Assistant County Executive Rebecca Horner is the latest to jump ship at the Prince William County Government.
A county spokeswoman confirmed Horner's registration effective May 1, 2023. She declined to provide a copy of Horner's resignation letter, citing it as confidential.
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Tom Gordy announced his candidacy for the open Brentsville District supervisor seat in Prince William County.
The Republican represents the Brentsville District on the Prince William County Planning Commission and Veterans Commission. He aims to replace Jeanine Lawson, who represented the district since 2014 and is now running to replace Ann Wheeler (D) as Prince William Board of Supervisors Chair At-large.
As of today, Gordy is running unopposed. The General Election is November 7, 2023. No newcomer to politics, Gordy ran against the late State Senator Charles Colgan in 2011 and lost.
Lawson endorsed Gordy. Meanwhile, evoking rhetoric often heard in national politics, Wheeler labeled Lawson, her Republican opponent, as “an extreme MAGA Republican who is dangerous for our county,” Wheeler stated in a press release to PLN.
Wheeler faces a Primary challenger, Deshundra Jefferson, who has criticized Wheeler for her willingness to allow data centers to be built outside of industrial areas.
All eight seats on the Prince William Board of County Supervisors are up this fall.
Last month, Republican Bob Weir was elected to the neighboring Gainesville District to serve the remainder of Peter Candland’s term, ending December 31, 2023. Weir has not announced a bid for reelection to the seat in the fall.
More from Gordy’s campaign announcement:
The store will be the future site of a new Prince William County Government crisis receiving center designed to help residents experiencing a mental breakdown. The center will provide a place, other than a hospital or jail, for patients to receive help and recover.
More in a press release:
As Prince William County’s new Crisis Receiving Center and Community Services Building continues to be built, Prince William County and Potomac District Supervisor Andrea Bailey welcomed Senator Tim Kaine for a tour and round table discussion on Monday, March 20, 2023.
The Crisis Receiving Center, located on Worth Avenue in Woodbridge, will address the well-being of people experiencing a behavioral health crisis. The walk-in center will have 16 beds for adults experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis who need intervention and 23 recliners where people can receive assessment and treatment for up to 23 hours. The CRC will also help divert people from the criminal justice system.
Supervisor Bailey and Community Services Director Lisa Madron led Senator Kaine and other stakeholders on a tour of the Crisis Receiving Center. Following the tour of the facility, Senator Kaine joined Supervisor Bailey and Madron, as well as several county and state officials, community leaders and subject matter experts, for a Mental Health Round Table Discussion. The discussion focused on rising mental health issues and resources to combat this crisis affecting Prince William County residents and Virginians.
“We were honored to host Senator Kaine and share the county’s progress on the Crisis Receiving Center,” said Supervisor Bailey. “Champions of this project have helped to secure federal, state and local funding essential in opening the Crisis Receiving Center later next year.”
Funding for the facility was announced in a press conference in July 2022, and Connections Health Solutions was selected as the vendor to operate the Crisis Receiving Center in November 2022. On May 11, 2023, the Department of Community Services will host a Dedication and Intention Setting Ceremony on-site. The ceremony is intended as the first step in actualizing the vision of the CRC in changing how the community sees, treats and supports those in mental health crisis.
Residents will have the chance to speak out about a plan to introduce red light and speed cameras to roads in Prince William County.
The Board of County Supervisors voted to set a public hearing, likely scheduled for Tuesday, April 11, 2023. In a proposed pilot program, supervisors want public feedback on adding speed cameras at 13 school zones and red light cameras at eight interactions to get drivers to slow down.
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The Prince William Board of County Supervisors dean announced her run to become its chair.
Jeanine Lawson, who served on the board the longest of all its eight members since 2014, seeks to unseat Ann Wheeler, who has served as board chair since 2020. Lawson has been an outspoken opponent of Wheeler and the majority of Democrats who have pushed to put more data centers and other industrial businesses in the western portion of the county.
