Lack of planning has got Woodbridge where it is today

Opinion 

At the start of my campaign for Woodbridge Supervisor, I vowed to go door-knocking and meet one-on-one with residents throughout every neighborhood in Woodbridge.

With only three short months to make this happen, I was on my feet and ready to go almost every morning. I knocked on nearly a thousand doors, met with some truly delightful people and heard a variety of complaints, opinions and ideas for our town.

The citizens I met with varied in age, lifestyle, income and the amount of time they had spent living here. Some were newer to our area while others had been here since the first Route 1 widening in the 1950’s. Of all the different perspectives I heard, all agreed that Woodbridge needs change and its residents deserve better.

The problems facing our community are neither Republican nor Democrat issues, nor are they black, white or brown. They are poor service, inattentive leaders, lack of community involvement and vision. Simply, what I am saying is the problem isn’t personal and it isn’t the people- the problem is the office governing the people.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. We’ve seen what we got for eight years, more congestion, more overcrowding, more blight.

I attended every public hearing for the Porter/Ferlazzo debate. I’m sad to see two communities pinned against each other without the engagement of their school board and disappointed by some of the petty politics and finger-pointing. I witnessed current Supervisor Frank Principi throw school board member Loree Williams under the bus at a recent board meeting by blaming her ‘lack of communication’ for his lack of response to Route 1.
The finger pointing must stop. People are elected to lead, not to blame. People must come before politics. It’s the supervisor’s responsibility to find the land, get it approved and then hand it over to the school board.

As a candidate for the Supervisor’s position I am very proud of Porter and its achievements, as I believe Prince William County should be. I wish more schools were like Porter Traditional School, with greater structure and mandatory parental involvement.

I am proud that Porter is in Woodbridge. But I also understand the stress and strain both children and teachers are dealing with, due to the overcrowding of Woodbridge schools. But loosing Porter would be permanent, while utilizing that space to alleviate overcrowding would only be temporary. As always, it would simply be a Band-Aid on a much larger issue — another one of Prince William County’s short term solutions ending in long term failure.

Lack of proper planning has gotten Woodbridge where it is today and what we need now is some forward thinking. We need a plan that not only includes the growth happening right now in our county but also the growth that is still to come in the future.

There needs to be at least one, possibly two schools built along the Route 1 corridor. Here are some proposals I bring to the table;

1. We need 20 acres to build an elementary school. With Woodbridge so urbanized, open 20 acre plots don’t exist. Utilizing existing park space that are underutilized. Which is more important: schools or parks?

2. Gar-Field High School has the ability to add an elementary school, similar to what’s already been done at Woodbridge and Potomac high schools. This would also allow mentoring opportunities for both schools.

3. We redevelop blighted, unsightly areas and build schools in their place.

4. By restricting approval for high density housing projects and requiring that we build roads and schools first before new homes, we can ensure that Woodbridge has the infrastructure to support new incoming residents without causing traffic and overcrowding for existing residents.

I firmly believe that by adding the supporting capacity of two new school sites and restricting high density housing approval we could keep Porter and meet the needs of our current population.
It’s up to a new supervisor to keep our traffic, housing, schools and funding in balance and if elected to become your direct representative of Woodbridge- you can count on me to listen and work with you. I won’t hide behind a dias. I’ll roll up my sleeves, crawl down in the trenches and get dirty.
We face these challenges together, and when ordinary people work together they can achieve extraordinary things.

Steve Chapman is a candidate for Woodbridge District Supervisor. He faces two other Republican candidates who seek to represent Woodbridge. Woodbridge residents may vote Saturday, April 25, 2o15, in the Prince William County Republican Party “Firehouse Primary” at from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Woodbridge Middle School to vote for a Republican candidate to face incumbent Woodbridge Supervisor Frank Principi.