Office sought: Delegate 53rd District
Party Affiliation: Democrat
Previous offices held; please include dates: Board of Supervisors 1971-1986
Incumbents: when elected to this position: 1991
Occupation: Asst Vice President, Inova Health System
Current employment (include name and address of employers):
Previous employment
Education: (please list schools attended, degrees and dates)UNC @ Chapel Hill; BA & MA in English; George Mason U. MPA;
Community ties:
List a few current endorsements you are most proud of: All of them
1. What is your top public-service accomplishment?
Campaign finance and election reforms; affordable housing and transportation funding.
2. Incumbents: Describe the top accomplishment of your last term. Why shouldn't voters blame you for current problems in your district?
$7 million allocated to Gallows Road/ Rt. 29 intersection .
3. What are the top five problems facing your constituents and what approaches will you use to solve them? Describe one challenge (or more) in your district that is different than in other parts of the state.
Unfunded state mandates in Education and public safety; inadequate transportation funding; tax reform; I will keep offering solutions or supporting others who do (i.e.tax equalization)
The amount of traffic congestion
4. What qualities, qualifications and characteristics will you bring to this office?
Experience. leadership, results
5. How will voters best distinguish between you and your opponent(s)?
N/A/
6. What is one thing you promise not to do if elected?
Vote for vouchers in any form
7. What do you predict for the one-to-two year future of the budget and what adjustments will you propose to prepare for your prediction? What impact is this likely to have on your constituents?
Unless tax reform and financing of unfunded state mandates are accomplished, cuts in
key services such a education, public safety and transportation are likely.
8. What specific solutions will you propose for the transportation dilemma? Please address funding, prioritization, air quality, bus service and other non-rail public transportation solutions, expansion of rail service, and any other possible approach.
I have offered revenue-raising options in the past, but they have not passed the House. I will continue to try. A 10-cent increase in the gas tax is needed to catch up with inflation since the last increase in 1986.
Mass transit to Dulles is essential, HOT lanes and other public-private partnerships must be considered. Transportation improvements which address our air quality problems must be given priority.
9. Do local governments have the tools they need to control and guide growth? How will state and local governments cope with the additional demand for services that comes with additional residential construction? Can more emphasis on smart growth help offset some of the effects of suburban development?
Fairfax County accomplished a major downzoning to protect our water supply (in the Occoquan) when I was on the Board.. Most local governments do not use the tools they have, however. Prince William did not downzone its side of the Occoquan. Under Gerry Connolly's leadership the Board has implemented "smart growth" concepts more than many neighboring jurisdictions.
10. What are your top environmental priorities? Please address air quality, water quality, open space, etc.
I have and will continue to sponsor and support measures to protect our natural resources and our air and water. See above: transit and HOT lanes should be implemented. I supported Gov. Warner's initiative to fund open space acquisition, but it failed on a largely partisan vote.
11. Are residents safe enough? How do public safety officials balance new demands of "homeland security" with other safety and quality-of-life issues?
We have some of best police and fire and rescue departments in the nation. They have lent their expertise around the nation, and have done a superb job keeping us safe, but we must continue to give them the resources they need.
12. Do you have any concerns about civil liberties and public access to information in the wake of the Patriot Act and other responses to Sept. 11?
Yes. I do not believe John Ashcroft is the man to protect them.
13. Working poor families in Northern Virginia face a daunting cost of living, with little in the way of affordable housing, health care, child care and transportation. Are low-wage workers important to the local economy? What do you propose to address the needs of these families?
Affordable housing is a critical part of the solution. My legislation gave localities the authority to require it.
14. Should counties have the taxing authority of cities?
Certainly.
15. What is the appropriate state and local tax rate for cigarettes?
Counties should have the same power as cities. The state should increase to the national average.
16. What is the appropriate state and local tax rate for gasoline?
17. How would you restructure the tax code in Virginia?
See above. We need to diversity tax system and tax base to reduce reliance on the real estate tax.
18. Should income taxes be collected and distributed locally?
The state should share with the localities.
19. What proposals do you have for mitigating the effects of soaring property values and related taxes?
See above.
Do you endorse the 5 percent cap on property tax increases? If you support a cap on property tax increases, please name at least one service provided by state or local government that you currently use that you would be prepared to live without.
I do not. It would require cuts to schools, public safety and transportation.
20. After redistricting, Northern Virginia now has a critical mass in the General Assembly, but so far that doesn't appear to have translated into additional political clout for the region. Why? What will you do to increase the influence of Northern Virginia in Richmond?
Most of my legislative proposals have been bi-partisan. I will continue to work with both parties.
21. Would you favor the repeal of the Dillon Rule? Why or Why not?
I favor giving localities more authority immediately.
22. What is right and wrong with Virginia's current laws governing abortion? Would you support any changes?
They are much too restrictive. I voted against the recent punitive changes.
23. Would you support allowing localities to ban weapons from public buildings?
Yes. Have introduced legislation to allow it.
24. The state provides only a fraction of the funding for local schools that it should given requirements under the "Standards of Quality." How would you address this?
My proposed constitutional amendment would have required a minimum of 55% for all school districts, but it failed on a party-line vote - Democrats in favor and Republicans against.
25. How would you rate the Standards of Learning tests and what improvements still need to be made?
Unless the No Child Left Behind requirements are repealed because they are currently a massive UNFUNDED MANDATE, the SOL tests should be subordinated to those requirements. No one test should determine a students academic future.
26. Should local school boards be allowed to ban all weapons on school property? Of course.
27. Characterize the financial situation in Virginia institutions of higher learning and what efforts you recommend in the General Assembly to shore up the quality of Virginia's public colleges and universities.
Tax reform should include more revenue for K-12 and higher education so that the increase in tuition will not prevent students from modest-income families from attending.