Last fall, Lawson led a fight to oppose the Prince William Digital Gateway, 27 million square feet of data center space that could be developed next to the Manassas National Battlefield, after the board amended the county’s comprehensive plan last fall, after a marathon 14-hour meeting.
Last spring, Lawson ran to become the Republican candidate to run against Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D) in Virginia’s 10th congressional district. Hung Cao won a May 2022 GOP firehouse primary to become the nominee.
Meanwhile, Wheeler, a Democrat, faces opposition from a candidate in her party — Deshundra Jefferson, whose been critical of Wheeler over the past two years and her push to trade rural land for data centers, is seeking her party’s endorsement in a June 2023 Primary Election.
Lawson said she would campaign on a platform to end regular tax increases and to reduce the county’s increasing crime rate.
More in a press release:
Today Brentsville Supervisor, Jeanine Lawson, announced her bid for Chair of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors.
“Under the failed leadership of our current Chair, Prince William County has been quickly moving in the wrong direction,” Lawson said. “In three short years under her iron-fisted reign, we’ve watched her lead with extreme and reckless policies, while putting her political agenda first and Prince William families last. We deserve better.”
Here are just a few disturbing facts from the past three years under our current county Chair’s failed leadership:
Rising taxes – over $1,400 more in annual real estate tax bills for the average Prince William County family, plus a new meals tax, and additional proposed tax increases.
Skyrocketing crime – 150% increase in homicides since 2020.
The prioritization of a multi-billion dollar data center industry over residents – giving big business tax breaks on the backs of Prince William families.
“Enough is enough. Our local taxes are through the roof. Unchecked development is rampant while conservation and concerns about our local environment have been tossed aside. Crime in every corner of the county is skyrocketing,” Lawson continued. “It’s time to throw out our current Chair’s radical approach and implement new, practical, constituent-focused solutions to local governing.”
“As your next Chair, I’ll restore common-sense leadership, integrity, and a balanced approach back to our Board of Supervisors. I’m running to represent our families and neighbors, not an out-of-touch agenda. I’ll strive to lower our cost of living, improve our quality of life, and manage the growth of our communities in a responsible way.”
Jeanine Lawson has lived in Prince William County since 1995, where she and her husband Dan raised their two children. Since 2014, Jeanine has served on the Board of Supervisors representing the Brentsville District where she has been re-elected twice. During her time in office, Jeanine has fought to keep taxes low, support public safety agencies and manage growth.
Supervisor Yesli Vega continued to push back on what she calls an "insidious and divisive agenda" within the halls of Prince William County Government, its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts, and a survey demanding to know the sexual orientation of employees.
During a Board of County Supervisors meeting Tuesday, March 14, 2023, Vega read into the record an email from a county employee who voiced concerns about a DEI survey government workers were asked to take.
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As you consider the County’s budget, I request that you repeal the 4% Meals Tax on restaurant food. The following are my reasons.
The tax is unfair and unhealthy. Restaurants prepare fresh food daily; grocery stores sell the same food in frozen, refrigerated, and dehydrated forms. Restaurants like mine start with unadulterated raw ingredients; grocery foods, by necessity, contain chemical preservatives and stabilizers. Cooks who live and pay taxes in the County prepare restaurant food; factory workers in faraway locations manufacture grocery food.
These comparisons hold true for almost all items on restaurant menus; examples are pork barbecue, macaroni and cheese, pizza, enchiladas, chili, soups, bread, pies, etc.
Yet, your 1% sales tax on grocery food and now a 10% tax on restaurant food equates to your taxing restaurant customers 10 times more for their food. You are penalizing restaurant owners, employees, and landlords in this county while incentivizing residents to consume foods laden with chemical preservatives and stabilizers. This is unfair and unhealthy.
The Meals Tax is bad economics.
It is well established that as prices rise, demand falls. Prior to imposing the Meals Tax, inflation had already pushed restaurant prices on average up 9%. At this level, the fall off in demand was still manageable. When your Meals Tax raised prices by another 4%, you exceeded the breaking point and demand dropped precipitously. In our case, we immediately lost over 20% of our customers. We were forced to respond by reducing our payroll by 33% and obtaining rent relief.
