By Yesli Vega
Coles District Supervisor
Prince William Board of County Supervisors

On Tuesday evening, the Board of Supervisors will set the advertised tax rates for the 2022 Fiscal Year. Among them will be the residential tax rate.

Currently on the table is a proposal by the County Executive that would not increase the tax rate, but because of increases in home value assessments set by the County, would result in an average residential tax increase of $306 over last year’s bill, and $328 with the residential Fire Levy.

This real dollar increase, while we’re still in the midst of COVID-19, would be the largest one year tax increase levied upon our homeowners in Prince William County’s history and increase the yearly residential tax bill to over $5,000 on the average family. This would represent a near 50% jump in the average residential tax bill in just the last ten years.

While our proximity to Washington, DC and the federal government somewhat insulates us from the worst of national economic distress, Prince William County has certainly not been immune over the last year. The unemployment rate among County residents is still more than twice the rate prior to the pandemic. The underemployment rate is far worse.

In light of these facts, I don’t believe your government should consider taking even more money out of your pocket by way of a record tax increase at this time. Indeed, if the Board were to ultimately approve the current tax rate for Fiscal Year 2022 it would mean that the county will have increased the average tax bill on our homeowners by $525 just since COVID-19 began, as last year saw an increase of $197.

I believe it would be smart of the Board to alleviate our residents’ concerns by taking the possibility of this increase off the table as soon as possible. When we set the advertised rate on Tuesday it means we cannot go above and beyond that number. I know it’s abnormal for a government official to want to give back some power to the people, but it goes without saying that most Prince William County families need the money more than we do right now.

Obviously, this doesn’t mean anywhere near a free ride. The average family would still be handing over close to $4,700 to live in their home. But if we proposed a flat tax bill where you paid the same as last year, just this once, in the midst of a pandemic, your taxes would not go up.

New home construction and agency generated revenue ensure that County government will have more money to spend and play around with than they did last year. I can assure you we won’t be hurting for revenue.

As proposed by County Executive Chris Martino, the budget would impose an average 7% tax increase on county homeowners

The principals and staff at Forest Park High School near Dumfries are ready to welcome children back to the classroom, said Richard Martinez, the school’s principal.

Martinez briefed the county School Board during its meeting on Feb. 17, 2021. Here’s what he said.

We all respect everyone’s place and everyone’s position as to where they are in the pandemic.

I can only say that I’ve been in the building since March 13 [2020]. I actually was on a recruiting trip from the school division when the school building was shut down, and I’ve been in the building, on average, two days a week before the summer. I was doing to was needed to be done for our students, as have other principals.

We are ready to receive students to the best of our ability.

Is it perfect? No.

We will monitor and modify? Yes.

For this division to return, we know the parents make that decision. We’re going to work with who’s in the building and who’s not in the building.

I believe my staff will work with dignity, integrity, and honor to the best of their ability to provide what our students need.

At Forest Park, we’ve got the mitigations in place. [The mitigation plan] changes day to day as we get additional guidance.

I’ve been transparent with the teachers via department meetings, the assistant principals and their meetings with the staff. We’re working to meet the needs of staff. [Asking them] ‘what will make it easier for you?’

They’ve demonstrated [for teachers] when they’ve said they don’t understand what the [classroom] will look like [when they return].

Yes, my office is colder [due to improved airflow fight the virus]. It’s not because of the window. It’s because there’s more fresh air coming into the building, so I have to put [on more layers of clothes] so I know we are getting fresh air into the building.
I worked with my building engineer every day. I meet with my custodial manager every day. If I have to go out and clean, I’m out there cleaning.

Teachers have been in the building [during virtual classes]. They [tell me, ‘I can’t do this from home.’ I tell then, ‘if you need to do it from here, I’ve got a space for you.” They’ve been successful.
They’ve asked me for things. I’ve tried to provide it. When all of this happened, the principals were all scrambling. We didn’t know what the plans were going to be.

I immediately ordered 110 laptops for staff. I said, ‘they’re going to need something to work with if they can’t come to the building.”

The biggest thing I got from this is the camaraderie with my high school principals. We meet every Tuesday and Friday for almost two hours since this thing has begun.

We’ve become a tighter unit, a closer unit with great ideas. We’ve shared ideas to implement and emulate what’s working in other buildings. We do have to tweak it, but we have been working together to receive our students.

