"We have lost our ambition, our imagination, and our willingness to do the things that built the Golden Gate Bridge" - Barack Obama (aka President Malaise)
Corey Gets Some Love
By Greg L | 19 February 2007 | Prince William County | 5 Comments
The DC Examiner gives Prince William BOCS Chairman Corey Stewart a friendly look with “Corey Stewart at home” in today’s edition which gives Corey a nice opportunity to talk about fiscal conservatism, controlling growth and some of the transportation challenges he’s been wrestling with. Of particular interest is the Examiner’s take on what has driven Corey’s success, which seems to discount the appeal of the Republican message with voters and instead credit crossover anti-development liberals for his electoral success. Had that been the primary cause, one would imagine that Jeff Dion wouldn’t have suffered such a humiliating defeat, as he ran on an anti-development platform as well but would have appealed to liberals far more than Corey Stewart would be expected to.
To paint his success simply as a local referendum on social and fiscal issues, however, would be inaccurate. Stewart owes much to a different constituency, one that knows no party but whose members have traditionally been associated with the political left. During his campaign, he billed himself as the man to control growth, and his promises to reign in development resonated in Northern Virginia’s southernmost county. Stewart won with 53.25 percent of the vote, defeating Democrat Sharon Pandak.
Though, in the infancy of his chairmanship, it is probably too soon to tell, Stewart could be a new model of the local Republican in Virginia. At the very least, his influence is felt among the Prince William board. The race last month to fill his previous position — Occoquan District supervisor — was between two candidates fighting to be seen as the real controlled-growth candidate.
It’s an interesting take, and there’s a lot in this article worth perusing. I’m just thrilled that a paper that covers the metropolitan area is interested in providing some in-depth coverage of Prince William County, which doesn’t happen in the Washington Times, and only occasionally becomes substantive in the Washington Post. I’m starting to like these guys from the Examiner.
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The article makes solid points. The local Republican can no longer be pro business and get elected. We are feeling the pains of slow growth policies already. Rezoning applications are down 40%. Housing sales were down 30% jan 07 against jan 06. Pricing is down 6% during same month comparison.
The county faces an $18,000,000 shortfall and this could get worse! The slow growthers answer is to raise proffers. Well hell, you can raise them a 100% and if no houses are built, it will not help you. The developers job is make a profit, the board, planning commission, and staffs jobs are to make sure these projects make sense!
Pro-business doesn’t necessarily have to mean abetting runaway development to the detriment of the transportation system upon which all other businesses depend. I also do not believe that anyone has seriously raised the idea that we could balance the county budget through proffers, which are to the best of my knowledge always used for capital projects such as roads, schools and public safety infrastructure when they’re offered as cash and not land grants.
We can’t grow our way out of our budget problems.
Nor can we build our way out of our transportation problems.
“We are feeling the pains of slow growth policies already. Rezoning applications are down 40%. Housing sales were down 30% jan 07 against jan 06. Pricing is down 6% during same month comparison.”
Uh, the market was slowing BEFORE Corey was elected, not just in PWC, but nationwide. It isn’t as if no new building is going on, either, given the tens of thousands of approved units already approved countywide that are still in the pipeline.
No, we can’t “build our way out of transportation problems,” but with sufficient proffers we could keep the situation from worsening…and alternatively, if the the proffers are too great, then we’ll finally see an less sprawl and population growth than we’ve seen over the past 30 years. I see it as “pay to accommodate for the mess that your development project otherwise makes.”