supervisor Ruth Anderson requested in writing, as per the county’s parks naming policy, and asked that the new park at Old Bridge Road and Oakwood Drive bear McQuigg’s name. Subsequently, a naming committee was formed to review the request.

The committee is charged with determining whether or not the person for whom a park is to be named made a significant contribution to horticulture in Prince William County. It is not required to seek additional names, per the county policy, said county Parks and Recreation Department spokesman Brent Heavner.

The first naming committee consisted of Deputy Parks and Recreation Director Tracy Hannigan, Brodie Freer, who represents the Occoquan District where the park is located, Beyer and two county residents.

Beyer and Freer were the two dissenting votes when the commission decided to kick the naming process back to square one. Beyer’s friendly amendment, to continue the process but not make a naming recommendation to the Board of County Supervisors failed.

The new park naming committee will consist of all eight Park Commission members, county Director of Parks and Recreation Seth Handler-Voss, and up to four members of the public.

Vargo, the maker of the motion to restart the naming process, said he would support opening up the process to solicit naming suggestions from residents across the county. This would give residents more options, instead of the only two currently before the Commission:

• Michele McQuigg Park
• Michele B. McQuigg Park

The Park Commission is in a recess in August, so ‘it’ll be fall until this item comes back before the commission for a vote.

The park

The park will be located on 15 acres of land at 12375 Oakwood Drive in Lake Ridge.

The site was going to be used for a school but was deeded to the Board of Supervisors, which decided in 2018 it wanted a park on the land.

The park will serve as a trailhead for the Occoquan Greenway Trail, and feature amenities like a picnic area, a small pavilion, restrooms, restrooms, and parking for a “few” cars, according to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) order.

Naming the park 

Supervisor Ruth Anderson requested the park to be named for Michele McQuigg, who is credited for working to preserve the land for the park. According to the county’s parks naming policy, parks are to be named for “individuals that made a significant contribution to natural and horticultural resources to Prince William County Parks.

As is required, Anderson made her request in writing to parks director Seth Handler-Voss. In that request, Anderson wrote in an email we obtained in our FOIA, that she could picture a small statue of McQuigg in standing at the park, in a straw hat, which the late McQuigg wore while walking in neighborhoods, speaking with residents.

A naming committee for the new park was convened on June 6 at park headquarters at 14420 Bristow Road at Independent Hill. It consists of Handler-Voss, Parks and Recreation Commissioner At-Large George DeLimba, Brodie Freer, the Occoquan representative to the parks and recreation commission, and at least one county resident.

After meeting, the committee decided to post an online survey using the surveygizmo.com website asking for the public’s feedback on the two naming choices:

A. Michele McQuigg Park
B. Michele B. McQuigg Park

According to county policy, the naming committee is only charged with deciding on whether or not a suggested name should be used for a new park. And, such a committee shall only meet if someone has made a recommendation to name or rename a park or facility inside of a county park.

The committee then makes a recommendation to the Park Commission, which then makes its recommendation to the Board of County Supervisors which has the final say.

“Not on the same page”

Emails between committee members show that early on in the naming process, “not everyone is on the same page.” In an email, there is one reference to naming the park after the late Ken Thompson, the developer of Lake Ridge who died on April 19.

Thompson was an award-winning builder, a supporter of the local arts, and a Rotarian, according to his obituary. Naming the park after him, though, never gained traction with committee members.

Many of the parks in Prince William County are named for people, and most names include the person’s middle initial. So, naming the park “Michele B. McQuigg Park” is the most consistent option of the two provided, according to records obtained in our FOIA.

Survey results

The online naming committee survey closed on Monday, July 15. Of the 194 respondents, 54% of them chose “Michele McQuigg Park” as the preferred option.

Links to the survey were posted to the county parks and reaction’s Facebook page, and distributed to 7,000 email recipients on the parks division’s contact list.

Comments on the survey include:

“This is a joke, right? Why do you need public input on a middle initial?”

“I don’t feel like this constitutes a survey…why aren’t there more choices for the name and where did this selection originate from?”

“The survey should be redone to include other options. Personally, I think it should be named after fallen police office[r] Ashley Guindon. Seems far more appropriate.”

Gay and lesbian marriage licenses 

After the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage, Virginia’s Constitution still prevented it. In 2014, McQuigg, a conservative, took heat from liberals, gays, and lesbians for upholding the state constitution’s ban on gay marriage.

While heterosexual men and women were issued marriage licenses at Prince William County Courthouse, McQuigg didn’t issue them to gay and lesbian couples.

That’s until the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that allowed gays and lesbian couples to be married at city and county courthouses if they so chose and the marriages were allowed at the courthouses.

During her tenure, McQuigg stopped the practice of people being married at the courthouse citing clean up costs.

Afterward, McQuiqq allowed the practice and informed all of the civil celebrants registered with the court to perform the marriages or resign, according to Bob Fitzsimmonds, a former deputy clerk who worked under McQuigg.

“I’m against gay marriage, and I know she was too, but when the court ruled, absolutely overnight she changed the policy and said ‘it’s the law,” said Fitzsimmonds.

After the court order, Fitzsimmonds said McQuigg was quick to act dutifully in her job to uphold the law as required by the court.

We were one of the first courthouses in Virginia to issues marriage licenses because the spotlight had been on us,” he told Potomac Local.

Featured image: Michele McQuigg