One of the key pieces for students returning to class on their first day of school is keeping their computers or laptops from the school division up to date with the updates.

They have to stop by the buildings and get the update from a wi-fi perspective. Doing it from home… it keeps hanging up.

It’s important for our families every once in a while to make sure their computers are updated appropriately so their student doesn’t have an issue when they come to the building or when they’re working from home.

Students in 4th through 12th grades will return to classrooms in Prince William County starting on Thursday, February 25.

Fourth, fifth, sixth, and ninth grades will return for House A on February 25 and House B on February 26.

Seventh, eighth, 10th, 11th, and 12th grades will return for House A on March 2 and House
B on March 3.

All students currently in-person will remain as scheduled, including Pre-K through third grades, special education students, and English language learners.

Career and Technology Education (CTE) Phase 1 and Phase 2 students will continue Monday classes as scheduled until secondary students are phased in for in-person instruction.
All bell schedules, including for virtual-only students, will change effective February 23.

All students who have opted to remain virtual-only will continue to remain virtual. Students who wish to change from in-person to virtual may contact their school directly to request the change.

The Superintendent has the authority to take such measures as necessary to protect the health and safety of students and staff, including measures needed to respond to the impact of the pandemic on individual schools.

These students will join children in pre-k through 3rd grades who have already returned to the classroom.

About 30% of the student population has opted to return to in-person learning.

Gov. Ralph Northam last March was one of the first in the U.S. to order all public schools closed due to the pandemic.

One year later, he’s ordered all school divisions in the state to develop a plan to begin offering in-person instruction at least one day per week starting March 15.

Jim Giragosian, a 28 year resident of the Gainesville District in Prince William County and Falun Gong practitioner, spoke to the Board of County Supervisors on Feb. 16, 2021, about atrocities happening to those who practice the religion in China.

In communities across the country and around the world, we are seeing unprecedented calls for justice for all people. Not just for a single race or single ethnicity, or a single sexual orientation, but for everyone.

In our inclusiveness, I ask that we remember the Falun Gong practitioners in China who have been unjustly imprisoned and tortured for the past 21 years. And now they’re being executed for their organs.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has gotten away with unconscionable human rights violations in china because they have an extensive influence operation right here in the U.S. And it targets every aspect of our society.

The CCP targets U.S. policymakers and businesses with millions of dollars in paid advertising, describing all of the wonderful investment opportunities in China.

They just don’t tell us about the forced labor camps, which are the reason why prices are so low.

The CCP targets American colleges and universities by giving them millions of dollars in grants to open Confucius institutes to educate American students about Chinese culture. They just don’t tell us the entire curriculum is infused with Marxist ideology.

The CCP targets American local governments, even right here in Virginia, by using their sister cities program to, essentially, manufacture positive media coverage for China.

They just don’t tell us they’re hiding coronavirus data behind their PPE donations, their smiles, and their friendly handshakes.

And now the CCP is targeting the most vulnerable members of our community: the terminally ill by telling them if they come to China, they don’t have to wait months or years for an organ transplant.

They just don’t tell us where the organs are coming from.

I, too, would like to thank Supervisors Vega, Franklin, and Angry for meeting with me and other Falun Gong practitioners in Prince William to discuss ways we can educate our communities about this practice.

I hope that all of us in Prince William can work together to help bring justice to all people, including Falun Gong practitioners in China.

Prince William Education Association President Maggie Hansford spoke before the Prince William County School Board on February 8 to push for raises for school employees.

I just want to start off by making Dr. Walts for making educators a priority in this year’s budget.

There are a couple of things that I would like you to consider when you are working on this year’s budget. I know you have a lot of priorities and a tall task.

I would like for you to consider a 2% cost of living adjustment for our staff. It looks like inflation is estimated at 2 percent, so a staffer earning their STEP (salary increase), and the cost of living (salary increase) every year should reflect that inflation.

I would also like to see a livable wage for transportation, as well as the foodservice department. They have some issues with equity when making that pathway into leadership positions. So I would like you all to consider a pathway for them, in an equitable stance in moving them toward an opportunity for leadership.

Lastly, I would like the [School Board] to reflect mental health as a priority and have the budget reflect caseloads that align with success. When you all are looking at caseloads, I would like for you all to look at special education. We look at this every year, and when we look at special education, our educators, our [teaching assistants], we want to make sure that we set them up for success, and that means a reasonable caseload count.