All county restaurants and their employees were hurt, some more than others.
I have heard stated a justification for the tax: “If you can’t afford a 4% tax, then you can’t afford to eat out.” They are right. That is exactly what happened. A dangerously significant number of people stopped going to the sounty’s restaurants.
The Meals Tax is unpopular.
If you had submitted the tax to a referendum as was required in the past, I hypothesize that it would have failed decidedly, just as it had failed in the past. In your defense, you may have been unaware of the consequences when you imposed the tax. You may still have your reasons for maintaining it. If you decide to retain it, you will have ample opportunities to present your arguments to the voters in your upcoming election.
Your opponents, to whom I and other restaurant owners in the emerging coalition have spoken, have already stated their opposition to the tax. The debates will be interesting to watch. In any case, the Meals Tax issue will not be swept away and ignored by voters. I can assure you of that.
I appreciate your consideration and will watch with interest your decision.
Nelson H. Head
Dixie Bones Inc.
Prince William County Executive Chris Shorter proposed major pay increases for county employees and a 5.3-cent real estate tax reduction Tuesday night, all part of his $1.61 billion budget proposal for the 2024 fiscal year.
Insidenova.com has more on the story:
The Board of County Supervisors has proclaimed February 28 “Montford Point Marine Day.” In doing so, the community commemorates the first African American recruits in the Marine Corps trained at the Montford Point in North Carolina.
During the early 1940s, the United States was preparing to enter World War II and needed recruits. But President Franklin D. Roosevelt faced a problem; Hiring discrimination based on race was still the norm in the defense industry.
At the same time, Civil rights leaders were organizing for change. A. Philip Randolph, who had organized and led the first African American labor union, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, was planning a march on Washington D.C. to pressure President Roosevelt to open the defense industry to Black Americans. The president initially resisted this effort, but as the march grew closer and after much pressure from his wife Eleanor, Roosevelt conceded.
On June 25, 1941, the president signed Executive Order 8802, prohibiting racial discrimination in the defense industry or government. At last, all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces were open to African Americans. Between 1942 and 1949, approximately 20,000 African American men completed recruit training under harsh conditions on a still racially segregated base in North Carolina known as Montford Point.
Montford Point Is now part of Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, the main Marine Corps infantry base for the East Coast, and is called Camp Johnson after one of those first Black marines. The Montford Point Marines were determined to serve and fight for their country abroad as heroes, even though they faced segregation when they returned home.
On November 23, 2011, President Barack Obama signed into law the legislation awarding the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor bestowed by Congress, to the Montford Point Marines.
Prince William County is home to Quantico Marine Base in the Potomac District, and the county is home to many veterans and active service members who are the beneficiary of sacrifices made by the Montford Point Marines, which is why the County has set aside this day, February 28, 2023, to recognize and honor their legacy.
Master Gunnery Sgt. Carroll W. Braxton, 98, one of the Montford Point Marines, attended and spoke at the ceremony commemorating the trailblazing Marines.
“You couldn’t even realize what we had to go through to be a Marine,” Braxton said. “You know it’s kind of tough when you’re going to fight for your country, and you are told you are not wanted. You don’t belong here. We don’t need you here, and you will never be a Marine, but after 11 weeks of going through Hell, you see, I’m standing here.”
After boot camp, Braxton was one of a few Marines sent to the Pacific Theater.
“We went to the Pacific, and would you believe we weren’t segregated? We joined the white marines on those Islands. And you know, it was a strange thing, bullets don’t have black or white, and we found that out, and the white Marines found out that we could do what they could and maybe a little bit better because we wanted to. We wanted to prove that we could fight for our country and we were equal to anybody else that fought for their country. We had to fight for our country, and now we are still, I hate to say, still fighting a little bit. It’s better, but it could be a whole lot better.”
-Story by Prince William County Government
