Exclusive | Man who called Prince William Sup ‘NRA whore’ to be appointed to Service Authority

The man who called a sitting Prince William County Supervisor a “whore” for the NRA could soon be on the county’s water and sewer authority.

Ann Wheeler, County Board Chair, At-large, seeks to appoint Harry Wiggins as an At-Large member of the Prince William County Service Authority, one of the multiple agencies that provide water service to county residents.

Wiggins would replace current At-large member Scott C. Knuth, who was appointed by former Board of County Supervisors At-large Chairman Corey Stewart. Knuth would remain on the Board but not sit in the At-large seat. Wiggins, if appointed, would take that seat, representing the entire county, and hold it until Feb. 1, 2024.

Wiggins will make $9,600 annually for his time on the Service Authority. The authority gives its members one of the biggest stipends of any board or commission in the county.

Fined by the Virginia State Board of Elections

The Virginia State Board of Elections fined Wiggins $500, the most severe penalty it could levy, in 2018 after he failed to register a Political Action Committee with the state prior to the November Election.

The former Prince William County Democratic Party Chairman founded the PAC “Republicans for Stanley Bender” in what Republicans say was an effort to confuse voters in the November 2018 three-way race for the Prince William School Board Chairman. Former Board member Alyson Satterwhite was the GOP-endorsed candidate, while Bender was running as an independent.

Babur Lateef, a Democrat, went on to win the race. While School Board candidates are endorsed by political parties, Virginia law requires them to run as independent candidates.

Wiggins also carried a sign to a gun control rally calling former sitting Prince William County Occoquan District Supervisor a “whore” for the NRA during the right to life rally in Washington D.C. This occurred after the shootings at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. in 2018, where 17 were killed and 17 others wounded by a shooter.

As a local official, Anderson had no say on the state’s gun policies. The only gun-related measure she did vote for during her four-year term that ended Dec. 31, 2019, was to lower the cost of obtaining a concealed carry permit in the county from $50 to $15.

With a reputation that precedes him, Anderson told Potomac Local News today that he’s unfit to serve. “He’s been an activist in politics in various leadership roles, but to be deceitful,” Anderson said of him not registering his PAC with state elections officials, “it’s a character flaw, and he shouldn’t be allowed to serve on a Board that means so much to the county.”

Wheeler says Wiggins is knowledgeable about the county will do well in the role. “I don’t think any of his politics of the past will be an issue here,” she said.

Wiggins is one of five people that, so far, Wheeler has appointed to about 70 boards and commissions that serve county residents. “There will be numerous appointments but, so far, I’ve taken my time in this process,” said Wheeler.

The Chair declined to say whether or not she asked Wiggins to serve on the Service Authority, or if Wiggins asked her for the job.

Wiggins did not return a request for comment for this story.

The Board of County Supervisors is set to vote on the issue at its 2 p.m. session on Tuesday, to be held at the McCoart Building at 1 County Complex Court in Woodbridge.

Removing politics from water and sewer delivery

Brentsville District Supervisor Jeanine Lawson says she’s disappointed with Wheeler’s decision to appoint Wiggins. “With as many people as there are in the county, I find it hard to believe she couldn’t find someone else,” said Lawson. “I wouldn’t appoint this man to the dog-catcher committee, if there was such a thing.”

Supervisors, generally, give each other a wide berth when it comes to selecting their appointments to Boards and Commissions. Maggie Hansford, who ran against Lawson for the Brentsville seat last fall, was recently appointed to the OmniRide Board of Directors without Lawson’s objection.

The Service Authority was created to get politics out of the business of delivering water and server services to the residents of Prince William County. “We’re a professional organization that’s separate from the politics that may be happening on the Board of County Supervisors,” said Service Authority Chairman Dr. Jack Kooyoomjian.

Kooyoomjian says he respects the process of how new Service Authority Board members are appointed, and that he plans to welcome Wiggins with a new-member orientation session. Kooyoomjian served with Wiggins on the Executive Board of the Prince William Committee of 100 in 2015 and praised Wiggin’s abilities as the organization’s treasurer but noted, “we did have some rocky experiences with him.”

After conservative Jim Young was elected Chairman of the non-partisan organization, Wiggins lead a boycott of the Committee of 100, urging many to resign, and, as Chairman of the county Democratic party at the time, didn’t allow Democrats to participate in that year’s candidates’ debates, an annual staple for the Committee of 100.

Kooyoomjian’s fellow Board member, Paul O’Meara, who ran for the Coles District Supervisor seat on the Prince William Board of County Supervisors in 2015, echoed Kooyoomjian. ” The role of the Service Authority is to make sure our utilities concerning sewer and water are properly designed, built, and maintained. Politics has no place in that charge and I would hope all Service Authority appointees leave politics at the door,” O’Meara told Potomac Local News.

Wiggins served as the county’s Democratic Committee chief from 2012 to 2018. Between 2007 and 2009, and was a legislative aide to former Democratic Delegate Paul Nichols, who served the 51st Virginia House District in Prince William County.

He’s also served on serval boards and commissions to include the Lower Camden County Regional and the Medford Lakes boards of education in New Jersey, just outside Philadelphia.