Two pay raises are on the table in the proposed $1.3 billion budget— a cost of living and step-increase salary hikes, each of which is about 4%. The budget is $33 million than last year’s budget.

Tim Parrish, Prince William County GOP Committee chairman, spoke to the Board of County Supervisors during its meeting on Feb. 16, 2021, and urged County Executive Christopher Martino to table talk of enacting a new meals tax that would be paid by people who dine at county restaurants.

I’m here tonight to talk about this tax proposal coming down the pipeline.

I would certainly like to put this in your minds to not support a tax increase. We dealt with this last year. I was the young black guy on the camera who said, “smack dab in the middle of a pandemic; you’re going to raise taxes.”

It’s been veiled as a property assessment increase. I got it. It’s a tax. But the meals tax is what is really perplexing to me.

From this Dias, we’ve heard about food deserts, and we’ve heard about food insecurity, and it makes me wonder how in the world could you say people lack this thing, food and/or meals, and implement a meals tax at 4%.

Mr. [Christopher Martino, Prince William County Executive], I get it. You’re one of the highest-paid people in the county. You make five hundred times more than the median income in the county.

So I can understand why you would, first thing, go to a meals tax on this. I’m a business person. I understand that.

But it doesn’t make sense for the people who live in this county who, in reality, are hurting that can’t figure out how to pay their bills. I remind you about the global pandemic, and I think the prevailing question is, where is this money going. You can’t tell me it’s going to the schools, because the schools are closed. And you can’t tell me that it’s going to [expand] the courthouse because that would be asinine. In the middle of the pandemic, the last thing people care about is expanding the courthouse to make it bigger.

And please, for the love of God, don’t tell the people of Prince William County it’s going to build parks and [recreation], to build a new boat ramp because people are sitting at home right now trying to figure out how to feed their kids, they don’t give a flying flip right now about a new boat ramp, or a new park, or trails, or any of that.

They want to know how to feed their kids, and so, 10% of a meals tax, when we talk about food insecurity, is a bit ridiculous. So, I would ask [Martino] go back with your staff and figure out a way to fund all of these programs, present something different to the board.

There’s a lot of smart people up here that would entertain another way instead of imposing a new tax on people in this county.

If approved by the Board of County Supervisors either this spring or next, Martino’s new tax could take effect on July 1, 2022. The tax, expected to generate $24.5 million to hire more county government employees, and to fund schools, would come as part of a $1.4 billion budget for the fiscal year 2023.

The lack of the tax has been credited with the explosion of restaurants the county has been, especially at Potomac Mills mall, over the past 30 years.

The COVID virus is no respecter of race or ethnicity, but its infection rate ravages Black and Hispanic communities at far higher rates that White populations. Black and Hispanic hospitalizations and mortality also occur at far higher rates than among White populations, but their life-saving vaccination rates are far below that of Whites.

The reasons are not a mystery. Black and Hispanic workers are more likely to work in essential services where transmission of the virus is more frequent, they often live in multi-generational homes, and have less access to health care.

Why the Prince William Health District and the Board of County Supervisors haven’t targeted desperately needed outreach efforts to save these vulnerable populations is, however, the real mystery.

The current majority on the Board of County Supervisors has not required the Health District to collect race demographics in the vaccination sites. The Health District lamely points the finger at everyone but themselves saying no one has told them to report on any of that information.

Meanwhile, the most vulnerable members of the Black and Hispanic communities in Prince William County remain trapped in a vaccine distribution system that fails to account for disproportionately higher infection rates, hospitalizations, and deaths in communities of color when they decide who gets that life-saving shot in the arm.

No one would have expected this would be allowed in a minority-majority community like Prince William County where even the Board of County Supervisors has a majority of minority members. Inexplicably, it is the Republicans on that Board who have spoken out the loudest to question why the problem exists.

The Board of County Supervisors appointed a Racial and Social Justice Commission precisely to examine how Black and Hispanic populations are being served by operations of government, and that surely would include how the COVID vaccine distribution system may be racially biased.

National data shows clearly that is exactly what is happening, and the daily news is full of reports of states, counties, and towns moving quickly to close the racial and ethnic gap in vaccinations and improve outreach programs. Vaccine sites at Black Churches, in low-income communities, and in targeted door-to-door vaccinations in communities of color are being used.

Innovative programs to serve and protect minority communities who are the most vulnerable that address the critical gap in the vaccination rates.

But none of that is actually happening here in Prince William County.

The Racial and Social Justice Commission heard a desperate plea at its last meeting to immediately recommend the Board of County Supervisors start using demographic data to identify inequitable vaccine distribution, target vaccines to communities of color who are most vulnerable, and act now to save the lives of Black and Hispanic residents who are being left behind in the inequitable vaccine distribution programs right here in Prince William County.

The Racial and Social Justice Commission refused to hear or act on that plea, and the Commission leaders and the individual Commissioners who themselves were appointed by minority members of the Board of County Supervisors specifically rejected the call to recommend any solutions and excused themselves saying their only mission was to make a formal report to the Board in December.

Sadly, that report will have to include a section on the number of body bags needed for the unnecessary deaths in the Black and Hispanic communities of color in Prince William County precisely because nothing was done, no voice was given to the forgotten communities of color, and why the Racial and Social Justice Commission chose to worship at the altar of the government bureaucracy instead of speaking out to protect their own community.

The Racial and Social Justice Commission was created to be the canary in the coal mine on unfair treatment, denial of essential government services to communities of color, and racial injustice in Prince William County. That Commission was formed to propose solutions to issues of injustice and racial bias.

In its first test to address a crisis of fairness and inequity that is sweeping across communities of color in Prince William County in a life and death issue, the Racial and Social Justice Commission sits silent.

Another colossal failure for which there is absolutely no rational or defensible excuse.

This post is written by Mac Haddow, an appointee to the Prince William County Racial and Social Justice Commission, and a White grandfather to three Black grandchildren.

By Ralph & Kathy Stephenson
Prince William Citizens for Balanced Growth

We’ve been in close contact with Brett Gloss and other plaintiffs who filed the Freedom of Information Act legal complaint against the Prince William Board of County Supervisors Democratic majority regarding the Dems’ May 31 meeting that excluded the three Republican supervisors.

We are writing this message with the plaintiffs’ knowledge and support.

We support the plaintiffs’ current intent to file a motion to Fairfax County Judge Dennis J. Smith to reconsider his decision and, if unsuccessful, after that to possibly file an appeal.

As we, Gloss, and his co-plaintiffs have suggested, the judge failed to look at the statute in plain language and imposed an insurmountable bar which required the plaintiffs to prove intent. The statute does not require proof of intent, only that the five Democrats attended and public business was discussed.

Judge Smith also inappropriately applied the public forum exception because, in his view, the defendants did not arrange the meeting, thus the meeting was not subject to FOIA law.  But testimony from the defendants clearly established that the police chief arranged the meeting, and the police chief, of course, reports directly to the BOCS.  The judge’s judicial activist reasoning in this case creates a huge loophole for future violators to keep the public in the dark:  just get a subordinate office to schedule the meeting.  A county government entity arranged the May 31 meeting and only select members of the public — those with ties to Supervisor Bailey’s husband — were able to attend.  County citizens and the press were kept in the dark.

Here are some of our unanswered questions about the judge’s ruling:

• Why did it fall to private citizens to file suit in this case and be subject to a high-hurdle burden of proof?  Why were county or state attorneys/prosecutors not even investigating this apparent Freedom of Information Act violation, much less bringing charges themselves, with all the resources of the state behind them?
• As previously noted, proof of intent is not a requirement to show guilt in this case.  However, from an ethical, not a legal standpoint, if innocent of intent to exclude the other three Board of County Supervisors members from the meeting, why didn’t even one of the five Democrats, particularly Chair At-large Ann Wheeler, bother to call and invite even one of the three Republicans as soon as it was obvious they weren’t at the meeting — particularly Supervisor Peter Candland, whose district was directly affected by the riots being discussed?
• Again from an ethical standpoint, why has Chair Wheeler apparently still not apologized to the public or any of the three Republicans for excluding them — in clear breach of common decency and her role as at-large Board of County Supervisors Chair At-large for representing the entire county?

This ruling, if left unrevised, it will increasingly put local government decision making in the shadows with little or no accountability — an outcome clearly desired by Chair Wheeler, who has repeatedly and unprecedentedly tried to limit citizen free speech and the right to petition the government at Board of County Supervisors meetings, as well as the right to peaceably assemble.

Since the state and county government are not doing their job to litigate Freedom of Information Act law in this case, it falls to private residents to do so.  Here is the plaintiffs’ GoFundMe site to cover their ongoing legal fees to help keep our government transparent, accountable, and in service to all the public — not just a few favored groups.

We thank the plaintiffs for their civic virtue; we support them and urge readers to do so, too.

The Northern Virginia Transportation Authority is scheduled to approve a project agreement that will advance Alignment 2B for a Route 28 Bypass at their meeting on October 8.

“Our coalition of conservation, smart growth, and transportation reform groups is calling on the NVTA to delay action because of the negative environmental, regional travel, and community impacts of the proposed Alignment 2B and because of significant procedural failings that must be addressed,” said Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth.

Rick Holt, Chair of Active Prince William noted that “State law, Section 15.2-2232, requires that new roads be consistent with local comprehensive plans and that local planning commissions make a finding to that effect. However, Alignment 2B of Route 28, which the Prince William Board of Supervisors approved in a controversial 5 to 3 vote, is not in the Comprehensive Plan for either Fairfax County or Prince William County and has not been reviewed and approved by their planning commissions.”

“The entire Route 28 study process has been flawed and frustrating sound alternatives analysis and community input,” said Charlie Grymes, former chair of the Prince William Conservation Alliance.

• The 50+ families who would be displaced from a rare spot of affordable housing were not provided adequate notification and an opportunity to respond.
• The promised federal Environmental Study and Alternatives Analysis (originally proposed as an Environmental Impact Statement) was never completed and was prematurely abandoned, so the pros and cons of the alternatives were never adequately documented, much less presented for public review and comment.
• The critical Purpose and Need Statement for the Route 28 Environmental Study was never disclosed to the public prior to an October 9, 2019, public meeting.  Not only was the Purpose of Need Statement never released for public comment, but it also was evidently never released for review and comment by relevant local, state, or federal agencies.
• No public hearings were ever held for this project prior to July 14, 2020, public hearing before the Prince William Board of County Supervisors to proceed with the preliminary engineering for Alignment 2B.
• None of the written reports for the Route 28 Environmental Study, including the Traffic Technical Report, were posted for public review prior to July 7, 2020, only one week prior to the July 14, 2020, public hearing.  These reports and their findings were never discussed at any prior public meetings for this project.
• Despite the Fairfax County location of “Option 2B,” the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has held no public hearing on either amending the adopted Comprehensive Plan or approving the proposed route for the new Route 28 bypass “Option 2B” through Fairfax County.
• The May 2019 Traffic Technical Report from the Environmental Study shows Alignment 2B would produce the most failing intersections of the four alternatives studied.  Furthermore, compared to the No-Build Alternative in 2040, building the Bypass would increase traffic volumes on Route 28 in Fairfax County on the north side of the Bypass by as much as 26%.
• Study findings showed that the “least environmentally damaging practicable alternative” that meets the purpose and need is Alignment 4 along the existing Route 28 north of Manassas, and the Prince William Board of County Supervisors voted 8 to 0 on August 4 to adopt this alternative
• In an unusual in-person presentation by the Chair and Executive Director of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority on September 8, the Prince William supervisors were warned that NVTA would revoke the planned $89 million for the Route 28 project unless Alignment 2B was chosen, and funding might be allocated instead to projects in Loudoun County or other jurisdictions
• The Prince William Board then held a second vote, switching to Alternative 2B on a 5 to 3 vote, without allowing additional public testimony.
• Informed advocates repeatedly offered an improved version of Alternative 4, along an extension of Well Street through Yorkshire, that would minimize impacts on Route 28 businesses, greatly lower project costs, and could create dedicated bus/HOV lanes and a network of street connections to support economic revitalization. This concept would also create the potential for Route 28 bus rapid transit, but county staff refused to consider this alternative while pressing their preference for Alternative 2B

“Alignment 2B would displace over 50 families from their homes. It would add noise and pollution to “equity emphasis” neighborhoods and plow through the floodplain/wetlands of Flat Branch, which feeds into Bull Run and the Occoquan Reservoir, a critical drinking water supply,” said Grymes. “Alignment 2B would fuel more sprawling development and traffic coming from as far away as Fauquier and Culpeper, rather than address existing traffic coming from central Prince William via Liberia Avenue.”